Five Things to do to Ease Back to School after New Years

I am not the kind of teacher to rush back and hit the books and new learning right away after Christmas break. I love to spend the first day back as a review day...some might call it a slow start. Here's a look at what I am planning to do my first day back. 

1. Start with time for talking. 

I think this one is very important. Students have been away from the classroom for two full weeks. They are excited. They are tired. Some don't want to be there. Let's face it, they need a few minutes to share and talk about their break, and hear about the breaks of others. I will be using a Rolling into the New Year activity to help with this. Students have a few minutes to talk with friends in a structured way. Using this is super easy. Students take turns rolling the die and then talking about the question they rolled. You can see it in the picture below. You can find this activity over here.  This resource is updated for each year, including this year. 

2. Review Rules and Procedures

Students need to be reminded of the rules. Anytime you are out for more than a weekend, it is a good idea to review. This could be done in fun ways like making it into a game or a fun and interactive quiz. 

I am going to use a true or false quiz that is fun and a bit ridiculous. For instance, I choose really outlandish things like: 

True or false, when entering the classroom late, you should pretend to be on the red carpet, walking with style and doing a few spins on the way to your seat. 

Students will smile, laugh and also remember what they are really suppose to do, because I will also have the real rules and procedures throw in such as: True or false, when entering the classroom late, you should come in quietly, close the door behind you, put your things at your desk and join whatever activity we are doing. 

You get the point. I would do this with every rule and then go over it together when everyone has finished.

3. Math Review

Instead of jumping in to a new concept in math, we are going to do a math review called Unlock the New Year. This review is by Cooties and Cuties and it is a quick countdown activity where students do a few review skills for each number on the board and then move toward the number 1 where they will get a few Hershey's kisses as a celebration for completing the challenge. 

4. Starbooks Cafe

Starbooks Cafe is a fun and relaxing way to get back into the swing of reading while reviewing several reading skills in a reading marathon. Students will get to sip a sweet hot chocolate while reading and responding to a book of their choice. 

I found this activity years ago online, but I do not remember where it came from. But you can see how I set this up over here.

5. Staff Appreciation Writing

I am adding in this new activity from hello_fifth on TPT. Students will choose one staff member and will write about why they are grateful for that staff member. It will give them a chance to work on their writing skills, but with a smaller task instead of diving right in to writing essays. It will also put a smile on the staff member's face when we give them out to each of them. 

As a bonus, this week, I have a part two of low cost New Year activities, so be sure to check it out as well. 

Activities to Use in January

January, the beginning of the second half of the school year, is upon us. Sometimes it can be hard to get back into the swing of things and start again with planning all the things. That's why I wanted to share a few activities that are easy to set up and use during the first part of the new year. 

New Year's Classroom Activities

I know that New Year's Day never happens while we are at school, but I always like finding a way to celebrate it anyway with my students. New Year's is a big deal. It is the perfect time to think about the goals students have had, see how they are going, and set new goals for the rest of the school year. 

Another way I love to get back in the swing of things is by learning about the holiday and the traditions that swirl around it. I enjoy teaching the history behind every holiday with reading passages and extension activities, and this one is no different. 

I created New Year Reading Comprehension Passages and Activities as a way to give my students a knowledge of why we celebrate in the way that we do. It is great to connect reading to social studies too! We read through these passages either as a whole group, or even in small reading groups. Each of the seven passages come with a comprehension worksheet with a few key questions (and there is a teacher's edition included for easy grading). Then, we extend our learning through the use of several activities. One of my favorites are the foldable New Year's ball goal setting craft. It is so cute and would make a great bulletin board display too. There are several other activities too like building a shoebox float. You should definitely check it out here. Of course, I update the dates each year. Although that is not reflected in the picture. (You can click on the picture or caption to be taken to the resource.)

This resource is updated to reflect
the date of each new year. 

Another fun way to start the new year is with a team building art challenge. I LOVE getting my students working creatively in teams. As one of my teachers always says, there's more cabbage in two heads, and that is certainly the case with getting the creative juices flowing. This art challenge is a spin off of the cooking show Chopped. Each group receives a bag of identical supplies. The groups then have a time limit in which to create a masterpiece based on a certain New Year's theme. Projects are then presented to the whole class and points can be awarded (if you want to add to the competition). There are three challenges in this resource. Use one, or use all three and make it like the show. You can use it all on one day, or I like using one challenge a day for three days. It is flexible, so use it however you like.

 Be sure to click the photo to be taken to this fun and engaging resource. 

Black History Month & MLK Jr. Day

Another huge thing to incorporate at this time of year is black history. This is, afterall, black history month, and while it can, and should, be included all year, this is a chance to focus in on the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is also this month, so it is always good to include him in your classroom studies and activities. 

With that in mind, I want my students to learn a little about many different African Americans, both well-known, and lesser-known. I created this resource to celebrate and bring knowledge to students about these important people in our history. Each of the nine people studied in this resource comes with a reading sheet, comprehension activity, and a writing book. Students can read about the individual, test their knowledge by answering some questions, and share their learning by creating a small booklet report to read to others. Each booklet comes with an "all about" section, early life, famous for, fun facts, and timeline. I suggest having different students studying different people and then share with the class. That allows students to learn about more than one student and gives each student the opportunity to become an expert and teach others. 

People included in this resource are:

        Bessie Colman

        Dr. Charles Drew

        Dr. Daniel Hale

        Martin Luther King Jr. 

        Lydia Newman

        Mary Jane Bethune

        Harriett Tubman

        Rosa Parks

        Garrett Morgan

Click either picture to be taken to this resource. 

I hope this helps you plan some exciting learning activities for the new year and month of January.

Be sure to check out these blog posts to find out more ways in incorporate these special holidays into your classroom. 

Black History

Underground Railroad PBL

New Year's Day

Books for the New Year - January Titles for Building Reading Comprehension

Books for the New Year

I am always on the lookout for new books to use for different seasons in my classroom. I recently ran across the book Because by Mo Willems. It is absolutely perfect and stunning for the new year. I am going to use it for goal setting and will also tie in some reading comprehension strategies and reading skills. 

I decided to try to find a book to partner with the book to Because. The book by John Lithgow called, Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo, was the perfect book to use. It has a similar topic and is lots of fun. 

New Year's Book Descriptions

The book, Because, is a beautifully illustrated book that features the story of an orchestra. It traces inspiration from one piece of music to the final moment when an orchestra is formed. It shows how just one person can have a huge effect over the lives of others. It is written in a simple pattern, but don't let that fool you! This book is packed with possibilities for older students like my upper elementary kids. 

The book, Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo, is a fun book that features an orchestra as well...only in this book some rogue animals take over the orchestra, reeking havoc in the process. 

 New Year's Partner Books

What I love about using these two books together is their easy link based on not only the orchestra, but how easily the books show a cause/effect relationship. They are perfect for linking together to compare and contrast. 

Lesson Planning for New Year's Books

I was looking through these two books with reading lessons in mind. I knew I wanted to connect the books not only to New Year's celebrations, but also to my curriculum. I looked for skills that could be incorporated. Here are some good ones.

First, of course, we will have a discussion about the points of the book using  basic questions as well as questions that dig a bit deeper and require making connections.

Next, using the book Because, we will work on cause and effect relationships. This book is perfect for that. Each page has a cause/effect sentence on it. We will branch away from those, writing some of our own. In the end, we can link back to the book, Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo for one last cause/effect.

For deeper learning, students will think about the effect (goal) they want to have for the rest of the school year. They will list out some causes....what will cause them to reach that goal. They will draw a picture of themselves completing that goal. If you visualize it and have a step-by-step plan, you can achieve it, right?

The book, Never Play music Right Next to the Zoo, is also a great way to review basic nouns and verbs. We will do a quick verb sort with this one. 

Another great skill to work on with these two books is comparing and contrasting. Using partner books allows you to have enough similarities, but there will be many differences as well. A Venn diagram is the perfect way to organize a comparison between these two books. 

Using fun picture books is one of my favorite ways to teach new skills and these two new (to me) books will be the perfect addition!

12 Days of Christmas Day 2: Holiday Gift Guide for Teachers

Are you even a teacher if you are not buried under so much end of the year grading, crafting, projects, and programs? This time of the year is definitely crazy and busy. That's why I am putting together a holiday gift guide to help make every teacher's holidays a little easier, brighter, and definitely more fun. 

1. First up, keep student's learning with these print and go articles about Christmas trees and holiday decor from my History Behind the Holidays series. The seven articles can be stapled together and used as a magazine in reading groups for an entire week and beyond. Each article comes with a comprehension worksheet. There are several extension activities included and even a Christmas tree STEM. Everything is super easy to prep and will definitely give teachers an easy and engaging set of lessons to get you through till the holiday break.

You can check this resource out here.

2. Keeping your students going this year gets a little bit challenging....okay, a lot challenging! With thoughts of Christmas dancing in their heads, they have definitely started checking out. If you are trying to get some good work out of them in the last few days before break. Start noticing the good things you see them doing. Mention it, reward it. Send some positive notes their way. They will love to show these off and it will encourage good and focused behavior to the very end of the year. Here are some little Christmas-themed positive notes to send home with them. They will be proud to take them home to their favorite grown-up and the adult in their life will love to hear a positive comment about their child as well. These little notes come in 12 different designs that can be printed in color or blackline. If you use the blackline version, you can add a burst of color by printing on colored paper (red or green for Christmas would be nice), but you could also print on white paper as well. These super cute cards can be found right here. 

3. Extra special and fun activities make the Christmas season even more fun in the classroom. One of my favorites is this simple art challenge. Who doesn't like art? And making it into a game makes it even more fun! Try out this art teambuilding activity. If you have ever watched the food competition show called Chopped, you get the idea. Each group of students gets a bag of art supplies that are identical. They will work together with their group to create an art project that meets a certain challenge or theme using the items in their bag. The groups will have a certain amount of time to complete each challenge. Once the time is up, each group will present their project and be judged on it. There are three rounds with three different challenges before a winning team is named. 

All the supplies inside the bags are easy household/school classroom items. This is low-prep, but high on fun! Find this resource over here. 

4. Channel the chattiness of the class this time of year to do some mid-year teambuilding. Allow students to share their thoughts and ideas about the Christmas season with a simple Dice Conversation activity. In this Christmas Dice Convo teambuilding resource, students will practice listening and speaking skills within groups while building their team skills. It's a fun and easy way to fill in a few minutes here or there or start/end the day. Here's where you can find this activity. 

5. Unfortunately, it is also time to think about after the holiday. How do you celebrate the new year in your classroom? I love to use my History Behind the Holidays resource to ring in the new year by taking a look at New Year traditions. This resource includes seven articles that help students learn about favorite traditions here and around the world. The articles would be great to get your reading or history class started in the new year during the first week or more. Comprehension questions are included for every single article. A goal-setting craftivity is also included for the new year. Students will even create an envelope time capsule that you can put away till next year. Last year I did this and my students are already asking about the time capsule. They are anxious to see it again. Also included is a Tournament of Roses parade activity as well as a New Year themed STEM project. This will definitely make coming back to school after two weeks of glorious vacationing easier. You can check it out here. All activities in this pack has been completely updated to show the date for the new year. 

These are my five top recommendations for busy teachers this holiday season. Be sure to check them out!

Three Ways to Celebrate the New Year in Your Classroom

With Christmas break ending, teachers everywhere are gearing up to go back to school. I personally have been thinking of ways to extend the holidays and bring them into the classroom for one or two more days. This year, as we always do, we will be celebrating the new year. I was thinking about how to make that happen since I have the same students for at least three years (I teach in a multi-grade classroom of 3rd-5th graders). 

1. New Year's Learning Fun

With that in mind, I decided to create new products that could help me bring the learning while sprinkling in some fun. One of my favorite things to do is to teach my students about the history behind holiday traditions and I have a line of products that helps me do this, but I did not have anything yet for New Year's. I sat down the past few days and focused on making that a reality. With a reading theme, I will be introducing my students to seven different traditions about the new year. Each of these topics has a non-fiction passage, comprehension sheet, and many also have an additional game or activity to go along with it. Check out the different topics we'll be studying as we return to school. 

The reading passages are all non-fiction and include topics that help students learn the history behind New Year’s traditions. Included in the pack is one about the first and last countries to welcome the new year and how they celebrate. Another article explores the different balls that have been used in New York’s Time Square on New Year’s Eve and how that tradition got started. Students can extend their learning by completing a STEM challenge based on the ball drop. The third article is about the famous song, Auld Lang Syne, and just what those words mean and how the song came to be one we that sing when the clock strikes midnight on January first each year. Next, there is an article about goals and new year’s resolutions. Students can extend what they learn by setting goals of their own in a cute New Year’s Eve ball card. Another article is about words and how words are added to our dictionary each and every year. The class will learn who chooses what words are added and where these words come from. To extend, they may even create a snack or something to play with, should you choose to do so. Up next, is an article about the Tournament of Roses parade. When students read this, they may be inspired to create models of their own. So to extend their learning, you can have them create small shoebox floats and host their own walk-thru parade. Lastly, students will learn about college football bowls and how they came to be.

Also included is a time capsule that students can create individually. And finally, there is a teambuilding game that is perfect for welcoming your students back into the classroom and get them talking and sharing about their break and also the new year. My students will not only get reading activities, but this crosses over to other subject areas as well including history, science, writing, and art.

2. New Year's Teambuilding 

I love teambuilding. It is essential throughout the year, but even more so at the beginning or after a long break. I have this line of teambuilding art challenges that go along with many different holidays, but did not have one completed for New Year's. So I dusted it off and got it finished and I can't wait to try this with my class. If you have seen the TV show Chopped, then you have an idea of what happens in this challenge. Groups of students are each given a bag of items that includes identical art supplies. With the art supplies, teams are given an art challenge that they must complete collaboratively in a certain amount of time. Teams are then judged based on creativity, teamwork, etc.  After three rounds, you can name a winner. It is a lot of fun and kids really get into it. 

3. New Year's Procedure Practice

After every break, it is VITAL to do some refreshing on rules and procedures. At 3rd-5th level, I would be lying if I said that kids do get tired of this, but it is so important that I push through anyway. So, if I can make it fun, I will. This year, as I was browsing, I came across an idea that I saw with procedures on sticky notes that cover a class prize...such as extra recess. After reviewing the rules and procedures, we will have them all written on sticky notes. I will be watching for students who are completing these throughout the day. If I see the class doing one, I will remove that sticky note. Once all the notes are removed, students will get to celebrate with the reward that was revealed. 

While going back to school may not be something your students (or maybe even you) are looking forward to, it is here and the transition can be fun while also being academic. I say we start out 2022 with a big bang and make it one of the best years ever!

If you are interested in either of the resources mentioned, you can check them out by clicking on the pictures below.