Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...
Time to inspire and motivate your students with these 4 fun bulletin board ideas that are perfect for schools, classrooms, or libraries!
This time conversions poster will look GREAT on your wall and will help your kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students learn converting units of time!
Real-life kindergarten spaces!
Not sure what to teach the first week of 3rd grade? Here's what we did!
Transform your classroom into an engaging learning space with these classroom decorating ideas! Get inspired to create a classroom theme your students will love.
Building character in students should be an everyday task. I love this tip to develop strong character building behaviors in the classroom.
The ultimate list of classroom management strategies, organized into verbal and non-verbal strategies, parent communication tips,rewards and prizes, games, brain breaks, and visual strategies.
FREE Call Backs and attention getters for the kindergarten classroom! Great classroom management tool!
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 which students had […]
Prep for any absence with the substitute teacher binder! Use these editable forms to give the substitute teacher all the information needed!
Brain breaks are a great classroom management tool to use regularly in your classroom. Brain breaks are short, 1 to 2 minute, activities that can…
This so actually do creative and cute✨🥰🎥Credit : mrs mcgrady_1stgrade 🍎✏️ Like our page Be Happy Teachers for more teaching ideas and methods. A team of teachers sharing the highs, lows and honest...
Trying to figure out how to prepare for your first teaching job is tough. I get that, I've been there! Here's help.
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Keep your classroom organized, your sanity intact, and your social media channels popping.
What they don't teach us in education courses is just how freaking much students talk, and how hard it can be to quiet them down. Help is on the way.
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
An escape room in the classroom is a super fun way to engage your students in any topic. Make one easily with the worksheet you already have!
Here is way to remind students how to think before you speak. These printable posters are a fun and colorful way decorate your classroom and make a point. Since these how to think before you speak printables are free downloads you can print as many you want to fit your classroom space!
The Happy Learners' Club Junior Club is our highly popular kids' activity membership for busy parents with 2 to 5 years old children. *Thank you for your interest in THLC. Doors to THLC is now closed. The next enrollment is happening from 18 to 23 May 2024. **If you have children between 6 to 8...
Videos, hands-on experiments, printables, and more.
Unwanted talking is near the top of the list of teacher frustrations. In this article, learn the actual strategies to finally get rid of it for good.
Free inspirational posters and motivational quotes for teachers. Colorful posters for teachers with motivating quotes.
Some newcomers arrive with no English at all and need to focus on basic classroom English first. This pack will help.
Setting up for small group in 2nd grade can be challenging! This post outlines one teacher's simple center rotation schedule.
Every English language arts teacher needs a variety of successful, student led discussion strategies that will provide opportunities for student learning.
These are awesome, incredible, wonderful, and fantastic!
In this quick post, I'm rounding up a bunch of ideas for you to tap into next time you are scheduled to have an observation. Of course, you can also use them any time you want, whether or not anyone's coming to visit. These are great, engaging lesson ideas to showcase your teaching superpower.
Got a talkative class? Check out these 5 ways to quiet the chatter!
Quick, casual ways to make sure everybody's on board.
Need to help your students get more hands on practice for their vocabulary words? I've got 5 fun vocabulary games you can use right away!
Differentiation and scaffolding can help students better understand and learn. Here are teaching ideas and tips to use in class.
Free Printable Alphabet I Spy Game. Use this boredom buster activity on a rainy day or in the classroom to help kids learn their ABCs.
When I was a brand new teacher, I thought the quality of my teaching was ultimately tied to the quality of my resources, so I spent hours searching for great materials. I believed that if I had quality resources, ones that my students enjoyed and were engaged with, then that would make me a good teacher. Well, I still believe that having quality resources is extremely important, but over the years I've also come to realize that being a good teacher is SO much more than the tools in my toolbox. Everyday has a million moving parts that need our constant attention, focus, knowledge and skills of best practice. So even though I now believe that being a good teacher is more than the quality of my teaching materials, knowing that I have a good variety of kid tested and teacher approved resources at my fingertips allows me the time and energy to focus on other aspects of my teaching day. So today, as a follow-up to my original "favorite resources" post, I want to share with you MORE of my "go-to" resources that I consistently use in my classroom with my students! Build a Sentence I love this resource, and so do my students! This resource gets beginning and intermediate ELs speaking and writing! First, a photograph is posted. Then students generate a word bank by telling what they see in the picture. I ask for one word at a time. No matter the level of my ELs, everyone can come up with at least a word or two. I get additional details by asking about colors and quantities of items they see. Once our word bank is sufficient, they use those words to create varying lengths of sentences. They are asked to create a 3 word sentence, then a four word sentence, then a five word sentence, and so on. I'll ask, "Who thinks they can come up with a 4 word sentence?" My students all start thinking and counting on their fingers, then quickly a hand shoots up, then another. They love it! This activity is heavily scaffolded for beginners. Students orally create the word bank and sentences, but I write the words and sentences on the board using correct spelling and grammar. Then they copy. I am a big believer in modeling for beginners, and I model a LOT! This activity is a definite favorite among my students. They practice their oral language skills as well as their writing skills. I do this with my small groups at least once a month. Writing with English Learners I created this resource to prep my students for the writing portion of the annual language proficiency assessment. In Virginia, where I'm from, ESL students take the WIDA ACCESS each winter. Being that writing is the literacy skill that usually takes the longest to develop, I wanted to explicitly teach the skills students needed to be most successful on this assessment. In my lesson plans, I incorporate a listening, reading, speaking and writing focus each week. For the writing focus, I usually pull from these two resources. Whether I am teaching how to stretch out words, write a story, explain a process or analyze information, this resource allows me to choose the skills my particular groups need to work on. For my intermediate and advanced ELs in grades 3-6, I focus on "language formats" found in writing. Whether they are asked to describe, provide an opinion, analyze or compare and contrast, understanding and applying the language with that format is key. 5 Ws and H - A Writing Resource for Adding Details This resource is a new favorite! It teaches students to add meaningful details to their sentences. I often ask students to "tell me more." This writing activity gets them in the habit of giving more information in their sentences by adding thoughtful details. This resource is designed for gradual release. The first set of activities can be done in a whole group setting. A photograph is projected and students are asked to answer the 5W & H questions about the picture. This information is then used to write two thoughtful sentences. As students become more proficient with adding details to their sentences, the next set of activities can be done in either a small group setting or as an independent activity. The last set of activities are writing prompts that students can independently respond to in their notebooks. Posters are included which add a great visual reference for a classroom display. Restate the Question This is a simple, yet effective, activity that teaches students to restate the question or prompt in their answers, both orally and in writing. As a writing activity, either project a prompt on the whiteboard and have students write their responses in their notebooks, or print out the question and have them glue it into their notebook. This takes modeling the first several times, but afterwards should be a quick independent activity. For a speaking activity, pull out a card and ask the question. Students take turns answering several of the questions. This works great in a small group setting. My students often ask if we can keep on "playing." VIDEOS! VIDEOS! VIDEOS! Incorporating videos into my lessons is a MUST! When I plan a new unit, one of the first things I do is to scour the internet looking for fun and meaningful videos. My go to place is YouTube. There are some real gems out there, but it does take some looking. When I find a goody, it goes into my collection and I use it again and again. Here is a blog post that I wrote about using short films to teach reading comprehension skills. I continue to add to the list as I find new films. Click on the image to see the list! Check out my Short Film Bundle here. Monthly Themed Vocabulary This is an great resource to use with primary learners and beginning ELs. Each month contains 20 vocabulary words. I love this because it's relevant to what's happening around students at the given time of year. Along with the terms, which I use as a monthly word wall, matching cards, writing activities, a vocabulary booklet and BINGO games are included. In closing... As I create my weekly lesson plans, these "tried and true" resources are many of the activities that my students use throughout the school year. Having a collection of reliable and engaging materials available frees up the time I'd otherwise spend searching. I'm sure you have your go-to resources too. Happy teaching!! (Affiliate Link)
Use these social skills visual posters to teach, discuss, and practice social skills in the classroom! They include 9 unique posters with a total of over 80 social skills. Each poster highlights a different area of social skills, including basic skills, empathy and perspective-taking, academic skills, conversation skills, friendship skills, emotions, and decision-making skills. These posters are a fun way to integrate social skills and SEL in the classroom! Additional posters are included with several of the skills put together in one large poster. They highlight: Social Skills Kids Need Social Skills We All Need Social Skills We Are Building How Can I Use Social Skill Visual Posters? You can use these social skills posters in multiple ways to integrate social skills into the classroom. Here are some simple suggestions: Post these visuals around the classroom or school to provide reminders about critical social skills. Create a social skills bulletin board. Post one poster a week or month, highlighting each of the skills throughout that time period. Use the black/white version as a coloring book as you discuss each skill. Skills Targeted: Basic Skills: following directions, using manners, having a positive attitude, working with others, good hygiene, using polite words, taking turns, greetings, waiting and having patience, being a good sport, listening to others, understanding personal space Academic Skills: paying attention, starting tasks independently, taking pride in work, participating, asking for help, cooperating and collaborating, accepting criticism, self-advocating, staying organized, persevering through challenges, avoiding and ignoring distractions, presenting and speaking in front of others Conversation Skills: introductions and greetings, starting a conversation, expressing ideas and feelings, giving compliments, using active listening skills, taking turns in conversation, showing interest in others, noticing others' social cues, thinking before speaking, staying on topic, finding similar interests, leaving a conversation Friendship Skills: expressing ideas, feelings, and thoughts, getting along with others, showing interest in others, keeping social boundaries, disagreeing respectfully, compromising, sharing, bringing out the positive in others, apologizing, repairing relationships, resisting negative peer influence, showing empathy Empathy & Perspective-Taking Skills: thinking about others' feelings, reading social cues, seeing someone else's perspective, staying open-minded, helping others in need, treating others with kindness, appreciating differences, using flexible thinking, showing empathy, thinking before speaking or acting, accepting different opinions, solving conflicts with perspective-taking Emotional Skills: being self-aware, self-regulating emotions, labeling different emotions, expressing feelings, using coping strategies, dealing with disappointments, dealing with worries, using positive self-talk, staying calm in times of stress, adapting to change, dealing with anger and frustration, being resilient Decision-making Skills: understanding choices, using self-control, seeing how actions impact others, brainstorming solutions, developing healthy habits, taking responsibility, considering consequences, weighing options, admitting mistakes, being reflective, accepting consequences Digital Version A digital version for Google Slides is now included! This means you can use these posters to highlight social skills digitally with your students through Google Classroom or other digital means. Yearlong SEL Yearlong Curriculum If you are looking to integrate social emotional skills into the classroom, consider this Social Emotional Learning Yearlong Curriculum! It is filled with specific lesson plans, activities, projects, task cards, discussion starters, and more for a year of social emotional learning. Follow Me! { Click here to follow my store! } Tips for Customers: If you have questions, please contact me through Q & A and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Please consider leaving feedback on this resource to receive TpT credits! I always strive for 5 stars and love hearing your feedback. Follow my store for notifications about new resources and freebies. Terms of Use: © Pathway 2 Success. One license is for the classroom/personal use for one educator and their students. Materials may not be shared with other educators without the purchase of extra licenses. Materials may not be posted on the Internet where they can be publicly accessed. Personal and classroom use only. Please see full terms of use for more information. Disclaimer: These resources are for supplementary support/education purposes and are not a replacement for education or other necessary supports. Educators, parents, and others who utilize these materials are encouraged to seek out additional support, as needed.
