Head Over Heels For Teaching

Monday Made It: Lawn Sign, Book Bags, Kindness Sticks

2016-08-01T07:25:00.004-04:00

Happy Monday Friends! I'm so excited to be a guest blogger over at my friend Tara's blog, 4th Grade Frolics, for her Monday Made It linky. Go check out all the goodies I made for this upcoming year! I'm super excited about the motivation it will bring to our classroom!

Click the image.

Spark Student Motivation: Read-a-thon

2016-03-19T11:54:00.001-04:00

Happy Saturday Friends! Today is officially my first day of Spring Break! I wanted to share something I did with my students to motivate them to READ!

I present to you a..............

READ-A-THON!!

I kept my students after school for 4 hours to READ. Yes, it's that simple...to READ. EVERY single one of my students attended. :) (I actually had to change the day so three could attend-they were so upset about missing "reading", that I had to change it for them.) I can't tell you what this does for my teacher heart! Even some of my parents commented how excited their child was to attend. I could tell they were a bit surprised that their child wanted to stay after 4 extra hours just to read! LOL!

I wanted to keep the anticipation and excitement up all day so I displayed this sign on my light up frame and created a bulletin board to track their reading progress during the Read-a-thon.

What would a Read-a-thon be without food? We had snacks and drinks at our reading buffet because with all that reading we would definitely work up our appetites!

And, bookworms! My students loved the worms!

They took off their shoes and brought pillows and blankets to get cozy with their books. (I think taking off their shoes was their favorite part!) They read everywhere in our classroom!

After about two hours, I had pizza delivered.

We watched the Gotta Keep Reading video to inspire us to keep reading for two more hours. I love how the entire school collaborated to create this video-it's amazing! A must see!

Well, if music is playing, we HAVE to dance!

After every Reading Counts test they passed, they got to ring the bell! That bell was ringing all afternoon, but it's ok, it was music to my ears!

After they rang the bell, they got a book Post-It for each point they earned to display on the board. This was a great visual for us to be proud of as a class and each individual student. Some students had to make a second row of sticky notes!!

Here are the final results...

There wasn't a contest, but this young lady earned 38 Reading Counts points during the Read-a-thon! Pretty impressive! The goal was for each student to earn 20 Reading Counts points. I was excited and inspired by my students' excitement to read, ring the bell, and post their book notes on the board! They celebrated each others' successes too!

I've done this a few times with other classes and will for sure keep this as an annual event in our classroom!

Spark Student Motivation:Transform Your Classroom...Classroom to Courtroom!

2016-03-05T08:54:00.001-05:00

One of the most effective ways to HOOK your students is to transform your classroom. In can be as simple as moving desks and covering walls or as elaborate as bringing in furniture, props, and decorating the entire room with a theme. Either way, your students will love it!

Last week I decided to transform my classroom into a courtroom to get them excited about finding evidence in the text. I wanted to make it glaringly obvious when they have a "debate or argument" with someone they use elaboration every day. They expound on their evidence by explaining and adding in more details in their conversations. It's important to have a balance of evidence and elaboration in their writing, so my hope was this lesson would transfer that into their writing!

Florida 5th graders have a state writing test to write and opinion or informational essay. Both pieces require the use of using evidence from the texts provided and elaborating on the evidence. I found three different articles about whether students should or should not be allowed to use cell phones in school-I knew this would be a hot topic! We read all three articles before we "entered the courtroom".

This room transformation was easy, quick, and basically free! I already had my college graduation gown (I normally use this for my multiplication graduation), plastic gavel, black paper, black tablecloths. My only cost was the printing of my jury members, but this could be hand drawn by your students. I thought of this idea on Sunday before I transformed my classroom on Monday, so no time for drawings! I also printed the Florida flag for my backdrop.

1. Cover front of room with black paper.

2. Move table for judge and desk for witness and cover with black tablecloths.

3. Hang jury members on side wall or tape to extra chairs on the side of the classroom.

4. Finishing touches: flag on judge's table with gavel and papers. Hang flag as a backdrop behind the judge.

As soon as my kids walked in, they were filled with excitement and curiosity. I dressed up with my hair back and clear glasses to look more official. I grabbed the flag off my wall and placed it in a vase with rocks (also in my classroom stash) to hold it in place. I did not have a real base for my gavel, so naturally I used a pad of Post-Its! :)

Sssshhh...my favorite part was calling the court to order! (I may have done it more than once!)

We swore to use text evidence and elaboration on our all time favorite read aloud (Wonder).

I hung my12 jury members on the side wall.

I separated the desks in our classroom in half to represent each side.

Even if they didn't agree with the "side" they were on, there was enough evidence in the text to support either argument.

Each side called "witnesses" to argue their points. It was so amazing to see them all constantly referring back to the text to prove their thinking.

I love room transformations, and this one will be marked as a favorite and brought back, especially with it's ease and low cost. My students really learned from this experience and it made our learning memorable. I knew this would be a great way to review and ease their fears the week of testing.

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Let's Make a Deal! Weekly Ticket Drawing

2016-02-27T07:27:00.004-05:00

Let’s Make a Deal!

I've been using this motivational trick since I interned! I have always loved game shows and try to incorporate fun anytime I can in my classroom! I got this idea from the game show "Let's Make A Deal". I pass out tickets all week for miscellaneous things (participation, sharing, prepared, helping others, using or finding their vocabulary words, correct answers, etc.). My students go crazy for tickets, even this time of the year because of my weekly drawing!

At the end of the week I choose 10-12 tickets and they receive a small prize (treat from candy jar). The last ticket called is the big winner and they can go for the treat (the for sure thing) or go for the deal (taking risks/chances). In the photo below I try to offer a lollipop, but they usually walk up and say I want to go for the deal right away!

I have three bags set up: 2 are big prizes (full size candy bar, cotton candy, movie theater candy, etc.), and one is a zonk (paper clip, used homework pass, rubberband, etc.). They know there's a chance they could lose, but in 20 years I've NEVER had any student take the "for sure" treat and not go for the deal! I'll admit, I do feel bad when they get a zonk, but we're not all winners. It's a great life lesson.

Of course, I play all of this up with the "audience"..."Should they go for the deal? Do you think it's Bag #1 (cheers), Bag #2 (cheers) or Bag #3 (cheers)? It's up to you, you can go with the audience or go with your gut/heart? Which bag will it be?" And then of course, I drag it out by putting my hand in and out a few times to draw out the suspense! "Are you sure you want this bag?" And then I pull out the prize!

Here are some examples of "ZONKS", you could use anything that will get a laugh. You can use an extra homework packet, broken pencil, sticky note, tissue, rubber band, paperclip, (look around your desk for something you plan on throwing away!). Funny thing...many of my students (who aren't in the drawing) want the zonk as a souvenir!
Warning: You will feel bad the very first time someone chooses the zonk bag, after the first one it's not as bad, but those little faces when they lose....
(They have to learn to take risks and they win some and they lose some, but the odds are in their favor with only one zonk).

We don't have a strict candy policy at our school, but if you do you can use alternatives for your weekly drawing. I've done a book drawing too for a reading week.

Kids love to eat, it doesn't have to be candy. You can use healthy treats or snacks too. If they win the microwave popcorn and you pop it right away so they can eat it at their desk, you will be a hero! I also have water bottles prizes that are fun to display on their desk as another healthy choice reward!

School supplies are a win-win! When your students start running out of pencils or dry erase markers, put them in the bags! It solves your problem of them not being prepared and they win a prize!

The three bags are set up when they get back from lunch on Friday-they remind me every Friday when I drop them off not to forget to set up the drawing! I've upgraded my bags since I first started this incentive-for years I used Publix brown bags and sharpie marker numbers.

Here's a video clip of one of our weekly drawings:

(You will here them get mad at the end when I hesitate to check the bag to see if it's a prize! I like to play it up a little!)

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Accountable Talk-Live Professional Development

2016-02-20T10:40:00.003-05:00

My students and I conducted a LIVE lesson for teachers after school for professional development. This was motivating to the teachers and my students! They love showing off! :)
My students also loved that they were part of the SURPRISE! Our faculty knew I was facilitating the professional development, but they didn't know it would be a live presentation with my students!!!
(My students were hiding in the back room of the media center.)

It was soooo awesome. I started the workshop with why using accountable talk is so important in our classrooms and then pretended I was going to show them a video of my class in action. Of course, since there wasn't a video...it didn't work. I acted all upset and struggled with the computer for a minute and then let them know it was ok because I had a back up plan! I walked over to the room, opened the door, and introduced my student participants! (The teachers were so surprised and excited!)

All of the teachers, all 50 of them, gathered around the group of desks and watched my students do their thing. I talked with the audience and my students at the same time explaining what I do and what my students are responsible for during this kind of lesson.

Students formed a discussion circle and used accountable talk and discussion stems to engage in a meaningful conversation with each other about a piece of text. They constantly cited evidence from the text to justify their thinking and prove their points. The stems help them lead their conversations and to stay focused with their arguments.

I wasn't nervous about facilitating the workshop or the lesson itself because I know my students' are amazing at accountable talk. However, I was scared they'd be nervous with 50 people standing around them and staring at them and they might not talk in front of that size audience.

BUT...I was wrong! They acted just like they do in our classroom! (Calling me over to show me the hearts they drew around my name at the bottom of the page, making jokes, and one even had to use the restroom during the lesson!)

The teachers laughed at their humorous comments and were as engaged as my students were. They were impressed with how much they pulled out of such a small piece of text.

Basically...my kids nailed it! They were so impressive. I seriously almost wanted to cry I was so proud of them. I've had these students for two years and to hear the conversations and dialogue they have between each other is beautiful. They've made so much progress together.

At the end of the lesson (my students didn't want it to end!), I allowed questions from the teachers to my students about the lesson, using accountable talk, and anything else they were curious about. Again, my students impressed me and were able to answer all of their questions with ease and with such enthusiasm. They did explain to everyone that we've been working on accountable talk for a long time and we do it often. They said they trust each other and know each other well enough to know when to include others in the conversation or help each other out. They are truly a class family.

The following is a short segment of the accountable talk lesson. You will see how my students engage in conversation with each other and build of each others' ideas and thinking.
**Ten of my students are featured in the video (I grabbed some extended day kids, teacher kids, and had a few volunteer to get picked up later). I have a variety of levels in this group including students that receive ESE and ESOL services. I wanted a mixed group to show that with practice, modeling, and the right tools, everyone can do it! :)

The materials/resources used in this video and to get my students to this level can be found here:

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

Spark Student Motivation: Classroom Transformation

2016-02-13T08:59:00.002-05:00

Warning: This idea is not as simple as some of my other ideas to motivate your students. This one does take a lot of prep and some investment, but it's TOTALLY worth it!

Our school conducted a book study on Teach Like a Pirate and it's filled with ideas to engage and excite your students. The idea I bring to you today is..

A Classroom Transformation!

The week before my room transformation I piqued their curiosity by putting this message on my board. Of course, this got them excited! I told them just to bring scarves, hats, and gloves to stay warm. This simple message can work with any lesson you want to surprise your students with and gives them something to look forward to. (I purchased this light up frame at Michael's).

I've transformed my room for a day before for Halloween with black paper on the windows, a fog machine, and glows ticks, but this transformation was for the week. (I wanted to get as much use for the money I spent!) Thank you Hope King for the inspiration of this room transformation. :)

I purchased a snow making machine to give my students the full effect! Living in Florida this gadget was VERY exciting! We turned it on every day (maybe several times a day) to play in the snow! It's like a foam that is dispensed, but it doesn't leave any residue.

I wanted to cover the furniture and walls with white sheets (which were way too expensive), so I used white plastic tablecloths from Dollar Tree. They're a little see-through, but they did the trick.

Of course, once you play in the snow and get cold, you have to warm up by the fire!
We got cozy by the fire and read our articles. (My students kept putting their paper in the fire like it was going to burn!) LOL

Each day we did a different activity with our snow theme. I focused on text structure writing. The following two lessons were inspired by food, which is the way to a student's writing hand!

S'mores were made for our sequential writing assignment. It's amazing how closely they wanted to listen to directions and steps for making something when it's edible!

Each day we transferred what we learned into our text structure writing. I modeled examples and provided my students with frames and stems to guide them through their writing. These mini-offices are a great visual and tool for my students to use while writing.

The writing I received this week was amazing! Yes, it was a lot of work on my part, but they did their

part and gave me their best writing because of their hands on experience.

For description writing we ate snow cones. I already had a snow cone machine, so I only needed to purchase the syrup and cups. For each type of writing I had certain requirements (a specific number of points, key words, number of paragraphs, etc.). For example, the descriptive writing had to include at least one piece of figurative language. They were super creative with these "juices"!

"The snow cone was calling my name."

"Eating the snow cone was a dance party for my taste buds."

Teaching text structure writing this week will prove to be worth the time and energy because it has already transferred over to their reading. This experience gave my students such concrete examples and something to remember and relate to, they will be able to recognize these text structures with ease.

I know this week's transformations were a little extreme, but once I started on this idea I couldn't stop! I was just as excited as my students. Equally important to me about this week is that I created memories. Lifelong memories about school and making learning fun!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Book Raffles

2016-01-23T09:29:00.002-05:00

Get books off your shelves and into the hand of your students!

I've always displayed new books on my book displays, and it's usually first come, first served, but it's way more fun to have a BOOK RAFFLE! The way I'd like to start doing book raffles differently is to have them on set days so my students can't wait for the introduction of new books! Then I'll just display my sign, books, and buckets and let the excitement begin!

What are book raffles? When you get new books (not necessarily brand new, but new to your classroom), you let your kids enter to "WIN" a chance to read that new book. In order to build excitement, I had them displayed all day with no explanation and they're not allowed to touch them!! :) (Makes them want them more!) I do a short book talk on each book (short summary, genre, reading level). For the books I haven't read, I allow students who've read the books to do a short talk, or you could find a YouTube video on some too. Even reading the summary on the back of the book would work! Just giving them enough information and a description to make your students want to read the books!

Each student gets one ticket to choose the book they want to read most. There's no set number of books to have a book raffle, but you need to allow time to talk about each book. I have about 6-7 books.

The easy pick is if only one person enters to read a particular book. Then there's the book that half your class wants to read... (see picture below when I was about to pick the winner!!)

See? Building excitement about reading! You would've thought I was giving away a gift card to a toy store! LOL!

The good news...EVERYONE is a winner! The students who won the chance to read the new book are reading and the ones who didn't WANT to read it! They get put on a waiting list. Depending on the length of the book I give each winner a date to complete the book. If they don't finish before the due date and there's a waiting list, they have to return the book and give it to the next person. The book pictured below was a big hit! I think because they're all into scary movies right now, this scary book enticed all of them!

If you haven't tried Book Raffles, you need to! You and your students will love the excitement about books and reading! You don't have to buy new books...my big hit book above was ten cents at a thrift store! Score!

Want a copy of the Book Raffle sign and waiting list? Click here to get a copy.

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Tune Tuesday!!

2016-01-16T09:35:00.001-05:00

Close Reading With Music?!!

That's right! Engage your students and they will LOVE close reading!

What better way to spark motivation than to use music in your classroom?

But how will we use music to practice close reading? Reading closely means reading for meaning and understanding. Close reading requires students to read, look, listen more slowly, noticing details, making connections, and asking questions. Close reading takes practice and needs to be practiced regularly. This is why Tune Tuesday is the perfect “scheduled” close reading practice each week.

NOBODY is absent on Tuesdays! :)

We ALL love Tune Tuesdays! I can't wait either!

Several other grade level teachers have come to our class to join us during Tune Tuesday and they get just excited as the kids do! My administration loves it too. It's a fun and refreshing way to teach reading!

Close reading with music has so many benefits!

•Your students will ENJOY close reading!

•Engaging for all students

•Deepens comprehension

•Promotes student talk

•Cite evidence from text

•Analyze song lyrics (helps with poetry and transfers to other types of texts)

•Improves listening and speaking skills

•Helps struggling readers (listen to lyrics first)

•Teach multiple concepts and skills: theme, inferencing, drawing conclusions, vocabulary, author’s purpose, observing details and facts,

•Teaches to all modalities of learning

Music is a way of letting our emotions out and allowing ourselves to express our feelings. Music speaks to people, it inspires people, and it allows people to express themselves…why not teach with music in our classrooms?

Students can make connections with the songs and love singing along. This is such a self-esteem booster for my struggling readers as well because they listen to the lyrics and then are able to read the lyrics. This is a time for them to really be involved in a reading discussion with their peers.

Disclaimer: You don't need a disco ball to do close reading with music! LOL!

The discussion they have with each other is simply incredible. They use accountable talk to discuss their findings and points they want to make. I sometimes forget the age of the students I teach (10/11) because they sound like adults when they pick apart the lyrics and defend their thinking.

I have been using these high interest song lyrics to engage my students since last year (I looped with my class) and these lyrics make them want to dig deeper. Practicing with these strategies transfers over to other texts we use in our classroom. It's much easier to get them hooked on a difficult process with an activity that is enjoyable and they can relate to.

Here's a peek at a lesson in our classroom during Tune Tuesday.
I apologize that the sound quality isn't that great.

YOU HAVE TO TRY IT...YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS WILL LOVE IT!

If you're interested in trying this in your classroom, click on the resources.

Set One: 9 Weeks, 9 Songs Year Long Bundle: 36 Weeks, 36 Songs

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Get Up and Moving!

2016-01-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS!
I'm hoping to get into a better blogging schedule for 2016, starting with a simple idea I want to share today for my weekly Spark Student Motivation Saturdays!

OK, you know I love being able to share SIMPLE motivational ideas, right?
Well, I have another one for you!!

I call it...

I Get Up and Moving! I

I simply wrote problems to assess their math knowledge on colored index cards and taped them around the room! (That's it! Told you it was simple!)

Wait...I also passed out clipboards!

This get out of your seat assignment could be used with ANY subject. Instead of giving your students a regular worksheet, write the questions on index cards or paper and let them walk around the room. You will see...they will think you're the coolest teacher ever! :)

Other ways to use Get Up and Moving:

with a partner or group (for introducing new concepts or study buddy)
vocabulary (fill in the blank, synonyms/antonyms)
text features
any math computation
science review
multiple choice test
book genre identification
any easy fill in the blank questions
true/false questions
endless possibilities

I just used quick problems that wouldn't be too time consuming, not performance tasks or multi-step problems, just a quick review of the skills I had been teaching that week.

It's not like Scoot (which my students and I do love!) because I don't have control over where they go or how long they take. They simply walk around the room and write the answers to the problems on their paper.
(I number the cards like I'd number a worksheet).

I'm sorry, I did do one more thing...
I created this Get Up and Moving template to make it easy for me to assess!

Snag your Get Up and Moving template here. Use it for any subject for review or a quick formative assessment on your students' understanding.

What do you think? Will you give it a try? Please share what you'd use it with.

If you haven't grabbed my new "A Teacher's File Cabinet", I will be adding to it this week, so that means the price will increase...check it out!

All sorts of teacher goodies in one place!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

MERRY AND BRIGHT: Christmas Themed Activities

2015-12-13T07:24:00.002-05:00

Come on, you can do it! We're almost there! We know this week can be a little hectic, so some of my blogging friends and I want to share some tips to make this week before Christmas a little easier for you!

Just take a deep breath...

My students love "Christmas" themed activities! So, as soon as I change up a reading or math lesson and make it "Christmassy", they get excited and there's no groaning! :) It's amazing how changing the name of an activity, wrapping books up, adding Christmas clipart, copying on red or green paper, or making paper chains for each Reading Counts or behavior point earned will change the mood and mindset of kids!

I created this math game for math intervention and early finishers. Using dice, they calculate a number using any operation and then color in the ornament. Whichever players has the most colored ornaments is the winner. They BEG me to ~~do math~~ (play)!

Click here to get your copy. Your students will spend lots of "quiet time" playing this game! I plan on making several for the year! Stay tuned....

Want something to brighten your spirits too? This "Christmas" themed reading wreath will excite everyone and make an adorable display! Use with any fiction or non-fiction text. Your students won't mind thinking critically when they can sprinkle some creativity in their assignment!

This is part of a Reading Wreath Bundle!

Enter to win this and so many other goodies from the Merry and Bright Bloggers! You'll win lots of lessons for this last week and for January when we return! Our gift to you! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out some other fun ideas from other great bloggers!

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: 12 Gifts of Christmas-Easy Way to Get Excited About Books!

2015-12-05T08:17:00.002-05:00

The countdown to Christmas has begun!

I love when I get an idea that's simple and gets my students excited!
And, basically it's FREE!

Disclaimer: I actually got the title "12 Gifts of Christmas" from a Hallmark movie! LOL! Yes, I'm addicted to those holiday movies!

First, you need to select 12 books. At first, I was going to have a mixture of subjects and topics, but then I was able to find enough winter and Christmas themed books to make it work. (I didn't think I could find enough in my personal and school library since I shared so many with my class last year.) I chose a variety of genres to mix it up (realistic fiction, poetry, fantasy, fairy tale, humorous fiction, and non-fiction).

I then wrote little notes to myself about each book, so I could plan an activity or mini-lesson for each book.

Time to wrap! This is what creates the element of surprise! It's amazing what a little wrapping paper will do! I precut strips of paper at home and quickly wrapped them at school. (I ended up only using the black and white designed paper-I just love Hobby Lobby's wrapping paper!)

I randomly selected 12 students to "tag" our books for the order they will be read. This was a big deal too! :) We will share all of them, but I guess it's fun to put the tag on the package!

During our reading block, I share our "Gift of Christmas" book. We've only read two books, but as soon as they walk in they remind me that we have to get our book ready!

(Yes, those are high heels ornaments! Aren't they amazing? My students find them everywhere!)

I pull sticks to see who will open our "gift" book. Even though they know all the gifts are books, they all get excited to watch it opened!

Some of the books that are wrapped under the tree are just for pleasure, but I also plan on using some of these mentor texts for some mini-lessons too! These are from my Christmas Graphic Organizers pack. (They just make "working" during the holidays a little more fun!)

When I was wrote my notes on each book, I wrote down a few skills I could focus on during my mini-lesson. The graphic organizers below are from my Ultimate Response to Reading Bundle.

I've also displayed a "12 Gifts of Christmas" countdown to excite my students about opening the gifts of reading!

There you have it! Wrap some books to surprise your students each day until Christmas! The wrapping piques their curiosity and ties into the theme for Christmas!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Personalized Stickers

2015-11-28T08:02:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Now let the countdown to Christmas begin...
(28 days if you're counting!)

This is idea is added to my collection of simple ideas (my favorite ideas). I like to change things up to keep it fresh and new in my class, but not have to be super elaborate or expensive.

I got these circle labels on clearance a while back, but you could also use full sheet labels and a circle punch to make the same stickers. Or... the most common label (30 count) rectangular labels would work too-picture on the left and message on the right. Doesn't matter which sticker, as long as you make it your own!

Disclosure: When my husband saw these stickers he just shook his head...he thinks I'm crazy! :)

If you follow my blog you know I like to leave things on my desk or table for a few days before I use them to build excitement. So, of course my students wanted to know how they could "get" one of these "Mrs. Miller" stickers! Score! I didn't even have to sell it! :)

So excited for this math whiz! She's been trying so hard! Reading comes very easy for her, but math she has to work at. After triple checking her assignments and completing extra practice, she's got it!

Look at this student! This is her Reading Counts report! She now has 500 points for this school year! That definitely deserves a WHOOP WHOOP! She's incredible and is determined to keep her school lead!

I love recognizing students when their hard work pays off! This young man studies his vocabulary words every night and I'm so proud of him! (He goes by his middle name, but writes his first name on his papers-I didn't want you to think I wrote the wrong name. LOL)

There you go! A simple idea that's different from an ordinary sticker that will make your students smile! What do you think? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Kind is the New Cool!

2015-11-14T09:02:00.003-05:00

Kind is the New Cool!

This blog post is very special and motivational to my students and myself. Our hope is that if we spread more kindness, we will wipe out the meanness in the world! Please help us spread kindness by using some of the materials or ideas in your classroom/school and share, pin, and spread the word for us!

I've told by students they can make a difference and we're acting on it. My job isn't only to teach academics, but to create leaders and doers...and my kids are running with it!

I purchased these shirts for my class to wear while presenting. I wanted to look united and spread our message loud and clear! These shirts have gained much attention at our school! Everyone wants one! (We're working on getting every faculty member and student one for our school!)

We started our spread kindness campaign by presenting to our office staff and other classes. Each student selected or created a quote to share about kindness and what it meant to them.

We've invited all the classes at our school to join us on our campaign and challenged them to spread kindness everywhere! Each class received a large poster reading "Don't Let Anyone Ever Dull Your Sparkle" as a reminder to stay strong and don't let others bring you down.

I was so proud of what my students wrote for their quote meanings/examples to present to other classes. They were from the heart and inspirational. All of the random acts of kindness we've done, books we've shared, and teaching I've done about being kind was shining through during these presentations!

With each presentation my students' presenting skills improved and they gained confidence and excitement in our mission! Each time they hear each others' words, they are further engrained. It's important to start in elementary while they're still so impressionable, so it carries with them to the upper grades.

We wanted to go bigger than just our school...so we invited Fox News to come out and help us get the word out about spreading kindness! This was also a great experience for my students.
(They just filmed yesterday and with the heartbreaking news in Paris (please pray for the victims and families) our story wasn't shown, but as soon as it is aired, I will add the link.

We share all of these goodies with each class in hopes they will use them and be kind with one another.

This is our Random Acts of Kindness Bulletin Board-it's a great visual and reminder for us to complete these kind acts and to recognize each other when someone else completes one.

We give each class a poster and post-its to get started on their "kindness kick". I've received several emails and students coming to tell me how many post-its their class has used! It's so exciting to see we're already making a difference just at our own school!

Positive Tear Offs are also given to each class-these are kind compliments that are just SUPER FUN! Kids love ripping them off and kids love receiving them! A few classes have already run out! :)

These posters are our kindness quotes we selected for our presentations. They are the perfect visual to remind students of how easy and important it is to be kind!

Pay it Forward! We've "Positive Pranked" over 20 classes now and my kids love this random act of kindness! They get to be sneaky, knock on doors, and RUN! In return, we've been positive pranked too!
This class wrote individual notes and attached candy to them for my class. My class loved it!

This class left a yummy goodie bag of Blow Pops for us! My students are starting to see how kindness pays off! These random acts on us are making them realize they ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

Here are some books we've shared in class that promote kindness, uniqueness, and compassion. I know there are dozens more titles for kindness, so please share them in the comments below. (these are just the titles I own and have read with my class). These books will definitely spark discussion and give your students a better understanding of the importance of kindness. (If you don't have all of these titles, you can usually find the titles read aloud online).

I hope you are able to use some of these ideas to spread kindness in your classroom, school, or community. Please help this movement by sharing this link, we need everyone to help!

Want all of these goodies?

WE WANT YOU TO HAVE THEM! :)
They are free, just be KIND and leave feedback and have others come download too!

Click here. :)

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Organizing Work For Absent Students

2015-11-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

I'm blogging over at the iTeach Fifth blog today!

Come check out my post about organizing work for absent students and grab a FREEBIE!

Spark Student Motivation: Glow in the Dark Dance Party

2015-11-07T07:39:00.001-05:00

Want your students GLOWING with excitement?

Looks fun right?

All you need is 5 minutes and about $5!

Materials:

Black paper to cover windows if your classroom is still bright with the lights off.
Glow sticks (bracelets, necklaces).
Fun dance song!

Instructions:

Have your windows covered when your students enter the room to pique their curiosity.
Bring out the glow sticks, let your students select their favorite color, and crack it.
Cue music!
Let the fun begin!!

Prep Time:

5-10 minutes to set up room.
5 minute dance party!

Easy, fun, and memorable for your students!

These glow sticks were from Dollar Tree and they were SUPER bright! You might be able to find some on clearance leftover from Halloween-be on the lookout!

Before I cued the music, I did go over the expectations so it didn't get too wild! You can still be safe and have fun!

I like the glow sticks better than the necklaces and bracelets because of their brightness and they can use them as props! (They make great microphones!)

They get to bring their glow stick souvenir home!
And, I promise...this five minutes will get your students motivated to talk about their school day at home too!

There you have it! A super easy idea that will get your students

GLOWING with excitement!!!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Positive Pranking

2015-10-31T08:20:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween! You made it through the week!
Let's spark some motivation and spread some kindness!

This is an idea YOU HAVE to use in your classroom! It will motivate your students, spread kindness, and make another classroom happy all at the same time!
What is it called? POSITIVE PRANKING!

Positive Pranking is doing something nice for someone else, the reverse of the pranking that's hurtful and sometimes destructive. The form of positive pranking we're doing is the reverse of "ding-dong-ditching". Instead of knocking on a house door and leaving without a trace, we're knocking on classroom doors and leaving a goodie bag!

I filled treat bags with lollipops and pencil cap erasers and topped it with a note to explain the special delivery. We didn't sign the notes, but we did leave a "clue". We stamped them with a high heel stamp...do you think they'll guess who it is??!!

We plan "MISSIONS" as a class (who will receive the positive prank, the route the positive pranker will take, and where to hide after they knock). One of my students is keeping track in a notebook of all the classrooms we've hit and which students have had a turn to carry out the prank

This student wanted to "dress up" for his mission! So cute!

My class is so funny the way they pile at the door to watch the mission. Then we have to quickly close the door before the other class answers. We don't get to see the reactions of the teacher or students, but we love imagining it!

My students are BEGGING me to do the positive pranking! I tell them I'm looking for someone who is a leader in our class and someone who can pull off the mission!

This is seriously one of the BEST things I've implemented in our classroom! It makes EVERYONE happy and feel good! We've pranked 6 classrooms so far! We plan to do one a day until we've pranked the whole school!!!

Help spread kindness and positive prank someone today!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Scan to Win Reward Tickets

2015-10-24T08:26:00.002-04:00

It's Saturday! Time to SPARK SOME STUDENT MOTIVATION!

Are your students getting comfortable and need a new incentive to work for?
I have just the thing for you and your students!!

I created these SCAN TO WIN REWARD TICKETS a few years ago and they've been a hit with every student! It's the element of surprise that gets everyone excited! You'll be as excited as your students as they "scan and reveal" what they've won!

My students can earn a Scan to Win for all kinds of reasons: participation, random act of kindness, Reading Counts Points, improvement, homework completion, passing a subject area test, clean desk, and my favorite....just because!

I like to keep them guessing when Scan to Win tickets will be given out! The only "constant" way to earn one is for moving to a new Reading Counts Points Club, the rest are spontaneous!

It's something very easy to incorporate into your classroom and administration and other teachers are always impressed with this reward system. I used them at open house too and let my parents scan for their children, even the parents loved it! :)

See the video below for my student who already has over 300 Reading Counts Points...yes, it is only October!!! Whoop Whoop! I have two that are neck and neck and they're pushing each other with a friendly competition that's motivating them both! I love it!

Sometimes I also have my students nominate each other for something they've noticed about their behavior, effort, etc. This student was "nominated" by one of his group members for being helpful to his group and always listening. Letting their peers recognize their greatness is a huge self-esteem booster too! Two for one!

Tickets can be handed out and redeemed ("scanned") at the end of the day or right at that moment, your choice.
This student Scanned to Win and won a ring pop! (Always a favorite and they're only 25 cents!)

Most of the prizes are free or of little cost: sit with a friend, free answer on a test, eat lunch with the teacher, use pen all day, extra computer time, treat, new pencil, 60 different SCAN TO WIN REWARD TICKETS. I've even included "Sorry, try again," if you want to promote risk taking. Sometimes I offer them a "for sure" prize or they can take a chance by scanning a ticket. It's real life right, we're not all winners! LOL!

Tickets can also be reused or let students keep them. Each prize comes ten to a page and I only print the ones I want to offer to my class. If you're interested, check it out here.

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Student Wall of Fame

2015-10-17T08:30:00.001-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful week-mine was jam-packed (as usual!). Today I want to share an idea I've been using since the beginning of my teaching. My good friend reminded me this week that I haven't blogged about it yet! :) Ooops!

Each week I feature a new student to be spotlighted in our classroom. They wait anxiously to see who the next celebrity spotlight will be! I send home a letter explaining the week's activities the week before. This week is a special week for the student, each day having special meaning.

On Monday, students bring in items to decorate their Wall of Fame (bulletin board) that represent them or want to share with everyone. They can bring in anything that can be hung. They bring in a range of items (photos, medals, certificates, artifacts, souvenirs, covers of favorite books/games, etc.). They share all of their items on Monday with our class. It's a wonderful way to get to know more about each other and for students to share important things they want others to know about themselves.

On Tuesday, my students write compliment cards to the featured student about what makes them special or that they appreciate about them. Each student writes on a hole punched index card that is kept on a book ring for the student to keep as a memento for years. (I have students in college that still have their compliment cards!!) It's definitely a keepsake!

On Wednesday, the featured student's parents or family members write a special note about them. I read it aloud to the class and of course, you will hear my students say "awwww" when I finish reading. They're always so touching and gives us a different perspective about each student.

On Thursday, the featured student gets to sit with a friend. He/she chooses who they want to sit next to and I either switch another student for the day or let them sit at a table together. They also get to use pen all day. (This is a big deal!)

On Friday, I invite a family member to come eat lunch with their featured student and myself. Sometimes they bring lunch and sometimes they just join us to enjoy their "fame". At this time we also read the compliment cards aloud. Parents are so touched to hear what other classmates say about their child. It is very touching and I know it makes the parent feel special too. After all, they already know great things about their child, but it's a proud moment when others notice it too.

PHOTO BELOW: At the end of the year last year I allowed my students to teach their own lesson. One of my students taught a lesson on kindness and had each student write a compliment card to me so I could have a set too. These cards will be cherished forever...so heartfelt and such appreciation for the job I do for them. I now know how my students feel to receive these cards and the importance of sharing appreciation for each other.

I've been featuring a student and designating a spot for them to shine since the beginning of my teaching and it's one of the things I could never get rid of in my classroom. The importance of letting a student shine for reasons other than academic is so beneficial and such a self-esteem booster. They love it and I love it!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Featured Books

2015-10-10T07:08:00.002-04:00

Do you have some special books in your class that you'd love your students to read? Have your purchased some new books that you want snatched off the shelves?
FEATURE THEM!

Yep, that simple! I am fortunate to have a HUGE library, but I wanted a new way to feature special books each week/month. So I cleared off the top of my book shelves, purchased some book displays, and made some signs...and then I had "FEATURED BOOKS"!

My students can "shop" around for any books in my classroom, but this display attracts them right away! I've noticed since I added this to my classroom this year, it's the first place they look when searching for a new read.

I love having the books facing forward, but I have so many books I can only feature a few. ( I know, it's not a bad problem to have!) I just know kids gravitate towards book covers, not book spines, which is why I decided to do this in the first place.

These are books that are just released or are new to our classroom. Just the word "new" makes anything sound better!

It's so exciting to see books flying off the display and my students enjoying these books! I don't mind having to refill my display AT ALL! :)

Feature a few special books that have been forgotten on a shelf or favorites of yours to attract attention. These are displayed on plate/frame holders.

If only a few are featured, students think they're "special" and want to take them of the display!

Now, these books are different...I want to attract their attention and pique their curiosity, but they are NOT ALLOWED to read these books! (Which drives them CRAZY!) Why can't they read these books? These are the books that I will be reading to them! These are special mentor texts or read alouds I plan to share with my students sometime "soon".

Just putting them up on my display makes them want to take the book, especially since they know they can't read it! Aren't I mean??!! Look at the face below-she wants to read that "Coming Soon" book so badly, but I have to be firm and say NO! It just makes them appreciate the book so much more when I do share it. There's a little cheer and squeal when I walk over to my display to take a book off of my coming soon shelf to read to them!

Want to pique your students' curiosity? Do you need some display tent cards to get started?
Click here to download.
Enjoy your readers and your books! :)

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Special Deliveries at School

2015-10-03T08:16:00.002-04:00

Happy Fall Y'all! That's right! Florida is getting a cold front and our temperatures will be a high of 82! Time to break out the scarves and sweaters! Lol!

My favorite ideas are the simple ones, especially the ones I find or discover on accident!
So simple, it's only changing the shipping address for packages! :)

Do you order books from Amazon? I usually have all of my shipments sent to my house, but this year I've ordered a few books and had them shipped to school and it definitely sparks motivation!

I notify the front office that I'm expecting a package and then I let my student I ordered the book for go pick it up and open it. It's definitely an exciting moment...everyone loves opening packages!

This idea came to me after getting a few students to read the first book in a series. After I get them hooked on a book, I entice them with the second book. I tell them if they think they can finish the book in a couple of days, I'll have the second (or third) book delivered in two days just for them! (If I don't already own the series or sequel.)

These two were both waiting for this package! This is the sequel to a book they both read. It was so sweet when the package came, they said, "Let's open it together!"

Here's a little clip of these girls opening the package...I love how she ((hugs)) the book after she opens it! TOTALLY worth the delivery!

A simple idea to make students feel excited and motivated about reading. Think about how we feel when we get mail (especially packages)? It's the same for students! Try this simple idea, you'll love and your students will love it!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Finding Vocabulary Words!

2015-09-26T09:40:00.001-04:00

It's Fall!! (Although it doesn't feel like it in Florida yet...)

Another simple idea...
Want to get your students SUPER EXCITED about using and finding vocabulary words?
Give them tickets!!
I offer my students a ticket (for our weekly drawing) every time they find a vocabulary word and can tell me the meaning.
I've selected words that will appear in their daily reading, which makes finding them exciting because they're everywhere! I created my list of words my first year teaching because we had a horrible program with our reading series and I've used it ever since. I wanted words that my students would use in their conversations and writing. Also, I wanted them to see and understand them in their own reading and feel great about their word bank they've built!

Are you sure you're ready for all this vocabulary finding ??!! I'm so impressed after I look at all the examples I've captured of my students finding our words!

Here's an example of one of my students finding a vocabulary word.

I'm giving out A LOT of tickets this year because my class can use all our words from last year since I looped with them. But, isn't that the point? It makes ME so excited when they race to show me a vocabulary word they found! I want them to LOVE vocabulary and it shows me they enjoy learning new words and the activities we do to learn them.

If they find them at home and mark their books to show to me the next day, they still get tickets. OR...they can take a picture of them and text them to me (which is way more fun!!)!

These students wrote the meanings under the words they found.

They will find them when they're on the computer!! It counts no matter where they find them!!

They'll even have their parents text pictures of vocabulary words on buses to prove they found them!

They even find them on TV!!!!
The following video is a 3 second snippet from The Voice that a student sent me of Gwen Stefani using one of our vocabulary words (genuine). I mean, this steps it up a notch! :)

Do you see the effort by all these students??!! I've never had a reading program list of words that did this for my students. Such a simple concept to reward students for recognizing vocabulary words and knowing their meaning with tickets. My students LOVE it!

You can do the same thing with your vocabulary words! This simple idea encourages them to be "on the lookout!" It works wonders! I promise!

For more vocabulary activities click here.

My entire yearlong vocabulary bundle (words, activities, assessments, organizers, etc.) can be
found here. It will be 20% off for the weekend! :)

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!

***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

Spark Student Motivation: Getting Your Students to Buy Into Getting Their Parents Involved!

2015-09-19T08:22:00.001-04:00

Do you have trouble getting information relayed to your parents from your students? (especially big kids because the parents count on them to give on their children important information and don't check their backpacks) I have a creative solution for you! LET'S SPARK SOME STUDENT MOTIVATION!

Here's an easy way to get your students excited about sharing information with their parents about upcoming events...have them take a picture of the act!

We made these cute Open House invites and I wanted to make sure my students went straight home to give them to their parents, so I offered an incentive!
*We made these last year and they were a HUGE hit!

I offered them 10 tickets the following day if they took a picture of them handing the invite to their parents, a picture of the invite with their parents, or a picture of the invite on their refrigerator, etc.!
They could be as creative as they wanted!

After taking the picture they texted the "proof" to me!

The one on the left wrote a note with her picture! I received one text within 5 minutes of getting out of school! As soon as he got in the car, his mom texted me to let me know they'd be at open house!

Just a fun and simple way to get students motivated about sharing information about your class!
**If you don't feel comfortable giving out your cell phone number, you could still offer an incentive for bringing a note back. I just really liked the creativity and fun of this method! :)

I know next time I'll have even more responses after seeing all the ones that participated receive their 10 tickets! And, I overheard some of them talking about creative ways to take pictures "next time".
SCORE!!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spark Student Motivation: Customized Stamps

2015-09-12T08:32:00.002-04:00

I know most of us are now in full swing this school year, so let's share some motivational tips to make it the best year for all of us!

I LOVE to spark my students' motivation with my customized stamps!
I started my collection about 8 years ago (before I had purchased all my cute fonts). I have a couple more I still need to add, but you'd be surprised what these stamps do for my students!

I've been dancing on desks since my first year teaching...gets their attention for sure! I decided to make a stamp so they could remember the moment we celebrated something they did in our classroom!

**(This is definitely the favorite stamp!)**

At first, people think the "Who Are You?" stamp is for no-name papers, but it's actually for students who are so incredible I can't believe they're only in 5th grade or they've achieved something they've never been able to do!

Think about it...how would you feel if someone told you that "you were dangerous"? Pretty awesome, right? We use that saying all the time in our classroom when anyone has a really deep or thought provoking answer that wows everyone.

Here is my collection...these stamps definitely make both my students and me excited to use them!

I bought several of them when Office Depot had a buy one stamp, get one stamp free special. They have 25% off on their stamps quite often, check their ad for coupons. Best part: they can make them right there in the store in minutes!! AND...they're self-inking! Whoop Whoop! :)

**This could also be done with labels if you don't want to buy a customized stamp...just as effective and exciting for your students!!

I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up

Learn Like You Mean It!

2015-09-09T06:24:00.000-04:00

Check out my blog post about getting your students pumped up about learning those standards!

Read about it over at the iTeach Fifth blog!

Spark Student Motivation: Welcome Back!

2015-08-29T08:31:00.003-04:00

We had a great first week of school, but I'm exhausted!
The first week of school is so important to set expectations and develop routines and procedures, but it's equally important to build community and have a memorable first week!

I sent home VIP Entrance Tickets in the mail to invite my students to Meet the Teacher! I love how they all brought their tickets with them! Kids love getting mail!

Also at Meet the Teacher, I have a display for them to pick up some goodies (welcome back water bottle, pencil, erasers, and a ruler).

Display letters are from my Back to School Reading & Writing Bundle

This banner is a welcome to my students to let them know I'm excited about starting a new year with them!

I found these cute props that are perfect for photo opportunities!

Here's our countdown to a New Year! It's a little loud, but they LOVE it!

For our Happy New School Year Party I pass out hats, horns and necklaces. They get to take these home and they probably drive their parents crazy!

Even though we saved Fred last year, it's a fun team building activity that gets them all excited! They had different teams and strategies this year.

We discussed our class Non-Negotiables and Class Procedures, but we also have to throw in some team building and community building activities!
The first week sets the tone for the rest of the year! Make it structured, organized, special, memorable, and fun for you and your students!
Here's to a GREAT SCHOOL YEAR!!!

***This linky will be open for two weeks due to the Labor Day Holiday. :)
I hope you had a wonderful week! Please link up any lessons, ideas, tips, tricks, incentives, ANYTHING you do get your students motivated or excited!

Don't forget to grab my button and link back to this post!

Check out all the wonderful ideas from my friends who link up and don't forget to leave some love by commenting....we LOVE comments!
***Please include the topic in the link up with your blog name.

An InLinkz Link-up