Back To School E-Book {Blog}

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

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

Part One:

Getting Your Room Ready

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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.

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

Part Two:

Planning & Scheduling

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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.

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

Part Four: Reading

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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.

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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 .

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

Part Five: Writing

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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.

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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.

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

Part Six: Home-School Communication

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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.

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

Part Seven: Additional Resources

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

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!

WWW.LEARNINGATTHEPRIMARYPOND.COM

Wishing you a great start to your school year!