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Saturday, March 14

100+ FREE Resources for At Home Learning

at-home-learning

At home learning here we come! Oh my stars, how is it even possible that we are having this conversation? I never imagined that when we started this school year we would be switching to at home learning, but here we are. Unfortunately in the current circumstances, many educators are finding themselves scrambling to find resources they can send home with their students. Many districts have opted to close schools for a few weeks and adopt an at home learning model. In an effort to help minimize the stress swirling around our teacher brains right now, I have compiled a list of over 100 FREE resources both teachers and parents can use for at home learning activities. I hope this list is helpful in making the best out of our current situation. I’ve got my positive pants on and I know we can get through this!

Grades K-2
Grades 3-4
Grades 5-8
Special Education
Reading Resources
·         https://fluencyandfitness.com/register/school-closures/ (with email subscription)
Science

Math:
Money
Place Value Game
Numbers
Fact Practice
Writing

Word Work
Digital Learning
March Themed
Youtube Channels
·         https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvYQMdqI7YJkBlY-ln8iSTA (writing lessons)
·         https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt9SZgFExNwWTH5T_JnyF-A (Math lessons and songs)
·         https://www.youtube.com/user/mathantics (math lessons)
·         https://www.youtube.com/user/ScratchGarden (educational videos for kids)
·         https://www.youtube.com/user/JackHartmann (educational songs for kids)

·         https://www.youtube.com/user/ArtforKidsHub (art lessons for kids)


Looking to boost your teacher happiness? Download my Free E-book! Just click the download button below! It will make great reading while school is shut down.
 

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Sunday, March 8

The Easiest Guided Reading Notes Ever

guided-reading-notes

“Olivia, how are you tracking your reading conferences?” I will never forget the time my administrator asked me this. I was about halfway through my first year of teaching and like all first years, barely staying above water. Naturally my response was, a blank stare. I had no idea that I had to take notes and keep data on my reading conferences. Once I learned that guided reading notes are things you have to take, the next step was figuring out how on earth do I take guided reading notes. Is there a template or something I am supposed to follow to take guided reading notes? Do I keep it all in a binder or folders? What do I even do with all these guided reading notes anyway? Read more to learn about the steps I took to create the easiest guided reading notes you’ll ever take.

Guided Reading Notes

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OK so now that I knew that guided reading notes were something I had to take, the next step was determining what I should be jotting down in these notes. I researched and used my curriculum to create this template for my individual reading conferences. It reminded me of all the components I needed to include in my conference and made it so easy to have something to reference for planning my instruction. 
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I loved this note taking template so much that I created one for my guided reading, writing, and math groups too. Now it's easy for me to keep great and easy guided reading notes! You can grab your copy by clicking HERE.

Guided Reading Notes Organization
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Now that I have these great guided reading note tools, how am I going to make sure they are easily accessible? Duh a pretty binder! I went to the store and got a bunch of binder dividers. Next, I made a divider for each one of my students and also one for each of my guided reading, writing, and math groups.
guided-writing-notes
At the front of each section (guided reading, guided writing, guided math) I put a monthly calendar. This simple calendar was so important for me to keep things organized. Now I could make sure I was meeting with all my kiddos as many times as I needed to each week.
guided-reading-notes

 
Although I’ve tried other methods for taking guided reading notes, I always come back to my handy dandy binder set up. Why? Because it is the easiest set up for guided reading notes I have ever used. I am all about the phrase, simplify and succeed. The easier and more efficient it is for me, the more effective I can be for my students. 

Hey there 3rd and 4th grade teacher friends, this ones for you! I have a question to ask…

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Want to see a FREE sample of what we’re all about? Click HERE to download a free sample kit of all the goodness that is waiting for you when you join us in The Elementary Teacher Toolkit!









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Sunday, March 1

Teachers, It’s O.K. to Take Your Sick Days



sub-plans

O.K. all of you judgy mcjudgers can pump your brakes. Teachers need to take their sick days. That is it, plain and simple. I am so tired of killing myself to go to work when I feel like death warmed over, or worse calling in and feeling the guilt of a teacher who took a sick day. The whole teacher sick day scene is just wrong. Read this post to learn why I take my teacher sick days and how I do it without guilt.

First off I am going to pause and make it clear that I love my job. I do not take sick days because I “don’t feel like going to work.” Trust me when I saw we teachers typically only take sick days when we are on our deathbeds. My question is why does it have to go to that extreme for us to feel worthy of taking care of ourselves? Sick days are there for teachers to take time and take care of ourselves. So why do teachers avoid taking their sick days? Two reasons teacher guilt and sub plans.

Teacher Sick Day Guilt

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Some history about me, I have disc issues in my neck from an adolescent accident that causes me great pain and also stems into migraines. For my first three years of teaching, I did not take care of myself at work one bit. I felt guilty calling out sick because of a migraine or horrible neck pain. Instead I would do what we all do when we don’t feel our best at work, we power through. This would result in a day that I was there with my students physically, but not really mentally. Worse than that, I would have to go home and go to bed right after school to ease the pain.

Now that I am older and wiser I am happy to say I realize how stupid that was. Now, I take sick days when I need them and I DON’T wait until I am in excruciating pain to do it. The same goes for when I have a cold. I do not care what anyone on social media says or the teacher down the hall who has never taken a sick day thinks. None of that matters to me anymore. The only thing that matters is being the best teacher I can be for my kiddos. In order to do that, I need to take care of myself. I simply changed my mindset about sick days, and now I take them as needed and don’t feel the teacher sick day guilt. I know that when I push myself to just “be there” I am not really present and do not teach the way my students deserve to be taught and loved. Thus, ladies and gents, I say ignore that ridiculous guilt and take care of yo-self.

Sub Plans

sub-plans

Sub plans? Grrrooooaaaann! I know what we’re all thinking; “writing sub plans are the worst, I’d rather power through and go to school than plan sub plans right now!” I feel ya, writing sub plans is no walk in the park especially when you wake up feeling absolutely horrible. But when you have easy, digital, and editable plans that you can easily use and reuse, it greatly simplifies writing sub plans. I use these editable sub plans to easily make and print 3 days’ worth of sub plans at the start of the year. I keep them in a binder labeled "sub tub" and replenish as needed. I'm not sure why I call it a "sub tub" when it is actually a binder... hmm. Anyway, I set this up because if I wake up feeling absolutely dreadful, I don’t have to spend hours planning, writing, and emailing plans for my substitute. Yay! Back to bed with all the tissues and soft blankets! 
sub-plans-template
However you choose to set up your sub plans, I definitely recommend writing a few extra days in advance and putting them in a binder somewhere. You never know what may come up or you may catch (no matter how many times you Clorox your tables). Still thinking about taking time out now to make sub plans? Don’t, just hop to it! Don't worry, you can thank me later. Click HERE to grab the editable sub plans I like to use.

sub-plans

There you have it folks. Stop feeling guilty about taking your teacher sick days. Prepare in advance and simply call in when you need to. Ignore the guilt and take care of your fabulous teacher self. Both you and your students will be glad you did.





Want to explore my resources just for teachers? CLICK HERE NOW!





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Sunday, February 23

3 Tips to Teach Opinion Writing

opinion-writing-graphic-organizers

Should kids go to school on the weekend?  Boy oh boy! If you want to get your students talking, this is the question to ask! This is the question that I write on the board at the start of each opinion writing unit I teach. I lead the students in a passionate debate about school vs. sleeping in and video games. My kiddos love to share their opinions and always have a lot to share! This is why opinion writing is one of my favorite writing units to teach. Read more to learn my top three tips for teaching opinion writing in your classroom.

Opinion Writing Mentor Texts

opinion-writing-mentor-texts

One reason I love teaching opinion writing is all the fun books I get to read! There are countless engaging stories you can use as opinion writing mentor texts. I know when I pull out I Wanna Iguana or Earrings, I can hook my kiddos in the opinion writing process. Then, I share personal stories after each book. I will tell about times when I would share my own opinion with my parents just like the characters in the books. Along with experiencing great stories, my students love the real life examples I share that tie in to opinion writing. I’m sure you can think of a few examples when you fought tirelessly to change your parents opinion on something. Crack open an opinion writing mentor text and start sharing all of those opinionated stories with your students.
 Here are links to some of my favorite opinion writing mentor texts.


Opinion Writing Anchor Charts

opinion-writing-anchor-chart

Opinion writing is engaging and can create passionate writing. However, be sure you ground your students in the opinion writing process at the beginning. Teach them the difference between having an opinion and just sharing facts. Teach them that they need both, yes both  reasons and examples to support their opinion. Otherwise you will be handed papers saying, “I think double stuffed oreos are the best because they taste the best”. This will be followed by, “I have nothing else to say.” Ugh nothing is more frustrating to a writing teacher than hearing a student say that phrase. Talk about wanting to do a face palm right then and there. Let’s avoid all that shall we? When you teach your epic lessons throughout the opinion writing process, be sure to hang tools on the walls for students to use and refer to. We know anchor charts can be so powerful! Use them and refer to them constantly in your lessons. Here are some examples of opinion writing anchor charts that I love.





Opinion Writing Graphic Organizers

graphic-organizers-for-opinion-writing

You know I love me some graphic organizers. Simply put, graphic organizers are the bomb dot com and opinion writing graphic organizers are no exception. I have so many students each year who go from reluctant writers to crushing it writers, just because I give them this visual tool.
graphic-organizers-for-opinion-writing

I use opinion writing graphic organizers all the way through the writing process. These tools help my students create strong introductions, compelling body paragraphs, and confident conclusions. I give my students the option of using graphic organizers and they always blow me away! Your kiddos have strong opinions they want to share, trust me, sometimes they just need the right tools to do it. If you want to check out these graphic organizers for opinion writing, click HERE.

graphic-organizers-for-opinion-writing

There are countless ways to increase the writing skills of our students. I hope you enjoyed reading my tips for increasing student writing skills in opinion writing.


Are you ready to rock your writing workshop this year? I've got your back and the tools you need with my epic new writing workshop FREEBIE! This writing workshop includes everything you need to get your writing block rocking, rolling, and make a massive impact with your students! I would love to share my writing workshop checklist, posters, and 5 printable + Google Classroom ready writing prompt resource with you so you can try out the tips you just read about! Simply click the button below and download your FREE writing workshop resources now! 

writing-workshop








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Wednesday, February 5

How to Teach Informational Writing


informational-writing-examples



Do you teach informational writing? I do and I used to hate it. I would gladly teach narrative writing all day long, but informational writing? No thanks. Last year things changed, now I love teaching informational writing! Read this post to learn about how I use informational writing graphic organizers, anchor charts, hook activities, and more to teach informational writing in my class.

How to Teach Informational Writing 

informational-writing-examples



Right now my students are in the midst of our informational writing unit, and we are loving it! My students have researched animals of their choice and are now writing papers to share their new learning. We started this unit with discovering animals around the world. I printed out these free animal pictures HERE to hook them on the unit. For this hook activity I placed a random pile of animals on each table. 
informational-writing

Next, I had my students discuss different ways they could group the animals in front of them. Paws, habitats, predators, and more were just a few of the groupings they created. Then, I had them switch to a new table and start the process over again with the animal pictures at that table. It was such a fun activity and a great way to hook my students into their upcoming animal research writing.

 Informational Writing Anchor Charts

informational-writing-anchor-chart



Next, I introduce my students to the Informational writing anchor chart. I love anchor charts (although truth be told, I am always self-conscious about my hand writing on them). This anchor chart is simple, visual, and just what my students need to understand the informational writing process. This anchor chart describes the components in an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a closing. I keep this informational writing anchor chart posted on my wall throughout the entire writing unit as a visual tool for my students to refer to.

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Informational Writing Graphic Organizers

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The next step I take when teaching informational writing is to introduce writing tools. By writing tools I mean graphic organizers, informational writing graphic organizers to be exact. Guys, I love graphic organizers! It always amazes me how such a simple tool can make enormous differences for my writers! I designed these informational writing graphic organizers for my students last year and have loved teaching informational writing ever since. I break down each part of the writing process for my kids and they feel so successful! I love giving them the tools and watching them take off running, it’s such a proud teacher moment. You can check out the informational writing graphic organizers I use by clicking HERE.

informational-writing-graphic-organizers 
informational-writing-examples

Now that my students know the process and have the tools, it's time to get rocking! I allow them to pick a research topic of their choice. Then we work through the pages in the informational writing graphic organizer pack together. I do A LOT of active modeling when I project the sheets onto my board and we fill them out together for my research topic.

informational-writing-examples


Informational Writing Research


I love teaching informational writing because it allows my kiddos to take charge of their own learning. They pick a research topic of their choice, I coach them through the informational writing process, and the information searching and discovery is led by them. I take time to teach proper research skills so they don’t accidentally end up on a website that will get me called into the principal's office. Once they know keywords to type in and sites to trust, it’s game on and they are all about it!
informational-writing-examples

Looking to share some great informational writing examples with your students? Click the links below to explore my favorite mentor texts for informational writing examples.

Do you want to explore all of the tools that I use to help my students thrive as informational writing author's? CLICK HERE to explore my informational writing examples anchor chart & poster set.

Looking to explore the writing tools that help my students master their informational writing tools with ease? CLICK HERE to explore my Informational writing graphic organizers. 
informational-writing-examples



CLICK HERE to explore my DIGITAL informational writer's notebook.
informational-writing-graphic-organizers





There are countless ways to increase the writing skills of our students. I hope you enjoyed reading my tips for increasing student writing skills in informational writing. Do you want to know how I help increase my students writing skills each and every day? I use daily print and digital writing prompts!


Are you ready to rock your writing workshop this year? I've got your back and the tools you need with my epic new writing workshop FREEBIE! This writing workshop includes everything you need to get your writing block rocking, rolling, and make a massive impact with your students! I would love to share my writing workshop checklist, posters, and 5 printable + Google Classroom ready writing prompt resource with you so you can try out the tips you just read about! Simply click the button below and download your FREE writing workshop resources now! 

writing-workshop










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