Teacher’s Brain

How to Celebrate the 120th Day of School Virtually

It’s a tradition in elementary school to celebrate when you reach a milestone in class. This could be reaching our reading goals, mastering sight words, counting, or reaching a certain number of days at school! 

For kindergarten, it’s typical to celebrate the 100th day of school. In first grade, however, it’s more standard to celebrate making it to 120 days instead. Counting to 120 is a goal for many first graders and this is a fun way to tie our celebration in with our class counting goals. 

If you are a teacher looking for some fun activities to do on the 120th day of school, you’re in the right spot! Here are some simple and exciting ways students can celebrate reaching this milestone. 

  1. Bring in 120 items. Students can find 120 pieces of an item at home to bring into the classroom. This gives them practice counting to 120 in a way that doesn’t feel like practice! Bonus, it is fun for students to show their classmates what they accomplished. They can bring 120 paperclips, beads, Legos, etc. 
  2. Draw yourself as a 120-year-old. This one is such a fun activity for students. Have them create a picture of themselves as a 120-year-old and write about it. 
  3. Create a frame with 120 boxes for students to put small snacks into (think cheerios, m&ms, or goldfish)

If you are teaching virtually or just looking for some activities that can be done easily online with your students (no cleanup!), I have you covered! 

These virtual 120th day of school activities give you several engaging activities to choose from to celebrate this exciting milestone.

120th day of school

Some activities included are: 

  1. 120-second scavenger hunt
  2. Make yourself or your teacher look 120 years old
  3. 120th-day fitness checklist
  4. 120th-day dot-art
  5. Narrative and opinion writing prompts
  6. Add 120 buttons to a sweater
  7. Make a clown
  8. And so much more! 

120th day of school

This resource is available on Google Slides so you can send it to your class virtually or use them in your classroom. Movable parts make this an interactive and hands-on activity that students will love. 

Want to learn more about how it works? Check out the video tutorial! 

There are so many ways to make this day special, even if you are teaching online. 

I hope you and your students have lots of silly fun with these activities!

120th day of school


 

Black Friday Starts TODAY for Pre-K – 3rd Grade TEACHERS

Starting TODAY until November 29, 2021, you can make plans this winter easier and increase student engagement with these DEEPLY DISCOUNTED Black Friday Resources!
We listened to what you wanted to help you take your weekends back!

SAVE 50% and MORE on these LIMITED TIME Black Friday Special Bundles!

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIALS:

Escape Room Bundle for First Grade
According to our survey, a lot of you have never tried escape rooms in your class.  I would love to see that change this year! The students get so excited while learning! I think you will love them if you give them a try. Once you do one, the others follow the same pattern and become easy for you to set up and students to participate. There are 9 escape rooms for in-person teaching in this bundle.  All of them can be used in first grade.
Reg $47 ONLY $19.99

Winter Activities Bundle K-3rd Grade
This bundle was the most requested from you. It includes: 
Winter Would You Rather
Winter Directed Drawing with Writing
Winter Sports Interactive Notebook
A Melted Snowman Craft and Bulletin Board Set
3 Weeks of Winter Creative Writing with Animation
Holidays Around the World In-Person Escape Room
Winter Snow Literacy Center Activities
PLUS a BONUS! Editable Thank You Cards, Bookmarks, and Writing Paper

Digital Escape Room Bundle K-2nd
If you like digital lessons because of the low prep and no printing, this bundle is great for you!
It includes 10 Digital Escapes created using Google Sites.  You don’t have to have Google Classroom, but you will need to make sure your IT has your computer and your student computers cleared for each site.  This is easy by practicing on my TEST SITE  using the link provided in the description.

ALPHABET Centers Bundle for Pre-K & Kindergarten
Regularly $78 ONLY $19.99
It covers every letter of the alphabet with crafts and worksheets! Over 450 Pages!

Kindergarten Curriculum ALL YEAR, EVERY SUBJECT
(Guided Reading, Math Centers, Writing, Science and Social Studies) You will find lots of bonus material in this bundle.
This price is the lowest its ever been priced.
OVER 3000 PAGES You will never scramble for another resource.  This gets updated often too.

Exciting Ways To Teach Community Helpers

One of the important lessons we cover in kindergarten or first grade is on the topic of community helpers. We generally consider this to be police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, construction workers, mail carriers, etc. This is a great way to teach about the different kinds of people who help in our community. It helps students further understand how a community works and the important roles these people play. 

There are tons of ways you can teach this lesson and make it super fun and engaging for your students! 

Here are some of my favorite ways to teach about community helpers.

  • Bring in guest speakers. Reach out to some of the community helpers in your area and ask them to come in and speak to the class! This can be parents in that profession, or friends. The guest can share what they do, how they help the community, and what a typical day in their profession looks like. 
  • Keep a journal. As students are learning about the different community helpers, have them keep a journal about the different people. They can draw pictures of them in uniform and get some writing practice by writing a couple of sentences about who they are and what they do. 
  • Discuss the differences between long ago and today. How were the jobs different? Are they easier now? This is a great activity to encourage critical thinking. 
  • List the different occupations. Use this list to get students thinking about what they want to be when they grow up. They can write it in their journal and you can go around the classroom sharing. 
  • Read books about community helpers. Whenever possible, adding a story or two about your topic will enrich your lessons. 
  • Watch videos about community helpers. There are lots of options available on Youtube. This video includes a fun song for students to sing or dance along to. 

Looking for more activities to do during your community helpers lesson? Check out my Community Helpers resource! 

community helpers

This download is nine weeks of lessons designed to easily create a journal for students to use, interactive notebook pages, posters, and so much more! It covers three topics, Community Jobs, Tools and Equipment for Jobs, and Today vs. Long Ago.

community helpers

This resource covers 9 full weeks of detailed lesson plans. You’ll get everything listed above and some extras including poems and songs, how to dial 911, cut and label activities for different community helpers, a volunteer art handprint gift, police officer hat/headband, police badges, and firefighter hats. Everything you need for this exciting social studies topic! 

community helpers

What are your favorite ways to teach about this topic? Let me know in the comments!

Looking for more social studies fun? Check out my year long social studies bundle for kindergarten and first grade!


 

How To Teach Students To Be A Good Citizen

We teach many things in the primary grades like math, writing, and reading. Apart from that, we also teach things like social skills, listening, following directions, and how to be kind. Another important subject to teach is how to be a good citizen. 

Students can be good citizens by following rules, being responsible, helping others, being respectful, and making good decisions. This doesn’t come naturally to younger learners, so we must remember this concept and include it in our lessons. 

I created my Civics and Government resource to help teach about rules and the importance of being a good citizen! 

citizen

This resource covers many concepts that will give students a strong foundation. They’ll learn how to become good citizens by teaching them about rules and laws, conflicts, and fair decisions in a fun and engaging way. It has a tattle tale lesson plan, interactive notebook pages, posters, center activities, and a Write the Room Activity.

citizen

Included in this resource you’ll get 9 full weeks of lesson plans including: 

  • Weekly detailed lesson plans for 9 Weeks
  • Home Connection parent letter
  • American History journal cover
  • Word Bank for the Journal
  • KWL
  • Printables to insert as a journal or use individually covering 9 weeks of American history
  • Rubric for the journal 
  • Nine interactive notebook pages (suggested to do once a week on Fridays)
  • An optional Interactive Notebook (If you don’t already have a spiral started for students to create their interactive pages.)
  • Classroom posters
  • Primary source activity
  • Months of the year (What Comes Next)
  • Write the Room activity
  • Sort the Pictures (rules vs laws)
  • Tattle Tale Officer – Teach students the difference of being helpful or hurtful
  • Big Problem, Medium Problem, Small Problem Posters

citizen

These activities can be used on their own or in centers! After this unit, students will understand how to be good citizens and the importance and value of rules. Check it out here! 

Looking for more resources for elementary? Check out these engaging geography activities! 

In what ways do you like to teach students to be good citizens? Let me know in the comments!

citizen