Creating a Caring Classroom Family

Guest blog post by Barbara Gruener Now that it’s time for a new school year to begin, life finds me increasingly eager for the first day to arrive. My students…

Teaching Kids to Express Appreciation

…their owners. This activity worked so beautifully with my students that I created these two freebies to share with you. You can use the Team Thanks gratitude before the Thanksgiving…

A “Smart” Way to Motivate Students

…class. It’s called Build-an-Ice Cream Student Motivator, and I created it to use on the Smartboard. This is a great strategy, especially if students need something fresh and new to…

Getting Started with Classroom Book Clubs

…complaining about Literature Circles. I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling overwhelmed, and I knew I had to find another way. From Literature Circles to Classroom Book Clubs I…

Facebook Group for Literature Circle Lovers

…Discussion Bundle I’m looking forward to starting this new Classroom Book Clubs adventure and connecting with other teachers who love Literature Circles! I hope you’ll join me on this journey!…

Teaching Kids How to Write Super Sentences

…from the Fall Sentences to Expand freebie for this lesson, but you can use task cards from any of the seasonal freebies below. Whole Class Modeling: Start by selecting a…

Teaching Kids How to Have REAL Discussions

…by the discussion and came away with some new perspectives. Now think about what happens in team discussions at school. One student dominates the discussion while others are too shy…

How to Teach Social Skills, Step by Step

…can use to practice specific social skills: Social Skills and Cooperative Learning Structures Social Skills Structures for Practice* Active Listening Roundrobin, Think-Pair-Share, Mix-Freeze-Pair Praising Rallytable, Roundtable, Pairs Check, Showdown Taking…

Classroom Goal Setting: The Key to Success

…discussions Printables for creating specific goals and action plans, along with guidelines and examples for students Over a dozen different charts and graphs you can use to track progress in…