Category Archives: back to school

Getting Ready to Go Back to School

Posted in back to school, classroom ideas, elementary by

Hello everyone! In case you haven’t heard, I am going back to the classroom next year! I am super excited! I have spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking at ideas to decorate and organize my new room! I must also confess that I have been to several dollar stores and Targets as well as buying things from neighbors on beg barter Facebook groups. I know it seems early and I see some of my friends are upset about the back to school stuff being out in stores, but I am excited to get back and don’t want to wait until the last minute to get it all together!

First up, look at these colorful totes I found in the Target Dollar Spot (I might have gone to a few Targets to get the colors I wanted)!  The labels were FREE from The Hungry Teacher.

welcome to school

Also, I found the triangles for a welcome banner using letters I already had! I am planning on adding some black and white polka dot ribbon to make finishing touches!

How cute are these colored clothes pins??? I think I will use them on this string to hang student work!

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I also found these pencil cups and used FREE labels to prep them!

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I was planning on making tissue paper pom poms, but lucked out at the dollar store and found these!

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Should I hang them from the ceiling or use them to make truffula trees?

Last, but not least, these Dr. Seuss posters were a steal… All 6 for $1 at the Target Dollar Spot!!!  The Seuss stickers were also $1 for each pack.

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Here are a few rooms that I have been looking at for inspiration:

Target Teacher Hacks

And, don’t worry, I have not forgotten to prepare for the ACADEMICS!  All this cute decor is fine and fun, but we do need to think about content and curriculum! Look at my last post to see all the fun games I have been making for my 4th graders!  place value game

Super Fun Fourth Grade Math Games

Want to see more?  Check out my Pinterest Board:

 

 

 

Early Finishers

Posted in back to school, classroom ideas, elementary, games, guided math, hands on learning, student engagement by

tips for early finishers.pngWhat in the world do you do with early finishers? This is a big question for teachers! I think it is important to teach your students to check their work when finished. Teaching students to improve their work when they think they are finished is a valuable lesson. But, after that, there are always going to be a handful of students who will finish their work sooner than the rest of the class. So, back to the question … What do you do? Sitting and waiting for the rest of the class to finish or doing busy work can be very boring and is not giving these students a chance to continue learning. Here are some of my favorite ideas for early finishers!

Set up a system for students so they can find out what to do without disrupting the class or asking you while you are helping other students. I love this display that can be set up at the front of the room.  The signs can be switched out depending on what you want the students to do each day.

 

 

Make sure your students know your expectations so they are not off task or disruptive. This poster is a great example and it is free! You could also make an anchor chart.

Have a place to organize the materials and supplies the students need for the activities to minimize questions such as “where do I get paper for _____ …. ?”

Extension menus are great for independent work. I like this reading menu, but you could make a menu for any subject. For example, if you are working on place value you could have a menu with place value activities for students to choose from.

Bulletin boards such as Boggle or Noggle can be fun! You can change the numbers or letters out every week or two. You could even put some students in charge of updating the board and making the answer key!

Stem Bins are a great hands on activity. Lots of fun while building reasoning skills.

Partner games and centers are a way to let your students interact with others while practicing skills.

Computer games and websites can be great learning tools. Make sure you set procedures up for how to get online and which sites students will go. Here are some of my favorites!

For more great ideas check out my early finishers board on Pinterest!

Tips to Plan and Prep for Math Workshop or Guided Math

Posted in addition, back to school, classroom ideas, elementary, guided math, hands on learning, math, problem solving by

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While there may be times that you want to use a traditional whole group model for instruction, there are other times you need to work with small groups in order to differentiate for your individual student’s needs. Math workshop (or guided math) is a very successful way to work in small group instruction time and maximize student learning. To make the best use of your time, planning and preparation are key. I have rounded up some of my favorite tips and resources here:

1.) Plan how to use your time! I like to start my Math class with a quick warm up and skill review and then move onto a mini-lesson when needed. Some new concepts can be taught to the whole group quickly and then reinforced in centers / stations. Some need longer time. This is where you have to decide what is best for your classroom, but a few helpful blogs have great ideas for scheduling:

 

2.) Find or create a simple lesson plan template and/or small group template:

3.) Set up a binder to keep schedules, plans, templates, and notes.

4.) Pick and post your rotation system.

5.) Group students by ability or interest. Grouping should be flexible and change often based on student’s individual needs.  For example, sometimes you may need to group students who need re-teaching on a specific skill and other days you may need to group students based on interests when planning projects. Another idea is to sometimes work with students you know will need extra help and pre-teach them a skill you will be teaching the whole class later in the week. This can save you time re-teaching later and will help boost their confidence and success when the class learns the skill.

6.) Teach your students the expectations for groups.

7.) Set up an organizational system and teach your students how the system works.

9.) Reflect and Plan for Next Time:  When you get to the end of the schedule, take some time to reflect before setting up the next rotation.  What worked? What was confusing? etc… This is also a time to look at your student groups and decide if you need to change anyone to a new group.

For more ideas, check out my Pinterest Board “Guided Math”.

 

Clever Ideas for Organizing Math Stations

Posted in back to school, elementary, hands on learning, math by

organizing math centers

These clever ideas for organizing math stations are going to help keep your classroom tidy all year long! Each tip is clickable and will lead you to more details about organizing the math stations.

  1. Use colorful storage drawers with wipe off labels to rotate your current centers throughout the year.

the teacher studio

2. Use empty frosting cans to store card games.

frosting cans

3. Store your manipulatives with or near your centers.

4. Use zippered pencil pouches for centers. (Free labels here.)

5. Gallon sized Ziploc bags are super helpful.

6. Label clear shoeboxes for simple storage.

7. Number your baskets or bins for each center.

8. Prepare Math tubs ahead of time.

9. Wide plastic drawers are great for organizing centers.

10. Use a pocket chart and colorful labels to keep track of groups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why & How to Use Task Cards in The Classroom

Posted in addition, back to school, elementary, freebies, math, middle school by

Why?

Task Cards Save Paper: Using task cards can cut down on the number of copies and paper used because you don’t need to make a set for each student and if laminated or kept in protective sleeves, they can be used for years without printing new copies. 

Task Cards Increase Engagement: They add to student engagement because they add novelty. Paper and pencil practice is certainly useful, but can become dull and routine.  Using dry erase markers on a task card can mix things up a bit.  Also, task cards can be printed with fun colors and clip art to add interest for the students.

How? 

Centers and or Work Stations – Print cards and keep in small containers or baggies.  Have students work in pairs or groups solving problems on task cards and recording on a record sheet.  I like using record sheets for two reasons. One, the students are more likely to stay on task if they know they will have to turn something in at the end of the center. And, the other reason, I like to look over the record sheets to see if students need re-teaching or extra help with the skill/concept worked on in the center.  If you do not have a lot of copy paper you can always have students use notebook paper to create a record sheet.  Have them write the name of the center on the paper and then number or letter their answers.

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Whole Class Cooperative Groups – My suggestions for whole class would be the same as for work stations & centers except you would need one set of task cards for each table group.  After learning or reviewing a concept with whole class, the students could work on the cards with their table groups.   After the group work you could have a class discussion about the task cards as a way to wrap up. Another whole class activity which would require only one set of task cards is a “Scoot” or circuit.  To set up a Scoot you have a different task card on each desk and have the students work in pairs rotating around the set of task cards in numerical or alphabetical offer.  Some teachers will set a timer for scoot and others will let students move as they finish.  For a FREE  “Scoot Record Sheet” that can be used with any set of task cards, click here.

ScootSheetPREVIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading →

15 Terrific Back to School Bulletin Boards

Posted in back to school, classroom ideas, elementary, middle school, multiplication by

7 fun back to school math activities!

Looking for bulletin board ideas for back to school? Look no further, I have 15 terrific bulletin boards for you to see!

1.  The bright colors on this design are awesome against the black background and the students will love to see their names! What a way to welcome the kids to class!

2. This bubble gum machine would be a fun way to welcome kids back! Put their names on the gumballs. Says first grade, but would work for any grade.

3. Have a sports theme? These jersey’s are super fun and cute just like this! You could also switch it up and give the students paper cut out like jerseys and have them design their own!

4. Another sports bulletin board! The students could decorate their own basketballs or you could prepare ahead of time with their names!

5. I love this interactive board! Such a great message for your students. You can have them write their dream on a cloud on the first day of school!

6.  This Guess Who bulletin board is so clever!

7.  I love this colorful back to school board! Take pictures at meet the teacher or first day of school and display!

8. Have a super hero theme? This super hero bulletin board rocks!

9. This clever display would take a little time to work out, but is SO terrific!

10. How about  a movie star theme? Your students will have fun writing bios for their photos!

11. These tissue paper cupcakes are so sweet!  I love the 3D effect from the tissue paper!

12. This burlap background with a welcome back banner is so cute and colorful!

13. So, technically this is a door display, but this owl theme would work great on a bulletin board as well!

14. I love this FAMILY bulletin board. What a great way to make students feel like they belong in the classroom!

15. This bulletin board is beautiful AND has a great message!

Want to see more bulletin boards? Check out my board on Pinterest:

 

Back To School Math

Posted in addition, back to school, elementary, estimating, math, multiplication, rounding by

Guess what?!?  It’s time to get ready to go back to school!  Here in my little world we have less than 2 weeks left until the kids are back in school!

addition back to school math.png

 

If you are a parent looking for something to use to help our kids brush up on Math Skills before the school year stats off, I have something perfect for you!  If you are a teacher looking for classroom work to help get your students back into gear, I also have something for you! Continue reading →

Back to School Get to Know You Activities

Posted in back to school, elementary, highschool, middle school, student engagement by

back to school 10 ideasThe first week of school is an important week that sets the tone for your whole year. Taking time to get to know your students and for them to get to know each other helps build a classroom of community and caring.  Here are some of my favorite ideas for back to school activities. I wish there was time to do them all!

I love to read The Important Book to my students! It is a short, but sweet book with a great message about being yourself. After reading the book, I give my students index cards and have them write important things about themselves that they would like to share me and with the class. Once they have written their cards, I pick them up and shuffle. I read one card at a time without saying whose card it is and the other students guess whose card it is. A fun way to learn about each other!

back to school cards

 

Another activity that would go along great with the book is to have your students make posters about themselves to hang around the room.  This All About Me Craft would be perfect!

 

Who doesn’t love a great selfie?

 

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You could have your students draw “selfies” or make collages of themselves doing a favorite hobby or activity.  Then have students share the “selfies” with the class.

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Another idea for selfies is this selfie project which looks like so much fun! Download it for free!

 

 

Get your students moving while you have a beach ball toss with questions designed to get to know one another!

 

And while you are up, play a game of switch sides if …

 

Student searches can also be a lot of fun! Here is a free download.

 

I remember making an “All About Me” bag for a class when I was in high school.  We decorated the outside with magazine pictures and words and then brought the bag back to school with a few things inside to share. Here is a free download with instructions from A Love For Teaching:

 

 

How cute is this cootie catcher?  Way cute, right!

 

Need ideas for Back to School Math?

 

How about Science?

 

For more great ideas, check out my Back To School Board on Pinterest.