These Cutesy Calendars are perfect for a student-made holiday gift, but they can also be used for a variety of other purposes, too! This printable calendar is updated yearly and includes two years at a time! Handprint calendars make the sweetest gift for parents to receive from their student ... READ the POST
The Compliment Box
Teaching students the power of their words is so important, especially early on in the elementary years! Giving students an opportunity to practice using their words for encouragement, kindness and to bring others joy is something that we as teachers can so easily build into our day. The Compliment ... READ the POST
Favorite Poetry Unit
Teaching poetry is so much fun and so easy to do when you have the necessary tools! I remember my first year teaching fourth grade, our writing curriculum had nothing for teaching poetry. Luckily, I have always loved to write, especially poems, so I developed my own Poetry Unit. It was incredible to ... READ the POST
Counting Coins Activities
Counting money is such a fun skill to practice. I love all the great ideas out there on Pinterest and I'm always amazed at how excited students get when real money is involved. Here are a few ideas that can easily be mixed into your math centers for some counting money fun. I love the "Counting ... READ the POST
Solve It Strips® Math Puzzles
When math is hands-on, I have found that students will engage, no matter how difficult a math concept may initially seem. I have seen this over and over during my years in the primary classroom. Building math fluency, as well as student confidence in math, is critical in the early elementary years. ... READ the POST
Classroom Communication Tools (Freebies)
I love finding and implementing new classroom management strategies! Having anywhere from 20-36 students (depending on my grade level) made it necessary to have strong, positive communication tools in place, to help maximize every minute of instructional time. I want to share with you ... READ the POST
My Favorite Turn-In Basket
This simple clip turn-in basket is one of my favorite classroom management tools ever! This sweet little basket is what finally freed up my recess time, so I wasn't spending the first half of it sifting through homework, figuring out which students did or did not turn in their homework. Not only is ... READ the POST
Flip Sticks!
Flip Sticks are an amazing participation tool for calling on students at random! The idea of using name sticks is nothing new. In fact, this classroom management strategy has been around for a long time. Unfortunately, what I didn't learn until a few years into teaching, was how to keep track of ... READ the POST
PUNCH IT!
I am so excited to share this FUN and MOTIVATIONAL classroom management tools/incentive board...PUNCH IT! This board is super easy to make, only requiring a few tools. How it works is students earn letters (one letter at a time) on the whiteboard every time the class is working well as a whole. For ... READ the POST
SUPER WRITING!
Do your students get stuck on writing? "I don't know what to write about," was a common phrase in my classroom until I introduced SUPER WRITING! This simple writing fluency activity builds students' writing stamina, as well as gives them an idea bank full of writing topics. Super Writing is a ... READ the POST
Planet Flip Book
Students love learning about space! Teaching the order of the planets from the sun is such a fun lesson, and students love making this Planet Flipbook. I created this flipbook as a hands-on way for students to learn the order of the planets, but also to pull in some fine motor skills practice. To ... READ the POST
Roll to 100 Math Games!
There are so many fun games that can be played with a 100 Chart! One of my favorites is Roll to 100. This is a game that I created as a low-prep, fun, place value center for my second graders...and they loved it! I have also used this game with first graders to practice identifying odd and even ... READ the POST