Apples!

Who knew that you could use apples for so many great learning experiences? Red, pink, yellow, green and russet (brown patches on the skin). Apples come in a range of different colors, and even a few shapes and sizes. It is the fruit of fall and the crisper air and smell of apples are a welcome change after the warmer summer months.

If you are planning an apple theme for your students this year it is a great idea to let them carry out a little bit of research about apples using a Fact Booklet. Learning all the different parts is a great science activity and your students can watch while you cut an apple open to see what is inside. Let them guess how many seeds there will be in the apple before you cut it open. A great way to add some math to the apple theme.  Use the booklet to learn the names of the different parts of an apple and check with the real apple that you have cut open. Why not create a lovely classroom display by making a giant model of the inside of an apple? Your students will love coloring-in apples. The finished result, using the picture found in the Fact Booklet, looks like glass-stained apples! 

Choose activities in September that are simple and can be done with little support, for example, trace and write letters and numbers, and what letter/number comes after. The resource Apple Centers is the perfect addition to the Fact Booklet. Filled with educational activities to support the development of basic math and literacy skills. 

September is a perfect time for exploring Johnny Appleseed.  Johnny Appleseed became a legend while still alive, due to his generous ways as well as his leadership in promoting conservation.  Dressed in a coffee sack, a tin hat and walking barefoot he paved the way for frontiersmen to settle new land around his orchards.  There are several books you can read to your students that retell the story of the legend who set out to plant apple trees in the American wilderness, and they can use the Fact Booklet about Johnny Appleseed to learn more. The booklet comes with worksheets for note-taking that the students fill out. A model of Johnny Appleseed with his tin hat will put a smile on everyone’s face and talking about how ordinary people can do extraordinary things is a great way to inspire your students to work hard throughout the year!

Look for apple-themed resources that make it a September to remember!

Another Disney Giveaway!

We’re sending one of YOU to the Happiest Place on Earth… Disney!! Now’s your chance to win a Disney Vacation valued at $1,000 OR choose $1,000 PayPal Cash! 

All you have to do is log onto your Instagram account:

Like the photo;

Follow @happyclassroomsgiveaway;

Follow everyone that @happyclassroomsgiveaway is following;

Tag a friend!

Bonus entries: Tag more friends in the comments- each new tag counts as an additional entry!

Repost this image on your story or your feed and tag @happyclassroomsgiveaway;

This giveaway closes Wednesday, September 7th at 10 pm EST. The winner will be contacted via Direct Message and then announced 48 hours later. We will NEVER ask for Credit Card info or for you to click any links- please report and block anyone who does.

This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or associated with Instagram or the vendors displayed in the graphic. This giveaway is open worldwide. Non U.S. residents will be awarded PayPal cash.

Best of luck!

  

Are you ready for another giveaway? To help with the purchasing of resources, materials, and fonts for your classroom or business, a team of amazing teachers and I have grouped together to gift ONE awesome teacher with a TPT gift card!

 Prize includes 1 $100 TpT gift card.  Giveaway opens  September 6.   Link will be posted at midnight of the 5th! 

REMEMBER: each entry counts as ONE entry, the more links you complete, the higher your chances of winning!! The giveaway will end September 13! I will come back to add the link as soon as it goes live! 

Lots of luck!

September 2022 Products

Like every other month of the year, September offers great learning opportunities. Celebrate its bounty by selecting engaging themes and resources. 

A great start is to plan the beginning of the year so that you are building a great atmosphere in the classroom. Ask yourself what are the most important things that you need to teach in those first few precious weeks. Would it not be great to find out a bit more about what your students think should be included in their dream school? The resource Designing a School is the perfect way to capture your students’ attention during the first weeks of the new term. This unique project offers a fantastic opportunity to get to know your students while providing them with an interesting educational challenge.

 

Write the room activities are a clever way to provide your students with opportunities to move around in the classroom during literacy center time. Hang the printed-out pictures around in your classroom and watch as your students move around exploring the classroom. Children are full of energy so it is great to use activities that get them up and moving. 

Getting started with using the math after the summer holiday is vital. Students forget during the summer vacation so use engaging activities like color-by-code to make it fun to start waking up those dormant math skills. The majority of students do not really lose their math skills during the summer but some do.  Yet, the loss is not long-term nevertheless an interest in a subject is vital for success. So capturing your students' attention with engaging math activities is a good idea. 

Drawing are fundamental skill and directed drawing is an engaging activity that will ensure that will not only enhance the drawing skills but also develop their listening skills. Drawing back-to-school items such as lunch boxes will provide a stepping stone where they can continue to develop their drawing skills throughout the year. Children can not always express their feelings in words or actions, so drawing is an important way of communicating.  Making a physical representation of what is in your mind is a huge advantage.  Drawing is one of the early foundations of logical thinking or abstract thought. Also, children’s imagination becomes more active when they are drawing.



Welcome to a September filled with Surprises and wonderful Learning Possibilities. 

All products may be found in my store.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Thebeezyteacher

Feelings about starting school

The first time going to school or starting a new grade can be exciting. It is a special time filled with the smell of fresh school supplies and the anticipation of a new classroom. There is also a little anxiety and a great way to diffuse these feelings is to remind the child that they are not alone. Reading a book about starting school / a new grade or a poem can help children feel less alone and anxious. 

It is normal for children to express their feelings of sadness and learning how to address those feelings helps them to build self-confidence and independence. Assisting with problems will help students learn and grow in a positive way from the stress. The change in routine can be tough for some students and the fear of the unknown can be stressful. Students who can not clearly articulate their feelings might feel overwhelmed.

What do children get most anxious about when it comes to starting or returning to school? Children can get anxious about lots of different things from missing their summer friends to taking the bus and not having the right supplies for school.  Being away from parents and about the unknown is also common. They may worry about making new friends, big kids and getting to know a new teacher. What appears to be rather simple activities such as eating lunch can cause anxiety when they are not familiar with the environment. 

Children may have stomachs in the morning before school or in the evening before going to bed. Changes in behavior or attitude may appear and the child may not be able to say what might be causing them to feel anxiety or stress. Children may become more argumentative or ask more questions. These questions may be unrelated to school, making it more difficult to pinpoint the underlying stress and anxiety related to starting school or returning to school.

After a couple of weeks of school, children usually feel less nervous and more comfortable with the school routine. If the student's anxiety appears to be worsening or lasts for several weeks, it is important to seek help as soon as possible. Letting your students know what will happen next is a great way to build that important trust.  Schools can communicate with parents so that they have knowledge about what is going to happen during the first weeks. Helping your students to express their feelings will help them to perform better in school and display fewer behavioral problems. Look for worksheets and activities to help students express their feelings. Nothing is more important than helping your students feel safe in your environment.

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Sales and Giveaways, Oh My!

Hello!  Every single resource in my store will be 20% off!  Starting Aug. 2 and 3. If you use the promo code (BTS22), TPT will give you an additional 5% off!

That is a total of 25% off of all of my resources, including bundles. This amazing offer will only be available for two days.  You need to be quick. So how about getting your cart ready now? 

  To help with the purchasing of Back to School resources for your classroom, a team of amazing teachers and I have grouped together to gift ONE awesome teacher with a TPT gift card!

  Prize includes 1 $100 TpT gift card.  Giveaway opens  August 6.   Link will be posted in a few days for joining.

REMEMBER: each entry counts as ONE entry, the more links you complete, the higher your chances of winning!! The giveaway will end August 13! 

 

Good luck!

Assessment Products for the Start of School!

August is Here! Are you thinking about what activities to use when your students are back in the classroom? It can be daunting to prepare for back to school but also tremendously fun and stimulating to plan the start of a new year. Students need time to adjust to the learning environment and the first weeks can be tough. You may feel overwhelmed by the desire to show students that learning in your classroom is exciting while you also want to ensure that you can support the learning needs of all your students.

You need to know if your students are learning so assessment is a vital aspect of teaching. A quick assessment of sight words at the beginning of the year is important to see where the children are starting out. Sight words, high-frequency words, core words or popcorn words are important to master. These words represent a high proportion of English text and a child will gain confidence, in the beginning, to read a text if they already recognize a high proportion of the words. Look for resources that you can use to make assessments at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. An editable resource gives you the freedom to include special words that you have talked about in your lessons. 

Assessments do not have to be time-consuming and boring. They can be engaging and fun. Using Boom™ cards is a great way to make sure that students have a wide selection of activities during the first weeks and is also a great way to include some critical thinking and challenges during the stage when you are trying to get to know your students. What is their favorite breakfast food or color? Boom digital task cards can also be used to assess students’ readiness skills such as identifying shapes, colors, upper and lower case letters and number recognition 1-10. 

Boom™ cards are like task cards. The self-grading activities have been designed to be interactive  The cards are loved by students. Creative ways to get acquainted with your learners will help your students to explore different aspects of themselves as their differences and similarities. You’ll be amazed by the amount of information you learn from All About Me activities by using colorful digital task cards. 

A data binder and boards are a great way for the students to see their own growth throughout the year. A data binder is a smart way to help the students take responsibility for their learning. It can also be used for parent conferences and having well-documented information about students' needs and abilities allow schools to provide students with a detailed plan that sets out targets and strategies to help the child learn. 

All products may be found in my store.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Thebeezyteacher

A Warm Welcome to a New Exciting School Year!

How to create a relaxed summer atmosphere in your classroom

This July create oceans of fun activities while learning about the beach and ocean animals. From sensory activities to art, literacy, math and science, your kids will have an amazing time while learning about animals like whales, crabs and seahorses. The oceans are mysterious places filled with all kinds of cute as well as bizarre life forms. 

Sunshine, sea and beach are warm and welcoming, which is precisely the vibe you want to create in your summer classroom. Kids love learning about ocean-dwelling animals and it is simple to create a welcoming and warm atmosphere by using natural materials like sand and shells (make sure that you check the laws related to taking shells and sand from the beach, it is often fine to take broken shells). 

Use simple but engaging crafts to take your kids on an amazing educational sea adventure. You can use an old water bottle to create a mini-aquarium. Bring the little ocean into life by adding sand, shells and plastic sea creatures. 

July is a perfect month to inspire kids to read. Selecting the best ocean animal books is a real treat. Ocean animals feature in many cool sea adventures. Why not create a special beach-inspired reading nook with fun & fascinating books? A reading nook can have a simple nautical theme or be filled with real palm trees, straw umbrellas and paper lanterns in pastel color. Many ocean animals are big and the reading nook can have giant jellyfish or other giant ocean animals that kids have drawn. Drawing and coloring is a fantastic way to help your kids build fine motor skills. Labelling the animals is a great way to build writing skills.

If you live near a beach or visiting one, take the opportunity to walk along the shore and explore the beach and the ocean together. Learning about what lurks in the deep waters is a perfect theme that you can easily explore for a long time this summer with engaging and hands-on activities. 

Here are some summer resources that can support the learning!  All products can be found in my

store! 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Thebeezyteacher



Happy Summer!