This post is sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association and Sparky the Fire Dog® Hello darlings! What do you do in your classroom for Fire Prevention Week? I'll admit that in third grade, we really didn't give it much thought because we always left that to the first grade teachers. Firefighters would visit our school each year and put on a little program for the first graders. They would show the kiddos the firetruck and their gear and teach them about fire safety. But what about the big kids? We still need to talk about this each year. Do student have an escape plan at home in the event of a fire? Do ... Read More about Fire Prevention Week for Big Kids
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Books for Back to School
Hello darling! It's Back to School and I have 3 perfect books that you should check out! Book 1: ChrysanthemumBook SummaryThis book is super cute and is about a little mouse named Chrysanthemum who starts school and the other little girls make fun of her name for many different reasons. She begins to hate her name and hate school until her teacher steps in and says how beautiful her name really is.Lesson IdeaNormally, in a non pandemic world, I use this book to talk about hurtful words and how to treat others. We read the book and discuss Chrysanthemums feelings and how unkind the other girls were. I then pass around ... Read More about Books for Back to School
Engaging Back to School Activities with Social Distancing
Hello darlings! It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year; BACK TO SCHOOL!!! But thanks to the darn Corona virus, our lives are flipped upside down. So how are you still going to engage your students on the first few days of B2S? How are you going to make sure there is teamwork and community building?DisclaimerI will start off by saying my district is currently going back in person and we are still encouraged to do best practices with our students. They still want us to do partner and group work, just while wearing masks and hand washing. Our homeroom of 25 students students is ... Read More about Engaging Back to School Activities with Social Distancing
Flat Teacher Project
Hello darlings! I completed this project with my students during the school closures last quarter. The Flat Teacher Project is a spin off of the book Flat Stanley. This fun activity allows your students to take "you" on adventures with them. I had my students choose activities from a choice board and then take a picture with my Bitmoji completing that activity with them. I had my students take the pictures using Flipgrid, but you could also have a Google Slide for them to upload pictures to and even included a little writing assignment with it. They could write a little journal from your perspective or ... Read More about Flat Teacher Project
Using Google Slides as your Teacher Planner
Hello darlings! My teacher bestie and I are so similar when it comes to our passion for teaching and our love for our students! But we are so different when it comes to planning and how we organize things. LOL! I am a paper and digital hybrid. She is all digital and I wish I could be like her because my life would be so much easier! How I Plan I create one template that I love, in Google Slides. For a few weeks, I type my lessons in the beautiful template and print it out because I like to hang it on my bulletin board right by my desk. It looks so gorgeous and organized. As the weeks go ... Read More about Using Google Slides as your Teacher Planner
Creating a Class Promise Instead of Classroom Rules
Hello darlings! I don't have a list of rules posted in my room. Instead, I have a class promise that my students "made" and we recite it each morning. You would not believe how much it has changed the climate of my classroom! Students have a sense of ownership and they call each other out when someone isn't following the promise. I hear thinks like, "Jane, I asked you to stop, and in our Promise it says that when someone asks you to stop, we stop." Or when we do compliment circles for morning meeting, I will hear things like "I like how you always stay focused and work hard." How We Want Our Class to ... Read More about Creating a Class Promise Instead of Classroom Rules