Classroom Strategies
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The Perfect Mother’s Day Craft for Kids!
What is more precious than a tiny hand? Your kids and students will love making these beautiful hand print key chains and their Mommas will be so grateful! Before doing this project, I had no idea how many fun ways you could use shrinky paper. This is the perfect Mother’s Day craft! For this project, you’ll need to gather the materials below: Shrinky dink paper Rainbow ink pad (or your color of choice) or acrylic paint (no need for embossing powder) Embossing powder (I personally like the sparkly one to add an extra bit of flair : ) Hand held hole puncher (this one is my fave) Key…
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Butterfly Life Cycle
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commission for items purchased. But don’t worry, I never recommend products that I don’t believe in. Butterfly Life Cycle One of my favorite units of the year is the Butterfly Life Cycle. It’s so much fun to see my students get excited about the transformation of their caterpillars into butterflies! They get to see the science we learned come to life. Their little wheels start turning trying to figure out how in the world a caterpillar can turn into a butterfly. It’s really exciting to see! When to order your caterpillars Every year,…
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10 Low Prep, Must-See End of the Year Activities
10 Low Prep, Must-See End of the Year Activities You’ve made it! The end of the school year is an exciting and stressful time full of standardized testing and teachers trying to cram in that last bit of information before the year comes to an end. Teachers are exhausted and students are drained. The little energy we have left shouldn’t be spent creating extravagant or time-consuming activities. If you want fun and meaningful activities that can be ready in minutes, look no further! 1. Write a letter to future students This is one of my favorite end-of-the-year activities. It’s really fun to see what the students come up with. Over the years…
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The Secret to Teaching Inferences
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commission for items purchased. But don’t worry, I never recommend products that I don’t believe in. The Secret to Teaching Inferences Inferencing is an important skill in our everyday lives. We make inferences all the time without even realizing it. Inferences are also crucial to other reading strategies like cause and effect, using context clues, and many others. Teaching inferences can be tricky, but I’d like to share with you some tips and tricks for helping your students understand inferencing. Start with the Definition Students need to understand what inferencing is. Start with…
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How to Host a Murder Mystery in Your Classroom!
How to Host a Murder Mystery in Your Classroom! Students love murder mystery games and the level of engagement you get during the lesson is amazing! Not only is it a student favorite, but it’s also a teacher favorite. Students collaborate with their peers, engage in meaningful discussion, and use problem-solving and critical thinking skills to solve a mystery. Here is a link to my mystery game resources. The first thing you’ll need is… a good mystery! Find a variety of both murder and non-murder mysteries in my TpT store. There are mysteries appropriate from kindergarten all the way up to 12th grade. I’ve even had college professors use these…
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What is Inquiry Based Learning?
Inquiry-Based Learning Inquiry-based classrooms are exciting, full of creativity, and student-driven. Inquiry-based learning is not a new teaching strategy. In fact, you probably heard the term in college. Inquiry-based learning is a teaching model that centers around getting students excited about learning by having them pose questions and investigate to deepen their understanding. Instead of learning through a teacher’s question, students are learning through their own questions. We can get our students engaged in learning by letting them explore topics they’re excited about. An excellent resource to help you on your journey of inquiry-based learning is The Curious Classroom: 10 Structures for Teaching with Student-Directed Inquiry. This book will inspire you to…
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10 Books that will make you a better teacher
10 Books that Will Make You a Better Teacher Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commision for items purchased. But don’t worry, I never recommend products that I don’t believe in. As a teacher, I consider myself a lifetime learner. I am constantly on the lookout for ways to improve my teaching, pedagogy, and skills. I want to make sure that I am making the biggest impact I can on each of my students’ lives. This is a great list of books I think every teacher needs to read throughout their career. 1. Teach Like a Champion…
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Classroom Management
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commision for items purchased. But don’t worry, I never recommend products that I don’t believe in. There is no doubt in my mind that the key to a happy classroom with happy students and happy teachers is successful classroom management. But, how do we get to that point? Behavior management strategies are vital in order to help students learn how to self-regulate and become aware of themselves, their peers, and the adults around them. Without a strong behavior management system in place, your classroom will quickly spiral out of control. You’ll be…
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10 Read alouds to foster a growth mindset
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. What is growth mindset? Every teacher wants their students to persevere and overcome failure. How do we get our students to that point? We foster a growth mindset. Teaching students to push through challenges will cultivate a love of learning and knowledge. According to Carol Dweck, Ph.D., there are two mindsets, fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset tend to avoid challenges and give up easily. On the other hand, individuals with a growth mindset embrace challenges and keep trying. I’ve seen…
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5 Steps to Better Guided Reading
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. But don’t worry, I never recommend products I don’t believe in! 5 Easy Steps to Better Guided Reading What is guided reading? Guided reading is a powerful and essential instructional approach that develops better readers. I love guided reading! But for new teachers or teachers who haven’t used guided reading before, it can be difficult to wrap your head around. Regardless of the grade you teach or the instructional levels of your students, the essentials of guided reading remain the…
