Ways to Succeed with Distance Learning

My last blog post talked about ways to keep a routine and stick to it with at home learning.  Over the last few days, I have taken time to understand how to incorporate some fun technology applications into your daily schedule.  Have you heard of the BOOM Learning™ website?  

Why use BOOM™ Cards?

             They can be used with computers, tablets and other devices.
 They are self grading and can track student progress.
 There is no prep involved, laminating or storage requirements.
 Students have access to task cards and can work at their own pace.
 They are ideal for independent learning.

More about BOOM Learning…

To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (play provides instant feedback for self-grading Boom Cards). Fast Play is always a free way for students to engage with Boom Cards decks. For additional assignment options you'll need a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account.  Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial.

Find my lastest BOOM™ Cards here:

At Home Activities

Over the last few days, I've realized that school closures have created a ripple effect among teaching and parent communities.  These are difficult times for many.  Filling in a school day at home has become the new norm for many families.  We are now entering distance learning.  For many families, that will mean using technology.  For some, that is not an option.  As the next few weeks unfold, I have begun to think about ways to engage students at home without causing undue stress.  The curriculum will need to be delivered but there are some ways to ensure family time doesn't become "I don't want to do this work" time.

Here are some tips to get started:

1) Begin with a routine.  Students are used to a schedule.  That could mean adding a schedule to the fridge or wall.  Use a framework and stick to it.  Begin with scheduling meals, breaks (recess) and then break the day into subjects.  If you're not sure where to begin, ask your children when their subjects were.  There would be times for Science, Math, Art and so on.

2) Do build in "recess" or breaks. The phone is still a low tech tool.  Why not have students say a quick "hello" to a friend or family member?  Think of it as recess but stick to the time frame as if it were recess.

3) Keep the Arts alive.  You really don't have to be an artist to do that. Many great teachers have "learned" to create art lessons, music lessons, dance lessons and drama lessons.  Reader's Theater is really a fun activity that involves both reading and "acting."  It's easy to take a children's book and rewrite it in script.  Then the student becomes the character or characters.

4) Get students up and moving.  I've created an Indoor Scavenger Hunt as a free download.  This has become a hit.  All you need is another player.

5) Schedule some time for quiet.  It could mean reading, doodling or creating.  I've also created these free bookmarks for students to decorate.  

6) Give yourself permission to break away from the routine.  Some days are not going to be perfect.  Screen time is there if you need it.  So is cooking together.  There's a great deal of math when learning to cook or bake.  Think of bringing out puzzles, board games and a deck of cards.  These are great activities to promote wonderful social skills such as turn taking and positive verbal communication. 

Free Bookmarks!

I think the one thing that hurt my teacher ears is "I hate reading."  I'm trying to think of ways to ensure students enjoy reading so I started to create fun bookmarks they could colour.  This set has 12 different bookmarks to choose from.  For easy printing, I added 3 of the same bookmarks to each page.  As an added bonus, they're free!  Just click on the image below:

St. Patrick's Day Resources

Here are some fun activities for St. Patrick's Day:

St. Patrick's Day Roll a Story

Students will be prompted to tell or write story with a St. Patrick's Day theme. This unit includes a story prompt sheet, graphic organizers, word lists (St. Patrick's & transition words), rubric and specialty writing paper with full and half lined pages.  All you need is a number cube (1-6).

St. Patrick's Day Quick Writes

If you want a one day writing blitz or a variety of activities for stations, offer some quick writes to your students.  This unit contains five writing ideas for your St. Patrick's Day writing stations or bulletin boards. These include Alliteration, Recipe Writing, Wanted Poster, Wish Booklet and Word Lists. St. Patrick's Day vocabulary and writing paper is included. 

St. Patrick's Day Math Activities

Enjoy St. Patrick's Day with some fun math stations. Four stations are included in the pack. Activities include: Draw a Leprechaun Math Challenge, A Pot of Gold Race, Bump Games and Race to the End of the Rainbow. The Draw a Leprechaun Challenge includes 2 versions (addition and multiplication). Students are asked to generate sums or products and then draw a leprechaun part according to each sum or product generated. The first person to complete his or her leprechaun is declared the winner. Pot of Gold Race involves generating quotients with two players. One plays for decimals, one plays for whole numbers. The first person to get to the pot of gold is declared the winner. You will also find Bump Games using both addition and multiplication boards as well as a Race to the End of the Rainbow game that involves generating place value digits from 0 to 99. This is a great way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a math station day or a home-school connection. 

St. Patrick's Day Idioms

Here's a fun way to teach idioms to your students with a St. Patrick's Day theme. This unit has expressions on word cards ready for cutting and laminating. Students will be provided with a blank template and task cards filled with an expression related to a St.Patrick's Day theme. They will then be asked to sketch a situation using the idiomatic expression on the card and then write and sketch their interpretation of it. This is a great addition to your Word Work Station or can be used as an extra activity for early finishers. 

Valentine's Day Stations

If you're looking for some fun activities for Valentine's Day, here are a few ideas:

Math Stations

Using a Valentine's Day theme, students will have the opportunity to explore numbers. This unit contains four activities that are ideal for math stations or may be used as home-school connections. Activities include: "Cupid" (a math game that generates either sums or products), "Bump" using addition or multiplication, 2 place value games based on numbers 0 to 99. Playing cards, boards and full instructions are included. 

Valentine's Day Roll a Story

Students will be prompted to tell or write story with a Valentine's Day theme. This unit includes a story prompt sheet, graphic organizers, word lists (Valentine's Day & transition words), rubric and specialty writing paper with full and half lined pages.

Valentine's Day Silly Sentences for Fluent Readers

Silly sentences have always been a fun way to explore sentence building and recognizing parts of speech. Students in grades 3 through 6 will have the opportunity to use subject, verb and complement cards to build and simplify silly sentences. Challenging verb cards are included with this unit as well as nouns associated with the St. Valentine's Day theme, a blank sentence building template, display and label cards and a synonym chart. This is a perfect activity to use in your Word Work Stations or as an extra project for early finishers. 

Valentine's Day Writing Paper

This package includes Valentine's themed letter writing paper and lined paper for emergent and established writers. Art work created includes a penguin, bunny, puppy and bear. Bonus gift tags included and note cards are included.

Valentine's Day Part Part Whole Cards (Great for a Math Chat)!!!


Here's a fun way to assist students in computation of number sums either in math stations, with a buddy or for independent practice. This unit of 25 part-part-whole cards will allow students to practice sums from 2 to 10 with a Valentine's theme. The unit includes 2 variations for the numbers 2 and 3 and 3 variations for the numbers 4 to 10. With numbers hidden with flaps, Students can then justify what the missing part is and lift the flap to verify their answers. Cards may be used during a number talks, during guided math groups or for individual assessments.

Valentine's Day Freebies

This is a writing task to assist students in exploring their senses on Valentine's Day . Students are asked to think about ways in which Valentine's Day allows them to see, hear, taste, touch and feel. A planning template and printable pages are included.

Valentine's Day Printable

Valentine's Day Card

Valentine's Day Free Cards

Ringing in 2020

Have you gone completely paperless?  I do value teaching with a digital lense but I still love bulletin boards with students' work prominently on display.  I find that bulletin board creations are becoming more information boards.  Here's a fun way to keep a goal setting board up for a while.  I don't use the word resolution but rather "goals".  Using hockey stick writing templates, students can write their goals for the new year.

You'll find this free download here:

Keep students busy with this fun roll a story.  All you need is a 6 sided number cube and the prompt board.  Graphic organizers and writing paper is included:

This fun clip art is a great way to decorate newsletters or resources:

Add some fun writing paper to your writing stations.  You'll find a collection of papers for both emergent and established writers. 

  

Start the new year off with some fun math stations. This unit includes 4 activities. The first is number of the day. Using the new year, students will look at place value and fill in a number of the day chart. The next activity involves patterns found in a January calendar.The third activity (Race to Midnight) involves measuring time to 5 minute intervals. The final activity is to reach the target number using cards numbered 0 to 9. The target number is the new year. 

The whole bundle is available here:

Wishing you a prosperous, safe, happy and healthy new year!

New Year's Dollar Deals

If you're thinking about some ways to save on teaching resource, the "New Year's Dollar Deals" is taking place on December 31st and January 1st.  Hundreds of resources will be marked down to $1.00.  I have joined the TpT Focused Success Group to #Ringin2020 this year.

Please remember to use #Ringin2020 as part of your search to see selected items.

I am putting the following resources down to $1.00 on those two days:  

Paragraph Writing

Teach paragraph writing with this easy to use resource. Using visual displays and organizers, students will learn how to write a paragraph. In addition to writing prompts, graphic organizers, and a rubric, students will work on identifying topic sentences, supporting details and concluding sentences. You will find parts of a paragraph, generating ideas using autobiographical and biographical details, descriptive, expository, narrative, opinion and procedural paragraphs. As well students will learn to understand the main idea, put ideas in order, compare and contrast paragraphs, look at transition words and use checklists.

Retelling

If you're teaching retelling or having students practice sequencing events, this resource has everything you need to get started. You will find graphic organizers and labels for your bulletin board, bookmarks, display cards with pictures to accompany characters, setting, problem, order of events from beginning, middle to end, solution and the heart of the message, a rubric, and a transitions word list.

Happy Shopping!

Christmas Resources

December is just around the corner.  Get ready for some fun days ahead (I mean busy ones).  In the meantime, no need for store bought decorations when you can display some lovely student work.  Below is just a sampling of some Christmas resources.  You'll also find a bonus free clip art! 


Christmas Writing Folder

This interactive folder is a great springboard to assist your students with three writing forms and a bonus Wanted Poster. You will find a descriptive task called Open the Doors to Christmas. With this four door book, students will use 4 of their senses to describe the Christmas season. A procedural writing task is included. Students will write about how to ready their place for Santa. A letter writing activity is included. This is a choice with students deciding on who they would like to direct the letter to at the North Pole. Various letter writing choices are provided. A fun task is to have students create wanted posters for jobs at Santa's workshop. A sample is provided to encourage descriptive details and drawings to make this poster task a fun one.Templates, rubrics and folder assembly instructions are included. All you need is a regular sized folder. 

Idioms Word Work

This unit has expressions on word cards ready for cutting and laminating. Students will be provided with a blank template and task cards filled with an expression related to a Christmas theme. They will then be asked to sketch a situation using the idiomatic expression on the card and then write and sketch their interpretation of it. This is a great addition to your Word Work Station or can be used as an extra activity for early finishers. 


Christmas Writing Task Cards

Task cards are individualized with title and writing prompts. In addition to 24 prompts, you will find graphic organizers and specialty writing paper to assist students with the writing process. These task cards will make a great addition to a writing station. 


Christmas Math Stations

Keep your students engaged in fun math activities with a Christmas theme. Activities include: construction of a Gingerbread House based on money amounts, December calendar math activities involving patterning and operations, completing a hidden picture using decimal operations and playing a Race to the Gingerbread House game based on odd and even sums.

The Gingerbread House construction and Race to the Gingerbread House game may be differentiated. Game boards, instructions, answers and number cards are included.

Christmas Memories Recount Writing

This is a great home-school connection or addition to your literacy writing station. Students are encouraged to write about their special Christmas memories. A helpful planning sheet is included for your struggling writers. This writing activity will encourage writing at any grade level. 


Christmas Writing Paper

This package includes Christmas letter writing paper and lined paper for emergent and established writers. Art work created includes a reindeer, penguin and dog. Bonus gift tags are included in this package.

Silly Christmas Sentences for Fluent Readers

Silly sentences have always been a fun way to explore sentence building and recognizing parts of speech. Students in grades 3 through 6 will have the opportunity to use subject, verb and complement cards to build and simplify silly sentences. Challenging verb cards are included with this unit as well as nouns associated with the Christmas theme, a blank sentence building template, display and label cards and a synonym chart. This is a perfect activity to use in your Word Work Stations or as an extra project for early finishers. 

Christmas Part Part Whole Number Cards

Part-part-whole cards are designed to assist students in computation of number sums. This unit of 25 part-part-whole cards will allow students to practice sums from 2 to 10. The unit includes 2 variations for the numbers 2 and 3 and 3 variations for the numbers 4 to 10. With numbers hidden with flaps, Students can then justify what the missing part is and lift the flap to verify their answers. Cards may be used during a number talks, during guided math groups or for individual assessments. 

Christmas Roll a Story

Students will be prompted to tell or write story with a Christmas theme. This unit includes a story prompt sheet, graphic organizers, word lists (Christmas & transition words), rubric and specialty writing paper with full and half lined pages.

Christmas Write the Room

This is a fun way to have students recognize and learn to write Christmas words. Used as a literacy station, printed cards on cardstock can be placed around the room at students’ height. Using a clipboard and recording sheet, students will write the correct word beside the correct number. There are two variations of the recording sheet for differentiation. Cards contain shape box letters and images to reinforce letter formation and word recognition. 

Free Downloads

Christmas Writing Choice Board Freebie

This writing choice board freebie is a great addition to your Writing Station or a useful activity for early finishers. Eight writing options plus a free one are included.

Free Clip Art

Christmas Frames

Halloween Resource Roundup

That time of year is fast approaching.  Here are some fun activities to use in your classrooms.

Halloween Math Stations

Halloween math stations are a fun way to consolidate learning for students in Grades 3 to 6. This package of activities includes a patterning poster project, word cards, poster templates and a rubric to use after working through terms such as increasing patterns, decreasing patterns and repeating patterns. Two criteria checklists have been developed. One uses the slide, flip and turn vocabulary while the other uses translations, reflections and rotations. A sample poster planner is part of this package as well as images to use in the creative part of the poster. Individual patterning practice activities are included, an addition game, multiplication game and a place value game using numbers between 0 and 99.

Halloween Writing Activities

Halloween is always a fun time of year to introduce literacy activities to your classroom. This bundle contains four Halloween units found in my store. The Halloween Writing Unit contains three forms: descriptive writing, procedural writing and informational writing.  The descriptive writing component is introduced through an Onomatopoeia Poem. With the creation of words that produce natural sounds, students can come up with a creative way to explore the world of poetry. It is recommended that a Halloween CD be used for this activity. If a CD is not available, you may access the internet for Halloween sounds or have students come up with their own.  When writing a procedure, students can come up with a Halloween Recipe that will send shivers down the reader’s spine. A step by step “how to” activity is included to assist in the procedural writing process.  Finally, the informational piece is always a fun one that allows students to publish their work on specialty writing paper. Students will explore fascinating facts about bats and explain why bats exhibit certain characteristics, habits or features. This writing kit includes a writing guide to assist your students, writing forms, display ideas and book covers (if you choose to turn these into class books), specialty writing paper and a rubric. 
 

Halloween Silly Sentences

A working with words activity will have students in grades 3 through 6 use subject, verb and complement cards to build and simplify silly sentences. Challenging verb cards are included with this unit as well as nouns associated with the Halloween theme, a blank sentence building template, display and label cards and a synonym chart. This is a perfect activity to use in your Word Work Stations or as an extra project for early finishers.

Our Best Halloween Costumes

If you would like to start a great home-school connection or addition to your literacy writing station, the Halloween Costumes Write About book is the place to start. A helpful planning sheet is included for your struggling writers. This writing activity will encourage writing at any grade level.

Halloween Writing Paper

Finally, a package filled with Halloween letter writing paper and lined paper for emergent and established writers is included in this bundle. Art work created includes kids in costumes, jack-o-lanterns, spiders and bats. 

Halloween Number Chats

Halloween images are presented in an organized arrangement by number. Students will learn to recognize the number of objects without counting them. This is called “subitizing”. Incorporating these images into daily number chats provides opportunities for students to work on counting, seeing numbers in multiple ways and learning combinations. 

Each page contains 4 of the same image but in different combinations for number chats. You may use one set of 4 images per day. The students can apply the strategies from each picture presented in whole or small group math chats.. 

Halloween Shape Paper

Make writing fun with this Halloween shaped paper pack. You will find four themes to choose from:  a pumpkin, a witch's hat, a haunted house and a cat. Paper is created for emergent and established writers plus blank form.

Halloween Roll a Story

Students will be prompted to tell or write a story with a Halloween theme.  This unit includes a story prompt sheet, graphic organizers, word lists (Halloween & transition words), rubric and speciality writing paper with full and half lined pages.

Part Part Whole Cards Halloween

Here's a fun way to assist students in computation of number sums either in math stations, with a buddy or for independent practice. This unit of 25 part-part-whole cards will allow students to practice sums from 2 to 10 with a Halloween theme. The unit includes 2 variations for the numbers 2 and 3 and 3 variations for the numbers 4 to 10. With numbers hidden with flaps, Students can then justify what the missing part is and lift the flap to verify their answers. Cards may be used during a number talks, during guided math groups or for individual assessments. 

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Halloween Loot Bag Tags

Here's a free product your trick or treaters will love: Halloween Loot Bag Tags. Just add a loot bag and goodies before placing this tag on the treat bag.

Building Classroom Community

If this is your first year teaching or your twentieth, you know that students come to you from very different backgrounds, languages, experiences and needs.  Getting to know your students is never easy.  Even with parent conferences, documentation from previous teachers, or questionnaires, your goal is to know your students well while providing a safe place to learn and grow.  My greatest memories as an elementary school teacher are not of the students who were outspoken, commanded attention or were "good" at everything.  It was of the students who came into the classroom painfully shy, uncertain and a bit overwhelmed.  Those were the students who needed me most.  They needed a boost of confidence and a place the build their self-esteem.  The suggestions I provide  may not work for everyone but they certainly helped with ways to jump start discussions and to build a classroom community.  Here's a snippet of my latest resource. 

The Magic Box

At the beginning of each school year, a decorative “Magic Box” is passed around to each student.  Ask students to look inside the box but to not say a thing. At the end of the Magic Box sharing session, students are asked to talk about what they have noticed.  Inside the box is a mirror.  Student are encouraged to talk about their own reflections and why “they as students” are the most important component of a classroom community.   

For additional ideas on how to build a classroom community, take a peek at my Classroom Community Activities Pack. 

TpT Giveaway & Back to School Sale August 6th and 7th

I've teamed up with some fabulous TpT authors for a back to school TpT card giveaway.  the prize is a $100 Teacher Pay Teachers Gift card organized by Kelly Malloy from an Apple for the Teacher and Co-hosts include: .The Fun Factory, 180 Days of Reading, 1stgradefireworks, Kelly McCown, It's a Teacher Thing, Peas In A Pod, Mickey's Place, Chocolate 4 Teachers, LIVIN' IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, Mrs Wenning's Classroom, A Plus Kids, Sandra Naufal, TeachingLife, The Chocolate Teacher, Star Kids, Leah Popinski, Walk with Me a Second, Ms. K, Roots and Wings, and Think Grow Giggle.

Giveaway ends 8/13/19 and is open worldwide.  Use the Rafflecopter to enter.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 

Giveaways To Grow Your Blog Classroom tips,teaching ideas, and resources for the upper elementary classroom. Teacher Giveaways

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