5 Favorite and Fun Frog Lessons

Ribbit Ribbit! I am going to have to make a confession here. I stinking LOVE frogs. And I’m not just talking about frog lessons and activities for my class. As a teenager I owned every pair of silly frog socks known to human kind. I had frog shaped candles, and glass figurines. I just loved frogs.  I loved them so much that my oldest son had an entire frog themed nursery (I’ll save that throwback picture for an Instagram post someday).. It’s no surprise that in the classroom frogs were one of my FAVORITE things to teach about. First of […]

6+ Fun and Easy Lessons For Your Class about Dental Health

Whenever I think of dental health, or even going to the dentist I can’t help but humming this tune… “When you wake up in the morning and it’s quarter to one… you brush your teeth.” It was seriously a childhood favorite song of mine, along with pretty much every other Raffi song. My students love learning about dentists and dental health. It’s one of my favorite topics to include in February lessons for Dental Health month. I think it’s probably because they are SO excited to be getting wiggly teeth. It’s also something they are used to taking care of […]

3 Reasons I Adore Using Write the Room Activities in My Classroom

My teacher friend, I am here to remind you about a tried and true favorite, low prep activity your students will love: Write the room activities! Imagine this: You tap your fingers on your desk. You uncap your flair pen and doodle on the margins of your lesson book. It’s your plan period and you’re trying to think of new math fact centers, decoding practice, and reading fluency stations. An idea pops into your head and you begin to write but realize this idea involves hours of mod podging pictures onto small gem stones. I mean, who has time to […]

7 Fun St Patrick’s Day Activities for Your Class

Let’s start with a little choose your own adventure type question as we start to brainstorm St Patrick’s Day Activities for your class… Choose the best option when the excitement of St. Patrick’s Day (or any other fun day) is looming… a. Try to fight the distraction of a holiday and proceed as usual OR b. Roll with it. Harness the excitement and use it as fuel for fun learning activities and projects. I always, always, always pick choice b. It makes for much more fun, less nagging, and more learning after all! St Patrick’s Day Activities are a great […]

11 March Themes for Lessons: Get Ready to Fill Your Teacher Plan Book Fast

It’s March, the luckiest month of the year (cue the little green footprints and golden glitter). And you’re in luck too! Because as you look upon those empty plan book pages wondering how you’ll make this month more fun and engaging than ever, you’ve stumbled upon a list of 11 of my favorite March themes for the classroom! Get your favorite flair plans ready as you use these March thematic unit ideas to help you brainstorm lessons that are just right for your students and meet the academic objectives you’re tackling as winter recedes and spring approaches! Here is a […]

5 Meaningful Ways to Use Color By Code Worksheets in the Elementary Classroom

You might have heard more than once that busy work is a waste of time. While that may be true, I’m here to help you put color by code worksheets to work in a meaningful way in your classroom! One of my favorite category of resources to create and use (and one that has always been a student favorite) is the color by code category. These are our color by number, color by letter, color by word (sight word or vocabulary), or math fact color by code. I talk more about why I love color by code here… but in […]

5 Reasons I Love Using Color By Number Activities in My Classroom

You’re scrambling to get math stations ready for the week ahead, there are so many pieces to cut and prep for these centers you were planning and you’re absolutely “teacher exhausted.” Suddenly you remember those color by number activities you recently picked up from your favorite blogger and you cross “One more math station” off your list! No prep required, just scoot down to the copier and get right to it. Sometimes worksheets get a bad name. Administrators or colleagues might wonder if it’s just busy work… but you and I know that we can make almost any activity meaningful […]

8 Valentine’s Day Printables that Early Elementary Students Love

The chill of winter and the short days of January can really drag on. Thankfully, come February, Valentine’s Day can swoop in just like cupid, really jazz up your lesson plans! If you’re all about quick and easy lessons, check out these Valentine’s Day Printables to add a little February fun to your elementary classroom. You can either plug these activities into your plan book to support Valentine’s Day math, phonics, or writing lessons…or you can keep them on hand for those days when your students need something extra to fill in the time. When I created all of these […]

5 Totally Fun and Free February Printables for your Elementary Class

What’s better than pink, love and hearts? Fun and engaging free February printables for your class of course! Teaching is never easy and sometimes you might find yourself with an empty spot in your February plan book you’re looking to fill. Or… maybe you want to have some fun thematic substitute plans ready to go, but you’re not sure if you’ll use them so you don’t want to invest a lot of time, effort, or money into February printables Or maybe your classroom management game is on point and you know that keeping some printable worksheets in a file for […]

7 Topics Kids Love to Learn About With February Lesson Plan Ideas

There are SO many things to love about February. I mean hearts, pink, flowers, and cute little Valentine’s Day cards. Not everyone is equally as excited about Valentine’s Day as I am (I mean ewww cooties), especially some of my students. So that’s why this list of themes for February Lesson plan ideas is so useful. I find that incorporating these themes into morning meeting questions, writing prompts, and even literacy or math centers really gets kids excited, so you might want to consider these ideas as you make your February Lesson Plans. 7 themes and topics To use while […]