Teacher's Pay Teachers Archives - Page 30 of 61

How To Make Distance Learning Easy By Using Google Slides

February 26, 2021 teachersbrain Distance Learning, Teacher's Pay Teachers

As distance learning has become a “normal” part of most classrooms, teachers are finding and creating fantastic tools that are useful for all kinds of learning. (Check out my virtual escape rooms here!) Necessity has definitely influenced the invention of new uses of technology tools- and Google Slides are a prime example.

Google Slides are quickly gaining popularity, and it’s easy to see why!

Teachers are using Google Slides in their virtual and in-person classrooms with great success. Although they are perfect for distance learning, Google Slides can easily be transitioned into the regular classroom or in hybrid models as well. Although they can be integrated into Google Classroom, they can be used on their own and don’t require students to be logged in to Classroom.

Teachers can create ONE slide that can be updated daily with new information. Each time students access the link, they will see the new version. Slides can even be accessed with low or no internet when teachers make them available offline. Google Slides are useful for any kind of subject matter. By inserting text, audio clips, or video, teachers can tailor them for any grade level or topic.

Students can also access quizzes, puzzles, Google Forms, or any other assignments directly from hyperlinks in the slides. Teachers can easily incorporate Google Slides into their plans to support any kind of learning!

Perhaps the most convenient part of Google Slides is that they can be purchased pre-made and ready to use!

Teachers can find slides that match their needs, then immediately use them in the classroom.

One of my favorite sets for first and second grade classrooms is Google Classroom Reading Comprehension and Questions.

This set includes twenty passages as well as questions for students to answer. Students can use their mouse to drag words and answer the questions, making this perfect for little hands.

Another useful set is Digital Calendar Math for Google Classroom.

These slides are editable, helping teachers create engaging daily calendar math experiences for any age. You can even add video, audio, text, or images to further explain concepts during calendar time.

Hopefully, you’re ready to take advantage of this amazing tool and add it to your own classroom!

google slides

Virtual Escape Room Ideas Students Will Love

February 19, 2021 teachersbrain Distance Learning, Teacher's Pay Teachers

Now that virtual learning is a much more common challenge for teachers and students, planning group lessons can be difficult. Great teachers know that students learn when they interact, stretch their thinking skills, and cooperate- but virtual classrooms can make that a little harder to plan. Fortunately, there are options that bring students together to accomplish tasks and solve problems while learning virtually!

One of the best ways to incorporate fun and learning online is with virtual escape rooms.

Like real-life escape rooms, these activities encourage collaboration and team building. Students work together to solve puzzles, figure out riddles, and complete other challenges. However, virtual escape rooms are designed to be conducted via Zoom or Google Meets. They can also be completed on a projector for in-person learning.

As students complete various tasks they will unlock the “room” or solve a mystery. One caveat I like to share with teachers is that the virtual escape rooms are meant to be challenging for students. I recommend that teachers complete the challenge before introducing it to students so that they can help out if kids are stuck.

Ready to try out some virtual escape rooms?

Visit this my shop to see my collection of escape rooms that will have your students having fun while using critical thinking skills! One of my favorites is the Wacky Wednesday Digital Escape Room. This activity includes practice with nonsense words and problem-solving. Kindergarten through second-grade students will love completing the fun tasks and unlocking the room. It is a great activity to do during Read Across America Week also.

Many of the other escape rooms are perfect for seasonal activities.

There are options for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Winter Holidays, Valentine’s Day, and even the 100th Day of School! Your students will enjoy the opportunity to work together as they attack the challenges. Celebrate learning throughout the year with these exciting activities that are perfect for virtual classrooms.

Escape Room SIGHT WORD MYSTERY is great any time of the year!

Are you using virtual escape rooms in your classroom yet? Let me know in the comments!

Read about an In-Person Sight Word Escape for Primary

Must-Have Bundles For Elementary Teachers

February 12, 2021 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers

The internet has changed the art of teaching in many ways- but perhaps one of the biggest ways is the ability to get new teaching materials with the click of a mouse. Gone are the days of searching print magazines or only sharing ideas with teachers in your building.

Now, you can find and share materials with the entire world! One of the most convenient ways to get lessons and activities for your class is to utilize bundles. Bundles often have enough materials to last the entire school year and are the best “bang for your buck” when it comes to purchases.

When I was in the classroom, these were my MUST-HAVE BUNDLES for teaching!

First up is my Reading Fluency Practice Activities Bundle for the entire year.

We know how important reading fluency is for our students. This set is perfect for kindergarten and first-grade classes and provides everything you need to help your students become fluent readers. There is a suggested lesson plan for every day of the year. Your lesson planning for fluency is DONE!

Mini books, reader’s theater scripts, and sentence building worksheets provide valuable practice for your students. Fluency tests are also included, allowing you to easily assess your students’ growing skills.

Another favorite bundle is the Kindergarten Math Centers Yearlong Bundle.

Centers are an excellent way to develop young students’ math skills. Students enjoy working in centers with their classmates and can develop their math understanding in an appropriate and engaging way. This bundle provides everything you need for an entire YEAR of fun math centers.

The centers have a “Math Cafe” theme that students love. Once you use direct instruction to explain how to use the task cards, your students will be able to independently complete centers. While you work one-on-one or with small groups, students can work in small groups to complete centers. For one low price, your independent math practice time is ready to go for the year!

$kindergarten Math Centers$

Wow! You can even try them for FREE!

$Free Kindergarten Math Centers$

Having daily writing prompts at my fingertips was a great way to get students who might have trouble being creative on their own to write using a prompt to get their creative juices flowing! I make monthly themed journals and students worked at their own pace. There are self-checking rubrics at the bottom of each page, word banks, covers, and a teacher rubric at the end to help students get feedback. These were used during my staff meetings to show how I monitor student progress.

Looking for Kindergarten Morning Work bundled? Check out my post here!

If you loved these bundles, there is more where that came from! You can check out a list of all of my year-long bundles here.

I hope these ideas have inspired you to take advantage of bundles in your classroom. By streamlining your planning and preparation, you can spend more time helping your students grow and learn!

Reading Strategies With Phonemic Awareness

January 22, 2021 teachersbrain education, Reading, Teacher's Pay Teachers

Phonics and phonemic awareness are two of the most important parts of reading instruction. They are necessary as children learn how to make sense of letters, sounds, and words. But what exactly is the difference between the two?

Phonics is the relationship between letters and sounds. Phonemic awareness is the ability to HEAR, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in a word.

I like to remember the difference by saying that phonemic awareness can be done in the dark. It uses the ears rather than the eyes AND ears like phonics.

Phonemic awareness is critical in the early grades. It can powerfully affect reading and spelling development in students. The more opportunities students have to work with sounds in the classroom, the more confident they will become. Getting phonemic awareness practice in your schedule daily may seem daunting, but making it a routine can help!

The options for phonemic awareness activities are varied and easy to do with your students.

Blending boards are a simple, effective tool for helping students recognize sounds in words. You can also use flashcards to practice sound identification, and focus on different parts of words. Playing games with students is of course one of the best ways to get students engaged in learning about phonemes.

An easy way to have all the tools for effective daily practice is with the Phonemic Awareness Activities Systematic Curriculum.

The year-long bundle includes everything you need to help your students confidently identify and manipulate sounds. Blending boards, worksheets, and even videos are included.

The oral task cards are perhaps the best part of the curriculum, as they include practice with all the following skills:

Sound deletion
Sound addition
Blending
Substitution
Segmenting
Beginning, middle, and ending sound games
Syllables
Rhyming
Onset-rime
Nonsense Words
CVC Words

Using these task cards daily will greatly enrich your students’ understanding of sounds in words. There is also an assessment included so you can address their individual needs and see their growth.

Dive into the activities today and daily practice will no longer seem impossible!