If you or your school participates in Rock Your School, then you have probably started searching for some great Rock Your School Themes and activities. "Rock Your School" is a movement started by educators to provide engaging, rigorous, and dynamic lessons that keep your students challenged and ...
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Rock Your School Themes and Ideas
A Fun Apple Unit Study for Elementary
Are you looking for fun, apple-themed resources for an apple unit of study for your elementary classroom?
I love to incorporate thematic units into my classroom, and autumn provides so many opportunities for fun units of study. It's the season of pumpkin patches, falling leaves, and apple ...
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How to Teach the Digestive System
Are you looking for some fun ways to teach your students about the digestive system? This digestive system unit is the perfect resource for the upper elementary classroom. I created this resource several years ago after struggling to find student-friendly text and classroom activities for the ...
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Sports Day Learning Activities
Does your school participate in a sports day or field day during the school year? Bring the excitement surrounding sports day into the classroom with some fun sports-themed classroom learning activities! Don't worry if your school doesn't host a school wide sports day. Host your own classroom ...
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What to Go Over on Meet the Teacher Night
Back to school season is almost here! Are you a teacher who likes to work a little in the summer to make the start of the year smoother, or do you a take your well-deserved break and not touch your work stuff until your first day? I always let myself have a good month off (June) and then by July ...
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3 Ways for Teachers to Get Back to School Ready
Have you started getting ready for back to school? My teacher side gets so excited around back to school season. I think it's something about a fresh start to a new school year that gives me all the feels. I have the choice to change things, add new ideas, be better, and do better than before. ...
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Engaging Learning Centers
Integrating Subjects into Reading Series #5
Learning centers have always been a favorite part of my reading block. It provides the much needed time to teach small groups, work one on one with a struggling student, or do any testing. The question teachers always have though is, "What learning ...
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How to have a Classroom Carnival Day
Come one, come all!
One of my new favorite things to do in the classroom is to plan an entire day around a theme. Theme days are meant to be super engaging and fun. Go all out and decorate your classroom. Include special snacks for the day. Make your classroom theme day as big or as simple as ...
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How to Write About the Text
Integrating Subjects into Reading Series #4
Today's series blog post is all about how to use content area writing in the classroom. Writing about the text is not limited to literature. Writing can be a valuable tool to engage students with science and social studies text. Through content area ...
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How to Increase Student Vocabulary
INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES INTO READING SERIES #3
Not all students have the same background knowledge or out of school experiences. This often leads to a limited vocabulary. So how can you increase student vocabulary? Be intentional about teaching vocabulary! Vocabulary study ...
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Integrate Science Text into Reading
Integrating Science and Social Studies into Reading Series #1
I am SO excited to dive into this new blog series all about making the most of the precious teaching time you have in the classroom. Today we will look how to integrate science and social studies text into your whole group or small ...
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Integrating Science and SS into Reading
Teachers have had the same problem since the beginning of time...How do you fit everything in each day?! My time in the classroom was often spent trying to multitask, overlap subjects, and teach ALL the things effectively and proficiently. I've learned a few things over the years, and I want ...
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How to Make a Plant Fossil
One of my favorite activities while teaching about plants is this fun "How to Make a Plant Fossil" activity! It's part of my comprehensive plants unit, found here, but I have included everything you need for this activity in this post. It is SUPER simple and the ingredients list is probably ...
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Favorite Earth Day Activities
April is a busy month with Easter, but we can’t forget about Earth Day too! When I was in the classroom I loved to teach about natural resources, plants and trees, recycling/reusing and pollution during April to tie in with Earth Day. Here are some Earth Day activities I have in my TPT store that I ...
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Plant Books and Videos
I love teaching all about plants in the spring. The kids are so interested and always want to learn more. I love having extra resources like these plant books and videos on hand to engage interested minds! Here are a few of my favorite books and videos to use when teaching about plants in the ...
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Muscular System Videos
One of my favorite things to teach is the human body! Do you teach about the muscular system in your class? I do, so I am always on the hunt for quality videos to use while teaching the muscular system. Videos have SO many great uses when teaching. They are perfect to supplement instruction, for ...
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Socially-Distanced Recess Ideas
If you are attending school in person right now like we are, you likely have wondered what your kiddos can do at recess to stay socially-distanced with minimal contact. Our playground is off limits, but there are still plenty of activities kids can do to expel all that energy. I have compiled a ...
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Engage Students While Teaching the Continents and Oceans
I love teaching about the continents and oceans. It's pretty easy to teach, students catch on super fast, and the lessons are engaging and fun! It is great to teach at the beginning of the school year before easing into harder content. I have stockpiled so many fun ideas over the years that I ...
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How to Practice Standards All Year Long
Have you ever taught a skill in your classroom only to find that a few months later many of your students have forgotten what you taught them? I know I have! As teachers, it is so important to have our ...
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Back to School Prep: Things to Do Now
Our "Summer Prep for Teachers" series continues with things you can do now to prepare for the upcoming school year. I've compiled a list of 5 things that you can DO now to make the start so school a little less stressful.
Experiment with Technology. Technology is not only highly engaging for ...
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Back to School Prep: Things to Make Now
Summer is a great time to make things to prep your classroom for back to school. If you can't tell, I am a planner. I like to get as many things done ahead of time as possible. Those first weeks of school are super hectic. If I can get things made ahead of time or at least partially made, it ...
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Back to School Prep: 7 Things to Buy in Summer
The beginning of the school year is exciting and hectic and EXPENSIVE! It seems like every day in the weeks leading up to the start of school I am spending money on school supplies, new shoes for my growing boys, random items in the Target Dollar Spot, and things I need to prep my classroom for ...
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Using QR Codes for Videos in the Classroom
I just love using QR codes in the classroom. They are quick to make, easy enough for students to use independently, fun, and free! For those of you not familiar with QR codes, QR codes are barcodes meant for quick scans with your cell phone or other photo device. You can download a QR scanning app ...
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Tips to Engage Students with Informational Text
For many students, fictional text is what brought about a love of reading. Who doesn't love a great story with relatable characters and an unexpected plot twist?! As students get older though, they begin “reading to learn.” This means that most text and classroom reading ...
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Teach Economics Basics in a Week!
To be honest, economics is not my favorite thing to teach. Maybe it stems from that one economics class I took in college that was SO BORING and honestly way over my head. Every once in awhile, I will still have a nightmare that I skipped economics class so many times that I failed! Don't worry, ...
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How to teach about Storms
I just love teaching about storms. Students sit perched on the edge of their seats anxious to hear all the exciting and dangerous details. Hands fly up around the room with students eager to tell their own experiences and knowledge. To make learning more relevant, I like to teach this ...
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