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Looking at November

I'm looking at the calendar, and I just can't believe we're approaching November already! 

November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!


There's a lot going on in November, but no need to fear, I've got your teaching needs covered!
 
Here are a couple of resources to start off November: 
 
November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!

 
 
Here is one of my favorite November resources: Science and Social Studies Activities for November!
 
November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!

Don't forget Election Day!

I'm sure I'll be having the kiddos vote for something, but they won't be voting for president... far too controversial! This one's a fun one! Election Day Graphing Option for Little Kids

November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!


  Veteran's Day is November 11th! 

Here's a fun activity to help the children understand what a Veteran really is! This will spark some great conversations!  Veterans True or False

November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!


Here's another fun resource to help children learn about Veterans! (On the fun Boom Learning platform!) Armed Services Fun Facts

November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!


Once they figure out what Veterans are, they can write thank you notes to Veterans using this freebie!  Thank You Veterans!
November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!

Since Election Day and Veterans Day are both Patriotic holidays, enjoy these Patriotic Brain Breaks! See the image for the link to this freebie! Patriotic Brain Breaks
 
November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!


Of course, everyone's favorite November holiday is Thanksgiving! Check out these Printables!
 
November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!

Here's a math game to practice +9s! Turkey Nines  (Oh my goodness, they LOVE this game! It works like "Old Maid")
 
November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!


And guess what... there's a freebie version!  Turkey Nines Freebie!
 
November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!

Want more turkeys? This little bundle includes more turkey learning fun, (including the Thanksgiving Turkey game) at a huge discount!

November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!
I hope you find something your students will love for the month of November!


November Resources: Suggestions and resources for Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, including some freebies!


Five Reasons NOT to Reward Students

Many teachers love to reward their students for doing a good job on their classwork. 
 
Five Reasons NOT to Reward Students - Rewarding students MAY do more harm than good. Here are some reasons.
 


I have mixed feelings about this, and here are some reason why.



Rewards can make behavior and work habits worse in the long run. Simple rewards can certainly motivate children to work harder, but once the reward is gone, the motivation stops. Behaviors and work habits go downhill fast once the children have been rewarded. "Why should I read if I'm not earning a prize?"



Rewards cost money. Teachers don't have a lot of money. 



Rewards give the wrong impression. Good behavior is what's expected. Giving rewards makes good behavior an extra effort worth of a prize. It's almost like turning good behavior into a job, with a paycheck as the prize. 



Rewards lead to entitlement. Children develop a sense of entitlement for simply doing what is expected. Unfortunately, this leads to adults who feel entitled simply for showing up at work. 


Learning is its own reward. Students need to be developing a sense of pride in what they do. That is the true reward! Feeling good about working hard for something is a wonderful feeling! Taking pride in a project done well, or a successful test is a prize within itself. 

Despite all these reasons, I won't say that rewards should never be used. There are some children that need that extra motivation in order to be successful. Some children have behavioral challenges or educational challenges that make school very hard. In these cases, rewards should be used carefully.

Five Reasons NOT to Reward Students - Rewarding students MAY do more harm than good. Here are some reasons.

The Lucky One!

Have you ever had to have one or two items that were slightly different from the others, and were concerned the children might feel "cheated" if their item was different?
 
The Lucky One: This is a little trick I learned from the cafeteria ladies in my school. Different is lucky!
 

Here's a little trick I found from the cafeteria workers at my school. There was one tray that was slightly different from the others. Rather than letting the kids feel left out when they got that tray, the "different" tray became known as the LUCKY tray!

Here are my math counters for Monday. I was short one ziplock and had to use a "regular" ziplock bag. Which set would be the "special" one?
 
The Lucky One: This is a little trick I learned from the cafeteria ladies in my school. Different is lucky!

It's all a matter of attitude, isn't it?


Just be careful. When our math program didn't send enough work books, I had to run off one extra copy until the new workbook arrived. They didn't consider the one black and white page the "lucky" one, when all the other copies were colorful!
 
The Lucky One: This is a little trick I learned from the cafeteria ladies in my school. Different is lucky!



October Resources

It feels like we just started school, and already we're looking at October in the not-so-far distance. 


October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

October brings fall, Fire Safety Week, football, and, of course, Halloween!

Brain research tells us if the children can make a connection with their learning, then learning will happen. I find most children can easily make a connection with special days and sports, which makes them more enthusiastic about learning! In face, I'm banking on their enthusiasm, and have plenty of resources to celebrate learning and building skills, in a fun way!


Teachers can project these questions as the children arrive in the morning in order to get them thinking about the day. These also can be used for daily writing prompts.

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

The above resource contains a free link to this Boom Learning Digital Resource: October General Knowledge Trivia Questions and Enrichment. These are great for your fast finishers and those who need a little something extra!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


Here's a little something to maintain positive communication with parents: October Parent Communication Brochure

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

 
In an attempt to "fit in" more Science and Social Studies concepts, I've looked over my grade level College and Career Ready Science and Social Studies Standards, and found ways to squeeze these concepts into my day. Most of the work is done, all you have to do is print and go! I even have a S.T.E.M. activity with an October theme! Check out this resource here: Science and Social Studies Activities for October.
 
October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)
  
This Bats resource is a sample of the above collection. Check out this fun resource here: Bats Informational Mini-Book
October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


Here's a dollar deal to get the kiddos thinking about Fire Safety: Fire Safety What-If task cards.
October Resources: Here are several resources, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


It's fall in New England! There are so many beautiful changes here that make it one of my favorite seasons:  warm days, crisp nights, football, and the beautiful fall colors on the trees.  To make your life (and mine) easier, I've combined important concepts with fall ideas in these Fall No Prep Activities!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

One of the best parts about Fall in New England?  Football! I've got plenty of Football Resources! Just click the images for each link!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Here's a sample from the set above: 

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


Students LOVE these football-themed BINGO games!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

This October bundle is marked down for you, with plenty of fun learning activities!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Enjoy these October Resources!


October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)



My Secret Ingredient to Open House Success

I've been through lots of Open Houses.  The purpose of the Open House is usually to let parents know what's going on in school. There are loads of blog posts about setting up your classroom, scavenger hunts, parent stations, brochures, and presentations.
 
My Secret Ingredient for a Successful Open House: There are plenty of great Open House ideas out there, but this one will have everyone feeling great!
 
I do all those things, leave plenty of things for parents to take with them and get to know my classroom and my procedures.
 
But I do something else that seems to be an added extra that makes a difference: 

I play happy music!


You know, that kind of music that just makes people feel good. 

I got this idea years ago when I went to an all day conference, and was walking into my "mid afternoon" seminar with dread: it's a tough time of day, and I was feeling like I'd prefer to take a nap.

When I walked into the room, the presenter was playing "happy music". I don't remember the specific song, but I remember it made me feel like moving.

I immediately felt a smile on my face, and I looked around the room and everyone else was smiling and moving to the music. 

Research tells us music can affect our feelings. 
So I play "happy music" to help people feel good about my classroom.


THIS POST has a freebie list of song ideas to download!

It works!

What music makes you feel happy?


My Secret Ingredient for a Successful Open House: There are plenty of great Open House ideas out there, but this one will have everyone feeling great!

Ten Freebies, Dollar Deals, and Two Dollar Treats for Back to School!

Yes, you read that right, that's a full ten back-to-school bargains!

These bargains are designed to make your teacher life easier for back to school!

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

These are some of the things that always help me through those first busy weeks of school! 
 

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

Here's a Dollar Deal to help organize your literacy centers, including what the children do when they're not with you!

These cards are part of this more inclusive resource: 

Guided Reading and Literacy Center Management and Organization Resources

 
Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.
 
We all know those children who struggle to learn sight words. This research-based $2 Treat will help!


For a more inclusive resource see:

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

 
Here's a great way to keep communication open with parents, and give them some information that will help their children be successful!


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

This system has helped many children master their basic math facts. This freebie is the first of 8 research-based, brain-friendly levels toward math fact fluency.


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

Have your students mastered addition and subtraction facts? Move them on to multiplication and division! As with the addition and subtraction facts above, these are research-based and brain-friendly. This freebie is the first of 8 levels toward multiplication and division fact fluency!
 


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

This Dollar Deal is a great way to start the year in Science and Social Studies.
 

For the full set of 9 enhanced activities see:


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

  
Looking for some fun ways to get the children comfortable with each other and learn to work together? These 6 Dollar Deal Team Building Games are very popular!

These 6 games are included in:

These 20 games are included in the bigger set... this one will last you the whole year!

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.
  
I use these Dollar Deal tools as a "school office" with my students. These hands-on tools help children become independent learners!
 

These tools are included in the big bundle:


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.
 
 
This Dollar Deal is a fun way to get the kiddos thinking about their learning and how they can take charge of their learning.

 

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

This one will help the kiddos get all those summertime wiggles out!

If you find these freebies and dollar deals useful, I'd love if you left some feedback!

I hope these bargains and ideas make your teaching life a bit easier!

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.


Ten Freebies for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for second grade.


 

 





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