Tag: elementary

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Making Friends Can Be Tricky

Think back to your childhood and the friends you had. Maybe you’re still friends with those same people. Perhaps you just check in on them occasionally via social media, or maybe you’ve lost contact completely. Regardless of your friendship status with them now, one thing is certain— those early friendships made a lasting impression on you and helped shaped you into the person you are today. Childhood friendships helped you to understand what friendship means and what it looks like. They taught you what it means to be a good friend, and sometimes, unfortunately, what it means to be a not-so-good friend. 

Childhood is such a crucial time for molding and shaping young minds. Learning how to be a friend is a skill that is taught at an early age. As this new school year begins, it’s a good time to remind kids what good friendships look like, and to encourage them to make new friends too. Picture books are such an excellent teaching tool, so I headed to my library and found a few books that teach really good lessons on friendship.

In no particular order, these were my favorites that I found:

Friends Stick Together by Hannah E. Harrison

Rupert is a rhino who is quite proper and reserved. He doesn’t enjoy attention, loud things, or annoying friends. Levi is a tick bird who is the complete opposite of Rupert— he is loud, annoying, and likes lame jokes. Levi won’t leave Rupert alone and makes a scene everywhere they go. Rupert tries everything he can think of to get Levi to go away, but nothing works until he finally just tells him he wants to be alone. Levi does go away, but soon, Rupert starts to notice that life isn’t quite the same without his friend. After he realizes he misses Levi, Rupert apologizes and is happy to have Levi back.

This story beautifully illustrates that two different personalities can still be friends. It also touches a little bit on symbiosis— an excellent little tie into science!

When A Friend Needs A Friend by Roozeboos

Aya and Oskar are friends. Oskar can build almost anything, and is quite good at it. Together, they create stories about the things he builds, and love to visit a construction site where all the workers know them. Oskar can get very loud when he gets very excited, but also can get very quiet when he is sad. Sometimes he just wants to be left alone for a long period of time. At first, Aya didn’t know why and thought she had done something wrong or had hurt his feelings somehow. After visiting the construction site by herself, she learns that sometimes Oskar just has big emotions and needs some time to process them. She patiently waits for Oskar to be ready to play again, and remains his friend through it all.

I loved that this book teaches kids that it’s okay to feel what you feel, and that it’s ok to need your space. I also really liked that it showed that friendships can still remain strong, even when one person needs a little bit of a break. Having friends who are there for you through the good and the bad is so important.

Best Friends in the Universe by Hector and Louie Written by Stephanie Watson and Illustrated by Le Uyen Pham

Hector and Louie are the very best friends. They like to tell jokes, dance, and make up new foods together. They tell each other secrets and have all kinds of fun together. One day, Hector accidentally slips and tells Louie’s biggest secret. This begins a fight between the two of them. They stop playing together, and soon notice that their lives just aren’t the same without each other. Soon they have made up and are back to their regular silly antics.

Friendships aren’t always easy, and disagreements and disappointments can happen. This book did a great job of showing that, and also showing how people can apologize and still be friends. The illustrations in this book are darling and make it even more fun.

Buddy’s New Buddy Written by Christina Geist and Illustrated by Tim Bowers

Buddy is so sad when his best friend moves away. He begins a new school year without any friends, and is feeling quite sad about it. His big sister teaches him how to make new friends. Soon a new student moves into his class, and he starts to notice that they have lots of things in common. The become friends quickly and have all kinds of fun together.

As someone who moved often during my childhood, I appreciated this book. Making friends can be tricky, especially when you’re new or when someone you love moves away. This book shows kids to keep trying and to not give up when trying to make a new friend. Sometimes you just have to be patient, but there is always a friend out there for everyone.

——————

As the new school year gets going, take a few minutes to encourage your students to be a good friend and to be friends with the kids who don’t have friends. They’ll never know just how much of an impact they might have on someone!

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Back to School Word Scramble

Middle grade teachers– this one’s for you! If you’re needing a quick self-starter for your students to do sometime during the first week of school, I’ve got you covered! Below you will find a free downloadable Back to School Word Scramble worksheet.

Download, print, and make some copies for your class, and just like that, you’ve got yourself a quick activity for your students to do while you take attendance. To extend the activity, you could also have them write a short story using all of the words!

**Please do not re-sell, re-post, or claim printable as your own.**

Back to School Word ScrambleDownload
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Breakin’ That Ice

First day of school nerves are real for teachers and students alike. I used to tell my students that it was ok to feel nervous— everyone else felt the same way, even if they wouldn’t admit it. I would venture to guess that even most teachers feel some degree of first day of school jitters. 

One way to combat these jitters is through ice-breaker and getting to know you activities. Most people don’t love them, but they are effective for getting people moving around and interacting with one another. And if there’s one thing you need on the first day of school, it’s to get people interacting and getting to know each other!

Perhaps you have a tried and true ice breaker that you’ve used every year for the last 25 years. If it works, it works— no need to fix what isn’t broken, right? If, however, you’re searching for something new to try, I’ve got you covered! I’ve compiled a list of fun ideas to break the ice and get to know your students, and to have them get to know each other! 

Roll & Tell

Divide students into groups of 3-4. Give each group a die and a set of instructions. Each number on the die is attached to a getting to know you question. If a student rolls a 4, they would answer the prompt assigned to number 4, and so on. Once all students in the group have answered all the questions, you can come back together as a class. Call on students randomly to have them share something they learned about someone in their group. 

Possible Questions:

  • What is your favorite subject in school?
  • What is your favorite restaurant?
  • When you have free time, what do you like to do?
  • If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
  • What is your family like? Do you have siblings?
  • Tell about the craziest thing that has ever happened to you.
  • What was the highlight of your summer?
  • If you could invent any holiday, what would it be and why?
  • What goals do you have for this school year?
  • What do you want to be when you grow up?
  • What is your least favorite chore to do?
  • What is your favorite book?
  • What skill would you most like to learn?
  • Do you collect anything?
  • What is one cool fact about you that not many people know?
  • If you could choose a super power, what would you want to be able to do?
  • If you could go to lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
  • Would you rather be able to visit the past or the future?

One Word

Group students into small groups— 4-5 students per group is perfect. Give each group a starting word. Groups must then create a sentence, one word at a time, by going around the circle with each student adding on a word to the sentence when it is their turn. It must make sense, must be a real word, and must be a word that is well known. You can extend this activity by having groups pass around a paper to write on. They can create a whole story, one word at a time, as a group. 

This encourages groups to work together, students to listen carefully, and students to be patient with one another. Hilarity is sure to ensue as groups come up with some silly sentences and stories! 

Beach Ball Toss

Inflate a plastic beach ball, then use a permanent marker to write several getting to know you questions all over the ball. Have students form a circle and toss the ball around. When the ball is caught, the catcher answers the question that their right thumb is on, then throws the ball to someone else, and so on. Continue until everyone has had a chance to answer at least one question.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament

This game is just as it sounds! Divide the class into two groups, and have students line up in two lines, facing each other. Partners will play three rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and the best of three wins. One line will stay stationary, and the other line will move to the right or left (you choose!), and play continues. 

Random Objects

This is a fun one to assign on the first day of school, especially for older grades. For their first assignment, have students bring a random object from home— the more random, the better. They must keep the object hidden until it is their turn to share. Put a table in the center of the room and have students form a circle around the table. One by one, each student comes forward and places their object on the table. The fun part of this is that they cannot talk— no explaining what the object is or why they chose it. Laughter is definitely okay, because there are sure to be some hilarious objects brought. 

Be sure to set guidelines of what is and is not okay to bring to school.

Four Corners

Before class starts, take four pieces of paper and write the numbers 1-4 separately on a paper. Place each paper in a different corner of the room. Prepare a list of questions with four possible answers each. After each question and its answers are read, students must pick which answer they like the most then move to that corner of the room. Continue until all questions have been read. 

Ex: What is your favorite subject?

1- Math
2- English/Writing/Reading
3- PE
4- Science

Students who enjoy math the most would move to the corner that has the “1” sign, and so on.

Would you Rather

This is a classic game that everyone can participate in. Prepare a list of “would you rather” questions that are appropriate for the age of your students. The questions can be about anything; it’s fun to mix up the type of questions to include some funny, some serious, some gross (kids love these ones!), and some ridiculous. Have students show their answers by holding up a green paper for answer A, and a blue paper for answer B. If you can’t think of any questions on your own, the Internet is full of lists upon lists of great questions for all ages, occasions, and topics.

This or That Circle Game

You may need a larger space for this game. Create two large intersecting circles on the floor—  tape works really well for this. Make a list of several “this or that” questions. Read each question, then have students pick circle A or B according to which option they like best. If they like both options equally, they can stand in the intersecting portion of the circles. You’re essentially making a large Venn diagram! Continue until all questions have been read. The questions don’t have to be super deep— simple works best here. Things like “chocolate or vanilla” or “Summer or Winter” work really well for this game. Again, if you need some help coming up with questions to use, a quick Google or Pinterest search will provide you with plenty of options!

These are just a few ideas of the many that are out there. Activities like these are a great way to ease back to school jitters and bring your class together. Happy Back to School, friends!

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A Letter to Students

Dear Students,

I’ve been in your shoes before, so I get it. The back-to-school nerves are real. The thoughts are swirling around in your mind like a tornado: what is my teacher like? Will any of my friends be in my class? Where will I sit in the classroom? Is my teacher going to like me? What if I don’t understand the stuff I’m learning? It’s a lot, and it can feel so overwhelming! But you know what? I know that you can do it! I know you can be successful and brave and tough. I know this because you’ve done it before— you did it last school year, and that turned out ok, so I know you can do it again. 

You’re amazing and capable of incredible things! If you don’t mind, I’d like to give you a few suggestions for setting yourself up for success. 

First, be patient. With yourself, your teacher, and your classmates. Everyone learns at their own pace, and that’s ok! I know you’d want people to be patient with you, so it’s nice to offer that same patience to everyone else.

Second, keep trying! We don’t always succeed the first time we try something new. Keep pushing, keep trying, and don’t give up! Ask for help if you need it, and don’t be afraid to try new things. You will learn so much as you keep trying!

Third, be kind. Our world could use more kindness, so do your part to make that happen. Even if someone is unkind to you, do your best to be nice to them. Say hi, offer to help, give a compliment, smile, or hold the door open. Being kind doesn’t cost anything, and it doesn’t hurt you to be kind. In fact, I bet you’ll feel happier if you are kind, and the people who you are nice to will feel happier, too! Everyone wins! Don’t worry so much about being the cool kid, the best dressed kid, or the fastest reader in your class. Be the kind kid. Be the kid that cares. 

Fourth, don’t forget to have fun! Life is too short to spend it being grumpy. Laugh with your friends, be silly sometimes, and do the things that make you happy. Take time to do something fun every day.

Lastly, try to stay positive. When things get difficult, do your best to look for the good things that are happening around you. If you do this, it will help you see that life isn’t all that bad afterall! At the end of each day, think about all the good things that happened to you— it will help you notice the happy parts of the day and will boost your mood. 

I know that not every day is going to be fantastic, but I do know that you will make it through. You’ve got lots of people cheering you on, and lots of people who will help you along the way. Believe in yourself, and do your best. You’ve got this!!

Sincerely, 

Someone who believes in you

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Bullying: An Epidemic

One of the jobs of a teacher is to make their classroom a safe place for all students— a place where kids can come and feel like they belong, matter, and are heard. Most teachers I know of do a pretty good job at that, or at least trying their best to do so. Unfortunately, there are some kids who are pretty good at taking a safe place and making it feel not so safe by being a bully. And, equally as unfortunate, these kids are usually sneaky in their ways, often getting away with their behaviors until a situation becomes more serious. 

Bullying isn’t a new problem— it’s an issue that has been present in schools as long as schools have been around, and I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon. As teachers, we have the responsibility to keep our eyes and ears open and to intervene any time we become aware of a bullying situation. We cannot turn a blind eye to this problem. 

So what can we do? To start, we can teach kindness and acceptance in our homes to our own children as well as to our students in our classrooms. We can encourage students to talk to a trusted adult when they see or hear bullying behaviors or when they are the victim of those behaviors. We can make our selves more aware of what is going on around us. Getting to know our students helps in several ways— it creates a relationship of trust and also can help us notice if something seems “off” or different. We need to be active listeners, doers, and watchers within the walls of our classrooms and our schools. 

If we do become aware of a problem, we can involve administration if needed. Beyond discipline, most admins will be willing to come into your classroom and talk about bullying and the problems it can cause— and the consequences that may result. 

Last school year, my second grader came home one day and told us that a classmate had been mean to him verbally and physically. We talked through the situation and discussed how he can handle it if it happened again. Unfortunately, it did continue happening. My son said he had told the recess aid whenever it would happen, but nothing changed. At this point, I emailed his teacher and explained what had been happening. I was so impressed with how she handled it; it was immediate and firm. She set up new class guidelines and made sure her students knew that she would not tolerate any kind of mean behavior in her classroom. She let them know that if she heard or saw anything happening, there would be immediate consequences and that the principal would become involved. She instituted a kindness challenge where students were given a grid of kind things to do for others. Once they had completed all the tasks on the grid, they could bring their paper back for a prize. Not only did she address the issue of bullying, she went a step further and encouraged all her students to be kinder and more patient with one another. Thankfully the problems my son was experiencing stopped, and the rest of the school year was just fine.

I know not all bullying situations are resolved as quickly and easily as my son’s was. I know for some students, it goes on for weeks, months, or even years, slowly eating away at the victim’s mental health and self esteem. It takes a toll. 

Cyber bullying is becoming more prevalent as technology continues to evolve. Kids (and sadly, even adults) can hide behind a screen and target individuals. Information spreads quickly via the internet, and can be done without the victim ever knowing who the bully is. This kind of bullying is dangerous and scary. It is also cowardly, as the bully doesn’t even have to come face to face with their targets. They can hide in the comfort of their own homes while slowly destroying someone else’s life. 

I don’t know that there are any easy or sure fire solutions to this epidemic happening in our schools. But I do know that we as teachers can make a difference by being alert, attentive, and aware of what is happening around us. We can be proactive by teaching and encouraging kindness. We can be assertive when we notice something happening and get those involved the help they need. While we may not be able to rid the world of bullying, we can certainly start a change within our own classrooms.

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Get to Know Your Children’s Teachers!

It’s wild to think that a new school year will be starting soon. Some have already started their new year! With the new year comes new teacher assignments, and a great opportunity to get to know those teachers! 

As a teacher, I always appreciated when parents or students took the time to think of me— it was so nice to be acknowledged! Now, as a parent, I do my best to let my kids’ teachers know that I appreciate them and their hard work. Rather than just picking a random treat at the grocery store, I always like to know exactly what they like. I also like to make sure I get something they like, want, or need to avoid food allergies or purchasing something they don’t have use for. 

When we go to back to school night, I often will take a little “welcome back to school” gift— a can of cleaning wipes, box of tissues, or something similar with a “getting to know you” survey attached. The survey can be filled out at the teacher’s convenience then sent home with your child. 

I thought I’d share the survey I give to teachers so you can get to know the wonderful people who will be teaching your kids this coming year! Just click on the “Download” button below and print off a copy of the survey. I’ve included both a color and a black and white option to fit all printing needs. 

**Printable is free, but please do not sell, re-post, or claim as your own.**

All About My TeacherDownload
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Class Starters

Bell ringer. Self starter. Warm-up. Do-Now. Question of the Day. Bell work. Any of these sound familiar? Whatever you call it, many teachers use them: a quick mini-assignment that students complete at the beginning of class to get them focused on the material, review learned concepts, and for teachers to informally assess how students are doing. 

Back in 2009, I was an eager intern, ready to take on my first year of teaching. I remembered some of my Language Arts teachers beginning each class with a language exercise, frequently referred to as “Daily Oral Language” or DOL. In my mind, I these exercises were such a fun way to start class (probably because I loved grammar, writing, and reading). I don’t think everyone felt the same. In an effort to emulate some of my favorite teachers, I decided I was going to start my classes by having my students do DOL. 

I’d roll my overhead projector to the front of the room, place my carefully selected DOL exercises on the projector, and have my students open their notebooks and begin. I quickly realized that, much to my dismay, my students did not share my enthusiasm for sentence corrections, grammar exercises, and spelling practice. Clearly I needed to rethink my strategy and find something that worked a little better. 

It took some time to figure out what worked best for me and my classes, but I eventually settled into a new routine: rather than do DOL every day, I would rotate what we did. Some days we would do DOL, sometimes we would begin class with silent reading, and other times, we would begin with a journal prompt. The variety worked well, and kept things interesting. 

After my intern year, I found a teaching position where I taught my own classes every other day. On the days I wasn’t in my own classroom, I was a substitute for other teachers in the building. I enjoyed seeing what other teachers were doing as their bell-ringer activities. They were always a great way to start class and get students in the mindset for whatever class they were in. It gave students a reminder of material they had already learned or to give them a preview of what they were going to learn. 

I realize they don’t work super well for some classes, but for others, they are an effective strategy to begin class with. 

Do you use a bell-ringer activity in your class? What kind of questions, prompts, or activities do you have your students respond to? If you’re not currently using a bell-ringer, perhaps you might consider giving it a try as you begin a new school year!