The Unfair Game is a totally unfair twist on Jeopardy that your students will LOVE to hate! Learn how to play and find sample game boards in this post.

This year, the paperwork has become more cumbersome than ever! I'm not sure how it is elsewhere, but in NY, it feels like my district is trying to be the overachievers because we are being asked to do things for APPR that other districts haven't even thought of, particularly in the area of the specials teachers! One of the things we had to do this year was choose one class to be observed in. I would personally rather have my observations take place over all of the grade levels I teach, but my union won't let me. Since I'm teaching high school this year, I'd love to be observed there to get feedback, but I was still required to choose one area (and this is all from what our union has decided...sometimes I think they think more about the core area teachers than they do the special area teachers!). I would have chosen a high school level but I'm still being observed by the elementary principal (which doesn't really matter) but the next aspect of our observations is what made me stick with elementary because it will be less work for me in the long run, especially as I get closer to popping out this baby! ;) With whichever class or subject area we have chosen to be observed in, we have to fill out weekly lesson plans (and as rumor has it, next year we will have to do this for ALL of our subject areas/grade levels). And I don't mean just copy off our plan book anymore. We have to have full, written out lessons. If I chose Studio Art, I would have to have complete, written lessons for every day of the week, including daily objectives, bell ringers, exit slips, etc. While I'm working towards being able to do that, I am certainly not doing that now. By choosing an elementary class, my lessons are condensed down to 2-3 day lessons and more manageable to write out. Considering I have 12 different classes to prepare for weekly, I'm taking the easy way out! Last year I created and started using this lesson plan format to write my lessons and organize my grade level curriculum. I printed out a bunch of these templates and simply hand-wrote my lessons, so I was technically already doing this. The administrators liked my template and used it to create a common core template for everyone to use. Of course, when they did that, they left out all of the my art stuff. Now, I had planned on using these templates for my substitute when I go out on maternity leave so for me, the art parts were way more important than the Marzano stuff. I asked if I could alter my original template to include what was missing from theirs, and thankfully, they agreed. Of course, I ended up having to do two revisions because they wanted the Marzano stuff on the front, but I'm still happy with my ending template. This is my new lesson plan template. I have posted this to the SmARTteacher as well so you can find it there. If you open it in Word, you can simply click on the boxes in each category to mark what you are using, and then simply type in all of the information. I created a slightly different one for each level based on what the different listening strands are for K-2, as well as the basic common core math and ELA standards for each grade level. This is my district's lesson plan template for everyone to use.

Here’s an archive of our downloadable activities so far- feel free to download and print off any of these to use yourself or with your club / group / scouts troop / evil supervillain society&…

A lesson plan! A lesson plan! My kingdom for a lesson plan!

Looking for grammar lesson plans on how to teach sentence structure? Teach simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

Integrate art and literacy with no prep or background knowledge with step by step tutorials for art history and art around the world!

Thinking of trying a flipped English classroom? Whether you're doing it to increase active learning or for virtual classroom needs, start here.

Do you struggle with finding interesting ways to teach ESL listening skills? Maybe you have an activity or two already but you want to be able to mix it up and keep things interesting. By the end of…

I've been reading the book, Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci, and just finished chapter 3. It was a real eye-opener. Through all of my years of teaching, I thought I was differentiating by planning and implementing reteaching and enrichment lessons and activities as my class worked through a unit. But in this chapter, I learned how important it is to start the differentiation before the unit even begins! This process begins with the preassessment. So much valuable information can be gathered before you begin teaching a unit. The purpose of the preassessment is to find how much students understand the content before you plan and teach the unit. Do they have a complete understanding of the content? Then they will need enrichment and/or accelerated activities. Do they have a partial understanding of the content? Then you need to make note of the gaps in their learning so you can plan accordingly. Checklists are a great way to keep track of the objectives and student mastery. From this checklist, you will also see students that need to be grouped for instruction. Keep in mind that this grouping will change as students master the objectives. Another insight I gained from this chapter is the different types of assessments used in a classroom. I put together this graphic to sum up the three types of assessment you should be using in your classroom. Click on the image to download the pdf version. You can also download this free packet with three quick and easy formative assessments you can use

Check out these fun activities from Award Winning Author/Illustrator Jarett Lerner to do at home or in the classsroom. Includes comics, drawing, and more.

Can you provide meaningful instruction without a grammar worksheet? You can, and here are ten alternatives to the grammar worksheet.

Love podcasts? Check out this post in the form of a podcast episode on The Classroom Commute Podcast :

Teaching elementary music? Learn all about classroom management strategies to control those fifth graders in the blog post!

Looking for games to play with a classroom? This list of English games in the classroom is exactly what you need to engage students!

Can creativity be cultivated in our current school system?

In this post, you will find 27 Formative Assessment Tools for Your Classroom! Formative assessment is such an essential part of the learning process and student success, and many digital tools can help support this process.This list has a wide variety of features and options to help you solidify your formative assessment strategies! Many of the tools below are great for both formative and summative assessments.

Diagramming sentences helps kids see English grammar at-a-glance. It's easier to practice analyzing English parts of speech on the diagram charts and worksheets.

Today I wanted to stop by and share some strategies for teaching vowel teams and diphthongs in our classroom! It’s always challenging to teach spelling patterns that aren’t easily decodable! […]

Earlier this week, I broke out the cool new pens I got for Christmas and got to work on putting together my coaching cycle schedule for this next quarter. Creating new schedules throughout the year is a cool opportunity for us coaches. It’s kind of like having a mini beginning-of-school-year kick off more than just […]

Figurative language can be tricky to teach, because some students tend to take things so literally! This fun and engaging unit includes figurative language worksheets, posters, activities, and more to help teach and review similes, metaphors, hyperbole, idioms, etc. in an exciting way. Click on the PREVIEW button above to see everything included! Test drive this complete unit with the FREE figurative language worksheet. Click HERE to save 20% by buying the bundle, which includes Figurative Language, Author's Purpose, and Theme in Literature. This fun and engaging resource includes: Figurative Language Posters (color & b/w) Word Wall Headers (color & b/w) Student Notebook Reference Cards (color & b/w) Worksheets Activities Interactive Notebook Foldable Answer Keys Figurative Language Definitions and Examples for: simile metaphor alliteration hyperbole personification onomatopoeia idiom All activities, printables, and worksheets are very easy to use! Simply print and use in your classrooms. I suggest laminating the posters and word wall headers for longer use. This packet is perfect for: Skills Review Skills Mastery Test Prep Sub Plans Small Groups Intervention Early Finishers ELA Centers Homework Morning Work Independent Work Don't forget that leaving feedback earns you points toward FREE TPT purchases. I love that feedback! Also, FOLLOW ME and be notified when new products are uploaded. New products are always 50% off for the first 24 hours they are posted. It pays to follow me! As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions. Thanks! Shelly Rees

Teaching music with fun, tried & tested lessons, DIY classroom projects & ideas your students will love with Tracy King, the Bulletin Board Lady.

Research based teaching strategies you can use today with a free printable chart.

Teaching empathy is important. In the simplest of terms, empathy is the ability to notice, understand, and share the emotions of others. It is a critical social skill for all people to have. In many ways, empathy is the social skill that paves the way for all other social skills. It helps us to take

Integrate art and literacy with no prep or background knowledge with step by step tutorials for art history and art around the world!

Art Teachers, in your Art Classroom you’re always going to have students finish before the rest, fast finishers, so let’s take a look at some ideas or routines that you can build into your classroom so that students know what to do when they’re done so they don’t have to ask you and so that you don’t have to instruct them on what to do EVERY time.

Find creative and practical ideas for homeschooling families, especially when it comes to books! You'll find booklists, book club ideas, discussion tips, and more.

Unlock elementary & middle school art teacher resources! Join my free library: games, handouts, posters & more. Elevate your art curriculum!

There are multiple options to print.I created two sets with prompts, and one set without a prompt. Choose to print either "This year, I want to..." or "This summer, I want to..." depending on the time of year you are doing this project. There are 8 different sunglasses to choose from, making it supe...

Students learn how to practice drawing quick rectangular shapes and paint warm and cool colors into those shapes using Paul Klee art inspiration and

The art of Ted Harrison is perfect for inspiring students to create art, while creating spectacular paintings for the classroom (free lesson)

The Art room offers an extra set of challenges to teachers as students are no longer facing the front in rows and are often given more freedom.

Check out Distance Learning Art Resources and Activities for kids that I have created for you to use for instructing your students. From Distance Learning Art projects that can be used with any mediums or materials to my Full FREE Art Lessons on my YouTube Channel that I've created for you, my goal is to alleviate the stress of planning and creating for you and to provide your students with quality art ideas and at-home lessons.

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It's 6:00 in the morning and something has come up! You have to call off work. The stress starts mounting.... what are my students going to work on today?! What easy materials can I have them use?! How will the sub know what to deliver?! Ahh! Hath no fear! Below are 10 straightforward, ready-made sub

After a few small hiccups, I was off and running for my first day as the... ART TEACHER! I have to admit by 11 a.m. I was emailing my hubby and Dad to tell them... "I like this art teacher thing!" HEE HEE - they told me to get back with them in a month and see how I still feel. :) It was a crazy whirlwind of in and out - the classes only have 45 minutes from beginning to end. I tried to do a QUICK all about me (why are YOU the Art teacher, what happened to other art teacher, why are you not teaching 1st grade anymore???) THEN, on to the rules of the class: (looks like this but this is not mine) See how it spells ARTIST? I kept trying to think of rewards for behavior and came up with after FIVE times the class is good, we will have an "AWESOME ART" day. Little do they know, they still do art! LOL! I was telling the 5th graders (who surprisingly was a delightful class) that maybe we could do something with duck tape. They LOVE that stuff! They are always making things with it anyway so, why not? This led me asking if they had seen the duck tape prom dresses, which they had, which led to them asking if WE could make some and have a fashion show with them??? We shall see about this one... I also was told by the OLDER CLASSES playing with shaving cream and play dough were good ideas. Who doesn't like play dough? SO - - - - after my adventure of the 1st day I had to go buy folders for portfolios. At Walmart. On a Friday after school. On TN tax free weekend. Let me just say - - - not my idea of fun. THEN, once I get there, I ask a customer service person to help me because I need 500 pocket folders. You think I would have said a dead body. They looked at me like I was CRAZY! (which is probably true) So next thing I know everyone is on their walkie talkies asking do they have enough folders, who would want 500, must be a crazy teacher... THEN, ready for this???? They made me COUNT OUT ALL FIVE HUNDRED. Yep, one at a time. Oh the joys... So what did I do? I took a picture of it titled: "This is how we art teachers roll!" At this point I was so TIRED and CRAZY I did something I NEVER do: I took a selfie. I needed one of my 1st day and I had forgotten to do it that morning. WHEW! What a day! Can't wait for the adventures next week when we include..... kindergarten.

Top art teacher blog posts of 2018 from Art Class Curator — the lesson plans and blog posts readers loved most in 2018. Enjoy them year after year!

I use this in my art room as a fun way to teach students how to break down the human body into geometric shapes that they already know. 11" x 17" ready to print and laminate poster for you!

Welcome! This blog post explores a project that depicts one cohesive image divided into 7 sections which illustrate the 7 elements of art: line, shape, color, form, value, texture, and space. The elements of art the artists toolbox they can use in an endless amount of ways to create infinite art solutions. This is a