Substitute Creacher

Substitute lesson plans are an unwanted necessity for teachers.  Every year I put it off until the emergency rears it's ugly head because who has time for that, right?!?!?!? Well this year I dug deep down inside and decided to come up with a lesson that we can get ready and have on hand for when the dreaded emergency arises.  If the emergency never arises, I suggest you take a mental health day, (ok say take one even if you have an emergency).

So what's more fun and engaging than a book about monsters? How about a substitute teacher teaching about a substitute teacher monster!  You could leave the anchor chart below with the book and even a link to my descriptive video.  For social studies the substitute can use the book to set classroom expectations for how to behave when substitute teachers are in the classroom. The substitute can work with the class to find key details and locate the lesson.  When the lesson is over students work independently on retelling the story and explaining the lesson in writing. For writing students can write a narrative piece about what they would do if they were changed into a monster.  As an added bonus I have written the reading long lesson out along with a graphic organizer.  You can find it here.  Have you signed up for my newsletter yet? Subscribers receive free resources with every newsletter including print and teach lessons on Dolphins.    Have a great week!
 

Celebrating Diversity with Yoko

Hi everyone! I hope that you have been enjoying my Back To School Blog Series.  If you haven't guessed it by now, including books that represent all of my students in my classroom is very important to me.  Just scroll back through my posts to see examples.  When I'm introducing standards for the first time in class, (which happens naturally during the first 9 weeks), I try to focus on engaging books that have a more simple story line.  This way the students build their foundational knowledge of the standard without confusion or frustration.  Yoko is a great book for looking at how character's react to events and actions in a story.   The story line is relatable to students and carries a theme of empathy which is so vital to our community.  This book lends itself to teaching reading skills while also teaching a social studies or character education lesson.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Celebrating Diversity with Amazing Grace

It is very important to children that they are represented in the classroom curriculum.  It's also important to represent quality diverse books in class.  These reasons are why Amazing Grace is so perfect for your classroom.  Every year my students fall in love with Grace, she's resilient, smart, creative and relatable.  One of my favorite parts of Amazing Grace is that it is a series that has at least another picture book and chapter book.  This is just perfect for 2nd and 3rd graders! Once the kids are hooked with Amazing Grace they love to read on their own during independent reading.  I love to teach this book with the standard -finding the story's lesson or central message.  Make sure to watch the video below for more information!

Class Cheer with The Pout Pout Fish

Character education is so important to teach in the classroom.  We are very lucky to have millions of books to choose from to help us with this.  One cute book that's an easy read is "The Pout-Pout Fish Goes To School".  The lesson is that everyone learns at their own pace in their own time. Who doesn't love that lesson?  What's really fun about this book is that you could use it to teach your class a cheer.  

Fact One:  You are smart!

Fact Two:  You can get it!

Fact Three:  You belong!

Four:  Don't forget it!

If you want to tie it to a standard you could teach it along with a story's central message or lesson.  I hope you are as excited about teaching this cheer as I am!!! Maybe I'll even teach it to teachers at my school?

Central Message - ELA Lesson Plans #15

Are you ready for winter break yet?Holy moly I sure hope I can make it through the week.  This week's lessons are all about good quality literature from one of my favorite children's authors, Jan Brett.  The texts are sure to engage students and if nothing else, they will have students sitting quietly listening to the story for about 30 minutes.  The lesson plans are broken up by two days at a time to allow for a little chaos to ensue.  This keeps me from losing my mind when I don't get to everything.  We have plenty of Jan Brett's winter books to add in if time allows.  We'll end the week with The Mitten because it's an easier text for students to understand when all they have is winter break on their mind.  My present to parents is reading Home For Christmas and exploring the central message. It teaches students that their parents aren't as bad as they think and home is much better than other alternatives.  Writing will follow the same design as last week and students will explore another holiday.