If you're a K-2 teacher, chances are you use some form of a 'home reading record' to help students record and track their reading at home. I've used quite a few different templates throughout my career I've but never really loved any of them.
With a little extra time up my sleeve during the holidays I decided to finally make my own!
What I like about my version is the space for students to record their personal reading goal. This allows for both transparency and consistency between school and home.
What kid wouldn't LOVE creating their own fossil! In my newest pack, students can do just that and more!
Students will start by piecing together their fractured fossil recipe. This is a great higher-order thinking activity where students will need to make sense of the steps and carefully consider its order.
With their recipes complete, students will be ready to make their (faux) fossils! With younger classes a teacher-lead demonstration is recommended. Once the teacher has made the dough, students can create/customise their fossil as desired. Note: the recipe produces enough dough for up to 30 medium-sized fossils.
As a follow up, students can write a creative writing piece with the provided story starter.
Want to grab yourself a copy of the pack? Get it FREE in my TPT store!
No matter what class I'm on or which school I visit, I always come with a range picture books. Not only do I love reading them, I also love using them to spark creativity and inspire learning. Today I'd like to share my top three picture books, and accompanying art and literacy lessons, that I just could not live without!
I hope these books inspire you as much as they have me!
This is a beautiful book about being confident and embracing your uniqueness. In the story, Gerald the Giraffe loves to dance, but thinks his legs are too skinny and his neck too long to join in at the Jungle Dance. With some advice from a wise cricket, Gerald starts dancing to his own unique tune.
After reading this book, the students feel so uplifted and I always enjoy having a discussion about the ways in which the students are unique and how they can be confident and love all of their special qualities.
As a follow up activity, I also love doing this artwork:
For this art lesson, I use the FREE Giraffe Scaffold from Teaching Ideas UK. Then students simply colour, cut and arrange the giraffe doing their chosen dance move, and paste on top of a water colour background.
The artworks look AMAZING once put up! I love how unique all the giraffes and paintings are!
Want a copy of my 'Giraffes CAN Dance Poster'? Here you go!
Haven't got the book? No problem, click on the picture to watch it FREE on Scholastic Interactive!
This is a hilarious book, and one that many students will be familiar with. In the book, poor Duncan just wants to colour in. But when he opens his box of crayons, he only finds letters, all saying the same thing: We quit!
Beige is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown, Blue needs a break from colouring in all that water, while Pink just wants to be used. Green has no complaints, but Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking to each other. The battle lines have been drawn.
After reading the book a great follow up lesson is to get the students to write their own letter, addressed to themselves! Ask the students if they think their crayons are happy with their treatment, or if they're disgruntled from misuse or mistreatment. The kids just love writing from this perspective and some of the most creative pieces I've ever read have come from this task.
To help scaffold their ideas and for some gorgeous writing paper, I use Boy Mama Teacher Mama's FREE resource. You can grab it HERE!
Check out this super cute, if somewhat demanding, letter written by a Year 2 student. The red underlines identify where the student believes they have used persuasive language.
Haven't got the book? Here is a lovely version with origami animations. Note, it's a shortened (abridged version).
If... is a stunning book which offers a surrealistic view of the natural world. The two-page spreads present artful watercolours paired with strange possibilities, such as:
This book is truly magical for all age groups. After reading, students come up with the most amazing and creative and surreal ideas and this allows for a range of possible art lessons.
This is one such artwork completed by a Year 4 student. I think the artworks look best when, like the picture book, the background is one solid colour which juxtaposes the main picture.
This is definitely a book I would recommend purchasing, as I think it's more impactful when you read it aloud at your own pace and stop to discuss all of the wondrous images along the way. However, if you're short on time or don't have the book, here is an electronic version!
So there you have it, my top 3 picture books I could not live without. I hope I have helped inspire some new and creative ways to incorporate beautiful literature into your classrooms!
What a crazy first few weeks of school! It's been a while since my last post and so much has happened! I had an amazing block on a Stage Three class and now i'm back to my other love, day to day casual work. Now that I've had some time to spare I've been busy making new resources - YAY!
This is my newest product on TpT, it's something I've been using for a while but only just had the time to put up! This resource is great for engaging students and checking reading comprehension.
As a new product it's currently 50% off!
And as always, I have a freebie just for you! Click on the picture below to download this super cute spelling worksheet. Laminate for re-use!
With Christmas only one week away it's time to give away some Christmas freebies! Check out this Christmas Themed Friends of 10 Activity Pack - just print and laminate to use again and again.
As a kid I always loved playing BOGGLE, and as a teacher I love it even more, it's educational and fun! I designed this wall display a little while ago and take it with me wherever I go, all the pieces have blue-tack on them so they're ready to display. Kids can do this as a cool down after recess/lunch or as a fast finisher activity.
As the end of Term 4 draws near, the mind can't help but wonder, and perhaps worry, about how to keep students engaged as the summer holidays approach. When the inevitable finally arrives and students get restless, I love doing a reflective activity where students can reminisce about their year and the all progress they have made. When ever I do this 'Year in Review' activity it has an immediate calming effect, as students love sharing their favourite moments from the year, suddenly and often sadly, realising that they will soon change classes and move on.
Although you may not need this yet, the time for such lessons is soon approaching! As always I have a FREE copy for you :)
In order to get called back to a school you have to leave a good impression. A large part of this is having good communication skills, so it's important to provide feedback about the lessons you've taught and student behaviour. In doing this, you not only demonstrate professionalism and communication skills, but that you have a genuine interest in student learning. I made this template a while ago and find it works well for day-to-day casual work, CLICK HERE to download!
As a relief teacher there are some activities I never leave home without. You never know who your class will be or if the teacher will leave work so it pays to be prepared and have a bank of good quality resources with you. Organisation relieves stress for you but also looks good to the school and will help you get booked again and again.
Here are a few staples from my K-2 math folder. I always bring these along and being laminated I use them over and over again. I love group work and getting kids moving so I have 5/6 copies of each activity and rotate students between the activities.
Now don't go away and reinvent the wheel, click on the file names below to download a copy for yourself!
As a relief teacher -or any kind of teacher- sometimes you just need five minutes to yourself, to organise the next lesson or just to zone out for a little! More often than not however, the kids need the 5 minute break. Whom ever is in need, I always have something on the IWB ready to go, usually 'Just Dance.'
Simply type in 'Just Dance' on YouTube and you will find tens of dancing videos that are not only set to current tunes but also feature easy to follow dance moves that the kids will happily watch and copy. If 'Just Dance' sounds familiar, it may be because these online videos are actually screen grabs of the popular video game of the same title. For this reason, many of your students will probably be familiar with dances.
Below are some of my favourites. Though there are many other songs out there some may not be suitable for the little ones so watch them first!
