Gamify Your Classroom!

At this point of the year, I think it's safe to say the kids are losing interest in being in school and teachers are pulling out all the stops to keep kids motivated and engaged!

Between state standardized testing, end-of-the-year evaluations, and the weather finally improving in some parts of the world, student engagement is probably pretty weak in your class...am I right?  I'll bet most of you are running on fumes, too...I'll admit that I am!

Well, here's my secret to re-energizing yourself, your students, and your curriculum...

gamify (ˈɡeɪmɪˌfaɪ)

verb

(transitive)

to adapt (a task) so that it takes on the form of a game

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

What does "gamifying" look like in a classroom?  It can look a few different ways!  Read on...

Low- or No-Tech: I love using Task Cards with my students as a way to up the fun while learning! Task cards require no technology at all...well, once you've printed them!  I use task cards in a few different ways, depending on my mood:)  

• Play Scoot! "Scoot"  is a fun way to get kids moving.  I tape as many task cards as I have students around the room or on desks.  Each child gets an answer form, then they move from one card to the next in number order and responds to each task card on their answer sheet.

Scoot!

• Pass the Cards! In this version, the kids stay at their seats, but the cards move.  Once a child answers the card's question, they pass it to the person next to them until they've responded to all the cards.  This works especially well for task cards with multiple choice or short answer questions.

Poetry Vocabulary Task Cards

• Scramble!  I give students parts of a sentence that they have to unscramble to create a complete, correctly assembled sentence with proper punctuation. You can find this game (in a non-holiday version) "The Great Clause Race" in my TpT store for only $1!

The Great Clause Race

• Around the World! This is the classic game we all played as kids in school, usually with multiplication flash cards.  2 kids stand up next to each other, the teacher reads a question from the card, and the first child to shout out the answer moves to the next opponent.  
• Team Challenge! This may be my favorite!  I make 5-6 sets of the same task cards.  Rather than giving students an answer sheet, I put them in small groups and have them race against other groups to sort them.  (This doesn't work for all types of task cards, though!  I especially like to do this with parts of speech, three types of verbs, verbals or other grammar topics.) This variation requires kids to work together and gets their competitive juices flowing.  It's great support for weaker students and they don't feel as intimidated.

Task Cards

• Minute to Win It!  This is also a great team variation.  I separate kids into teams and create challenges like "find all the cards with a noun underlined, then be the first to clothespin them together", or "be the first to alphabetize the words", or even "use all the sentences containing an infinitive to build a house of cards".  My middle schoolers LOVE playing Minute to Win It!

 

• I Have, Who Has? You can't do this with basic task cards, but you can find specific "I have, who has?" cards on TpT, at teacher stores, or you can make your own.  This is a great game to calm kids down and really make them focus.  Each student gets a card or two (you have to pass out all the cards in the set for the game to work and come full circle).  One card will say "start"-that student begins by reading his card.  The rest of the students have to listen to the speaker, then look at their card to see if they have what the speaker is looking for.  For example, card one may say, "Who has the prefix that means 'under'?"  The student holding the card that says 'sub-' responds, "I have 'sub-', who has the prefix that means 'to do again'?" and so on until one student is left with the "stop" card.  When I taught elementary, I'd often end my day with this game while we waited for buses, or right after lunch recess to calm students down and get them re-focused.

 

Tech Required: There are SO MANY amazing, interactive game programs designed just for schools!  If you haven't tried any, please do!  Here are a few of my favorites: 

• Quizlet and Quizlet Live! I really think this is the complete package of games!  It's really easy for teachers to set up an account at quizlet.com and to have his or her students join their class.  Once you've got an account, you can either create a set of flashcards, or use a set that another teacher has already posted.  Now that you've got a set of flashcards created, the FUN begins!  Kids can log in at anytime and use the flashcards in a variety of ways-as normal flashcards, as a matching game, a race between players, and my personal favorite in-class game-Quizlet Live!  Quizlet Live allows a teacher to break a class into teams that have to work together-YES! TOGETHER!- to match up terms and definitions.  They have to work together because each student only has a few of the answers.  As a team, they all see the definition, but only one teammate has the answer, so one kid can't do all the work!  Watch a demo here: https://vimeo.com/161809345.  Trust me your class will LOVE this!  Quizlet is something kids can do on their own at home to study, and it even has an option for teachers to create a variety of tests to print off.  Quizlet is super student and teacher friendly!
• Kahoot! This is actually my least favorite online game, but kids like it.  Kahoot allows you to create your own or use sets made by other teachers, just like Quizlet.  Unlike Quizlet, Kahoot is a multiple choice game.  Here's what I don't love.  The question is only visible on the teacher's projected screen, but the answers are only on a student's device.  That makes for a lot of looking up and down, and honestly some frustration visually.  This game is usually played with all students playing for themselves against the rest of the class, which is great for bright, competitive kids with quick fingers, but can be frustrating for slow-processing kids.  The newest update does allow for teams, which I think is an improvement to keep all kids engaged. 
• Quizizz!  Quizizz is my latest find and current favorite.  Quizizz is similar to Kahoot, in that it lets you create or use sets of multiple choice questions made by other teachers.  However, the big difference is that each student sees the question and answers on their own screen and that it is student-paced.  In Kahoot, the whole class has to wait for all students to answer (or the teacher can set a time limit) before moving on to the next question.  In Quizizz, as soon as a student answers a question, the next question pops up on their screen and they can move on.  It takes the pressure off slower students, and eliminates boring wait time for quicker students.  There is still a level of competition involved because the teacher can post a leaderboard and a winner can be named, but this is an option, not a necessity.  The other fun thing about Quizizz, is that after each question, a meme pops up congratulating them or encouraging them.  There are pre-loaded memes, or teachers can create their own.  The kids and I think they are pretty funny!
• Nearpod! Now, Nearpod isn't as much of a game, as the others, but it is still a fun teaching tool.  I wrote a blog post about it last year, if you want a more in-depth review.  Since that blog, they've made updates which I think make it more fun.  With Nearpod, you can upload your own powerpoint or google slide presentations and add student activities to the slide show.  When you present, each student sees your slide show on their own device while you project it.  Between slides, you can insert activities such as multiple choice questions, polls, short answer responses, drawing responses, true/false questions, etc.  The students answer the question or do the activity on their device, then all responses pop up on the teacher's screen.  It's a great way to quickly insert formative assessments in a presentation, and it keeps kids' attention and gets students actively learning  during what would otherwise be a lecture-based lesson.  Most of Nearpod's functionality is free, if you upload your own slide shows.  However, there is a paid option that allows you more choice of activities, and the ability to purchase already created Nearpod presentations.

If you are looking for ways to keep student engagement high right up to the end of the year, I hope you try out some of these activities!  Do you have other ideas to gamify a classroom?  Let me know by commenting below!  

TPT Flock 2017 Recap and Giveaway!

Last weekend I had the privilege of hanging out with a bunch of
 AMAZING Teachers Pay Teachers authors!

We all flocked together!

TpTFlock17 was a meet up of teacher-authors/bloggers in Rochester, NY.  It was organized by a team of upstate New Yorkers and a few others with roots in the NY region.  These women pulled together an amazing workshop filled with teaching advice, business advice, and even some TpT "celebrity" sightings! 

I want to send a shout out to the organizers: Literary Sherri, Tricia's Terrific Teaching Trinkets, A Double Dose of Learning, Brain Waves Instruction, Miss V's Kindercrazies, Selma Dawani,  Worth a Thousand Words, and The Classroom Nook!

Thank you for putting on such a great event!

The event was held at the beautiful Woodcliff Resort and Spa in Fairport, NY.  We had a group dinner Friday night, then Saturday was filled with workshops on Pinterest, Instagram, Blogging, product creating, and more!  I feel like I need to take a week off from school to sit at a computer and make new products and pins and blogs!!!

For me, the best part of the weekend was meeting new people.  I had the opportunity to get tips from successful TpTers like Danielle from Study All Knight, Tammy from Juggling ELA, Tabitha from Flapjack Educational Resources,  Jamie from The Not So Wimpy Teacher, Erica Bohrer, Karen Jones, and Hallie from Speech Time Fun.  These women are all so helpful and just fun to be around!  Staffers from the TpT HQ in NYC were also in attendance!  Amy and Elliott led a panel where we were able to ask questions about TpT as sellers and buyers, and they were really listening to our suggestions and concerns. 

Dinner at Champps

Hanging after the conference with Amy from TpT HQ and Tricia from Tricia's Terrific Teaching Trinkets

Chatting with Danielle Knight

  Jenny from Art with Jenny K was the keynote speaker and led us all in an incredible group art project that was revealed at the end of the day!  How cool is this creation??

Everyone at the conference made one little square and it turned out THIS cool!

Besides taking away TONS of ideas and tips, the gifts and giveaways were amazing!  Many of us participated in a gift exchange- items that we all use to make products or our lives easier.  I received this fun bag of goodies from The Teacher's Cat filled with Flair Pens, Post It Notes, and a waterbottle.

We also received a "swag bag" filled with donations collected from Teachers Pay Teachers, Starbucks, Tailwind, and generous TpT sellers such as Melonheadz, Illumismart, KB3 Teach, Poppydreamz, SillyOMusic, AlinaVDesigns, and Pigknit...just to name a few!

I loved everything about this meetup...it was honestly as good as the full Teachers Pay Teachers conference in the summer...just in a smaller dose.  If you are interested or involved in TpT in any way, you HAVE to check out this conference next year.  It was well worth my trip from Michigan, and I've already got it on my calendar for April 2018!

Giveaway Time!

I'm still on cloud nine from all the fun and I want to share the love with you!  Comment below for a chance to win a $10 Target gift card by April 30, 2017.  Write a comment about what kinds of things you'd like to see more of on TpT, your favorite resource from my store (or anywhere on TpT:), topics you'd like me to blog about in the future...whatever!  On May 1, I'll choose a commenter at random and he/she will win a $10 Target gift card!

10 Tips for Helping BIG KIDS Manage Themselves at SCHOOL

I have a 5th grader and an 8th grader at home.  I just received letters from both the HIGH SCHOOL and MIDDLE SCHOOL informing me that I now, officially, have BIG kids!  How will I not have any little kids anymore?  My mommy heart is crying crocodile tears, but my mommy brain is spinning with thoughts of "how in the world will these two handle the new responsibilities of middle and high school?"

So, instead of looking at baby pictures with teary eyes and a glass of chardonnay, I stepped out of my mommy-self and put on my teacher-thinking-cap.  I work with big kids every day.  I help big kids get organized in my classroom.  I advise parents JUST LIKE ME on how to help their kids adjust to middle school.  Plus, my son has survived middle school with great grades and minimal drama, so I must have done something right. So, I sat down and made a list.  (Doesn't everything seem easier to handle when you start with a list?!?) Actually, I made 2 lists...one for teachers at school and one for parents at home! I'll share each list in a separate blog post :)

TOP 10 Tips for helping BIG KIDS Manage Themselves at SCHOOL

1. Each student should have a dedicated homework folder.  This folder goes to EVERY class and only work that needs to travel between school and home goes in it.  Now there is no need for kids dragging 50-pound backpacks home or forgetting something important in their locker!

2. Teach kids to use their planner/assignment book.  Spend time at the beginning of the year teaching this skill, then follow up throughout the year with occasional check ups.  Reward those students with fully filled-in books.

3. Use Google Classroom!  It is SO easy to set up and manage.  You can post assigments, a calendar, e-copies of work, online textbook links, video links, just about anything you can think of.  This is a life-saving resource for kids who forget papers...all they need is an internet connection and device!

4.Use remind.com to make parent/student communication quick and easy!  Just sign up for an account, then you can send texts to remind parents and students of upcoming due dates, tests, etc.

5. Create a team blog to use as an online assignment book.  Our 6th grade team all has "ownership" of a blog and we all post our daily assignments in one place.  This is especially helpful for students who struggle to fill in their planners.  Google Sites and Blogger are really easy to set up and use!

6. Have a box of extra copies in your classroom.  Put a file folder in for each day of the month.  Toss in a few extra copies of papers passed out each day for absent or absent-minded students.  If today is March 30, the papers go in file #30.

7. Don't let important materials leave the room!  I like to have ISN/Journal storage bins in my classroom.  I also don't let textbooks leave...students have online textbooks for home.

8. Offer a "Get Out of Jail Free" card!  Let kids know that we understand mistakes happen and occasionally we are all forgetful.  I like to give out one or two homework passes per quarter and my team uses "oops" coupons which students can attach to late work for no point loss.

9. Reward GREAT behavior!  Our school is a PBIS school and we give coupons to students who are caught being good.  Then, each teacher has a "store" in their classroom where students can redeem their coupons for candy, late work passes, leave class early passes, sit in the teacher's seat reward, etc.  Students really love these rewards and it helps keep them on task!

10. Offer help, but set boundaries.  I like to open my class for lunch one or two days a week to students who have questions, need extra help, or need to make up work after an absence.  I also make myself available via e-mail.  However, many students (and parents) try to overuse this help, so make sure you set boundaries about how quickly parents should expect a response from e-mail, how many times a student can come in at lunch, or how late in the day is acceptable to send e-mails about homework.

Have questions about how I organize things? Have other ideas to help students become more responsible?  I'd love to hear what you do! Comment below or e-mail me at teachwithmrsb@gmail.com!   

How do you teach VERBALS?

This is a shout out to all my 8th grade teachers!  We are all tasked with trying to get students to understand VERBALS! (thanks Common Core 😱) Those pesky "verbs in disguise" are confusing as heck for students!

If your school is like mine, you probably were given a big set of grammar worksheets and maybe a reference book to use, right?  B-O-R-I-N-G for teachers and students, and not especially effective for getting kids excited about the thrilling world of grammar!  Over the past few years, I've tried to jazz up my grammar lessons by using games, coloring, and interactive activities. I rarely use the worksheets given to me by my district, however I do use them when teaching verbals!

So HOW do I teach verbals? Well, verbals are HARD to understand, no doubt about it, but they are even harder to understand if a student doesn't have a solid understanding of the parts of speech.  Even though CCSS doesn't have standards in 8th grade related to teaching nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, I feel very strongly about reviewing these parts of speech before even mentioning verbals.  I focus most of my 2nd quarter grammar lessons on practice with nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs- especially adjectives and adverbs.  I love using ISN templates as a place for students to take notes and I've created Color By Code review sheets for students to practice.  I spend at least 2 days reviewing each of these four parts of speech.

ISN Templates for Note Taking

Adjective and Adverb Color By Code

Parts of Speech "Minute to Win It" sorting game

Playing "Scoot!" with task cards

Once I feel that my students have a solid understanding of the jobs of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, it is time to BLOW THEIR MINDS with verbals!

I love using ISNs, so I start with having my students glue an anchor chart in their ISNs.  You can grab the one I use for FREE here. Then I've created Nearpod presentations to use to introduce verbals as a whole individually.  (If you'd like to know more about Nearpod, an interactive PowerPoint platform, click here to read my blog about it!) You can use whatever lesson-style you like to introduce the basics of verbals, but I personally love turning PowerPoints or Google Slides into Nearpods!  I spend four days introducing verbals, and this is one of the few times of the year I actually use the worksheets given to me by my district, because kids need A LOT of practice identifying verbals:

Day 1: Intro Verbals as "Verbs in Disguise", anchor chart and explaining the three types of verbals and how they look like verbs, but don't act like verbs in sentences.  I give them a packet of practice sheets which we will do in class together.
Day 2: Participles- I have a presentation just on participles in Nearpod.  Then we do a practice worksheet in class together.
Day 3: Gerunds- Nearpod and worksheet
Day 4: Infinitives- Nearpod and worksheet

Now that my students have had some experience with the three types of verbals, I add in the FUN!  I truly believe learning comes from student experience, not teachers' lectures.  So, I spend the next few days letting kids play around with verbals.  I use these task cards in a variety of ways with my students.  First, I post them around the room and give them a task card form.  The students "scoot" around the room reading sentences on the task cards and determining which type of verbal is used in each sentence.  I ask them to compare answers with a partner and if their answers differ, they work together to try to figure it out.  I also like to use these cards to play "Score Four!".  Score Four is a lot like the card game "Spoons".  Kids work in small groups and try to be the first to collect four task cards containing the same type of verbal, then grab a spoon or pencil from the center of the table. Students LOVE the fast-paced nature of this game! Here is what the cards look like:

Click picture to grab this activity!

By now, my students usually have a pretty good grasp on those pesky verbals!  As a final review, I challenge them to recognize when a word is being used as a verbal or when it is just acting as a verb in this Color By Code activity:

Click picture to grab this activity!

 I've tried teaching verbals a variety of ways over the last few years, and incorporating a combination of interactive introduction presentations, worksheet practice, and games to keep students engaged in reviewing has really upped my students' scores on the assessment!  I hope these strategies will help you too!

If you've got great ideas for teaching this tricky subject, I'd love to hear your suggestions!  Please post ideas in the comments, because teaching is all about collaborating!

Celebrating Holidays in the Middle School Classroom

Let's face it...no matter how old the students are, they are still crazy on holidays!  ESPECIALLY those holidays that lead in to breaks!

So what can a teacher do to get through the holiday or the day before a holiday break? (other than pop in a movie!)

I'll let you in on my tried and true holiday-crazed-kids survival plan!

First, for each holiday, I gather a collection of holiday-themed worksheets...yes, worksheets-they DO have value at times! Then, I think of ways I can get kids up and moving for SHORT amounts of time. Next, I think of things students always want to do in class, but rarely are allowed to. Finally, I make it all into a competition with some sort of prize attached!

Sounds simple, right?  That's the best news...IT IS THAT SIMPLE!

Let me break it down for you.  Let's take Halloween as an example.  Halloween this year was on a Monday, so in my 6th grade ELA class, we celebrated "Monster Monday" (I've had years when I've called it "Witchy Wednesday" or "Freaky Friday"...you get the point!).  I hung a few decorations and turned the lights down.  When kids came into class, they picked up a "Monster Monday To Do List".

This worksheet has students identifying sentence parts (subject or predicate) and coloring by code to create the picture!

I created a list of grammar worksheets, silly challenges, and physical movements that all tied into Halloween some way or another.  I told them the first 2 students to complete all the challenges would win a prize from me (this time it was ghost-shaped Peeps candy from the Dollar Store). The students had fun working together on the worksheets, and they LOVED having the chance to draw on the whiteboard!  I had fun watching them do jumping jacks and moonwalk.  Because it was a challenge, they all got competitive and worked hard to win!  

This is the best way I've found to keep kids engaged during holidays!  It is super-easy for teachers, too!  Once you've found the worksheets and thought of the activities, you can use the same plan year after year.  Now, I can actually enjoy holidays with my students because I know they aren't just wasting a class period watching a movie.  Plus, since the kids are interacting with each other and with you, it's a great relationship building day!

I do this for many holidays: Halloween, before Winter Break, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, before Spring Break!  Here's another example, this time of a Winter Break to do list:

I hope that gives you some ideas to get through those tough-to-manage days ahead! 

Here's another example of one of the worksheets I use for Thanksgiving week to review punctuation: 

If you are looking for some ELA activity sheets to get you started on your collection, I just added a bunch of new Color By Code holiday-themed activities!  You can find activities for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa, New Year, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter! Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store to check them all out!

Classroom Reveal!

Hello again!

I've been so busy getting my room ready and the year started, that I just realized I hadn't posted pics of my classroom!  (Actually, I've dropped the ball on blogging all together in the month of September!  Ugh, sorry!)

This year is really exciting for me.  It's the first time in a few years that I get my OWN classroom!  I've been sharing the past few years, so I haven't been able to make the room truly mine.  It's hard to decorate and organize a classroom with ELA stuff mixed with social studies, math, and even French! It has been so long since I'd set up a room, that I actually didn't mind all the hard work!  (Ask me again next year...I may be ready to share rooms again just to avoid doing bulletin boards-LOL!)

So, here is the new room 22!

I wish I could say that I had new furniture or even a classroom that is close to being 21st century-stylish, but we all work with what we have!  What I have is no teacher desk, and somewhat matching wobbly student desks, and mismatched chairs.  But, at least I have enough seats for my 32(!) students each hour!  I do also have a document camera and projector, new as of last year, and all our students will have 1:1 Chromebooks!  Based on the type of desks I have and the use of technology, I decided to set up the room in a horseshoe with 6 tables inside the horseshoe.  This enables all my students to see the whiteboard, where the projector shows.  It also enables me to stand in the back of the room and see most of the Chromebook screens when students are working on them.

This is my "office".  Since I don't have an actual desk, I'm using an old computer table and table I scrounged from the teacher's lounge to create an L-shape area for me to set up my document camera, laptop, and desk supplies.  Above my desk, I found a cute banner in the Target Dollar Spot and I am posting my "I can" statements below it!  This is a good place to post these since it is literally over my head, so I won't forget to change them!  I chose this corner for my teacher station so that I can also utilize the long table attached to the wall to store my teaching materials, such as copies for the week, teacher manuals, etc.  (Truth be told, I have no idea what this long table was meant for...no other room in my school has one!  I'm guessing my room used to be a home ec room, and sewing machines went here, based on the number of electrical outlets on the wall!)

The other end of the mystery table houses my student turn in bins.  Each hour has their own tray for turning in homework.  This helps me stay organized in my grading!  I also have a file box with folders for each day of the month where I keep extra copies of handouts for students who are absent or have lost work.  They know there will always be extras in the folders; they just have to remember the date that the handout was given to find it!

I also have my late work turn in bin set here.  There is a "LATE" stamp inside for students to mark any late work.  I take points off for late work, but late is better than never!  The other blue bins are student storage bins.  I require my classes to keep an Interactive Student Notebook (more about this in a future blog!).  It is basically our class Bible.  It is practically irreplaceable if lost, so I allow students to leave them in my room if they are worried they may not be responsible enough to keep it in good condition all year.

I'm kind of obsessed with my #ELA display too!  I just discovered Hobby Lobby (I know I'm late to that party, but as I said earlier, better late than never!) and these metal letters were 50% off!  The hashtag even lights up!  The ledge above the bulletin board was the perfect place for them...and then I found some cute wood signs to go with it!  One says "Don't ruin a good today by thinking about a bad yesterday", one says "Look at faces, not devices", and the third says "In case of fire, exit building before putting it on social media!".  

The bulletin board stretches the e-n-t-i-r-e length of my room.  I hit the Dollar Spot jackpot again when I found the cute looseleaf paper banners to hang along the top!  This is my anchor chart wall.  Right now, the parts of speech posters, punctuation poster, and proofreading marks poster are on display, but this will change with whatever we are focusing on at the moment.  It is also my "word wall" with pertinent vocabulary terms to our current units.  (Just FYI, I didn't make the Parts of Speech posters or vocabulary posters, but I did find them on TpT!  There are so many talented teacher-authors out there!) Also on the giant bulletin board, I've hung up a parking space for no-name papers.  The "This belongs to" clipboard was yet another Dollar Spot steal!  My students know that if they have work showing up as missing, that they should look here first!  So far, it's worked really well!  I also posted our PBIS matrix here where it's easily referenced if needed.

I also have this giant bulletin board in the back of my room.  I had NO IDEA what to hang on it at first!  So I decided to hang my students' goals from our first day of school stations here.  I love referring to their goals each day!  They are there as a reminder to students to do their best and to have a growth mindset!

On either side of the goals, I've hung up my Class Expectations posters.  These will also be there year-round as reminders for procedures and expectations.

The most referenced bulletin board is in the front of my room!  All year long, we teach and discuss plot.  I've made a giant plot diagram, and labeled the five stages.  As we read different selections, we'll be sticking sticky notes all over it!  It's a fun interactive, reusable anchor chart!

Next to the Plot Diagram, is my assignment book display.  I wish I had better handwriting, but it works!  I keep a week up at a time which helps students when they are absent.  It also helps me remember what I'm doing with each grade! 

Between the "I can" statements and assignment book display, the board is blank so that I can project whatever I need for the day.  Every class period starts out with a "warm up" slide like this.  Friday was a half-day, so I also posted the time :)

So there you have it!  I'm a month into the year, and I'm loving the functionality and purposefulness of the arrangement.  The students and I have settled into our routines, and I'm loving having my own space.  If you've blogged about your classroom, I'd love to see it!  Comment below with a link to your blog so we can all share ideas!

***If you don't have your own space this year, check out my blog about being a mobile teacher for tips that may help you out!  Being a mobile teacher isn't bad once you get the hang of it!***

First Week of School Plans

3 Simple Activities to Help You Get Back Into the Swing of Things!

I know some states have been back to school for a while, but here in Michigan, we are just getting ready to go back! Kiddos in Michigan start the Tuesday after Labor Day every year...state law!  We like to get as much summer vacationing "up North" in as we can!

Today was my first "official" day back at work, but I've been working in my classroom a little bit over the last few weeks.  Isn't setting up fun?  Seriously, no sarcasm!  I LOVE setting up my room, especially since this year I HAVE a room!  I'll post my classroom makeover in a future post because believe me it's a big change from what I walked into a few weeks ago!

Now that my room is ready to go, I sat down today with my teaching partners and we planned out our first week!  I'm super excited to share what we've got planned with you because it is SO student-centered and EASY for the teacher to implement!

Since Labor Day week is just a 4-day week, here are 4 days worth of plans, all ready to go!  All the activities are in my TpT Store, so if you are a middle school or high school ELA teacher hop on over and your first week will be all set!

Day 1: Get to Know You Station Rotations!

The first day is a wild day...especially for incoming 6th graders or 9th graders.  Students are overwhelmed with new teachers, new rules and routines in each hour, and wondering which friends are in their class.  Many teachers begin day one with a lecture of expectations or a reading of the syllabus.  Others start with icebreaker or get-to-know-you activities.  I've decided to do things differently!  I'm not going to stand in the front of the room and talk at my kids.  I'm just going to say  a general "hello, I'm Mrs. B", then sort the kids into 7 groups and let them loose at stations.  (To make grouping easy, each desk will have a sticker on it when the kids come in to identify their group.) Each station consists of an activity designed to get kids talking to each other, to get them to understand me and my classroom, and for me to get to know my students.  Here is a breakdown of the stations:

1. Syllabus Search-students read the syllabus looking for answers to questions I've asked on a worksheet.

2. ELA Continuum- students place a sticker along a continuum to show their perceived ability and interest in each ELA area.

3. Book Recommendations- students talk about books they've read and jot down favorites.

4. Goal Setting- Students create a speech bubble for a bulletin board by writing down a goal for the year.

5. Questions for the Teacher- students have a safe, anonymous place to jot down questions for the teacher.

6. Brainstorming the Perfect Teacher, Student, Classroom- students list ideas for what could be used to describe the ideal teacher, student, and classroom. (Further discussion to follow at a later date)

7. Taking a Selfie and Posting to Instagram - students will use an iPad to take a selfie and then create a bio for themselves which will later hang in our classroom so we can all get to know each other.

Our first day is just a half-day, so we may need to finish these activities on day two.  I'm thinking the kids will really enjoy this, and it will give me time to meet kids at their groups to start building relationships right away!

Day 2: Class Rules, Routines, and Expectations!

The second day, we will get down to the business of rules, routines, and expectations.  This can be a very dull lecture, so I decided to make it more fun.  I've created a set of posters in "tween talk" to keep kids interested and to let them know that even though I do expect them to follow the rules and routines, I am not a big meany!  I used these last year, and my 8th graders really responded well.  We all laughed together, but my message was loud and clear.  The file is in PDF form, but I showed it like a powerpoint presentation.  After presenting and discussing, I will print the posters to hang in my room as a visual reminder to all students.

Day 3-4: What is Your Theme Song?

This is my ABSOLUTE, MOST FAVORITE activity to do with my kids!!!  We are jumping right into learning and they don't even know it!  Isn't that awesome?  This is a 2-day activity with the first day being a quick intro (or review) of the definition of "theme".  Then, in groups, students analyze lyrics to theme songs of popular TV shows (such as Scooby Doo, Phineas and Ferb, and Friends).  They have to explain how the theme song matches the theme of the show.  (I also have youtube clips for each song...I love hearing the kids sing along!).  Then, once they've discussed all the TV show theme songs, I ask them to pick their own personal theme song.  They have to pick a song and find the lyrics to bring back to school the next day.  I always share mine first...it's "The Good Life" by One Republic.  On day two, the students write an essay explaining WHY they chose the song to be their theme song.  I share my example (included in the activity), but give no further help.  These essays are my first look at students' writing AND I get to know about my students based on their song choices!  I also ask students to share their song choices with each other...another kind of an icebreaker!

Whew!  That's a full week of lessons and a full week of fun, without a full week of prep because it's all done for you!  You can click on the pictures above to see previews and full descriptions of each activity.  So get back to doing the fun stuff...decorating your room and enjoying the last few days of summer!  I've got you covered!

Let me know how these activities work in your classroom by commenting below, by leaving feedback on TpT, or by emailing me directly at teachwithmrsb@gmail.com!  I wish you the best back to school EVER!