Winter Time: Teacher Tips and Freebies

Hi, I'm Michelle from Teach123.  I am always looking for new ideas to try. One of my favorite discoveries is reuseable ice cubes.  They can be used so many different COOL ways!

I love the colorful reuseable ice cubes like the ones in the picture above.  Give each team a colorful ice tray. When the ice tray is full the team earns a special prize such as:

• Use special crayons, gel pens, or markers
• 10 minutes of computer time
• Shoes off during work time

Each team may fill their ice tray at different times and that is OK, because if one team wins, the other teams can continue filling theirs.  When one team finishes; they begin again.  This helps maintain the motivation of the teams.  They know they can eventually win, if they all work together.  Each time a team wins, it will motivate the other teams to do better so they can be the next winner.

Use the ice cube in your estimation jar or in your marble jar.  Tell your class you are looking for "cool behavior" in the hallway.  If you see a "penguin or polar bear" in the hallway - because who else lives in a cool place - tell that student who is acting like a penguin or polar bear that he or she may put an ice cube in the jar.

Inside recess is one of teachers' least favorite days in the winter months.  Why not try a couple of winter themed activities during your next inside recess?  I found the white puffy ball at Target's Dollar Spot last year.  I think it was supposed to be a snowball dog toy.  I decided to repurpose it for a game like Hot Potato only call it Too Cold to Hold.  Play it the same way as Hot Potato.  The class sits in a circle. One person begins with the object (snowball).  The music begins and the person passes the object to the person sitting next to him or her.  That person passes it to the next person and it continues until the music stops.  The person holding the object when the music stops is out.  Continue doing this until there is one person left and this person is the winner.  Play winter themed music such as:

Kids' Music:

• Frosty the Snowman
• Let it Snow
• Frozen soundtrack

There are also songs that adults know with themes of snow, ice, and winter such as:

• Ice, Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice
• Hazy Shade of Winter by The Bangles
• Cold as Ice by Foreigner

The black hat can be repurposed with a game of "Doggie, Doggie, Who has your bone?".  Only with this game it is "Frosty, Frosty, who has your hat?"

Are you looking for some winter themed lessons?  My Owly friends have some freebies that you will love.  Click on the pictures below and follow their stores, too!  Don't forget to leave feedback on TPT.

An InLinkz Link-up

You are invited to hop over to my blog.  I love to share tips and free stuff.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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FREE Inside Recess activities and tips

Happy Fall from Teach123!

Sometimes the new season, means a change in weather and the inevitable inside recess.  If you haven't discussed the procedures for this yet with your class, I would add it to your "to do" list.  Your substitute will appreciate it if you include detailed instructions about what activities and materials your students can do or use for inside recess.

Plan now a variety of activities before your class catches cabin fever. It will make these days a little less hectic. 

My choice of activity was based on my students' behavior, energy level, how many inside recess days in a row we've had, and my energy level.

Games are helpful when my students are in a social mood.  

• Through the year I have accumulated games from thrift stores and parents.  Since I save them for special times like inside recess, the novelty of the experience holds my students' attention.  It helps if you collect games that vary with difficulty level and how many players are required to play. Suggestions:
• Operation, Barrel Full of Monkeys, Connect Four, Perfection, Don't Spill the Beans, Ants in the Pants, Don't Break the Ice, Hi Ho Cherrio, Boggle, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Sorry, and Trouble

Integrating science and art is a good activity when my students have very talkative. Click HERE to read the post.

Listen & Draw activities are a quiet activity that also strengthens students' listening skills. These are especially helpful to use when you've had a couple of inside days in a row.  Click HERE to read the post.

Some of the games I played when I was a child are my favorites to use for inside recess. This post shares a few you might want to try.  There is minimal prep involved. 

Have you tried squiggle stories?  My students have always enjoyed them.  I like to keep special supplies in my closet that I use for inside recess. It's amazing the difference you will see when you bring out a box of 64 count crayons!  Click HERE for a copy of squiggle stories.

What are your favorite inside recess activities?

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE.  Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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School Prep: Back to School

It's my favorite time of the year . . . school supply time!  I was at Target this week and found all kinds of teacher goodies. Unfortunately, Back to School shopping can quickly add up.  I have found a couple of things that have helped save money.

Do you have a paper cutter? Is the blade getting dull?  It is pricey to get it sharpened.  You can purchase some sandpaper, cut it, and the paper will sharpen your paper cutter.  Dollar Tree sells sand paper.  Sand paper will also sharpen your scissors!

One of the best investments I ever made was a gallon of glue.  Amazon has the gallon below for $16.02 right now.  When the bottles of glue that your students bring at the beginning of the year runs out, refill their bottles with your jug of glue.  I recommend using a small funnel.  Dollar Tree sells those, too.

Click HERE for glue.

Looking for more Back to School ideas?  Check out my Pinterest board that is full of fun stuff.

You are invited to pop over to my blog.  I love to share tips and free stuff.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE.
Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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Reading Choices: Daily 5, SSR, & Homework

Do you find that your students check out the same types of books at the library?  If so, it is time to expand their horizons on the Reading Highway!  

You can incorporate the Reading Highway with:

• Daily 5
• D.E.A.R. time
• SSR
• Reading homework
• Genre unit
• Social Studies
• Geography
• Read Across America

It is an easy way to document your students' free reading at school or home.  The added bonus is you are integrating reading and social studies.  Too often, social studies is a subject that is takes a backseat to other subjects because of standardized testing.  With a little planning and integration, you can expand your students' reading horizons.

Too often, when we visit the library we naturally gravitate to books that we love.  It wasn't until I joined a book club that more structured than most, that I changed my philosophy on adding a little structure to my students' free reading choices.  I joined a book club that read a book from a different genre each month.  One month the selection for my book club was non-fiction.  I have never been a fan of non-fiction.  In fact, if I buy something new, I am more apt to try to put it together without reading the direction first.  I do not recommend this policy!  Our selection for the non-fiction month was Malcom Gladwell's, The Tipping Point.

Oh!  My gosh!  I was completely hooked from the first chapter.  As a teacher, I have always looked for these type of things - tipping points.  What are the tipping points, the changes or tweaks that I can make that can have a ripple effect on my students' reading achievement, improved behavior, and less paperwork?  Gladwell's style of writing makes it hard to put down his books.  I now buy all of his books as soon as they come out.   I don't even wait for the paperback!

After my experience with my book club, I was bound and determined to expand my students' horizons, too!  I told my class what had happened to me.  I also explained that I didn't necessarily love every single genre that I tried, but it is a little like food.  You have to try several before you know for sure that you don't like it.   You can read more about my book club experience and pick up a FREEBIE by clicking HERE.

I have structured my students' free reading time different ways.  Some times I have a genre focus.  Other times I divided my class into groups and each group had a different genre to focus on for that month and then we rotated genres each month.  At the end of the month, groups gave a mini report about the genre.  It was like a commercial for that genre.

Another way I have structured free reading time is by integrating social studies and reading.  Students have to read books from different states or regions.  

I found my students were more motivated when I used this visual.  Students names were on a car and the students put the cars on the state to show the setting of the book they were reading.  Each time they changed books, they moved their car.  My students loved to watch their classmates' travels on the Reading Highway.  It was one of those "oh, this is why I became a teacher moments" when I heard when my students comparing details from their stories about the climate and terrain plus other details from the story that showed me my students were becoming more aware of geography and how it impacted the story .  These were snatches of things I heard when we were lining up for specials and lunch.  Love it when a lesson spills over into their conversations.  You should have seen how many times my students were crowded around the map!  I bought a map at Costco several years ago that was really large and was already laminated.  I hot glued it to my wall where we lined up.  It was a great investment.

If you want to structure using the region program, I would recommend that you put your students in region groups.  I found it easiest to have tubs of books sorted by regions.  You can also ask your librarian to sort a few for you before your class goes to the library.

I have a Pinterest board with links to book lists, books, and other resources that are helpful.  Click on the picture below if you'd like to check these out.

I also have a FREE sample of my Reading Highway packet for you.

You are invited to pop over to my blog.  I love to share tips and free stuff.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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FREE Morning Message - Telling Time

Hi! It's Michelle from Teach123.  This month I thought I would share a morning work idea. You can also set this up as a center.  Best of all, there is a FREE sample for you!

Have you ever noticed that when you are shopping online, you will get a popup that says something to the effect "if you like this, you might also like this".  Sometimes you can tell how they are related but other times, you wonder how the computer linked these two items together.  Companies would not do this, if it weren't successful.  So, obviously related topics  affect our spending habits.  So why not do it with your instruction? Take a lesson about telling time for example.

• If you like to learn about tell time, you might like to learn about time zones.
• If you like to learn about time zones, you might like to know how the rotation of the sun caused people to develop the time zones.
• If you like studying time zones, you might like studying maps.
• If you like studying the rotation of our planet and its effect, you might like to study cause and effect.

Does this sound like the book, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie?   One easy way to combine topics is through morning messages.  You can review language arts skills and learn about science, social studies, or math topics at the same time.  It is also a great way to start your day. I wrote about how I differentiated my morning messages.  Click HERE if you'd like to read about it. Would you like to try a morning message?  I made a free sample about time zones for you.

Click HERE to download this freebie.

Click HERE for picture source.

Did you ever watch the Mary Tyler Moore show?  I remember watching the show and being fascinated by all of the clocks in the newsroom.  

So, I made my own "newsroom" with clocks. This is something you can easily do in the classroom.  I found these clocks at Target.  You could also ask parents for donations.  I think seeing clocks set at different times in the classroom makes it more real for your students when you are teaching time.

One of my favorite things about becoming a blogger is the friends I have made.  Many of these friends live in different time zones so having these different clocks is very helpful when we collaborate.  You may have read some of the posts of the Bright Ideas linky that I write each month. Teachers from all over the world participate in this monthly linky. 

My friend, Fern - who lives in Florida- and I write a weekly post called Tuesday Teacher Tips. Since I live in California, this bicoastal collaboration takes some effort. We live in a global world! We enjoy writing these posts because we share tips plus a FREEBIE  Fern has a time themed freebie for you.

Have you ever had a pen pal?  It is a great way to learn about life in a different part of the country or world.  You can easily integrate time zones, map skills, and letter writing skills with pen pals for your students.  Click HERE to check out a site for teachers that will match you with another class.

Do you have a tip to share?

You are invited to pop over to my blog.  I love to share tips and free stuff.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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FREE Cure for Writer's Block

Happy New Year!  It's Michelle from Teach123.  This month I thought I would share an idea to use with your students who have writer's block. You can set this up as a center.  It is FREE, differentiated, and also works great as an early finisher activity.

Cold and flu season is upon us.  That's not the only thing that your students may catch this winter.  They may suddenly catch a bad case of writer's block.  I have a cure for this and best of all it is FREE!

An idea book is one of the best things I have found to help with writer's block.  First, send home a note asking parents for magazines, catalogs, and a small photo album.  I found the photo albums in the picture above at Dollar Tree.  I usually buy a few extras in case one or two students forget to bring one.

The easiest way to organize this, is to set it up as a center.  If you have enough magazines, you can also do this on a Friday afternoon or inside recess.  Turn on some music and listen to your students giggle.  Even though I do my best to preview the magazines and catalogs that parents send in, there is always a picture/story of a bathroom word or someone in their underwear that I miss.  

Your students will look through magazines and catalogs for pictures that look interesting to them.  They will cut the pictures out and put them in their idea book.

The next time your students have a free write time and can't think of a topic to write about, have them get out their idea book.  They will choose a picture, glue it in their journal, and then write a story about the picture.

There is a planning page and different writing pages included so you can use this as a writing center, too.  The writing papers have different sizes of lines so you can differentiate the center.  Use this as an early finishers activity, too!

Click HERE to download this freebie.

Do you need some more writing ideas?  I have a Pinterest board that is full of fun stuff.  I have pinned pictures that would make great journal starters.  Click on the graphic below to check out this board.

You are invited to pop over to my blog.  I love to share tips and free stuff.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE.

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Behavior Management Tip plus FREE Task Cards

Happy Holiday!  It's Michelle from Teach123.  This month I thought I would share a tip to help your students during work time, give you a strategy to use with your wigglers, plus share a little holiday gift.

This time of year can be so stressful for you and your students.  The change in weather frequently means inside recess, two words a teacher hates to hear.  Students are often off schedule at home and school because of holiday activities, and by this time of year, our bag of tricks is running low.

Have you heard of a sensory diet?  If you have year-round wigglers, you will want to read more about this topic so you can add sensory diet strategies to your bag of tricks.  I wrote a blog post that gives tips and has a freebie for you. 

One sensory diet strategy I like to use is a stamping station. Stamping stations are a great antidote to the wiggles, whether it is seasonal wiggles or the year-round variety.  Set up a stamping station near your desk with a stamp pad and stamp.  As a student completes part of his/her assignment, he or she will go to the stamping station to put a stamp on his/her work or a chart. You can set this up different ways.  

• Time increments:  Each time your student works 10 minutes; he/she will take his/her assignment to the stamping station and put a stamp on which problem he/she has completed in that amount of time.  Go back to his/her desk and work 10 more minutes.  At the end of 10 minutes, go to the stamping station to stamp the last problem he/she completed.  This is great for RTI!  You can use different amounts of time.  In the beginning, I use a small amount of time and gradually increase the length.  This is a great strategy to use with math assignments.
• Charts:  Use a chart when your students' assignment is going to be displayed in the hallway or for when you don't want a stamp on the actual assignment.  With a chart, you can use a stamp, sticker, or paper-hole punch.  You would be amazed at how exciting a paper-hole punch can be to your little wigglers. The two charts below are examples of charts that would work for this.  These charts are included in my Christmas Place Value Task Card packet.  This packet is FREE.

Do you need some more behavior management tips?  I have written quite a few posts with ideas and freebies for my readers.  Click on the bag below to check out my bag of tricks.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE.

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Estimation Jar: A lesson in reasonableness

Reasonableness is an important skill to incorporate into your lessons.  One easy way to do this is through an estimation jar.  I have organized estimation jars different ways.

Method #1: Students-in-charge:

• Star student is in charge of supplying materials to put in our estimation jar.
• Math Wizard is in charge of supplying materials to put in our estimation jar.

Method #2: Teacher-in-charge:

• Set up an estimation jar that is part of our bell work.  For a week, I put the same thing in the jar but a different amount each day.  I begin with things that are similar size and shapes like unifix cubes and wooden cubes.  After doing similar shapes for a couple of weeks, I put in something that is smaller, like the small base-10 unit cubes.  We discuss if the unifix cubes is bigger than the base-10 units, on Monday of last week our estimation jar was half full and this week our estimation jar is half full, what would be a reasonable estimate for how many base-10 units are in our jar?  Would there be more or less than last week?  Remember our cubes this week are smaller so will more fit in the same amount of space or less?  What is a reasonable estimate? 

You can easily add a seasonal twist to your estimation jar.  I got these Halloween colored plastic rocks at Hobby Lobby.

Some shapes are more challenging than others.  Do you have a really bright class this year that needs a challenge?  Add feathers to your estimation jar.  They are fun to use at Thanksgiving and they will give your students a challenge.

Are you looking for some new estimation jar lessons?  Click HERE to download my FREE Lesson in a Jar packet.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE.

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Celebrating Birthdays at School

Hi!  I am Michelle from Teach123.  I am excited to be a new member of this blog.

In the summer, do you reflect over your school year?  Do you look for new ideas and tweak things a little?  That is what I have recently done with my blogging journey.  I was on some collaborative blogs when I first began, but I got overwhelmed and quit them when I had trouble keeping up with all of the commitments.  

Those of you who follow my blog know that my friend, Fern and I do some fun stuff together.  I have to confess that she is the more social one of our partnership.  She is always joining a new Facebook group or collaborative blog or another this or that.  Meanwhile I just plug along doing my thing. All along Fern has been telling me that I needed join this blog.  She loved working with this group of teacher bloggers.  I can't wait to see what all we will be doing this year!

Celebrating birthdays is something that each school seems to do a little different.  I was teaching in Texas when the Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value policy began.    My policy up until then was:

• Parents can send in a snack to celebrate their child's birthday.  The snack needed to be single serving size (not a cake).  It needed to be ready to serve (pre-cut).
• Parents need to send in all serving utensils, napkins, plates, or other supplies needed.
• No drinks.
• No gifts or balloons.
• Snack needed to be dropped off in the office by 9 a.m.
• If birthday invitations are passed at out school, all the girls, all the boys, or the entire class must be invited so we can avoid hurt feelings.

After the new policy was put into place, I had to do some brainstorming.  Cupcakes, cookies, and brownies were the staple of how my students celebrated their birthday at school.  I think at that point I had taught almost ten years so I was kind of set in my ways for how to celebrate birthdays at school.

I made goodie bags for my students and hung them on a clothesline.  This is an easy way to add color to your classroom.  

If you have a theme, you can find thematic bags, too!

I used a variety of things in my treat bags through the years.  Sometimes it was simple things and other times they were pretty snazzy.  It depended on what I found on sale.

I also like to do an activity called Birthday Star.  I send home a note to the parent asking the parent to send their child's favorite book and other favorites to school. 

The Birthday Star has a mini-Show 'n Tell on his or her birthday.  Then the class makes a book about the Birthday Star.  

The Birthday Star decorates the front cover.

You can download the Birthday Star Book HERE free.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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