teaching tips Archives - Page 4 of 9

How to Teach Social Studies in Kindergarten and First Grade

September 9, 2022 teachersbrain Teaching Tips

Social studies is such an important topic for students to learn about starting at an early age. However, there are so many components included, that it can be hard to know where to even start.

What are the topics of social studies in elementary?

In kindergarten and first grade, we introduce our students to the basics of things like civics, community helpers, geography, history, and economics. Each of these elementary social studies topics are big and can seem a little overwhelming to younger learners so it’s important to introduce them in a fun, engaging, and easy-to-understand way.

What are some elementary social studies lessons and resources?

If you’re looking for social studies ideas or activities for your classroom, you’re in the right place! To make it easy to teach this subject in a fun way for early elementary students, I created my massive Social Studies Bundle.

This year-long comprehensive social studies curriculum is perfect for Kindergarten or 1st Grade students that are just getting started. This bundle includes 9 weeks of American History, 9 weeks of Geography, 9 weeks of Community Helpers, and 9 weeks of Civics and Governments.

Here’s what’s Included

►Unit 1 (9 Weeks) American History. (Timelines, History, Past, Then and NOW, Long Ago – Today, American Holidays and Celebrations, Honor, Holidays Around the World, American Symbols, George Washington, Lincoln, MLK, George Washington Carver, Ruby Bridges)

►Unit 2 (9 Weeks) Geography. (Maps, Globes, Landforms, Cardinal Directions, Write the Room Activities, Bodies of Water, Seasons, Me on the Map, Positional Words, Personal Informations)

►Unit 3 (9 Weeks) Civics and Government. (Primary Sources, Days of the Week, Months, Chronology, Calendar, Laws and Rules, Conflict vs Violence, Write the Room, Posters)

►Unit 4 (9 weeks) Community Helpers (Community Helpers, Songs, Crafts, Interactive Notebook Pages, Home Connection)

Each unit hits both Kindergarten and 1st Grade standards with detailed plans and 9 week at a glance guide. Each week follows the same routine so students get used to procedures after a couple of weeks. There are extra crafts and activities as well as home connection activities.

Bonus:

1-week plan for Money
1-week plan for Wants and Needs

These social studies worksheets and activities are engaging enough that your students will love learning! Check it out here!

For more ideas, check out my blog post here for fun ways to teach social skills!

What are your favorite ways to teach this subject in kindergarten and first grade? Let me know in the comments!

Open House That Is Sure To Open Eyes

July 29, 2022 teachersbrain Back to School

Summer is quickly coming to an end which means it’s time to start preparing for back-to-school night or back-to-school open house. This night is a great time to get to know your new students and their parents and kick off an amazing year.

This is likely going to be your first time meeting your new students and their parents and it’s natural to want to make a good impression. If you are looking for some school open house tips, you’re in the right place!

How do you prepare for a school open house?

Open house or back-to-school night is going to be different for each teacher depending on the school you’re at. So first things first, you’ll want to see what the school expects of you. Generally, parents and students will filter in and out of your classroom to meet you and get acquainted with the new classroom.

Think about things you want to make sure parents and students know before the first day of school. You can create a short presentation on Google Slides or put together a short “About me” document that covers all of the basics.

Some things to include in your presentation:

Fun facts about you
What they can expect from you and your classroom
Any fun plans for the school year
Daily Schedule
Class rules and behavior management basics
Contact information

You can make the most of this time by setting out important forms that parents need to fill out, volunteer forms, and other important hand-outs. While parents are occupied, students can take this time to do a quick little “about me” activity themselves so that you can learn a little about them as well.

What should teachers do at an open house?

Open houses are generally very busy and you will have a lot of people wanting to chat with you. This means that you likely won’t have a lot of time to talk to each parent. Having everything important set out ahead of time along with your preferred method of contact information will give families everything they need regardless of how much face-to-face time they are able to get.

Remember, the best thing you can do is be yourself! Parents and students will love seeing your personality shine and they will feel more comfortable when they feel like they know a little about you.

Looking for some back-to-school open house activities for your students?

I have you covered! This cute, personalized people Mini-Me Craft is the perfect activity to keep students occupied! These printables will help personalize a little mini-me for your students just in time for school.

You can also use them for measurement or All About Me Projects. Students can design their own shirt, use their own colors, cut, paste together, and add yarn or doll hair to help make their Mini Me special.

What is this download?

Heads

Boy Shirt

Pants

Girl Shirt

Skirt

Girl legs (pants) and arms

Boy legs shoes and arms

Accessories (hat, glasses, bows)

Shirt Choices

Girl legs with shoes (for the skirt and dress)

I hope you love these back-to-school open house ideas! What are your favorite open house tips? Let me know in the comments!

For more open house tips, check out my post here!

Summer Packets To Prevent The Summer Slide

May 13, 2022 teachersbrain education, Math, Reading, Sight Words, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Summer is just around the corner! This is one of the best times of the year because not only do you get a much-needed break, but you get to see all of the progress your students have made throughout the year and celebrate them for it. Seeing how far they have come in their reading levels or math skills is just wonderful. Even better, it’s amazing to see how their confidence has grown throughout the year!

With the long relaxing break, however, comes one not-so-fun thing. The summer slide.

What is the summer slide?

This is the tendency of students to lose some of the achievement gains that they made during the school year and regress academically. This is especially prevalent in low-income areas.

How do you beat the summer slide?

I know, the last thing you want is for your students to go backward. But what can you do? One of the best ways to keep that knowledge fresh is to assign some educational activities for students to complete during summer break. Another idea is to keep them reading with some fun reading summer challenges. You could send home a reading log for students to fill in with everything they read on their own during the summer and if they bring it back completed they get to go to an ice cream party.

For more reasons to keep students learning during summer break, check out my post here!

How do you engage students over the summer?

You’ll want activities that are engaging enough that they will stick to it and be excited to do. Need summer activities for students? Don’t worry, I have you covered!

These summer packets for 1st grade are all you need!

I love these packets because they are completely digital. This means that you don’t need to print out a bunch of packets and spend time putting them together. Students can complete it all online!

This is designed with Google Slides. It includes a parent letter, physical and oral suggestions, a reading log, and a review of math and language arts activities. Students do not need to have Google Classroom to participate.

Here’s what’s included:

How to use this packet and Parent Tips
Oral and physical activity suggestions
Reading Log
Sight Word List
Sight Word Sort Review Activities
Word Families
ABC Order Printables
Correcting Sentences
(Nouns, Verbs, Proper Nouns, Long and Short Vowels)
WRITING – Narrative, Opinion, Creative (Some printable to encourage handwriting)
Comprehension & Fluency
MATH Number Bonds, Addition, Subtraction, Shapes, measurement, 10 More 10 Less

Check out the summer packets for 1st grade video tutorial here!

If you love this summer packet, make sure to check out the packet for each grade in elementary school!

These are perfect no matter what grade you teach. The activities can be explained by the adult, but on most pages, it should not be necessary since it is a review. Children should be able to complete most activities independently.

I recommend setting a 20 to 30-minute block of time for the student daily to work on these activities. They should enhance their vacation! Each packet includes a summer journal, sight words, reading logs, math, and LA printables.

Do you assign summer activity packets? Let me know in the comments!

Tips For Implementing Classroom Jobs In Your Class

February 25, 2022 teachersbrain Classroom Behavior Management, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Let’s talk about classroom jobs!

If you aren’t familiar with the term, classroom jobs are simple and meaningful tasks that you assign each student in your class that will be their responsibility. Tasks like line leader, trash cleaner, cubby inspector, attendance taker, book monitor, etc. You can think of small tasks that they can complete independently that will also take a load off of your plate.

At first, it may seem to you that students wouldn’t enjoy being given jobs in class and it would be one more thing to make sure they are getting done. On the contrary, historically classroom jobs are a huge hit among students of any elementary grade!

Classroom jobs give students a sense of responsibility and importance. It also builds a strong sense of community and belonging. It’s so fun to see how proud they get of their work and the relationships they build with each other by working towards a common purpose.

Here are some tips for implementing classroom jobs in your class

Assign classroom jobs in rotation. Inevitably, there will be jobs that are more popular than others. There will be jobs that are coveted and some that don’t get quite as much enthusiasm. To make it easier, rotate out your jobs once a week. This will keep students from getting too jealous or bummed out that they didn’t get the job they wanted. Plus: students will actually look forward to class on Monday because they will find out what their new job is. Score!
Explain why each job is important. To help build the sense of responsibility, make sure students know why their job is so important to the classroom as a whole. No one wants to be stuck doing a job that isn’t meaningful. You can do this by explaining it all at the beginning of the year, or you can hand out notes explaining the importance each week when students are assigned their jobs.
Reward them for a job well done. Remember, we all appreciate being recognized for the hard work we do. When you notice that your student is doing a great job with their classroom job, reward them! You can do this with your normal classroom rewards (like this one) system or you can create a reward system exclusively for your classroom jobs.
Make sure the schedule is visible for students to reference. When you are rotating out weekly, it can be easy for students to forget what their job is. Creating a display will help them keep track of their job. For younger students who aren’t strong readers yet, include pictures in your schedule so that they can figure out what their job is.

Ready to get started implementing jobs with your students? I have you covered!

This classroom jobs chart is completely editable so you can customize it to fit your needs. These cards can easily be used on a pocket chart, wall, or on a magnetic board to make displaying and rotating them easy.

You’ll get 52 editable PowerPoint slides. They include premade classroom job cards as well as some blank cards so that you can create your own. Make it your own by choosing between cursive or print and black and white or color with pictures.

The editability of these cards makes it easy to match them to your classroom theme or decor!

Pictures included for Line Leader, Greeter, Caboose, Folders, Lunch, Teacher’s Aide, Pet Care, Book Monitor, Sweeper, Kindness Keeper, Door Holder, Schedule Helper, Attendance, Lights, Cubby Inspector, Hand Sanitizer, Backpacks, Music, Meteorologist, Computers, Pencils, Bell Ringer, Recycling, and Absent Keeper.

Do you use classroom jobs? Let me know in the comments below!