When I am teaching my students how to write a paragraph, I begin with the middle sentences. I know, I just heard a collective *gasp* amongst you all. Why?  What?  How?  Huh? I know traditionally we have all started teaching paragraph writing with the topic sentence.  I mean, that is what the kids are going to actually write about, right?  So why not start with it?  Well, I find that if I start with the topic sentence, I get paragraphs that are either super short and bland, OR they are off topic because the supporting sentences don't actually match the topic sentence.  How many times have you read a paragraph that started off with "My dog is white and sweet." and then started to veer off topic into other things about the dog?  Using such a narrow topic sentence backs the kids into a corner they don't know how to get out of.  So starting in the middle has been a successful way for me to get my students to write clear, coherent, broad paragraphs. Let me show yo...
Let me preface this by saying that this is a LONG post.  But bear with me.  There is a lot of information and a lot of useful stuff for you...plus a surprise at the end.  It is worth it.  I promise :) For me, one of my biggest summer stressers is getting my first day of school planned out.  I always want to make sure that I have enough activity to keep the kids engaged and occupied, but I also want to set up my rules and set the tone for our year long classroom culture.   It is tough balancing classroom management, rigorous academic pursuits, and fun.  (I mean, I do want the kids to WANT to come back :) )  So over the years, I have tried my hardest to refine what I do on the first day of school so that we are productive and exciting, all rolled into one. What I thought I would do here in this post is lay out my schedule for you.  I will go hour by hour, heck, minute by minute and show you exactly what I do on that all important first day of school.  If you like this schedule, y...
As we all are well aware, you can be the best teacher in the world but if the kids are absent, it doesn't really matter.  Teaching an empty chair is doing nothing for anyone.   A few years ago, we were really struggling with an absenteeism problem at my school site.  Kids just weren't coming to school.  For one reason or another, they were taking days off like crazy. Today I wanted to share a little thing with you that has been working to help get the kids into their seats each day.   Since the kids were missing so many days,  I thought that if they actually *knew* how many days they were absent within a given month, it just might help to make them think about coming in.  To help them keep track, I created this little postcard on Vista Print .  You can see that all the days we are in school are written on the card, from September to June (this is actually a Vista Print image of the card from a few years ago, so the dates don't match up to our school year now...but you...
Keeping my classroom a positive place is something that I know will encourage my students to be active, present members of our room.  Here are a few ideas that I have used to make Room 6 a positive place. Morning Greeting I start my morning, EVERY morning, with this fun little call back chant.  I wrote in greater detail about it here , but basically, once our morning work is done, I begin my class by saying to them "Good morning my most amazing (or any adjective) class."  To which they respond, "Good morning my most amazing teacher!"  Um....who doesn't like being called amazing???  Changing the adjective helps keep my kids on their toes and really enjoying that greeting.  Then I say, "How are you doing today?" and they respond with, "We are lookin' good and feelin' fine."  Every single face has a smile on it at that point every single time. Apple of My Eye To show the students that I notice the little deeds they do each d...