Getting Ready for the last day of School with Picture Books!

School is almost out for the Summer and I know we all just can't wait to enjoy the break. Especially the students! However, it is important for them to look back on the experiences of the past year and savor the last few days of being in their current class. In addition to journal writing about the end of the school year and other end of year activities, it is a very good idea to include reading about it from another child's point of view.

For Kindergarten:

My first suggestion is this Nancy Loewen book, The Last Day of Kindergarten. I'm a fan of hers and I LOVE her silly fairy tale spins. 

Other Kindergarten books:

 

First Grade:

 

Different Grades:

 

 

 In the books above, the main character is a child who will be making the most of the last day of school.

This one below is about getting ready for the Summer!

 

Cylinder Lesson Plan

This no-prep cylinder lesson plan will save you time, just print it and that's it. It's a 5E lesson plan with structured activities for the discovery of attributes that make a cylinder. It follows the 5E lesson plan template with structured activities and has a worksheet at the end. There are questions in it for you to ask your students as they are guided through the activities in small groups. These questions will encourage critical thinking and help your students connect the concept of cylinders to the real world. I used a transportation theme for the real world connection aspect and used cylinders found in the home for the summative assessment. The worksheet comes with an answer key for you. This one for introducing cylinders is available here at TpT. 

Sphere Lesson Plan

If you are teaching about spheres for the first time, this lesson plan would be right for you. This no-prep sphere lesson plan will save you valuable time. It's a 5E lesson plan with structured activities for the discovery of attributes that make a sphere.  There are model questions in it for you to ask your students as they do the activities in small groups. These questions will encourage critical thinking and help your students connect the concept of spheres to the real world. I used a sport theme in this lesson for the real world connections since so many spheres are used in sports. The worksheet is very kid friendly and it comes with an answer key for you. This lesson plan about spheres is available here at TpT.

Cube Lesson Plan

Do you need an easy to follow lesson plan for introducing cubes? This no-prep cube lesson plan will save you time, just print it and that's it.  It's a 5E lesson plan with structured activities for the discovery of attributes that make a cube.  It starts with a riddle, the different activities, and the evaluation.  There are questions in it for you to ask your students as they do the activities in groups. These questions will encourage critical thinking and help your students connect the concept of cubes to the real world. You can use either of the two themes suggested in this lesson for the real world connections; the home, or the classroom. The worksheet is very kid friendly and it comes with an answer key for you.  More lessons for the other 3D shapes will be coming soon. This one for introducing cubes is available here at TpT. 

Greek Roots - Illustrated Word Wall

Greek roots made easy: your students already use Greek roots in everyday words but they may not realise that these words are of Greek origins. This word wall has popular Greek roots with example words and meanings on each card. This helps students to get a handle on the origins of the words and your diverse learners will benefit from the visual representations. You can use it as headers for doing ‘root of the day’ focus walls or use it as a stand alone word wall. Students can refer to it during independent reading.  The Greek roots in this set are: geo, cycl, anthropo, dys, path, aster/astro, crypto, dem, and derm, auto, bio, chron, dyna, gram, graph, hetero, homo, hydr, hypo, logy, meter/metr, micro, mis/miso, mono, morph, nym, phil, phobia, phon, photo/phos, pseudo, psycho, scope, techno, tele, and therm. Use it all year on your reference wall. You can get it here at my TpT collection of resources for teachers.

The word examples are not shown in these pictures but they are visible on the preview picture at TpT. These pictures are from the older version. It has since been updated with examples of Greek Roots on each card.

How to Have a Quick Word Wall Display

How can you quickly put up a word wall in the shortest time possible? Without tape or clips? Use a pocket chart. I think it's the best option because all you have to do is to place the cards into the pockets. The transparent trimming holds the card iin place while allowing 100% of the card to be seen. When you're ready to teach something new, just swap out the cards. The one that I'm recommending is the Lauri Midsize one from Amazon but you can get tons of other sizes or colors - just as long as it is strong.  I actually tried to make my own a long time ago; it was cute but it did not last beyond the school year! Anything that saves you time as a teacher is a worthwhile investment in my book. Click here to see it on Amazon (the cards you'll see in it are not included). Thanks for being here and have a great teaching year!