School and the City

I did it! I survived my fourth year - and I can't believe it's already been that long. It may be a little late, but I loved my gifts for my students and room mom this year, so I thought I'd so you real quick! For my students, I bought the giant bubble wands from Walmart that lots of other teachers buy. It's a great deal! I download a free tag from A Little Red Bird Teaches   and ta-da, it was done! I did pitchers for my room moms again this year. This time, I filled them with Lifesavers and made the tag to match. You can download the editable tag here . If you're still in school, hang in there! You've got this!! Pin me!

I dropped a new beat recently... My sweet students REQUESTED a song to the tune of Stiches.  Ahem. I didn't know I was adding DJ  and songwriter to my job title, but it's cool. Click  here  to download a PDF of the lyrics. Click  here  for the music I use (on YouTube).  Click here for a video of my class singing the full song.  Are you looking for some point of view resources? If so, I've got some for you right here ! Think anchor charts, interactive notebook pages, and quick assessments... plus printable song lyrics. Enjoy... Pin me!

At the start of the year, I had a lot of students that struggled with putting ending punctuation in the correct spots.  They knew that they needed to use periods, but would put periods at the ends of lines or in seemingly random spots. I tried helping them by correcting their own writing, by having them read it outloud to try and find the natural stopping points. However, NO ONE enjoys reading their own writing. That's no fun!  My solution was to create my own paragraphs - missing the punctuation - to help my students determine where punctuation is needed.  I call it "punctuation puzzles" to make it sound more fun than it actually is, but there are a few ways that you can make it even more exciting: Who doesn't love food?! I used Skittles as periods, but you could use M&Ms, Cheerios, mini marshmallows.... the options are endless. Side Note - Macaroni noodles make great commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks! P...

I was inspired by Hope , Mary , and many others to finally host a classroom BOOK TASTING!  On Friday afternoons, I usually coteach a STEAM lesson with a coworker. However, during Read Across America week earlier this month, we decided to do a book tasting instead of STEAM.  I collected a wide variety of books to appeal to students with varied interests. I tried to stay away from series that many of them are already familiar with.  We set the scene with some cheap tablecloths, battery-powered candles, dim lighting, and Italian music.  Most of my materials, including the placemats and bookmarks, came from Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching .  I ended up making my own menu to make it really simple for my second graders. You can download it for free in my VIP Free Resource Library . Not yet a member? Join here .  Wanting to buy some decor for your book tasting? I spent less than $20 on {reusable} mat...

Changes are coming!  I'm planning to start grad school this summer. I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a student while I'm a full-time teacher, but I'm up for the challenge! The application process was lengthy and required a few recommendations. I know that my administrators are OH SO BUSY, so I almost felt guilty for asking them to write recommendations for me.  A handwritten note goes a long way... and chocolate doesn't hurt either!  I printed these cards on Astrobright cardstock, wrote a heartfelt note inside, and ta-da! I hope they feel appreciated! Download the free printable here .

My students want me to be a full-time songwriter now. This one was a much bigger hit than the last!  Click  here  to download a PDF of the lyrics. Click  here  for the music I use (on YouTube).  A post shared by School and the City (Kristin) (@schoolandthecity) on Feb 23, 2017 at 6:18pm PST Click here to see the Instagram video. We've been practicing our 2D shape skills with these task cards , which include shape identification, angles, and symmetry.  We also made these fun plane shape robots : After a week full of learning about 2D shapes, students got to wear a bracelet to help them show what they know. The bracelet has a QR code on it that says "Scan for a surprise!" The QR code leads to this Have Fun Teaching video (via SafeShare). They loved it!  Enjoy! Pin this post for later:

I reorganized my office last week. While doing so, I found my tutoring bag from last year.  (This is a judgement-free zone, right?!)  I spent a lot of time and effort preparing for tutoring, so I thought I would share my binder with you to make your tutoring life a little easier. My binder is divided into four sections: writing , fluency activities , fluency passages , and comprehension . Under each picture, you will find links to products, most of which are FREE!  Keep in mind that we also worked on homework and any specific skills that the child needed each week, but the binder was full of resources and back-up activities to help fill time.  About Me cover page by Lyndsey Kearney Writing Checklist by JD's Rockin' Readers Handwriting Poster by Steve Hungerford Stretch a Sentence by Cassie Thomas Backs of laminated cardstock pages double as dry-erase boards.  Portable Word Wall by Where the Wild...