Batty Art and Verbs- Freebie From Teacher to the Core

Well hello there! Are you a planner like me? I love looking forward! So even as I am making applesauce, I am planning for some October fun! 

This is a quick and easy art project that helps kids focus in on verbs and bats! Grab it now and put it in your “To Be Copied” pile. This is fast and easy to copy and make! No tracing.

This can be done as individual art or you can make a big bulletin board of the bats. This is how I did it in 2012….. Sorry about the fuzzy picture, this was back in the day.

And 2014….. Super Fun! Click {here} to see how easy it was to make the haunted house.

Want to grab the Freebie?

Get it

HERE

Constitution Day FUN

Hi Friends... Anna here from Simply Skilled in Second!  Are you planning on observing 

Constitution Day

in your classroom this year?   

Are you short on time?

Don't have anything to do?

Not sure WHAT to do?

Have no fear!  I have an EASY, NO PREP, and INTERACTIVE

Close Reading Tab-Its activity that is just the ticket!

Head on over to my blog to read about it! 

It's QUICK and EASY!

Click the image below to head on over....

Social Skills and Classroom Expectations

Hi all!  It's Emma from Clever Classroom. 

Are you looking for quality books and resources to help model desired behaviors as you start a new school year? 

I have previewed and selected 30 books to help your students learn a range of social skills. 

Each book contains a message that you can turn into explicit instruction within your classroom on a daily basis. 

To help you teach explicit social skills and expectations, I move on to using our posters.  I laminate and display one copy and bind another. 

I use these posters to focus on what I expect of students. We break each skill down using our social skills flippy books.  Students notice when others are doing the right thing and congratulate each other. The posters are ideal for introducing and revisiting expected behaviours. 

Having the books organized in one area, will make it easier for you to grab for them, when needed. 

Click through to see each book listed in this collection. 

Encouraging Parent Involvement

Hi everyone! Happy (almost) fall! This was my first official week back to school with kids... but I spent it in bed. Yep. Sick the first week of school. Not fun.

Today my post is all about parents, specifically parents participating in their children's education. More and more I'm seeing the iPads or iPhones as babysitters. Ouch. There, I said it. I'm being harsh and definitely over exaggerating, but there is a little truth in it. However, there are still TONS of parents who want to work with their kids and are so eager for ideas of how to do this. So  for this post, I've pulled some of my favorite posts and pins that involve kids at home learning and exploring with parents.

At the end of this post, there is a page filled with QR codes that lead to some of these great posts. The goal is to encourage those iPad parents to interact more with their kids and to give those eager parents the resources they want/need. :)

I love this post about fun science experiments to do at home! What a great way to bond with your kids while getting them thinking and exploring.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523209390604/

This is a great post filled with tons of fun, interactive suggestions for at-home reading.

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523207418397/ 

I love this post from my friend Valerie from All Students Can Shine about reading at home. This is a great resource for parents!

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523207354094/

My friend Lisa from Growing Firsties also has an wonderful resource for parents. This is such a helpful resource for parents. Often they are reading with their kids or listening to them read, but they aren't sure how to make the best of it.

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523209396193/

This post is full of activities to practice math skills. Math can be so fun and it starts with our attitudes toward math. Making math come alive can do wonders for kids! 

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/9218374213319517/

This idea is adorable for introducing subtraction to the younger kids:

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156359418290166401/

This post is packed with fun ideas, games, and tools to make math enjoyable for your kids. Love this post!

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358599189055217482/

Last year I posted ideas for practicing the alphabet at home. Here is a link to that post:

One of the questions I get most from parents is how to help their kids master those sight words. I'm hoping this resource can help! Earlier in the summer I also posted some ideas for practicing sight words in the summer. Since summer is pretty much ending, I thought I'd share this resource I made for the parents at my school a couple of years ago.  

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523209396283/

(If you scroll down to the bottom of the summer post, you will see this sight word parent resource to download for free.)

I wanted to find a way to share these resources with parents. I put some of these blog posts together on a page with QR codes so parents could easily access them. I also made a bookmark version. Head on over to my blog if you'd like a copy of this. :)

Come by my blog to pick up this freebie!

Don't forget to check out all of these other wonderful Chalkie posts this month!

Class Newsletters (Freebie Included!)

Hello teacher friends! Naomi from Read Like a Rock Star here! I hope your new school year has had a great start! 

How do you keep your students' parents in the loop? I know that some educators use their blogs or classroom websites to update their parents. I tried that one year and just couldn't keep up with it. Kudos to those that do!

Something that I found easy to utilize all year long was a classroom newsletter.

Choosing to send home a weekly, biweekly, or monthly newsletter is up to you. Do what will be helpful, but do only what you can handle.

Because our school had a new reading skills focus that teachers had to implement each week, I chose to send home weekly newsletters so I could keep parents informed about the new reading skill we were focusing on. 

It wasn't overwhelming to keep up with at all and my students' parents really appreciated it. It helped them target that skill at home as well, and we all know that teamwork makes the dream work! 

The students' parents were more informed and involved with their student's classroom work and my expectations.

I always included the math/reading/writing/s.s./science skills we were working on. You could even include the homework assignments. Sometimes I would include strategies, games, or just any information I thought they might find helpful.

Class newsletters are a great way to remind parents about upcoming school events like picture day, birthdays, assemblies, and tests.

I think it's important to think about what you truly want the parents to know and read. Don't just fill your newsletter with fluff.

Here is an example of the newsletter that I used all year with my second grade class. 

If it's useful to you, you're welcome to try it for free!

Click here to download this freebie!

Fall Art Activity

Hi everyone! It's Valerie from All Students Can SHINE.

Are you always looking for fresh ideas for your art class? 

If you need a fun art activity for Fall, head over to this blog post for instructions.

My students did a great job on this project last year and I am looking forward to doing it with my new class this year :)

Have a great day,

Valerie

Back to School Night

Hi Friends!  It's Nicole from Mrs. Rios Teaches here to share some ideas and tips for making Back to School Night enjoyable for both parents, and yourself!

My most popular post EVER on my blog, just happens to be on this topic!  Click on the image below to take you there. (P.S. I  just added a new Back to School FREEBIE to that post!)

Nicole