Even though this past year has probably been one of the most challenging times in our careers, there is still plenty for which to be thankful. I am thankful for the health of my family and friends. I am thankful that all members of my family have been able to get vaccinated. I am thankful that I am able to continue to work at a job that I love. OUR GIFTS TO YOU In the spirit of Thanksgiving and sharing our blessings, I am joining with a group of upper elementary bloggers in this unique hop! The first part includes giving free access to a paid resource (or two). You can find each blogger linke ..read more

Are you constantly spending time searching for updated social studies materials? Or, are you always trying to find ways for students to have FUN while learning social studies content? Is there an anxious feeling while trying to differentiate for each student? Don’t worry, you are not alone! It can be so hard to find engaging content that will work for all students. Thankfully, there are Social Studies Super Bundles ready for purchase. However, these bundles are so amazing that they won’t be available forever. The Social Studies Super Bundles are only available from October 3rd-10th ..read more

Setting up routines is an important part of the start of our school year. Not only do we set up procedural routines, but we also set up instructional routines. One instructional routine that I used frequently with my students involved close reading. One issue that I had using the basal texts with my students is that they were very reluctant to read the stories multiple times. And to be honest, I wasn't really thrilled to read those dry stories multiple times either. Another issue was that using textbooks made it more difficult to interact with the text, i.e. highlighting, circling, underlin ..read more

Even though Thanksgiving will look very different for many of us this year, there is still plenty for which to be thankful. I am thankful for the health of my family and friends. I am thankful that while in quarantine my family has started some new family traditions. I am thankful that I am able to continue to work at a job that I love. I am thankful that my district is focused on the physical and mental health of its staff and students. And while I certainly have my off days, I am also thankful that I have made my mental health a top priority this year. OUR GIFTS TO YOU In the spirit of Than ..read more

Whether you will be teaching library classes on-site, remotely, or using some sort of hybrid option, it is critical to get students into a routine that can be applied to any teaching scenario you might encounter this fall. I know that many districts will require teachers to be able to transition seamlessly from on-site to remote and vice versa with short notice. Last year, I utilized Google Classroom to organize all of my class materials. I set up one for each grade and one for my digital citizenship class that rotated quarterly. Students knew that whenever we got out Chromebooks, the first ..read more

My students have experienced a lot of success with their reading comprehension using close reading strategies. I've also noticed from FB posts and product feedback is that there are a lot of teachers who want to give close reading a try, but are unsure on how to go about doing it. Good news is that it's probably not drastically different from what you're already doing. In fact, there is probably no "right way" of doing it, and there will be many variations based on your students and your daily schedule. You can even use your reading series, literature circle books, or guided reading materials ..read more

Many of my students love to read books series, but I noticed that they keep reading the same series over and over again. Based on an idea that I got from a Facebook group, I decided to create some series bookmarks in order to encourage students to try a new series. At first, I created the bookmarks to help with the unnumbered series, but then I decided to extend it to other series in the library. I printed them out on cardstock at 90% so they would fit in my pencil trays from Michaels. They are currently stored in a drawer at the circulation desk, but that might change. Then I went into Alexa ..read more

Utilizing my wish list is my favorite way to shop on Teachers Pay Teachers, especially during sale time. I'm always worried that I will forget to buy something that I want, especially a big bundle or a higher-priced item. Between sales, I always see things that I would like to buy but don't need right then, so I add them to my wish list. If you haven't taken advantage of your wish list, it's very simple to do. To add items to your wish list, make sure that you are signed into your account and click the +WISH LIST under the price of the item you want to add. That's it! When sale time comes a ..read more

First of all, be shocked that I am writing a science post. I know that I'm shocked. In case you didn't know, I will be teaching science for the first time in sixteen years. That is also a shock, but it will be fine. I hope. Anyway... I recently took my daughter to a STEM day at a local business. They had two really great hands-on activities that I wanted to share with you. The first activity involved making a DNA model with licorice, colored mini marshmallows, and toothpicks. {Here is a link to the materials.} The way that was suggested was not the way my OCD daughter chose to do it. The int ..read more

I first made these as tops for my truffula trees way back when, but they became part of my classroom decor very quickly.You can make them with solid colors or a variety of colors. For this example, I think that I was using 11 sheets because I had a few that stuck together. It does make it a little more difficult, but some of you might like the fuller look. I've also used as few as 5 sheets. (Also, it was not until this tutorial that I discovered that I've been spelling "accordion" wrong most of my adult life...) I am folding the length of the tissue, so my finished accordion will be about one ..read more