Back to School Made Easy for Teachers

It's hard to believe it's almost time for the new school year. I've joined my teacher blogger friends with The Reading Crew to help make Back to School Easy for You. We have a FREE Back to School eBook filled with activities that are perfect for the beginning of the year. 

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Teaching Legends With The Legend of the Poinsettia With Freebie

If you're like me, during the holiday season, I love to decorate my home with poinsettias. Throughout the years, these brilliant crimson star-shaped plants have become a popular symbol of Christmas. In this post, the focus is on teaching the elements of legends with The Legend of the Poinsettia.

The Flor de Nochebuena or Flowers of the Night are native to Mexico. The association of the poinsettia with Christmas dates back to the 16th century with the legend of a young girl who was too poor to provide baby Jesus with a gift celebrating his birthday. Pepita gathered weeds along the roadside and placed them at the church alter. The weeds turned into beautiful crimson blooms which were called poinsettias.

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Apples to the Core: Apple Life Cycle With Freebie

Did you know that there are over 2,500 different varieties of apples? They come in shades of yellow, red, and green and they are grown in all 50 states. There are also many learning activities that can be focused around this delicious and healthful fruit.

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Building Community Through Project Based Learning With Freebie

It's the beginning of the school year and your goal is to create a positive atmosphere and community in your classroom. It's important to set the tone at the beginning of the year so your class meetings go well, your students work productively in collaborative groups, and your students can resolve conflicts.

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World Emoji Day - Let's Celebrate

I bet you had no idea that today is World Emoji Day. The truth is, I didn't either. A friend clued us in last week.

Emojis are small digital images or icons that are used to express an idea or emotion. They were actually born in the late 1990's in a Japanese research facility. A mobile phone provider in Japan was the first entity to allow users to add pictures to commonly used emotions to their text messages.

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Christmas in July With Welcome Back Templates

It's Christmas in July and I'm sure you never stop thinking about all that you need for your students and classroom for the new year. I'll make your life a little easier with this FREEBIE.

At the beginning of the year, there's so much you need to discuss with your students and parents. Many of you have a back to school night when you go over Snapshots of what's coming up during the year.

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Google Lit Trips: Books Come Alive

Have you ever read books with your class and wanted your students to actually visit these places? With Google Earth and Google Lit Trips, you can take your students to these different locations around the world. Two of my favorite books are Make Way for Ducklings and Big Anthony: His Story. With Google Lit Trips, your students can follow the ducklings to all the places they visited in Boston and travel with Big Anthony through his disasters in the cities of Italy. By using Lit Trips, you can easily incorporate literature and social studies.

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Reading Christmas Legends: The Baker's Dozen FREEBIE

This holiday, I'm sharing a beautiful legend called The Baker's Dozen A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard and Wendy Edelson. Aaron Shepard is an award winning author who wrote The Sea King's Daughter, The Legend of Lightning Larry and The Adventures of Mouse Deer. His website is known for being a resource for folktales, storytelling and reader's theater. You can visit his website at  www.aaronshep.com. Aaron has even been published in Cricket magazine. 

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3 Hands-On Activities for President's Day

President's Day is on Monday but there are so many different activities you can do this month about President Lincoln and President Washington and U.S. symbols. 

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