New Year's Resolutions 2021 for Students - now with digital version

 

My 5th-grade class and I had a lot of discussions about resolutions and goals for the new year. The biggest areas of concern that they needed to focus on were being responsible for their work and cleanliness.

I had students who always went above and beyond when it came to cleaning our room each day, and most times it wasn't even their mess they were cleaning! Of course, like all teachers, I had several students who misplaced work or frequently forgot to pass in assignments.

Rather than just having my students brainstorm a goal, I decided to make an organizer that would help them to gather their thoughts and self-assess to see what areas they need improvement in.

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Number Bond Google Quizzes for K-1

When we switched to distance learning in March I was glad my class had already started working on addition and subtraction. What we hadn't focused on yet was number bonds, and the idea of parts and wholes. 

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Would You Rather Google Quizzes for Opinion Writing

When our school went into distance learning, we were just beginning our third trimester. Unfortunately that is my (and my students) favorite ELA unit - opinion writing!

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Distance Learning in Kindergarten

I'll be honest, distance learning in Kindergarten can be overwhelming when you first start to think about it!

Of course, that is true for most grades. However, in Kindergarten there  are many things that need to be seen in person, for both you and your student!

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Teaching Writing in Kindergarten

Over the past 6 years, I have noticed that a lot of my Kindergarten students struggle with free write time. It is too open ended for many of them and they find it overwhelming. Or, they end up drawing the same things every time, which eventually leads to frustration.

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The Many Uses of Target Trays in K!

Last summer, I dragged my sister on quests to all the Targets in NH (and some in Maine) in order to find a class set of these trays:

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Skill Games for Homework

Homework is such a hot topic these days - I know I have never been a fan of it for Kindergarten. 

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Better Late Than Never? 18-19 Classroom Reveal!

We don’t go back to school until after Labor Day. This is awesome, except when it comes to classroom reveals since everyone else is already settled in. Instead, here is a peek at my classroom from last year!

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Digital Birthday Chart

We all know that birthdays are a big deal, maybe not for us, but definitely for our students! In past years I would have a Google word doc I would check each month so I could see who had a birthday coming up. Of course, in the busier months I would have a hard time remembering to check!

I created a digital file that has all the birthdays happening in each month and it has worked out great this year! 

I display it on the TV on the first of the month. We read through to see who has a birthday coming up and what day of the week it will fall on. 

This helps us to incorporate the calendar and days of the week as well. Next, we talk about how old they will be turning. 

Then when one of their birthdays arrives, we check in on the display again and make a quick graph showing the new ages of the students in our class. It's always an exciting moment when you join the 6 year old club!

It has been wonderful to watch and see how they remember whose birthday is coming up each month.  

Click here to learn more about this resource.

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New Year's Resolution Activity for 2019

Click here to see the updated 2021 post!

When I taught 5th grade, my class and I had a lot of discussions about resolutions and goals for the new year. The biggest areas they needed to focus on was being responsible for their work and cleanliness.

I had a few students who always went above and beyond when it came to cleaning our room each day, and most times it wasn't even their mess they were cleaning! Of course, like all teachers, I had several students who misplaced work or frequently forgot to pass in assignments.

Rather than just having my students brainstorm a goal, I decided to make an organizer that would help them to gather their thoughts and self-assess to see what areas they need improvement in.

There are two checklists in this set - one for school goals and one for home goals. First they read through and check off any goals they have already met.

Next, they choose 1 goal that they did not check off. If they have more than one, they will look closely to see which is the most important to them at this time.

Included are 2 graphic organizers, one with a sentence starter and one without.

Lastly there are 2 writing templates; a template for 1 goal and a template for 2 goals. I always liked to differentiate writing assignments by giving my class the option of completing a graphic organizer, or a writing paper for their final copy.

My class really enjoyed this activity. It was a great way to help them to narrow down the areas of school and home that they needed to improve on. 

If you are interested in purchasing this item you can find it in my shop here, or just click on the pictures above!

Happy 2019!

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Kindergarten Classroom Decor

Kindergarten students need to have access to a wide variety of words in their first year. It can be overwhelming, having all those posters displayed in one classroom.

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Character Education - Social and Academic Skills in the Classroom

In my first year of teaching I taught a 5th grade class that benefited greatly from social and academic support.

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