Back To School E-Magazine LEARNING AT THE PRIMARY POND
Dear Friend,
Back to school is always an exciting but stressful time for me - and I'm guessing it
is for you, too.
I love setting up my space and buying fresh supplies.
I've spent lots of time
thinking about what I want to do differently and better this year.
A new year
means new opportunities, both for me and for my students.
But a never-ending "To Do" list can take some of the fun out of the beginning of
the year.
Trying to get everything done is stressful!
That's why I created this
magazine for you - to try to take some of the stress out of your preparations for
the year.
In this magazine, you'll find ideas and inspiration to set up your classroom, plan
for the first day and beyond, and communicate with families.
Many of the
resources are from my blog, and some are from other great bloggers.
Links within
this magazine are italicized, and clicking on them will take you to the resource
described.
I hope that having many ideas in one place will cut down on some of the time you
spend searching and planning.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to
write me at LearningAtThePrimaryPond@gmail.com.
Take care, and best wishes for an amazing school year!
Alison WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM
Table of Contents 1 - Getting Your Room Ready
2 - Planning & Scheduling
3 - Math
4 - Reading
5 - Writing
6 - Communicating with Families
7 - Additional Resources
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Part One:
Getting Your Room Ready
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5 Things to Consider When Setting Up
Your K-2 Classroom
This post helps take you back to the basics -
which can be great when you get bogged down
in room set-up.
Read
the complete article
to
find
out why you really don't need to completely
cover your walls or finish classroom set-up
before the kids arrive.
Making the Most of Bulletin Boards
Bulletin boards are not my thing - putting them
up and refreshing them take up too much time,
in my opinion!
Read
this post
to find out how I
save time by making "anchor chart friendly"
bulletin boards.
Are Your Desk Nametags Falling Off?
Speaking of pet peeves, another one of mine is
kids peeling their desk name tags off!
If you want
to try out a new way to label your students'
desks, read
this post
to learn about an easy
alternative.
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Part Two:
Planning & Scheduling
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Planning Your Procedures
If you love organization as much as I do,
you have got to read
describe
this post.
In it, I
how I break down each part of
the school day so I can effectively teach
essential procedures to my kids.
Although
it's great for any grade level, the free
printable is especially helpful if you teach
Kindergarten and have to spend lots of
time teaching routines!
Making Your Schedule
Setting the right schedule is half science, half art.
And it can take forever!
To get
some ideas and sample schedules that I've used myself, click on the box below
that corresponds to your grade level.
K
1 WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM
2
Part Three:
Math
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Getting Started with Guided Math
Are you interested in trying out Guided Math
this year but aren't sure how to get started?
Check out
this helpful post
from my friends at
Learning to the Core, and make sure to read
their follow-up posts, too (linked at the bottom of
the post).
Why & How To Do Number Talks
in the Primary Classroom
I started using Number Talks in my classroom
about 3 years ago, and they completely
transformed my math instruction.
Read
this post
to learn how you can use Number Talks to
develop your students' number sense in just 5-10
minutes a day!
Free Geometry Posters
Purchasing posters for your classroom can get
expensive.
from
Download my free geometry posters
this post
to save yourself time and money!
They are in black and white, but the posters
really pop when you glue them to colored
construction paper.
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Part Four: Reading
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Starting Reading Workshop
Reading Workshop for
Non-Readers
I believe strongly in the power of
reading workshop!
This structure Are you a K-1 teacher whose
has helped my students become students can't yet read when they strong readers - and LOVE reading. start the year? Check out
this post
Don't worry - you
to see how I set up can still use the reading workshop
reading workshop.
There's also a list model!
Find out how to make it
of must-teach minilessons for the work in
this post.
beginning of the year!
Reading Comprehension for K-1
Reading Workshop for 2nd
Kinders and 1st graders need to learn
Second graders are ready to dive right
comprehension strategies in a
into some "big kid" reading!
developmentally-appropriate,
more about my
structured way.
lessons
Read more about my
reading comprehension units
here.
Learn
reading workshop
that will give them a strong
start to the year.
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Using Poems to Teach Fluency
Reading Response Sheets
Having kids practice reading poetry is
Drawing and writing are great ways
a fun way to develop fluency!
for students to respond to their
this post
Read
from Learning to the Core to
reading.
Click on the photo above to
learn about a simple, engaging weekly
check out my K-2 reading response
routine that incorporates poetry for
sheets!
fluency!
for sending home as homework.
They are great for a center or
Shared Reading for 2nd
Shared reading is an effective
routine that develops
comprehension, vocabulary,
and fluency skills.
Just choose
a book, display it under a
projector so all students can
see it, and talk about the text!
Learn more about my shared
reading lessons
here.
The
materials also include writing
prompts and
comprehension
assessments .
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Part Five: Writing
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How to Plan a Writing Unit from
Start to Finish
When I plan my writing units, I go through a 6-
step process.
When I'm finished, I have a logical
sequence of lessons, as well as 1-2 engaging final
projects for my students.
in my process, check out
To read about each step
this post.
Why I Don't Use Sentence Fixing with
My Students
I used to use sentence fixing to teach my students
grammar, but I don't anymore.
Read
this post
to
find out why, as well as get ideas for more
effective alternatives to sentence fixing!
Kindergarten Writing Tips for the
Beginning of the Year
In my opinion, writing is the most challenging
subject to teach to Kindergarteners at the
beginning of the year.
It's important to put
certain procedures in place so that you set your
kids up for success throughout the rest of the
year.
To read my "must dos" for Kindergarten
writing at the beginning of the year, check out
this post.
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Writing Workshop Mentor Texts for
1st and 2nd Grade
When I use mentor texts in my writing lessons, I
always make sure that I've read the text aloud to
my kids on a previous date.
This ensures that
they are familiar enough with the story to really
focus on the author's craft.
To read more tips for
using mentor texts (and see a big list of my
favorites), check out
this popular post.
Lesson Plans for Kinder,
1st, or 2nd Grade Writers
You might already know that writing is
my favorite subject to teach.
wasn't always true.
But that
When I first started
teaching, I felt frustrated with the
materials I'd been given to use.
The
writing curriculum I was using required
me to do a great deal of prep work and
create lots of my own materials.
Teaching writing is time-consuming
enough as it is.
I wanted ready-to-go
materials so that I could spend time on
what really matters - differentiating my
instruction and assessing my students'
needs.
K
1
2
I ultimately decided to create my
own writing curriculum, and the
lessons have been extremely successful
with my students.
To read more about
my writing materials for each grade
level, click on any one of the buttons to
the left.
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Part Six: Home-School Communication
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5 Ways to Empower Parents as
Learning Partners
Family support is very important to student
achievement.
Even though we can't control
what happens at home, I think it's important to
reach out to families in every way possible.
To
read about the strategies I use to engage parents
(and grab some free resources) check out
this post.
9 Ways to Reach Out To
Kindergarten Parents
The transition to Kindergarten can be extremely
challenging - for both kids and their parents!
Read
this post
for 9 ideas about how you can
welcome and involve parents in your classroom.
Many of these strategies will work for other
grade levels, too.
K-1 Literacy Homework
This summer, I finished up a project that I'm
extremely passionate about - creating engaging
literacy homework for students.
The materials
will allow you to easily differentiate your
assignments, give parents tips for working with
their children (through written instructions and
videos!), and engage kids in meaningful activities.
Learn more about my homework series
here.
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Part Seven: Additional Resources
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Other materials you might like...
A free parent survey A fun, free QR Code from my TpT store to "Getting To Know You" help you find out more activity from Aylin at about your students and Learning To The Core their families
A blog post chock-full of A food and farm unit apple themed freebies from my `TpT store that's from Here's An Idea by perfect for fall Lucy S.
A pack of ready-to-go
parent notes in English & Free playdough number
Spanish - you can use mats from my TpT store
them even if you can't
speak or read Spanish!
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Wishing you a great start to your school year!