It's spring!!! April is the first month that it feels totally like spring. We all know that spring fever tends to kick in something in April, and it becomes a little trickier to keep those kiddos engaged throughout the month. Here in CT we always have spring break in April, so I am  not sure [...]

You know what they say about April... April showers bring May flowers. In April, I always look forward to all things spring themed (and usually carry them right through May). If you're busy and need a quick freebie for your students, check out these April favorites! These Easter word problems are perfect for Easter time, [...]

You guys and gals all know that literacy is my total jam. One of my favorite things about teaching little learners is how excited and energized they get when they really begin to read and are handed their very first chapter books. A first grade favorite (by springtime) is always Henry and Mudge. The series [...]

Happy March! I'm going to be honest... I find a reason to love every month, especially when it comes to fun teaching topics and themes and March is no exception. From Read Across America, to St. Patrick's Day, to SPRING! This month, I have some free resources I think could save you time and your [...]

It's time for a March roundup of some of my favorite resources! I create these roundup post because I know that you are super busy, and it's hard to find the time to search for new fun things to do when there are like 1000 other things you can be doing. So here it goes, [...]

Fairy tales are seriously one of my favorite teaching units, especially for early elementary students. Not only do they usually follow a nice problem-solution story line, but there are SO many fun spin off type stories that make teaching and comparing versions so much fun. From Jack and the Beanstalk to Little Red Hen, these [...]

As a classroom teacher I was always looking for fun ways to engage students with technology in the classroom, especially when I was meeting with small groups during guided math lessons. My biggest gripe with many of the apps or activities students were working on, was that the activities were almost always addressing very general [...]

Teaching classroom rules and expectations has always been a SUPER important part of launching the new school year positively. I always spend time setting collaborative classroom rules , practicing collaborative problem solving, and building classroom routines. This year feels a little bit different, with possibilities of varied, changing, and new visions of what your classroom might look [...]

If your classroom has some social distancing precautions this year, teaching classroom rules may be a little bit different. You can still follow the steps for setting collaborative rules, even when the rules look a little bit different. For example, sharing is something my class normally encourages with our classroom expectations, however this year, sharing [...]

Teaching classroom rules in my classroom has always been one of the fun parts of our back to school season. After taking the steps to collaboratively set the rules, it's fun to put together some lessons so you can explicitly teach the examples and non examples of what's expected. Check out these fun ways to [...]