School and the City

Ideas and Resources for Your Elementary Classroom

No-Prep Mother’s Day Project!

Few things at school stress me out more than holidays that require students to make gifts for their parents. I want my parents to be impressed and flattered, I really do, but I also want them to know that I use classroom time effectively to teach their students as much as possible.    Some of the gifts that I have seen teachers have their students make for their parents are ... Read More about No-Prep Mother’s Day Project!

Classroom Poetry Slam

Hi, all!   Long time, no blog.   This quarter has been a crazy one full of extra-curricular activities, illness, and big decisions.   I'm back today though because I COULD NOT WAIT to share with you about our classroom poetry café!   We've been planning this for weeks... My students worked extremely hard all month creating poetry books using my templates ... Read More about Classroom Poetry Slam

Words Their Way: MY Way

Words Their Way:   SO overwhelming, am I right?   We just started using Words Their Way this year. Although I was trained on WTW in college, I had NO IDEA how to implement WTW effectively in my classroom while differentiating to meet students' individual needs. Over the summer, my team decided that I was going to be in charge of word study, so I threw myself head first into Words Their ... Read More about Words Their Way: MY Way

Some people are worth melting for.

I posted a picture of my new bulletin board on my Instagram yesterday and had some comments requesting activity details. I don't blame you; Isn't is so stinkin' cute?!? I got the idea from a pin that I saw on Pinterest and adapted the activity to better suit my second graders. (Find my activity HERE on TPT.)   First, we read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I'm sure there are many books out ... Read More about Some people are worth melting for.

Introducing Goods and Services

If you bribe kids with cookies... they'll work hard and be on their best behavior. If you give a teacher time to TEACH, she'll plan a fun and authentic lesson. That's rare; I know. I love to use If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to practice identifying goods and services. This was my third time teaching this lesson. Just like wine and Zac Efron, it's getting better with age! First, we ... Read More about Introducing Goods and Services

One Odd Turkey: Craft and “Store”

Do you ever have a light bulb moment and try to throw an activity together at the last minute?   I do. All the time.  Sometimes I kick myself for it, but sometimes it works out wonderfully, like this one did.   I present to you...One ODD Turkey.   I had the idea that students could create a turkey that has all odd numbers of body parts.  (1 leg, 3 eyes, 5 feathers, 3 wattles, ... Read More about One Odd Turkey: Craft and “Store”