Look at these adorable Gingerbread directed drawings! It comes with special "perfect start papers" and beautiful step-by-step directions that make teaching it a breeze! PLUS... this project comes with an optional hunt... in case your students draw the gingerbread SO WELL that they become real and run away (wink, wink- you KNOW those gingerbreads- always running away!). These pre-written, cute, rhyming clues can take your little darlings on a silent, but thrilling hunt around your school in search of their gingerbread kids! :) HERE is a link to the project.
January Favorites! Art Projects, Dramatic Play, How-To Writing, 100th Day, New Years... and more!
Hey, there! Looking for some great resources to use in your classroom as we kick off the new year? Here's a run down of all my favorites:
New Year's Project:
This one is PERFECT for a fun writing & art project to do the first week you get back to school! It makes a wonderful hallway display and keepsake. Lots of options and extras are included!
Dramatic Play: Fitness Center and/or Hot Cocoa & Ice Skating!
These are both SO CUTE to see your kids using their imaginations with! For each one, you only need a few props (like maybe a few very light hand weights and a mat borrowed from your school gym... or paper plates to use as "skates" and some plastic cups for pretend cocoa) and the kids will take it from there! Dramatic play is always the most popular option for my kids at choice time. :)
The Mitten by Jan Brett
This bundle has it ALL: reading, writing, math, art, retelling, games, finger plays, a class book, vocabulary, & more! I love teaching all of this, but I currently have it printed out and put in an envelope for my emergency sub plans!!! It would fill DAYS upon DAYS ...and be so fun for the guest teacher and kids if I ever need to be out.
Penguin Directed Drawing & Animal Research
These are both a MUST-DO for me in January! This is a bundle, but you can also purchase them separately. I like to have "Penguin Week" and do the 5-day research project M-F and conclude with some "Fun Friday Art."
Animal Research:
Kids each get a little packet and do some quick K/1 appropriate VERY AUTHENTIC writing practice (one page per day and topics are: diagram, habitat, food, babies -eek! so cute!-, & fun facts.). As we wrap up the writing (only takes 5-10 minutes max), then we watch a few teacher-approved YouTube video clips (1-3 min each) that make everything we learned about that day literally COME TO LIFE!!! Write about how baby penguins hatch from the eggs... and then see it happen!! Write about how penguins "fly" underwater and shoot up onto the ice... and then witness it with your own eyes! Animal research is one of my kid's favorite things! We try to learn about a new animal at least every other week.
Directed Drawing:
This comes with two unique features:
✏️ Print and Go, "Perfect Start" Paper (has special starting points already lightly printed on it to ensure ALL artists get off to a perfect start!)
✏️A gorgeous, full color show that guides everyone step-by-step through the drawing process. You get detailed photos, clear explanations worded in ways that kids understand, tips and reassurance for artists, and loads of creative variations so all YOU have to do is flip through this show and read what it says aloud, one page at a time. Super simple to teach!
More Animal Research!
If you and your class end up loving the animal research as much as my class & I do, these are also perfect for January- March!
Writing
This is the time of year we usually get into How-To writing! Need books, papers, writing ideas, and easy-to-follow, super thoughtful lesson plans?
My team usually feels like this is the time of year our kiddos need a little extra CVC writing practice so we've added these pages into their journals. Simple & cheap! Great for homework, small groups, or whole class!
100th Day
Is your 100th Day in January or February? Either way, you'll LOVE this bundle! It includes THE BEST ART PROJECT OF ALL TIME, several cute class books, & a word search. If you don't already have this, you probably need it. :)
I hope that little roundup of January resources was helpful!
Thanks for stopping by!
Wear It, Say It, LEARN IT!
Distance Learning Tips and Tricks
Teacher friends! Are you distance teaching this school year? If so, you NEED to
check out this website.
I created it just for you!
I'm here to help you:
✅Set up
your space in a way that makes sense and works well for you and the kids
✅Manage your classroom online
✅Keep class FUN & engaging
✅Grow relationships
with your students
✅Explore helpful tools (especially for Zoom, but may be
similar on other platforms)
✅Troubleshoot the most common technical issues
I
originally created this site to help teachers in my district who were
transitioning to 100% distance teaching. I’ve been doing it all school year so
needless to say- I learned a LOT in the couple months “head start” I got.
Their
response was so overwhelmingly thankful and amazed that I knew I had to share it
with YOU, too!
So here I am, just sharing my experiences & ideas in hopes that
it will save you time & help you stress less about this new "adventure" of
distance teaching. Please
CLICK HERE
to check it out & share, share, share this with all your other distance teaching
friends!
The TOP FREE Google Fonts You Need in Your Collection!
Hello, my fellow font lovers!
Just popping in to make sure you know there are THOUSANDS of FREE fonts on Google you can use in any of the Google apps! Sorting through them all can be a bit overwhelming, so I wanted to save you some precious time & share all my FAVORITES with you! They're organized into 3 groups: BOLD, easy-to-read, & fun!
TOP 5 Teacher Favorites for Back to School!
HEY, Teachers! Ever wonder what's HOT with other teachers? Here are the TOP 5 most popular resources in my TPT store this back to school season! Check them out and see if there's anything you need!
1. 36 Awesome Activities & Games to Use on Zoom or Google Meet {click here} This one was a lifeline for me during distance learning this Spring and really helped me get all my class Zoom meetings planned out in advance. SO MANY fun ideas here you'll love trying with your new class!!! BONUS: It also includes a huge editable collection of "expectation slides" you can use to teach your students how we do things online. Yes, please!
2. Editable Weekly Newsletters in Google Slides {click here} 145 GORGEOUS options you can personalize and make your own. 100% of the boxes and text are EDITABLE. Perfect for communicating with families. Easy to print or send digitally. Teachers are LOVING THIS!!!
3. Self Portrait Directed Drawing {click here} Definitely my all-time favorite art project to use in person or online. If you' don't already have this, you need it in your teaching life! It comes with a step-by-step PDF show that guides you and your class through exactly what to do. You will be SHOCKED how much these end up looking exactly like your students! 1,700+ 5 star reviews tell you it's the real deal!
4. Distance Learning Organization Kit {click here}. I literally used this EVERYDAY during distance learning. It includes daily and weekly lesson plan templates, super cute morning meeting slides, and pages and pages of tips and tricks for getting organized and sharing lessons in a kid-friendly, simple format. Want to see some of it in action? Here's a quick video!
5. BRAND NEW! The Ultimate Digital Math Activity Bundle {click here} We literally spent all Summer making these and you guys... they are SO fun! They feel much more like an exciting game or wild scavenger hunt than any kind of work, but they're definitely an awesome way to practice math skills! 15 fun themed games are included and they all come with QR codes, optional recording pages, and directions for how to share them easily online or in class. Perfect for whatever format your teaching takes this year!
The #1 organizational tool you need for distance learning, hybrid, in person ... or all three!
Hey, teacher friends! Want to get organized with your student assessments no matter what format our teaching and learning takes this year? You're going to want to see this!
Some quick background: I've been using and loving Data Notebooks for YEARS in my classroom. Basically each student had a folder for tracking their assessments and growth. It included graphs and kid-friendly visuals so the kids could see what they knew, what they were working on, how they were making progress, and what their goals were for the end of the year! Not only that, it kept me super organized and it was PERFECT for parent teacher conferences - we'd literally just chat and flip through their data notebooks! Here's a 2 minute peek at how they looked if you're curious and want to just skim through this visual, but
KEEP READING because THERE'S A HUGE, EXCITING UPDATE BELOW :
So... with all the uncertainty this year, I was wondering how I could still incorporate data notebooks if my class shifts between in person and online learning or does all one of the other. It took a little investigating, but I'm SUPER EXCITED to announce .....
YOU CAN DO DATA NOTEBOOKS DIGITALLY! And not only that- it's EASY & they're actually more beautiful and organized than ever! π We can still use them in person on my iPad, but now we can share our screens over Zoom or Google Meet and use them that way, too!
All you need is:
- This Data Notebook resource (includes simple step-by-step instructions and over 200 pages of assessment options!)
- The Noteability app (which you will surely love for MORE than just data notebooks- it's super slick)
- Your chosen technology: Mac, iPad, or iPhone (sorry, Noteability only works with iOS and Mac right now)
Here's my step-by-step video tutorial on how easy it is to create and use your digital data notebooks. Check it out and let me know what you think or lmk if you have any questions!
I'm SO excited about this and hope it was helpful for you in figuring out how you'll stay organized this school year! It's going to be awesome. π
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