October Morning Tubs

It's October.

Things have settled in.  

Routines are exactly where they need to be.

Everything is moving like a well-oiled machine.

The best news is that...

October morning tubs are keeping students excited about arriving in the classroom.

They are practicing skills and concepts through hands-on activities with excitement, and they are engaged.   YES!  What a win!

Morning tubs are perfect for independent work, partners, or small-team work.

Here's a closer look at everything included in the October morning tubs for 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade.

Enjoying what you do and finding ways to make learning fun for students, that's just...

My Kind of Teaching

P. S.  Comment below and tell me what you think about morning tubs!  Do you use them in your classroom?

Fun Activities for the Month of October

It's time to get ready for another month of lesson plans with units and activities for the month of October.  Planning for the entire month is a time management tip that can help you get things done and get out the door in a timely manner each day.

Taking the time one or two days at the end of the month to plan out your entire upcoming month is a great way to stay organized.  While it might mean that you have to stay late at school for a couple of afternoons now, you will be so glad you did as the month rolls on and you find that you can actually get out the door on time most afternoons.  

Keep reading for a roundup of all things October and how to plan for maximum learning and engagement.

First, ask yourself these questions:

1)  What standards and concepts are listed on the curriculum map for October?
2)  What holidays, special days, and school events are taking place during the month?
3)  What activities have I included in past years that were successful that I want to repeat?

Keep all of the answers to these three questions in mind as you plan out your month.

Center Activities:

Centers are such a very important time of day!  Students are engaged and learning, and you have much needed time to work with needs-based groups to meet all of those individual needs.  The use of centers is a great strategy to make sure that you have the time to work with ALL students and meet ALL of their different needs in your classroom.  Keep your centers easy, simple, and fun!

Planning centers for the entire month using activities to both practice and review concepts will take care of a lot of your lesson plans.

Concepts and Standards for All Subjects:

After planning your center activities, plan out your core academic subjects.  If your district uses a curriculum map, this should be fairly easy to fill in the days for the month of what subjects, skills, concepts, and standards you will be using.  Keeping a fall theme can help keep things fun and interesting for your students.

Don't forget to add activities for math fluency in your classroom.  Helping your students become fluent with addition/subtraction or multiplication/division facts just makes teaching all other math concepts so much easier!

All of the "EXTRA" Parts of the Day:

Keep activities ready for students to use immediately upon arrival.  Students will be engaged and excited to come to your classroom each and every morning.  It's a great way to start your day and sets the tone for success for your students.

Add a little extra science and social studies to your day with a different kind of morning work.

Having some easy activities at your fingertips for your early finishers will help keep your classroom moving smoothly during the entire month.  Click here to grab some FREE activities for October.

If you have other items for the month of October, collect them together and plug those in.  Make your copies, and organize them in a way that works best for you.  

If you are in need of items to fill your monthly lessons, click on the pictures below to see if any of my products will be a good fit for your classroom.  The important thing is to finish your planning and enjoy time outside of the classroom.

Keeping things real, keeping your personal life a priority, and helping you whenever I can, that's just...

MY KIND OF TEACHING

Math Minis - An Easy Way to Incorporate Math into Your Activities

What are math minis?

Math minis are a new idea I have for giving your students short activities to help incorporate math into your activities each and every day.

These math minis can be used for practice and assessment as you teach the same concept in your classroom.  They can also be assigned to students who need remediation or just to review a concept.  They are quick and easy for you to add to your lesson plans, assign on Google Classroom (or a compatible program), and go.

Here's a closer look at everything that is included!

What do you think?  Will these work well for you?  I have more coming soon!

I would love to hear what you think and what you need.  Trying to help meet your needs and make teaching easier for you is just...

My Kind of Teaching

Judy Moody was in a Mood - Great Beginning of the School Year Book

Judy Moody Was in a Mood is my favorite chapter book to use for the beginning of the school year for back to school. 

If you are looking for a great Back-to-School chapter book for a read-aloud or whole group reading for the first month, this is the book for you!

Both boys and girls enjoy it.  The students are engaged and excited to learn more about Judy’s antics.

I have a class set so that students can follow along as I read aloud.  They also have time to read individually and in small groups.  They can refer to the book to complete comprehension questions.

This book is great to use at the beginning of the year because it begins with Judy’s dread of going back to school.  

There are so many cool and interesting things that happen in the book.  You can easily use this book for an entire month since there are many things to expand on and learn.

Some of the things included are an unusual choice of a pet which is a Venus Flytrap.  This is the perfect opportunity to learn about these carnivorous plants.  It's a great time for students to do more research with this digital unit.

This book lends itself to developing so many fun learning opportunities.  

Included in my TpT unit are:

Lesson plans are included for every chapter of the book.  These lesson plans will guide you with vocabulary to teach during the chapter and questions to ask while reading the chapter.  Activities to extend learning are also included.

Include writing in your book study.  In addition, to answering text questions, students will be given opportunities to write about their own experiences.

When Judy's class gets a turtle, your students can use the included QR codes or posters to research and learn about how to care for a pet turtle also!

Judy is so jealous that her brother gets to go on a field trip to Washington, D. C.  During this part of the book, your students will go on a virtual field trip as well.  

For a math activity, your students will vote on their favorite pets to make a class graph.

Your students will get to decorate a t-shirt just like Judy does in the book.  Students will also complete a turtle when learning about pet turtles.  

Just like Judy has to create a homework assignment all about herself, you can assign your students a homework project to complete.  Students can make a "Me Collage" to bring to school to share.  This activity will help you learn more about your students! 

Students will learn about carnivorous plants, complete a crossword puzzle, and read informational text about frogs and toads to go along with the book.

I think your students will love this book just as much as my students loved beginning our year with this funny and exciting chapter book.  

If you are interested in purchasing this for your own class, click here to grab it for a super low price!

Keeping the learning fun and enjoyable, that's just...

MY KIND OF TEACHING