International Dot Day is celebrated September 15th – ish. This day celebrates Peter Reynold’s book The Dot, which focuses on Growth Mindset. For ideas on how you can celebrate in your classroom, click HERE.
September Classroom Ideas – Football Room Transformation
Football season is upon us and what better way to celebrate than with a room transformation! Check out some fun academic ideas for a football day in your classroom >>> HERE.
September Resource Suggestions:
Here are 3 of my favorite resources to use during the month of September.
September Morning Meeting Activity Slides – These fun fall themed Morning Meeting Activity Slides will keep your students busy the whole month of September. Click HERE to grab them for your class and save time in your Morning Meeting Prep.
Football Word Problems – Story problems are a great way for students to practice a variety of math skills and build their problem solving abilities. These football themed word problems are great for independent practice, can be used as an Around the Room Activity, and more! Get these word problems HERE for your math students!
Dot Day Math Activities – Who doesn’t love candy? For these fun Dot Day math activities, students will be using Dot candy to estimate, count, and graph. You can get this in my TPT store >>> HERE.
September Grammar FREEBIE:
These fall-themed FREE Grammar Worksheets are perfect to use during the month of September! These grammar activities include practice using capitals and end marks, working with singular and plural nouns, and changing verb tenses. Click HERE to get your FREEBIE.
Summer is coming and today I’m excited to share some June classroom ideas with you! I know many of you might already be out of school, but I also know some schools go into June and some teachers also teach summer school so I hope you’ll find these ideas helpful.
June Book Suggestions:
Please note Amazon affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Here are five fun books that you can share with your class during the month of June.
Let’s go to the beach! Well…not the real beach just yet! Take your class to the beach before the end of the school year or during summer school with this fun and easy transformation or theme day!
Here are a few activity ideas:
Sand Castle Math Geometry Activity – Either using Google Slides™ or drawing, students can create their own sand castle and beach scene using geometric shapes.
Directed Drawing on Art Hub for Kids – My class learned how to draw a sea turtle and they also have many more fun directed drawing lessons on their site or YouTube™ page.
Learn to Hula – There are many YouTube™ videos teaching kids how to hula. Your students could also write up their own “how to” directions afterwards.
Beach Writing Story Starters – Try out these story starters with your students…
-The waves came crashing down and then…
-I jumped on the surfboard and then…
-I was collecting seashells and I found…
June Resource Suggestions:
Here are 2 of my favorite resources to use during the month of June.
Summer Word Problems – Story problems are a great way for students to practice a variety of math skills and build their problem solving abilities. These summer themed word problems are great for independent practice, can be used as an Around the Room Activity, and more! Get these word problems HERE for your math students! (Digital and Print and Digital Bundle are also available in my store).
June Writing Prompt FREEBIE:
These summer-themed FREE Writing Prompts are perfect to use during the month of June! These writing prompts are a great writing warm-up, summer school activity, writing center, and more. Click HERE to get your FREEBIE.
Please note Amazon affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Today I’ll be rounding up a variety of teaching ideas that you can use during the month of April. I will share some fun themed books, activities, and a FREEBIE that you can use with your class.
April Book Suggestions:
Here are five fun books that you can share with your class during the month of April.
One of my favorite activities during April is to do a math Easter egg hunt! I buy a ton of Easter eggs and hide different math problems in them. You could differentiate this for any grade level – single-digit addition and subtraction, double-digit addition and subtraction, multiplication, division, etc. Then, I hide the eggs around the room.
I figure out how many eggs each student should find depending on the number that I have and the kids have to hunt for their math problems. I give them a recording sheet to record their work and responses and off they go! They love this activity and it can be a great way to prep for a test!
April Resource Suggestions:
Here are 3 of my favorite resources to use during the month of April.
Easter Word Problems – Story problems are a great way for students to practice a variety of math skills and build their problem solving abilities. These Easter themed word problems are great for independent practice, can be used as an Around the Room Activity, and more! Get these word problems HERE for your math students! (Digital and Print and Digital Bundle are also available in my store).
Earth Day Writing Prompts – The perfect set of writing prompts to celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd! Click HERE to check them out!
April FREEBIE:
These spring-themed FREE Grammar Worksheets are perfect to use during the month of April! These printables are great for independent practice, review, test prep, or homework! Includes practice using capitals and end marks, working with singular and plural nouns, and changing verb tenses. Click HERE to get your FREEBIE.
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Today I’m sharing with you some of my favorite picture books and chapter books to read aloud to my class. Over the years my students and I have found some great ones that I read year after year!
Here are some of our favorites…
The Day the Crayons Quit – This story and the sequel below are so funny! The pictures are amazing and the story is quite clever. The kids and I both enjoy reading this one every year.
The Day the Crayons Came Home – The sequel to the book above is just as good as the first. I got this book at our Book Fair a few years ago and it is equally as funny as the first!
Chester – This book is hilarious! It’s all about how Chester tries to take over this book that the author is writing about a mouse. Very funny and the kids always love the ending!
The Pout-Pout Fish – This is a great rhyming book and has a great rhythm to it! Another cute story that the kids always love.
Seriously, Cinderella is So Annoying! – This book is Cinderella, but told from the stepmother’s point of view. A great story to explain point of view, great voice, and creativity too. There are many more out there – Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, etc. Perfect if point of view is in your reading standards.
Junie B. Jones– Now, I know many teachers are not a fan of Junie B because of her poor grammar and sometimes poor choices – but I find her funny. I would read most of the series to my class when I taught first grade. Now, I agree Junie B doesn’t always speak properly, however, it does bring up a good teaching moment where you can discuss what the proper way would have been. She’s funny and the kids relate to her. I even enjoy it! I’m a little sad that there isn’t a second grade part of the series…
Jake Drake Series – This is a newer series for me. I tried out Jake Drake, Teacher’s Pet last year and my class and I both enjoyed it. There are a few books in the series and you can never go wrong with an Andrew Clement’s book. He is another character who has many situations at school that kids are familiar with. I actually just recently bought the whole set on Amazon so I can read all four books to my students next year.
Clementine – So, as I mentioned, there is no 2nd grade version of Junie B, however Clementine comes close. Clementine reminds me of Junie B, but is in 3rd or 4th grade. She is a bit of a goofball, but again a crazy character that the kids find funny. I’ve read a few in this series to my class and each year a few kids get interested and finish the series on their own.
Frindle – As I mentioned above, who doesn’t love Andrew Clement’s books? Frindle is creative and funny. This is definitely a book I read out loud towards the end of the year as it is higher than 2nd grade level, but the kids love it. It’s all about how this class led a movement to start calling pens Frindles and started an all-out war of sorts with one of the teachers at the school.
The Chocolate Touch – The Chocolate Touch is a hilarious book about a boy who is obsessed with chocolate. He ends up eating this mysterious chocolate which makes everything that he puts into his mouth turn into chocolate. This is always a favorite in my classroom and some years I’ve even done a book study with it.
So, those are a few of my favorite read aloud books. What are some of your favorites?? Write me in the comments below…
I absolutely love any book by Julia Cook and her newest book is also amazing! I Have Ants in My Pants is about a boy named Louis who has a difficult time sitting still – hence he has ants in his pants. Everyone keeps telling Louis this and he keeps checking to see if there are ants in his pants, but there aren’t any. His mom fills him in that the saying doesn’t mean he has ants in his pants, it means that he has a hard time sitting still. Louis’s mom then provides him strategies to help him control his body including: a wiggle dance and a personal space bubble.
This book is a must for any classroom, teacher, or counselor! Many students struggle with sitting still and this book is a great way to discuss impulse control and also provide students with strategies to help them control it.
Grab your copy today from the National Center for Youth Issues >>> HERE or on Amazon >>> HERE. (This is an affiliate link.)
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is such an important skill to be focusing on in the classroom. SEL helps build students up, provides them lifeskills they need to learn, helps them deal with emotions, learn coping skills, learn to work with others, and more! Books are a great way to bring SEL into the classroom! Below you will see my 10 Must-Have Social Emotional Learning Books for the Classroom!
I absolutely love the What Should Do Danny series and the authors Adir and Ganit Levy. Their three books – What Should Danny Do?, What Should Danny Do? School Day, and What Should Darla Do? were favorites in my classroom this past year. Their books are set up like a choose your own adventure, but it’s all about your choices. Every day we have the power to choose – we can make a good choice or a bad choice. In their books, the characters Danny and Darla go through every day kid situations and come to problems where they then have to choose – are they going to make the positive or negative choice. Students/kids can pick which choice they think the character should make and that sends you off to the next page! This book promotes such a powerful message that we have the power to choose the choices we make. Such an important message to discuss in the classroom.
The Color Monster by Anna Llenas is a great book to use when talking about emotions and feelings. In this story, the Color Monster wakes up feeling confused and is a mix of colors. The little girl in the story tries to help him separate out his emotions so he can process how he’s feeling. They go through each color and discuss how he’s feeling (red – angry, yellow- happy, blue-sad). As they go through each one, it discusses what the emotion feels like and how the Color Monster can handle it. Kids have big emotions like the Color Monster and it can often be hard for them to identify them and know how to process them. This book is great for opening up that conversation!
Even Superheroes Have Bad Days by Shelly Becker is a story that my students loved this year. First of all, it has superheroes – and most kids love superheroes! What I loved about it was that it tackled a common problem – having a bad day – and showed positive ways to handle it. While it does also show the silly negative ways superheroes can handle a bad day, it also discusses that it’s ok to feel your emotions. The book talks about acknowledging how they feel and then waiting for those emotions to pass. They say it’s ok to frown or be sad. All kids struggle with handling emotions and this story is a great way to discuss that in a positive, meaningful way.
Consequences can be hard thing for kids to understand. What If Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick shows what consequences can happen if people break the rules. The question – what if everybody did that? – is a question that we’d ask in my classroom when we’d run into problems. What if everybody ran to the front of the line? What if everybody shouted out? This can cover multiple SEL situations in the classroom.
Oh, blurting out! This happens in every classroom, every year, with every age group! While this won’t fully solve your blurting out issues it does bring it to light in a fun way. In My Mouth is a Volcano!, written by Julia Cook, Louis is constantly interrupting people, shouting out, and unable to control his impulses. His mouth is like a volcano because it always erupts. As the story continues he learns techniques to help him control himself. I highly recommend Julia Cook books for your SEL learning. In addition to a great story that kids relate to, she also always offers strategies to help kids cope with the habit or behavior.
Our Class is a Family is a brand new book by my teacher friend Shannon Olsen. This story talks about how our classroom is also like a family. It shares many of the things that we do – being there for one another, celebrating differences, helping each other when we have a tough day. It’s a great story for the beginning of the year to help build classroom community.
The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig is a touching story. It’s about a boy named Brian who feels invisible. He’s always left out of things, never invited to birthday parties, etc. Unfortunately we do have kids in our classes who feel this way. It breaks my heart, but it’s important for us to be aware and read books that can help them and help others make sure they do not feel invisible. This book can bring about powerful classroom discussions.
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Marie Dismondy is a sweet story about a girl named Lucy. Lucy is dealing with a bully named Ralphie who is always making fun of her. Her grandpa tells her that she should always be proud of herself and stand up for herself. This story is a great story about teaching kids courage and how to stand up for themselves in a positive way.
It’s Hard to Be a Verb by Julia Cook is great for students who have difficulty staying focused and with self-control. This book is about a boy named Louis who wants to move all…of…the…time. I’m sure we’ve all had students who remind us of Louis. In the story, his mom ends up teaching him some techniques and strategies to help himself stay calm and still. Strategies that are great for all kids to learn!
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett is a great book for your overachievers and perfectionists. I might have been (and still am) one of these as a kid. In this book, Beatrice has never made a mistake in her life and she is known around town as the girl who never makes mistakes. She is perfect at school, at home, and everywhere she goes, but she starts to worry – what if she makes a mistake? Well then comes the talent show which leads to the first mistake of her life. She comes to realize that it’s ok to make mistakes and that you don’t have to be perfect. I can think of many students who also feel this way and would benefit from hearing this book.
Thank you for checking out my favorite books to support SEL in the classroom! I hope you’ll find these helpful to add to your classroom library!
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Coding Capers – Luci and the Missing Robot by Angela Cleveland and Tamara Zentic is the perfect book to use to introduce coding to your class. In this story, Luci’s computer class has been given the challenge to find the teachers missing robot, reprogram it, and bring it back to class. The winning team will each get their own robot. To find the missing robot, the kids have to use clues that focus on coding vocabulary and have to use perseverance to keep going.
I used this book as a way to introduce coding to my class. Coding is a great skill for students of all ages to work on and this book is the perfect introduction. It’s also a great book about growth mindset. The kids could have given up when they were unable to find the robot or reprogram it, but they persevered and kept going. My students also love this book because it had robots in it – and who doesn’t love robots?
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I’m Stretchedby Julia Cook is about a girl who feels stressed trying to tackle all of the things on her plate (homework, school projects, soccer tryouts). This is a feeling that I know many children (and adults) can identify with. Her mom ends up giving her some suggestions to handle her stress so she’s feels less stretched.
This book is relatable to both kids and adults. We all feel extremely stretched at some point in our lives and the strategies shared are great strategies to use to help handle some of that stress.
I shared this book with my class during Morning Meeting and we had a great discussion. We talked through some of the different strategies to help manage stress and even practiced a few!
Please note Amazon affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
So, I love picture books and I especially love picture books that serve multiple purposes. Today I’m going to share with you some of my favorite books to use during the first few weeks of school. These books can also be found on my Amazon List – Back to School Books.
First Day of School Books:
I always start the first day of school every year with the book First Day Jitters. It’s a cute book that gets some of those nerves and jitters out of the way. I also like that it shows that teachers are nervous too.
Be Kind Books:
Teaching social skills and life lessons are extremely important during the first week. These books are great for talking about being kind and respectful to one another.
Classroom Management:
The first few weeks of school are full of learning about classroom expectations and procedures. I love using the books below to discuss some of those topics. These books are also good to bring up throughout the school year if an issue arises.
Growth Mindset:
Growth Mindset is such a valuable skill for kids to learn. I love using these books to talk about it in kid friendly ways. It’s important for kids to know that it’s ok to make mistakes and that they won’t be perfect at everything on the first go – and these books do a great job of explaining that.
Those are some of my favorites. What are your favorite back to school books? Comment below…
