I'm so excited about my TPT milestones. I am now at 52 products ranging from grades K-5. I now have 182 followers, and over 270 people have reviewed my products. Y'all I'm so humbled and proud. So in honor of these great milestones I want to have a giveaway!!!
I am giving away FIVE products to THREE lucky followers of mine! Simply fill out this form to enter. Three different winners will be chosen at random. This giveaway will close on January 6th, 2017 at 7:00 pm and the winners will be emailed shortly after.
Rules:
1. You must be following my store on TPT to enter: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Georgia-Peach-Teacher
2. If you have a Pinterest account, please follow my store page: https://www.pinterest.com/susanrenee1829/georiga-peach-teacher-tpt-products/
3. You must like our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/TheLearningHighway/
4. Once you have done the steps above comment done in comments along with your TPT, FB, and Pinterest names for verification purposes.
5. The winners may pick five products of their choice.
Winners will be chosen at random.
We are seven stupendous teachers on the journey of a lifetime to provide students with the tools they need to thrive in the 21st century. We are riding down the highway of learning as we infuse our classrooms with passion, creativity, fun, and rigor.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Monday, March 28, 2016
Spring Break Sale!
I'm on spring break this week. That makes me very excited. To share in the excitement I have decided to throw a sale. 10% off my entire store on TPT today through Thursday. Happy shopping!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Georgia-Peach-Teacher
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Georgia-Peach-Teacher
Monday, March 21, 2016
Bring back the fun! - Updated to add pictures
This is our last week before spring break. When we return from spring break we have 1 week to review before we start our state mandated standardized testing. I have been so focused on making sure my students are ready for testing that somehow the funny has slowly left our classroom. The funny thing is that I hadn't even noticed it.
This morning I was going through some old files from last year. I found all sorts of fun projects I did with my kids. Suddenly it hit me. Learning used to be fun! I used to be a fun teacher! My students used to be happier! So naturally I did what any good teacher would do. I scrapped what was in my plans and we had fun with our learning today. We made posters of the shapes we have been learning in geometry. Students used string, foam rectangles, and markers to display their knowledge. I allowed them to work in groups and talk while they worked. I was pleasantly surprised that there was way more working than talking.
For our afternoon fun we did a book report in a bag. Students used note cards to write the characters, setting, problem & solution, main idea and their review of the book. They then wrote the title, author and illustrator on the outside of the paper bag. They also drew pictures to match what the book was about and "decorate" their bag. The cards went inside each bag. I plan to hang all the bags up and allow students to check out their classmates' reports.
Many amazing things happened when I scrapped my lesson plans today. First of all the students were actually on task all day long. Even though I allowed them to talk while working their voice level was very low and it was a pleasant environment. Actual learning took place without worksheets or text books (I know this can happen. It happens all the time in my room. It just hasn't been happening lately due to test prep craziness.) Students enjoyed themselves and took more ownership of their learning. Everyone seemed happier today, including me.
The moral of this story, friends, is that when we make learning fun and engaging it benefits us all. I felt a deep love for teaching today that I haven't felt in a while. My students seemed happier today than they have been in weeks. Students learned and took ownership of that learning. My advice to all of you is scrap the lesson plans and insert the fun back in to learning. State test or not kids just learn better when they are enjoying themselves.
Because we were having so much fun today I forgot to get pictures of my kiddos' projects. I promise to post pictures tomorrow.
This morning I was going through some old files from last year. I found all sorts of fun projects I did with my kids. Suddenly it hit me. Learning used to be fun! I used to be a fun teacher! My students used to be happier! So naturally I did what any good teacher would do. I scrapped what was in my plans and we had fun with our learning today. We made posters of the shapes we have been learning in geometry. Students used string, foam rectangles, and markers to display their knowledge. I allowed them to work in groups and talk while they worked. I was pleasantly surprised that there was way more working than talking.
For our afternoon fun we did a book report in a bag. Students used note cards to write the characters, setting, problem & solution, main idea and their review of the book. They then wrote the title, author and illustrator on the outside of the paper bag. They also drew pictures to match what the book was about and "decorate" their bag. The cards went inside each bag. I plan to hang all the bags up and allow students to check out their classmates' reports.
Many amazing things happened when I scrapped my lesson plans today. First of all the students were actually on task all day long. Even though I allowed them to talk while working their voice level was very low and it was a pleasant environment. Actual learning took place without worksheets or text books (I know this can happen. It happens all the time in my room. It just hasn't been happening lately due to test prep craziness.) Students enjoyed themselves and took more ownership of their learning. Everyone seemed happier today, including me.
The moral of this story, friends, is that when we make learning fun and engaging it benefits us all. I felt a deep love for teaching today that I haven't felt in a while. My students seemed happier today than they have been in weeks. Students learned and took ownership of that learning. My advice to all of you is scrap the lesson plans and insert the fun back in to learning. State test or not kids just learn better when they are enjoying themselves.
Because we were having so much fun today I forgot to get pictures of my kiddos' projects. I promise to post pictures tomorrow.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Saying goodbye to vocabulary flash cards
If you are like me you are always looking for more exciting
ways to help your students learn their vocabulary words. I find it even more difficult to help them
learn their vocabulary in Science and Social Studies than in reading. One fun game we have begun playing to practice
vocabulary in the content areas is vocab
charades. I give one student an index
card with the vocab word on it and he or she has to act out the word without
talking. This game can actually get
silly and the kids love it. You will really
see who knows the words and who doesn’t.
Another way I’ve
developed for students to practice their vocabulary is through vocabulary
puzzles. I use these puzzles for early
finishers, in centers, and as formative assessments to see where each student
is in their vocabulary mastery. Students will match each vocabulary word puzzle piece to its matching definition puzzle piece. So far I
created vocabulary puzzles for all of our 4th grade Science
units. You can get a free download of my Water Cycle Vocabulary Puzzles HERE to try them out and see how you like them.
I plan to make some puzzles for our Social Studies units over the summer
and I promise that as soon as I get those up I will include a freebie and let
you know.
Since I’m always looking for new ideas I would love your
input. What strategies are you using to
help your students with their vocabulary?
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Workstation FREEBIE!
It has been two years since I started my little store and it has been growing steadily thanks to you. As a thank you, this is a forever freebie. If there are things you need in your classroom but you don’t have the time to create, please e-mail me and let me know. I would love to know what you need/want in your classroom, and will try my best to create or direct you to the right resource.
Here are two free resources for your young readers:
How to make independent reading meaningful?
How often do your students say: “I’m done reading” while reading independently? You really want to ask them comprehension questions, tell them to read it one more time before taking a test on the computer, but how do you really know they have consciously read the book? This story map is a great way to get students thinking about what they read.
Click here or on the picture to download
How to integrate reading and writing?
What activities do you use to practice the letter and/or color of the week? How about the high frequency words and/or vocabulary words? Integrate reading and writing by using this activity where students have to find all this information while reading a book. Download to read how you can differentiate this activity for your students.
Click here or on the picture to download
Sunday, December 14, 2014
The Struggle is Real!!!
For the past 5 weeks I have been in a brutal war. The majority of the time I felt like multiplication was winning the battle. Just this week I realized that I was going to be victorious in this fight. In the interest of full disclosure I will tell you that during this war I doubted my abilities as a teacher on more than one occasion. Many a day I went home ready to pull my hair out. If you are having the same troubles as me I know you are dying to know how I got (most of) my kids to successfully multiply multi-digit numbers. The answer is: a plethora of ways.
The first thing I tried with my kiddos was popsicle sticks. When working with my small group students told me that having so many numbers was confusing. I showed students how to use a popsicle stick to cover the bottom number in the tens place while they multiplied the number in the ones column. Next, students used the stick to cover the bottom number, and answer in the ones column while they multiplied by the tens column. This also helped them line up the answer from the tens column since the popsicle stick served as a place holder. Luckily, about 1/3 of my class had success with this method.
For the rest of my class I had to try another method. We moved on from popsicle sticks to color coded multiplication. I found this idea on pinterest and a few of my kids really seemed to understand better when they used the colored pencils. Rather than try to explain it and confuse you, here is a self explanatory picture.
The first thing I tried with my kiddos was popsicle sticks. When working with my small group students told me that having so many numbers was confusing. I showed students how to use a popsicle stick to cover the bottom number in the tens place while they multiplied the number in the ones column. Next, students used the stick to cover the bottom number, and answer in the ones column while they multiplied by the tens column. This also helped them line up the answer from the tens column since the popsicle stick served as a place holder. Luckily, about 1/3 of my class had success with this method.
For the rest of my class I had to try another method. We moved on from popsicle sticks to color coded multiplication. I found this idea on pinterest and a few of my kids really seemed to understand better when they used the colored pencils. Rather than try to explain it and confuse you, here is a self explanatory picture.
Also included in the picture(on the right) is the expanded form method I used. I had students break the problem down into expanded form and multiply from there. This method helped those who still hadn't learned all their facts, but were good at multiplying by 10s. For others they started with this method, and once they fully grasped the process they were able to move on to the "old fashioned" way.
This week we have moved on to division (shoot me now!!!), and all the success I felt with the multiplication is gone. I already have a few tricks up my sleeve to help students find "their way" that makes the most sense to them. Check back next month to see how my students do with the division.
Monday, December 1, 2014
A NEW APPROACH TO TEST PREP.... SAY NO TO DRILL & KILL
Looking for a way to practice boring grammar skills? Tired
of boring worksheets that your students dread?
Then you have to try Roll and Rewrite Grammar Cubes. I made these a
couple months ago and they have been a permanent staple of my literacy/writing
centers. The full product has over 21
different cubes that you can put together. Once you build them you can use the
cubes all year long. I mix up the cubes
to keep them fun, and I add in new ones as I introduce new skills. Student roll the cubes and then they rewrite
the sentence that they roll on their answer sheets. Grammar Cubes are a fun twist to the boring test "drill and kill."
Whole Group Instruction/Independent Practice:
They can also be used as a way to master a new skill. After
teaching or reviewing a concept, I will give these to my students to see if
they understand how to apply the new skill. Pass out dice and have students
assemble and then roll to practice their newly learned skill. I do this and
have them practice with a partner. If
you have the kiddos assemble ,then you can use the dice they put together later
centers. Great time saver!!
Download a freebie of this product here:
CLICK BELOW FOR THE FULL PRODUCT:
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