As Earth Day approaches, I thought I'd share some exciting and educational activities that I plan use to celebrate this day with my students. The BEST part is that they are all PRINT AND GO! We are all so busy this time of year that I was so thrilled to open up my "April" binder and pull out these activities and add them to the copy bin! I am an outdoors person and I spend a LOT of time talking about my gardens and I used my love of gardening and hiking in a … [Read more...]
Bulletin Board: New Year, New Books
Happy New Year! What a whirlwind this year has been! In third grade we are forging forward but we are still feeling the effects of the past few years on our students. We are teaching so many SEL lessons and teaching kids how to interact with each other in positive ways! It sure makes for busy days. This past week I kept staring at the 12 Days of Kindness Bulletin Board that I had put up in December, and I knew that I needed to do something about it. I … [Read more...]
Engaging Math Review
Easter Week: Use plastic eggs to your advantage! I don't know what it is, but when I cut up questions that we were going to do on a worksheet and stuff them in plastic eggs, kids go wild! This week we are studying for our math test on fractions, so I am cutting up fraction questions (you could even use paper task cards) and putting them around the room in plastic eggs. I always fight for a “review game” day when we are in meetings doing our pacing calendars … [Read more...]
Read Across America Week
This past week we celebrated Read Across America week like many elementary schools around the country. We put our own spin on it and included some really diverse texts. Some of the books we read were books on inclusion of others and kindness. We were also learning about different rights and responsibilities of citizens so we incorporated some deeper texts as well. We put out a flier for our students that included a week of simple activities that we would … [Read more...]
8 Things You Should be Doing In March
February is on its way out, so I am starting to think about what we are going to be doing for the upcoming month. It seems wild to be thinking about March already, but it is just a few days away. Here are some of the things that I pulled to get ready for St. Patrick's Day. Area Houses These area houses make a great craft during my small group time. It really is "Print and Go," even though it looks like it might involve some prep. You can read more about … [Read more...]
Maker’s Monday: Gingerbread House Fact Families
Maker's Monday this week was the perfect blend! Multiplication and division fact families, easy to assemble art work, and a quick holiday bulletin board made for a great morning. Normally Monday mornings bring in kids bummed that the weekend is over, but ever since instituting Maker's Monday, kids come bouncing in and immediately read the SmartBoard in order to find out what they will be making for morning work. They nearly … [Read more...]
