Of all of the holidays, Easter is one of the 'big ones' in my classroom.  Teaching at a Christian school allows me to stray further from the theme of bunnies, eggs, and chicks (however cute they may be) and focus my kids on the story of new life through Jesus' sacrifice. The Bible lessons that we teach at Easter are, hands-down, the ones that I wait for all year.

I work in a Christian school and I love it. I love being able to talk about my faith all day and play my favorite worship songs as my students work.  I have had so many incredible conversations with students about their big questions, and worries, and it's great to be able to point them back to the Bible in all things.

This year, to tie our Bible lessons into our Language Arts, we are going 'in depth' into the symbols seen in the Easter Story in the New Testament.

Following this complete plan, we have been learning about Jesus by actually reading our Bibles, and spending time in Bible study! All of the reading is from the New Living Translation of the Bible, and it's the perfect level for my third-grade students.  I love that they can 'dive into' The Word on their own!

Then, we craft!  In my third grade classroom, Art is a tie-in to almost every subject, and my students love getting crafty.   Check out our Symbols of the Easter Story mobiles

The whole Easter unit is available HERE  from my Teachers Pay Teachers store .

I've also created a special free version of the craft for my lovely blog readers.  You can find that HERE.

Let me know, how do you prepare for Easter in your classroom?  Any tips or great resources to share?  Sound off in the comments below!

- Rachel 

Making spontaneous pairs is one of my least favourite parts daily classroom life, but it is so, so necessary.  We know that cooperative learning is a key component of success at the elementary level and beyond.  But when it comes to the inevitable "Think, pair, share...." , or "Work in partners...", or "Grab a buddy..."  I know that someone will be left out.  

I can always see my students making eye contact with each other, signaling 'Will you be my partner?'

Sometimes I have partners assigned ahead of time, and other times they are told to talk to an 'elbow buddy' (someone they can touch with their elbow without moving from their current spot).

This year, I added in Animal Pairs to randomly assign partners, and it is going so well!

This does not work as well if you don't want random groups.  If you are looking to strategically pair up strong/struggling students, or chatty/quiet students, you may want a different system.  But if you want a way to pair up students that is completely random, gives a quick brain break, and forces students to step outside of their friendship comfort-zones, look no further!

First, grab some large craft sticks.  I bought mine at the dollar store.  I have 24 students, so I took out 24 sticks.  Then I chose 12 animals.  I wrote each animal's name on a stick twice.  (Two zebras, two elephants, two kangaroos, etc.)

Place all of the sticks in a jar, and mix them up!

Then, allow each student to draw one stick out of the jar and tell them to find their animal pair.  You may want to set a time limit.  Sometimes, I give them an action as well.  

"Find your animal buddy while hopping on one foot!"

 This helps to get out some of their wiggles while they find their partner.

It's not a perfect system, but I rarely have any complaints.  In fact, they often beg for the animal sticks.  If we are going to have partners for a project, discussion, or quick pair/share my class would far prefer it be through random animal pairs.

I would love to hear how you choose partners in your classroom?  Do you have a method that works well to keep students from being leftout, or the same pairs from being chosen each time?  Sound off in the comments below!

- Rachel

This has been an up-and-down week for me as a teacher. I have been away for most of it... sick... ugh! Man do I miss my kiddos. I had some amazing Valentines activities planned for them, but had to leave them in the hands of a very capable substitute teacher. Thank goodness for wonderful subs, I don't know what I would do without her!

Does anyone else feel like being away sick is more work than being at school?  I know I need to take the time to rest and heal, but planning for a substitute is just so much work.  There are so many good grab-and-go sub plans out there, but sometimes I just want things to continue my way, and I know that's not always possible.

In this season of colds and flus, it never hurts to be over-prepared with sub plans!  I try to have a binder of writing assignments, math projects, and classroom routines all prepped and ready to go just in case I can't be in the next day.

Am I alone in this anxiety over leaving my class with a sub?  How do you plan for your inevitable days off?  Let me know in the comments below!

- Rachel

Subtraction in Third Grade is not always as easy as it looks! 

There are parts I love about teaching.  Reading? Writing?  Speaking?  All over those!  Creative centers and integreated learning? Check and check!

But math?  Sometimes I feel like I am totally 'rocking it' and other times it seems like my lessons go in one ear and out the other!  I have to work extra hard to make sure that my students are getting the best possible math education.  Finding strategies that work for everyone in my class is a constant juggling act! 

Am I alone in this?

I spend my evenings on Pinterest, and reading other blogs about strategies that work for other teachers, and I try to implement them in my classroom.  I desperately want my kiddos to succeed.

Recently, our math curriculum introduced subtraction with missing numbers.  Boy, were we lost.  Do we add?  Do we subtract?  What is the question even asking.  There are so many times when the materials we have (especially the text book), are just not enough!

So I started from scratch.  I made new worksheets, new posters, and a new "cheat sheet" to help guide my confused bunch of third graders.  After a bunch of repeated practice... I think we have it!  Praise the Lord!

So, I am sharing it with you.  Use it, try it, let me know if it helps your kids to master this concept.  Although this is available on Teachers Pay Teachers blog readers can have it for FREE as part of my Free Resource Library (See the link at the top of the page that says 'Resources') when they sign up for my mailing list.  

Once you sign up, the password to the library will come straight to your inbox. PLUS there are other great units and printables in there as well!  

I promise not to spam your mailbox (nobody likes multiple e-mails a month, or even a week!), but it's a great way for us to stay caught up, and for me to send more free lessons and units your way.

Sign up form is below.  Once you've subscribed, let me know what you think in the comment section!

- Rachel

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When I first began student teaching, my mentor teacher always used to say that there were three things that must happen each day in an elementary classroom.  First, students need to write something.  Second, students need to actively read something.  Finally, there needs to be a point in each day where the teacher reads out loud to their students.  

No matter how busy or crazy the school day, he always emphasized the importance of reading out loud, and students loved it.

I've carried those three rules into my own classroom, and reading out loud is something that both I, and my students, always look forward to.  I try to pick from a variety of texts as I read out loud: novels, picture books, information texts, silly poems... almost anything!  Here are a few of my favourites books to read out loud: 

The Book With No Pictures (by B.J. Novak)

This book is one of the silliest read alouds I have ever purchased, but even after reading it a dozen times (no exaggeration) my students are still begging me to read it "just one more time."  Make sure that you're ready to be a little bit goofy, and play along with the story in the book! 

My Mouth is a Volcano (by Julia Cook)

This one is my favourite "teaching" books.  It has a lesson, and my third graders find it easy to connect to the story.  In My Mouth is a Volcano, the main character has difficulty with 'blurting' his thoughts and answers during class, and finds help in visualizing his words as a volcano erupting!  I have a class of excited 'blurters' this year, and it's been great to find a book that helps us to see how blurting may hurt other classmates' chance at sharing their ideas. 

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (by Chris Grabenstein)

This book is a few levels above my third grade students, but I read it aloud for a class novel study.  It's a great book and has about a hundred chances to make text-to-text connections while you read! It follows the adventures of a group of seventh grade students as they explore (and escape from!) a brand new library designed by an eccentric master game maker.  Think The Amazing Race meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Note:  The first quarter of the book is a little bit slow, and introduces a lot of smaller characters, but stick with it, it gets a lot better! 

How about you? What is your class reading right now? What inspires you as a teacher?

- Rachel

*All images of books are from Amazon.com

Please note: This post was written in 2016. Much of the technology referenced in this post is now outdated. The post has been left up for archive purposes.

In the fall, my school did an in-school Professional Development day.  It was a 'best practices day' and a few teachers were asked to present on something that was working well in their classroom, or something they felt confident to teach to others.  I love technology!  My classroom has a projector and an iPad, and I was asked to present on how I effectively use a single iPad to instruct and teach in an elementary classroom. 

There are many ways to use a single iPad effectively in an elementary classroom. 

I was nervous, but I have to say, it went really well!  So well, in fact, that I'll be giving another pro-D talk later on this year to a larger group of staff!  (Wish me luck!)  Our school may not have a huge technology budget for the elementary department, but with a little creativity, there are still many ways to use technology to make students' classroom experiences better.  Even before I was given a projector for my classroom (only two years ago now), I was finding creative ways to use a single iPad, or an old iPod touch to add to the learning environment.  

This is the PDF I handed out at my presentation.  It walks through hardware needed to set-up, apps for teachers, apps for students, and effective classroom uses.  Please feel free to use it at your school, keeping my logos and copyrights in tact. 

Guide to the One iPad Classroom 

- Rachel

Around this point in the year, I like to do something a little bit different with my classroom organization.  This is more than putting students in groups.  Physically, we move our desks around, and we also lightly restructure a few of the ways I interact with the students in my class.  In our room, we are now divided into five learning communities.  (Loosely based off of this book) The point of these groupings is not to pit one group against the other in a reality-show-style standoff, but rather to build a tight-knit mini-community within our already close classroom community.   Let me explain…

By now, we have spent a good portion of the fall learning how to be bucket fillers, and what it means to show expected behavior . Students know my expectations to be kind, gentle, put others first, and follow the rules of the classroom.  We have done this in the context of the whole classroom where each child has been asked to generically look out for everyone else, and the teachers are the ‘overall’ support system if something goes wrong.  We are now switching up the model

With the introduction of community groups, I’ve explained that, within the classroom, each group is like a family.  (Of course, if “family” is not a safe word, you may want to use something different).  A group works together to do their best, to work hard and most importantly, to take care of each other. If one group member is upset, or frustrated, or confused, it is first up to the rest of the group to try and help them before they go to a teacher or someone outside of their group. 

At the beginning, we use a points system.  This is not intended to be used as a competition, but to encourage group to work together in a kind, respectful, and cohesive manner.  As a group, they are supposed to show expected behavior and be bucket fillers.  When I notice a group is encouraging each other, speaking kindly, helping a friend who is not understanding an assignment, all on-task, gently reminder a member to focus, etc.  they receive a point for their group.  (I also make a big deal that bragging, especially in the context of points, is not okay).  Then, on Friday, we have a points ceremony, and it is a big deal.  We have envelopes, and prizes and everyone wins something.  And then it re-starts for the next week.

Gradually, the points system is phased out, and just the groups remain.  But every year, my hope is that the cohesion and community will remain.  Some years it does, other years it takes more work, but overall, I have found that working in groups tends to yield incredibly positive results. 

Other things that we do to build community within groups:

• Group journals: each group member writes an encouragement sentence in every other group members journal (more on this later!)

• Group leaders, one person per week is the group leader

• Play time in group groups – either ‘free time’ or structured play with specific outcomes, a chance to have fun is a great bonding experience

How do you feel about grouping your students in groups?  Have you tried something like this? How has it gone?

- Rachel

I teach third grade.  I love third grade.  Each year, when a new group of brand new third graders walk into my classroom I get to figure out who they are as learners.  This group is wiggly… oh my stars are they wiggly!  I have 25 students in my class this year, and they are quite the mix.  I have 9 girls and 16 boys in my class, and three of my students are on Individual Education Plans.  

knew right from the first week with them, that for this class, I would need to change how I was used to teaching.   Seat work , pencil and paper style learning, just wouldn’t fly as the ‘norm’ with this group.  I spent quite amount of time re-doing most of my unit and lessons plans to make sure that they were hands-on, interactive, and out-of-seat work.  Perfect for a wiggly class.  

ne of the units I reworked in the fall was my Geography and Mapping unit.  Out the door went my booklets teaching my students to identify provinces, territories, and geographical locations.   I think that it's always daunting to have to throw out what is familiar, and convenient.  I already have pre-made mapping units that are seat-based... but they are one size fits all.  And this class... they are definitely many sizes!   So I took on the challenge of creating a unit that was just for them!

I found large maps in a Kids Magazine my school orders, and laminated 10 copies.  During Geography, we moved the desks to the side, and learned about geography in groups of 2 or 3.  Each pair/group was given a pack of task cards, a map on the floor, and a chance to lay out and be as wiggly as they’d like! 

Other days, I projected giant maps onto the whiteboard, and we quizzed each other!

“Can you locate two provinces east of Ontario?”

“Tap Lake Erie three times!”

“Draw a circle on a province that has forestry as a resource…

e practice locating eastern provinces, prairie provinces, territories, great lakes… all while tapping our fingers, sitting, standing, squatting, spinning.  

Finding a way to combine movement with geography/mapping made this one of my most successful units to date!

I learned a lot about myself as a teacher through creating this new unit.  While pulling out a 'tried and true' unit may be what is easier for me, I know that it is not always in the best interests of the kids in my classroom.  I've learned that sometimes, no matter how much extra work it is, I will need to start completely from scratch.  It was totally worth it.  

(Canadian Social Studies unit mentioned above is available here.)

I love events.   I'm not the biggest fan of class parties (the chips/pop/free-for-all type of parties) but oh my stars do I love an all-class event.  After the first month or two of school, once I am sure that I trust my class, and I know the dynamics of the kiddos in the room, I love planning big things.  

All class theme day around a book where we are in character?  Sure!

Set up lemonade stands around the school to practice entrepreneurship? No problem!

Drape bedsheets from the ceiling and turn the entire room into a blanket fort for buddy reading?  Done! 

Create a neighbourhood-wide scavenger hunt themed around things we have studied during the year? Yes, yes! 

In Health and Career Education we have been studying healthy eating and food groups.  As we wrapped this unit, it was time to celebrate in a fun way.  My kids have been begging for a "Mrs. P style Party", and I was happy to do it!  Together, we planned Smoothie Day, an in-class afternoon to make delicious smoothies, and celebrate healthy eating choices.  

I sent home  flyers for each parent a few days in advance.  I'm pretty fortunate that most parents in my class are able to bring something small in if we do a class event.  (Although I don't usually ask for too much throughout the year). I'm pretty specific to ask for fruit/veggies that are cut up already, because it makes the process go much quicker, and I don't have a ton of space to do a lot of chopping/peeling at the back of the room.    

On Smoothie Day, each student brought in their contributions.  I have a small bar fridge behind my desk (thanks to the hubby last year!), and I packed it full of the perishable goods.  Then we waited until the afternoon.  I quickly crammed in all of the academic subjects, so that way we could end our day with Smoothie making.  

We started the activity by brainstorming all of the food groups, and reminding ourselves why it was important to eat many different kinds of food groups.  

i.e. Why shouldn't we just have a smoothie of just strawberries and bananas?  Why is it important to also eat dairy and vegetables as well?

  (Note: this is where I really sell them on how GREAT smoothies are for eating sneaky vegetables!  So many of my kiddos are amazed about how they can't even taste the spinach/carrots/cucumber that is in their smoothie, and go right home and ask for it!)

Then comes the good part... making smoothies!  I have two blenders in the classroom, one for me, and one for my Educational Assistant.  We each took a group of three students, and guided them through creating a smoothie "recipe".  Our only instruction was that it had to have fruit, dairy, and vegetables in it.  Then they were off!  It was so great to watch them gather ingredients as they decided what they thought would taste best, and be best for their bodies.  

hile sipping their finished creations, I sent them back to their desks to write out everything that went into their smoothies.  This way, they had something to take home to their families to show how to recreate the smoothie they enjoyed in class.  (24/25 loved it, vegetables an all!)

I've gathered all of my resources Smoothie Day together, and you can grab them HERE.  The best part, it's totally free!  I hope you and your class love celebrating healthy eating as much as we did.  

Leave a comment and let me know how it goes!  Happy blending :) 

- Rachel

We have been back at school for 10 days since Winter Break.  Ten long days of trying to find our routine again, building reading stamina, remembering all of our writing ideas, and interacting in kind and bucket filling ways.  (At least, most of the time). 

In December, I had the less-than-brilliant idea to start January off with a unit on goal-setting.  I say “less-than-brilliant” because this is not my first time teaching a goal setting unit, or trying to teach third graders about how to write, plan for, and make meaningful changes. However, in the past, these units have failed… epically.  

ach year that I teach there is always at least one

 unit that just does not work.  The kids aren’t into it, or just don’t understand it, or the way I am teaching it does notcompute with the way they learn.  So far, goal setting has always fallen into that category.

Until this year.  Hallelujah! 

I sat down in December and tried to map out how to teach goal setting in a more meaningful way.  How could I encourage my third graders to reflect on last year, identify some areas to be improved upon, and make an actual plan to change it. 

This is by no means revolutionary, and I know that others have, and will, do a better job of teaching this subject.  That being said, I was SO proud of how my class did. They were incredibly introspective and most identified some true areas of improvement.  I’m so looking forward to checking in with them in a month! 

Plan Together  

- Planning our goals in advance was the stage that made all of the difference.  I have found that, with third grade and younger especially, taking time to process new concepts out loud dramatically improves the quality of their work.   Together, we brainstormed things that weren’t going so well for us last year.  I included myself in this brainstorm because, whenever possible, I like to give real examples of how the lessons that we are learning are valuable for myself as well.  My things that were difficult:  keeping my desk top clean, and answering all of my e-mails!  We filled the whiteboard, and then they did some on their own.  

Use positive language:

As we moved on to writing goals, we did it first as a whole group, and then as individuals.  We used the language “I will”, to encourage each other that these are things that can be achieved if we work on them.  I worked with each student to write goals that they wanted to meet.  After all, if they don’t want to meet them, it’s highly unlikely that they will accomplish it. 

Make a real plan to meet the goals

 Simply saying “I will be nicer” won’t cut it .  

What could you do or say to be nicer? Who will hold you accountable?  What will you do if you are feeling like you are being mean one day?  

We got specific!  When I read over each goal plan, I was blown away by the way each student came up with real ideas for how they could improve.  Some students suggested they could keep a notebook with them to record writing ideas during the day so that way they wouldn’t be ‘stuck’ come writing time.  Others have been checking each others’ desk to see if they are messy.  I love watching them work together. 

Edit, and Make a Flipbook! 

 Then students got to move onto the flipbook.  My kids love writing based activities that are not just pencil and paper, and this fits that category perfectly.  We edited their planning paper in small conference groups, and they transferred it onto their “good copy books.” 

his project has been eye-opening for me as a teacher.  I think I shied away from investing too much time into goal-setting in the classroom because it hasn’t been very successful in the past.  However, this year has really boosted my confidence. It was quite amazing to watch the way that this group of kids latched onto the concept, and went beyond my expectations.  I wonder what else I may be avoiding teaching because I am uncomfortable, but need to move past that in order to better myself as an educator. 

Just some food for thought!

As always, leave a comment, send an e-mail, or check me out on Social Media!

Students in my third grade class are practicing being bucket fillers!  The concept of being a bucket filer comes from Carol McCloud’s Book 'Have You Filled A Bucket Today?' and 'How Full Is Your Bucket' (For Kids) by Tom Rath. 

Both books are focused around the idea that everyone carries around an invisible bucket that, throughout the day, is being filled by the kind things that you do for others or that others do for you.  A bucket filler is someone who is showing positive character traits (kindness, compassion, care, respect, consideration for others), and is being a responsible citizen. When our buckets are full, we feel happy.   When our buckets are empty, we feel sad. 

For the next few weeks, we will be learning about different qualities that bucket fillers and bucket dippers exhibit.  We will be continuously reading and re-reading bucket filling books  so that students are able to really grasp the concept of bucket filling.  I can wait to have students start practicing being being bucket fillers in the classroom, and encouraging students to be bucket fillers at home! 

We used this bulletin board as a visual reminder of bucket filling actions.  Whenever I saw someone being a 'bucket filler' I added a star to the bucket.  When it was full we celebrated with a popcorn party! 

(Teachers: I have created an entire unit to kick start this kindness campaign that is available for download now.  The unit is designed to be done over 3 weeks, has 6 unique lessons, a teaching guide, bulletin board templates, and interactive games! See it here in my TpT store) 

For checking out my blog today, I have an awesome freebie for you.  One part of the Bucket Filling unit is a 'Bucket Filling, Bucket Dipping' sorting activity.  You can use it as a drama game in your class, as a sorting activity in small groups, or as independent work. I’ve also included a sorting mat so you can glue the statements down, and a coloring page to use for early finishers!

Bucket Filler Freebie for Blog Readers (Click!)

Let me know how you use the Bucket Fillers program in your class. I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below!