A Primary Teaching Blog
It’s always a good time to celebrate your students. Originally, these student posters were for the end of the year celebrations we do in the classroom. During distance learning, we couldn’t meet together and celebrate the end of the year, so I created a digital version. But this can be used in the classroom and for more than just the… Read More
Phonics can easily be left out during virtual learning because it seems so hands on and teacher-directed at times. But I’ve got all the tools you need for teaching phonics during virtual learning! These ideas will make low effort on your part, but high engagement on the students part! Introducing the Phonics Pattern YouTube Video Library I honestly love starting… Read More
I love to begin my phonics block with videos/songs. Songs are a great way to learn and remember new things. Here are a few of my favorite YouTube videos for teaching phonics. If you’re looking for YouTube channels for the primary classroom, check out this blogpost! Note: I try to keep this updated, but know sometimes YouTube videos are removed… Read More
I wanted to offer some of my favorite distance learning tools (including tutorials). These are simple enough to use and effective enough for any classroom. Screencastify screencastify.com With this screen recording program (best used as an extension with Chrome web browser), you can record lessons or instruction to send to your students. You can record your screen with yourself as… Read More
If you were to look in your files (or your TPT purchases-who am I kidding, that is my files now), do you own a set of “task cards“? I own about 7,000 sets (okay that’s extreme, but I do own quite a few) and sometimes I need to spice up how I use them. Here are some ideas on… Read More
Scholastic Book Clubs has changed my life. I remember getting the book flyer every month in elementary school and visiting the book fair once a year when it came by my school. Honestly, one of the first things I did as a new teacher was join the Scholastic Book Clubs! I couldn’t wait to get books for my library and… Read More
An article written about using “number talks” to analyze student thinking and allow students to problem solve. Metacognition is the awareness and understanding of one’s own thinking or simply “thinking about thinking”. As adults we have a tendency to already know our processes for problem solving, but young students today have a very hard time being problem-solvers. Students expect the… Read More
Have you heard of Oriental Trading? I sure hope so! It’s such a fun place to get all the little decor your heart desires. Last year I bought some plastic Hawaiian leis from Oriental Trading for our “Mele Kalikimaka” song for our Christmas program and BOY did those little firsties look cute! Well, Oriental Trading has expanded their horizons to put… Read More
Let’s go back to school with Erin Condren! I received some SUPER fun necessities for the upcoming school year and I had to share with all of you! These are my personal favorites from Erin’s back to school catalog. I almost DIED when I saw the flamingo design on this adorable lunch tote! The cute erasers with “oops” and “my bad”… Read More
ClassDojo has been a staple in my classroom for a few years now. It has worked wonderfully to communicate behavior with the parents. The ClassDojo team has done an outstanding job of enhancing the program to be all encompassing with individual/group/whole class points, parent messaging, class story, growth mindset videos, and (I’m most excited about) student-led portfolios (coming in late… Read More
