Quick Tips for Back to School

All teachers are looking for ways to save time, especially when they head back-to-school! I just started my 8th year of teaching (already?!) and there are a few things I do every year that make the following weeks so much smoother.

One of the first things I do is to set up email shortcuts. We use Outlook for our school email, and I like to have a shortcut for emailing my 4th grade team, another for sending out plans, one for a committee, and one for emailing parents (if it’s not part of the gradebook or other software).

By choosing “Add Quick Step” at the top of the Outlook menu, you can set yourself up to send any of those emails in one click! Saves me SO much time.

Another favorite way to use this is to create automatic filters when emails are coming in. For example, I use Sign Up Genius for my parent-teacher conferences- so I set up a QuickStep to auto-forward those emails to a Conferences folder. I still have them, they're organized, and they don't clutter my inbox.



Look for ways to share the workload. Now is a great time to recruit volunteers and students to pitch in around the classroom! My students help me brainstorm jobs, and fill out job applications convincing me to “hire” them.

When our team is lucky enough to have a parent volunteer, we keep a bin of papers to copy or laminate. I love these free forms from Firstie Kidoodles to let the volunteer know how they can help! Getting a system set up early really pays off in a few weeks! I try to get my first few needed papers copied early, and I also use student or parent volunteers to help put up student work for open house.



One of the most important things to do is picking out a few really fabulous back-to-school books.  In my classroom, powerful books like One and The Junkyard Wonders really help to build our classroom community, while Your Fantastic Elastic Brain and Seymour Simon’s The Brain teach us about learning with a growth mindset, so we can set the stage for “making our brains stronger” every day! (Note: Book links are affiliate links.)



Help your students develop a homework plan. We read the book Frog Medicine and make a plan together. This little book has students answer questions like "How will you know if you have homework?" or "When will you do your homework?"

Taking the time to discuss this now really helps once our weekly homework starts- so students don't let it all pile up until Thursday night! We also share our homework plans with the students' parents at Curriculum Night.



Especially when I was self-contained and my schedule was a little different every day, a traditional plan book of squares just didn’t make sense for me. Instead, I was inspired by a colleague of mine who made a custom lesson plan template! Including weekly routines on the template sped up my planning and helped me remember important things.

You can pick up your own copy of my FREE customizable lesson plan page in my Luckeyfrog TpT store, and read more about personalizing lesson plans here.



Of course, once students arrive, it’s so important to get to know your students. One of my favorite ways is to read the book Exclamation Mark because I love the message- those things that make us feel “weird” are sometimes the things that let us do something completely unique and amazing! My students write about how they’re unique and create an exclamation mark all about themselves. Such a great back to school bulletin board!

You can check out this Exclamation Mark Mini-Unit in my TpT store.



All in all, remember that the first few days are always crazy- but anything you can do now that will save you time later is WORTH it!

As the year goes on, you can sneak a peek at what’s happening in my 4th grade science classroom by following me here on my blog, on Facebook, or on Instagram.



Another way I save time is by finding great resources created and tested by other teachers in their own classrooms. Could you use $25 in TeachersPayTeachers resources? Enter to win below- but hurry! The giveaway ends Sunday 8/21 at 11:59 EST.

Even better? TOMORROW, Monday 8/22/16, is a one-day sale where you can save 28% in my TpT store! Don't miss it :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


For more quick back to school tips (and more chances to win!), check out the blogs below. Happy back-to-school season!

An InLinkz Link-up

Digging for Fossils in the Classroom

When we started our fossil unit, I wanted to spark my kids’ excitement!
I asked my kids to come up to the carpet- a typical request- but then, I asked them to make two columns with some space in the middle. They were a little confused, but complied.

As they sat down, I started my monologue:
“Please ensure your seats are in the full upright position and all carry-on items have been stowed in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you. The captain requires that you fasten your seatbelts and turn off all electronic devices until we reach cruising altitude. In case of an emergency, exits are located at the front of the airplane and over the wings. Thank you for flying Garwoodington Air.”
Then, I showed this YouTube video of a plane taking off.

My kids LOVED this! (Yes, even in 4th grade.) They mimicked shutting off their cell phones, buckling their seatbelts, and even shouted out when their ears “popped!”
After the plane took off, I told them, “You may now get out your electronic devices, but this flight goes surprisingly  fast.”
I then turned away, and as I started the next video, covered my mouth with my fist to muffle it. “This is your captain speaking. As we begin our final approach, you can see the mountains in the distance, and the wide open skies that this state is so famous for. Please remain in your seats until the plane comes to a complete stop. We hope you enjoy your stay in beautiful Montana!”

As the plane “lands,” I move to the front of the seats and direct the students to move into the aisle and disembark. Then, they “drive” out to our dig site for the day (back to their tables) and I change the screen to show a photo of Montana and then of a paleontology dig site.
From there, we went through The Great Fossil Find, a mock paleontology dig from Indiana University. (Did I mention it’s free?)

I read from the script they provided to set the stage for each “day,” and my kids “dug” bones out of these envelopes a few at a time. As they found new bones, my little paleontologists had to change their configuration and predictions.

I loved this lesson for the excitement it brought- from sitting in a “plane,” to digging up bones, to the moment of discovery when my kids saw how the bones fit together! It was such an engaging way to kick off the unit!
Even better, I felt like the lesson not only taught some content, but also gave my kids a truer sense of what life as a scientist might really be like- needing to work as a team, revising your ideas as you find new evidence, not being able to check your work with an answer key, the need for patience, and the moment of frustration when they had to leave the rest of the bones inside the envelope!

I did type out a more 4th grade-friendly version of the Fossil Journal for my students, which you can download here: Mock Fossil Dig Handout

All other downloads are available from IU here: http://www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb/lessons/gr.fs.fd.html
Even if you aren’t teaching fossils, I highly recommend taking 5 minutes at the start of class to “fly” to a destination. It really sets the stage for a fun and interactive virtual field trip that could take you anywhere- to learn about holidays around the world, to visit important landforms or historical landmarks, or even to visit the scene of a story.

Take the time to make learning come alive. It doesn’t always take costumes and elaborate props- sometimes it’s as simple as prompting kids to use their imaginations!

The Perfect Book to Teach Asking Questions!

Okay, I have a new favorite reading lesson-- my asking questions lesson!

When I got a chance to work with Scholastic last spring, they gave us a bag of swag that any teacher would love, and it included the book This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen, which is perfect for teaching a reading lesson about asking questions! (I’ve linked it to Amazon here, but I also highly recommend finding it through Scholastic Reading Club :)

On my CRAFT board, we list "Ask questions before, during, and after reading" as a reading comprehension skill (although some of my kids think it belongs under Response to Text, so we concluded that it could go as either!). This is a really important skill for some of my struggling readers, because some of them never question what they read. They are just reading to get it over with! (oops- took this picture before we added it!)

• Asking questions before reading gives them a purpose for reading and gets them engaged. When they are looking for the answer, students read more intently.
• Asking questions during reading makes sure they are thinking about what they read.
• Asking questions after reading causes them to be reflective about the author's choices and sometimes helps them draw a personal opinion about the text.
• Asking questions is a great place to start students’ thinking while reading!

I love teaching questioning towards the beginning of the year, because this is a gateway skill to deeper comprehension. Asking questions about the text isn't too hard to do (especially with a well-chosen text!), so it helps to build the habit of thinking as they read. It's also a great way to get students started in their reading response journals because it's a pretty clear-cut type of response that most of my students feel confident trying.

I used this book with my 2nd grade group and all the way up to my 5th grade group. It's great for teaching this skill because the title and cover instantly intrigue them. Kids wonder, "Whose hat is it?" and "Why is a fish wearing a hat?" I tell them we are going to look for the answers to our questions as we read, and we start the read-aloud.

As we read, I stop every few pages and ask the students to whisper to their partner something they are wondering about the story. Then, I choose a few students to tell their questions out loud. (I get 100% participation this way, and more confident kids who are willing to share!)

We keep track of our questions on a chart like this- both adding new questions, and putting check marks next to our questions that get answered. (My markers are dying—ugh!)

Of course, the chart I made for my partner turned out even better. (Isn't that always how it works?) She actually laminated it so she can use it again sometime (which is such a great idea, especially for us as reading specialists who might teach a version of this lesson to each grade level!).

This book also makes a great review for "the three ways to read a book," or using the pictures as readers to help us understand. (Actually, you could use this book to teach that lesson, too, but I just used it as a review.) The book is being told from the little fish's point of view, and so the text only tells us so much. If students don't read the pictures, they won't know the entire plot- and they won't enjoy the book nearly as much!

(Here, the text tells us that little fish doesn't think the crab will tell anyone where he went... but the illustration tells us that the crab does tell!) The younger kids, especially, love "catching" the discrepancies between the text and the pictures.

At the end of the book, the text stops and we just see illustrations. Some kids are always shocked by this! And, immediately, they all have opinions about what happened to the little fish. Some think he was eaten, some think he just gave the hat back, and some think he ran away. The ending of the book is left open and never actually tells us what happens, and so my students are always left with questions about the book after we finish it! (See why I think This Is Not My Hat is such a perfect picture book to teach questioning?)

With the older students, we went a little deeper and discussed the author's choice to leave the story open-ended, and debated whether or not we liked it as readers. (Reviews were very polar in my group-- most kids either loved it or hated it!)

The next day during another mini-lesson, I read aloud a different book (usually tailored more towards the group's grade level) and let students practice asking their own questions along the way in their reader's response journals. Eve Bunting's books tend to work really well for Asking Questions lessons (like The Wednesday Surprise), but I also love The Lotus Seed and Chicken Sunday for teaching asking questions. And don't forget to throw in a non-fiction book-- sometimes these are the most important ones in which students need to use the comprehension strategy of "ask questions!"

Once we've practiced as a whole group and shared with our reading partners, I'm able to look through their notebooks and make sure they seem like they're getting it.  (Glancing through their reading notebooks- even if you don't take a grade yet- is so important, because this is the perfect time to lead a strategy group for those students who need some extra support).

From here, I like to let students use Post-It notes to practice this strategy in whatever they're reading independently.

I also try to fit in a little time at the computer lab (or at a computer center) using the amazing site Into The Book. If you haven't used this free site, you are missing out!

For each reading comprehension skill, there are videos, a song, and an in practice activity. Usually, there are at least two, so you can do one together (especially if you have a SmartBoard or something similar) and have students complete the other independently. Their questioning lesson is a great way to guide student practice of using this strategy to actually help them comprehend.

• A good list of mentor text suggestions:
  http://www.mauryk12.org/literacy/reading%20mentor%20texts.htm 
• A great list of resources, including some sample lesson plans for teachers: http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy/comprehension_strategies.html#questioning 

Share your tips in the comments below or on my Facebook page here! I would love to know your favorite books for teaching kids to ask questions and what other strategies you use.

 

So, What’s a Feed Reader Anyway? (Follow Me!)

So, it’s come to my attention that some people don’t even know what Google Reader is, and probably don’t really get what this whole Bloglovin thing is all about.

Google Reader and Bloglovin are both feed readers. Here’s what that means.

Way back when, I would find a great blog and bookmark it. But then, when I wanted to check if the blog had updated, I had to check each bookmark. At first, not a big deal… but eventually, I was following about 20 blogs and checking them one by one got to be too much. Even more frustrating, I’d check each blog individually to find that only some had been updated.

That’s when I found out about feed readers and started trying out Google Reader. From then on, when I wanted to check my blogs, I could pull up one site and ALL of the new blog posts would show up in that one spot. That’s what a feed reader does- it checks every blog for me and brings all the updates to one page.

Now, Google Reader is going away on July 1st. I’ve been trying out new feed readers to see what’s going to work for me.

A lot of teacher bloggers are switching to Bloglovin. The layout is clean and easy, and gives you a quick preview of each post.

As a blogger, I like that I can see how many people follow me on Bloglovin and I like that when someone views my post, I actually get a pageview so I know someone read my post.

As a blog reader, I really like the Bloglovin app, but unfortunately the desktop site takes a lot more clicks to navigate if you want to read full posts. Now that I don’t have an iPad or smartphone (at least for now!), I’ll have to depend on my laptop for blog reading, so that’s important.

Instead of using Bloglovin, I think I’ll be switching to Feedly. It’s another feed reader that doesn’t look quite as cute and modern, but it’s still clean and easy to use.

It’s also VERY customizable. Feedly (and its app) make it easy to set up groups (so I can put my non-teaching blogs in a separate spot, or my favorites in another). I can also choose different views- just the title, a preview, “magazine view,” or the full article view (which I chose above, because it’s what I prefer!).

My favorite feature? A “save for later” flag at the bottom of each post. Makes it easy to save really great posts for a later read (or to go back to and add comments, link up, etc. when I have more time).

There’s also Pinterest integration for pinning right from Feedly, without needing to open the blog in a new tab. LOVE!

With both of these feed readers, you can import your Google Reader blogs in one click. I did find that Bloglovin only imported my unread items and Feedly didn’t seem to know which 500ish posts I hadn’t read yet.

I think both Bloglovin and Feedly are serviceable feed readers that make blog reading MUCH easier than visiting each site individually. But there are other feed readers, and even a few other ways to follow blogs.

If you want the blog to automatically email you when a new post is put up, you can sign up where it says Follow By Email. Word of caution, though- usually come a few hours late, so I hear that sometimes email followers miss flash freebies and quick giveaways.

I also know a few people who follow strictly through blog Facebook pages. This can be a great way to follow blogs, but another warning- Facebook won’t automatically show you every time a page updates unless you tell it to.

If you do choose to follow, go to the blog’s Facebook page and click where it says “Liked” on the top right. Make sure it says “Show in News Feed” and then choose “All Updates” to make sure you see them all!

Of course, you can always just bookmark blogs, but if you get to reading more than a few (… or a few hundred, like me), feed readers are by far the easiest way.

Make sure if you are using Google Reader, you switch to another service like Bloglovin or Feedly by TOMORROW, July 1st.

If you want to keep reading my blog, you can click below, stop by my Facebook page, or follow by email on the right sidebar.

How do you prefer to read blogs?

Custom Lesson Plans to Easy Sub Plans!

So, if you're here, chances are very good that you found me through my customizable, editable lesson plan template. (The thing has- no joke- over 98,000 page views. Thank yoooou, Pinterest!) Well, if you've made one, I have news for you...

It's now super easy to make sub plan templates in Microsoft Word. It takes a little time up front, but trust me when I say that it makes sub plans so much easier later, when you need them.

I make my plans at the beginning of the year, but for the next few weeks, I try them out and make notes to myself of what I need to change or add. Things like "Johnny to speech" and "Kasey to O.T." are great little notes to add in in a tiny font as they come up.

Once I feel like I've got it just about perfect and definitely not right before I actually need sub plans for the first time, I make sample sub plans. If I have the basic format, this is so easy to do ahead of time, and makes it much simpler to just fill in later. Here's how:

First, save a copy of your lesson plans with a different name. No need to accidentally lose your lesson plans! Then, I like to open it so I can see a 2-page spread.

Next, you'll need to split the cells that are merged going across, if you have any. Just highlight the cell, right-click, and go to Split Cells...

Now, highlight the column you want to make plans for. I'm making sub plans for Friday. Copy this column, and then open a new Word document.

Paste it into the new document.  You may want to adjust the margins. When I did this, my table fell off the side of the page. Oh no! What to do now?

Not to fear! Go down to the views and click Web Layout. It'll let you see the edge of the table so you can bring it back in again. You don't have to be exact- just bring it in a little.

Then you can switch back to the normal page view to adjust.

I go back and copy/ paste the time column, too, to stick in front of the Friday column.

Hit Save As... and name it something like Sub Plans- Monday 2012. (I put the Sub Plans part first so that they all end up right next to each other in my folder.) I totally suggest using DropBox for this, so you can access it from home or school!

Now, I go through and type in more details where a sub would need them. I always include this in a folder that has more information about normal procedures, but I want to put the most necessary things here, such as attention-getting, behavioral system, and any special health needs.

It's okay if your table goes over one page. My sub plans are usually 2 or 3. I still like how the table breaks up the day into parts and makes it really easy to tell when something major (like a special or lunch) is happening. I leave the subject spaces empty to fill in later.

 If you want to keep making plans for each day, keep this document open so you can copy and paste the explanations that stay the same from day to day.

You can go back to your lesson plan page and copy relevant columns to make a document for each day of the week. Delete or add columns until you have just the time and day. Then, proceed to copy/paste any relevant explanations (for instance, my explanations for lunch, attendance, and dismissal stay the same every day) and fill in any that are different.

Now, when I need to be absent, I have a file ready for each day with most of the complicated stuff written out, and spaces for each subject.

My sub folder usually includes:
- these lesson plans (and an extra copy of them)
- a map of the school
- classroom roster with photos
- allergy or medical info they need to know
- behavioral issues they need to know
- more detail about procedures
- seating chart (using Post-Its in a file folder made this EASY to leave!)
- list of student jobs
- some "just in case" activities (Color By Number works well for this because it can take up plenty of time as needed!)

I always include an extra copy of the sub plans in the folder, and underneath I put copies and resources in order, paper-clipped together, with Post-It notes labeling each one.

I usually also leave enough change for a Coke in the teacher's lounge with a little thank you note, and the plan for bribing motivating my kiddos to behave. (5 cotton balls for our behavior jar are a BIG motivator!)

Of course, if you're looking for sub plans that are easy to leave in a pinch, I posted about some of my favorite lesson plans to leave for subs at the last minute and linked to 5 freebies for you, so be sure to check out this post!

Meanwhile, you may be wondering why I put myself through all this work to leave sub plans for last Friday.

Well, my "twin" got married this weekend! We've been friends for as long as I can remember, she was one of my bridesmaids, and it was incredible to stand up with her on her beautiful (and incredibly crafty) wedding day. Congratulations, Sarah! :)

Quick & Easy Tips for Teachers- Linking Up!

I love simple, easy teacher tips, so I'm so excited that there's a new linky party just for them!

My goal is to give you 5 quick tips:


1) If you have a SmartBoard, and you've written a bunch of stuff but need to clear the page, use the eraser to draw a big circle around it all and then tap the middle. Everything inside the circle will disappear.
 

2) Take double grades when possible. My kids get a grade for spelling and a grade for handwriting when they take a spelling test. I grade with a two-sided marker and use one color for each grade. Yay for killing two birds with one stone!

3) Have kids taking too long for transitions? Go to Hallmark and annoy everyone who works there (I know this because this used to be me) by opening all the music cards until you find the perfect upbeat-and-fun-but-not-crazy tune. Whenever you want the kids to transition to a new center, new place, or new activity, open the card and let the music play. It's just a little snippet of the song- perfect for a transition, and your kids will get to know how long the song goes. By the time the card stops playing, you and your kids will be ready for a new song anyway!

4) Put important phone numbers ON YOUR PHONE. I realize there is probably a much cuter way of doing this than the way I have here, but it's so worth it not to have to look up the nurse's number when I need it (or for the sub not to have to search through my sub folder for the nurse's number when someone suddenly gets sick).

 

5) Do you *hate* passing out dice and counters for games whenever kids need them? I keep "game cups" that have a variety of counters and at least one die. The kids know where these are to get them, and know where they go to put them back when they're done. This works incredibly well for center games or early finishers, and the mini cups can even stack for easier storage!

So, there you have it! Five simple teacher tips :) Let me know if one of them works for you!




And of course, be sure to link up your own tips with Miss Kindergarten!

The BFG– Our Class Party!

Oh man. Yesterday wore. me. out.

We had our BFG Party, which I kind of morphed into BFG Day. I tried to tailor almost everything we did to the BFG in some way, and we had a blast.

This is one of my favorite read-alouds. Dahl just *gets* the kind of silliness that kids love. (I mean, the whizzpopping scene? Seriously, is there anything that cracks kids up more than an entire scene about passing wind?)

I let my kids wear pajamas, because Sophie was in pajamas most of the way through the book. One girl dressed up as the BFG, with the cutest little turtleneck and vest. She even brought in props:

A dream trumpet, and a dream jar- complete with the BFG-style dream label. (She purposely put backwards letters and misspelled fly. I love it.)

We started our morning with a math journal prompt. (I wrote about my math journals here.)

This one, I just loved. What great math thinking!!!

Next, we got creative and made our own dream jars.

The kids got to share with me one golden phizzwizard (wonderful dream!) and one terrible trogglehumper (nightmare) of theirs.

Some chose to draw the dreams the way they were described in the book, but others chose to draw what was happening in the dreams, but they had to label the jars with a summary, just like in The BFG.

What I loved was that the students asked if they could write it “like the BFG.” The special words, backwards letters, and ways of talking they remembered made me realize how into this book they really got. So happy.

This one said, “I is the first human bean to go bundjie jumpin out of a bellypopper and keep alive!” If you’d like a freebie copy of the BFG dream sheet, just click the photo above to find it on DropBox (and please say thanks!)

Then, we went to the computer lab, where I had students listen to Jack and the Beanstalk and then compare and contrast it to The BFG in their Reading Notebooks. After they finished the story, my kids could explore Universcale, by Nikon.

Have you seen this site? It’s amazing for comparing sizes of things, and very cool to just click around. I also had my kids find the things closest to the size of the BFG and the other giants in the book- which happened to involve some English-to-metric conversions. (So much learning packed into this day!)

Then we did an engineering challenge, like the Queen’s staff had to do for the BFG towards the end of the book. I’ll write more about this one later- it was probably my favorite activity of the day!

Note: the movie does include a bathtub scene you may want to preview before you decide to show it to kids.

Finally, we ended the day with watching the movie The BFG. (I actually found it on YouTube.) We also enjoyed some special BFG snacks- see the “snozzcumbers” below(cucumbers with the center cut out and cream cheese sprinkled with salt and pepper). I also had Frobscottle, but it was very quickly gone and I forgot to get a picture.

There’s an official Roald Dahl cookbook, but I kind of winged it.

I mixed together a can of Mt. Dew, a few generous squirts of lime juice, and lime sherbet. I let them sit in the fridge for about an hour until the sherbet mostly melted. Then I stirred and added some Fresca over the top. I hoped to sprinkle it with Pop Rocks, but had a hard time finding them. (My fault for shopping the night before!) It was delicious.

And very green!

We also enjoyed tiny snacks to make us feel like giants- see the cocktail weenies, baby carrots, mini Ritz crackers with tiny squares of cheese, Mini Oreos, and Chips Ahoy Minis. Oh, and my favorite- a mini baked potato bar.

Yup. Tiny potatoes baked during my lunch, and then kids could add cheese and bacon bits for bite-sized baked potatoes. Yeah, I think I may have enjoyed this part even more than my kids.

I’m excited to think of even more ideas for my kids next year. I love packing in as much learning as I can into a “party” day! Who knows- maybe if I ever decide to start a store, other people would have interest in a BFG Day packet?

It was a great day- but I came home very tired! Maybe that was just because I spent all day wearing footie pajamas, though :) Thanks for your help with ideas!