Instagram inspired lesson idea

Whilst a-browsin' around Pinterest, this display board really caught my eye. The students were given the task of presenting a pictures that they think Dr. Martin Luther King would have shared with the world. The teacher, Lindsey Fuller, provided her class with the opportunity to stage photographs to capture his messages. She got a fantastic response. The children annotated these photographs with captions Instagram-style. They were then mounted on an iPad backing. Have a look at Lindsey's blog post here.

Lindsey has credited Erin from Kleinspiration for the inspiration. Erin's class used this method to show book characters' points of view. It's a fantastic way to undertake a character study in reading or creative writing. Visit Erin's blog post to find a link to templates for this activity.

Classroom reveal: bee-themed decor - FREE resources

Wow! I've been back at school for over a week of planning and training. Today I finished my decorating! Here's a photo-filled post for you to browse through.

The classroom features FREE clipart from My Cute Graphics and Phillip Martin as well as frames from Ink N Little Things.

Colour splat posters from Teachers' Toolkit. 

Colours heading (FREE!) from Sparklebox.

Questions posters by me (available for free on this blog in English and as gaeilge)

Bee-themed class birthdays display:

Heading by Sparklebox (FREE!)

I got the birthday hats from Jennifer Squires' TPT store and changed the font to Comic Sans and black.

I made the balloons.

Give Me Five display (FREE!) from Elementary School Garden

Cubby labels, made by me. Please excuse the copybooks!

Word-wall - part of the bee-themed kit I won from Classroom Decor and More.

Calendar - part of the bee-themed kit I won from Classroom Decor and More.

Days of the week cards from Johnson Creations.

"The day is/ The month is" sign from Sparklebox.

FREE polkadot behaviour management clip chart from Under The Alphabet Tree

My desk area (look at the adorable house full of stationery!)

My bee-themed learner profile display. You can download it for free on this blog.

End of year advice book

Hi there,

Once again, I apologise for my absenteeism. Perhaps this summer, I'll stick to a more regular blogging schedule. I've had this one in my drafts since last summer but I thought I'd wait until the next end of school year to post it. It's a handy one for the last week of school!

..................................

Rachel at Sub Hub had a great idea for allowing your students to reflect on their school year, while simultaneously preparing a little welcome gift for next year's children. 

It's this little book:

It contains pages for the children to list what they've learned, draw diagrams and point out the best, funniest, scariest bits about their school year. I think it's a really sweet idea and plan to try it out this year. Click on the image of the book to download it for FREE from her Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Free multiplication loop game

Hi there followers,

It has been an awfully long time since I've posted new resources. This is due to a combination of factors leaving me with a little less time for blogging. 

Anyway, here's another freebie to keep you ticking over until the next post!

Click on the image below to access simple multiplication loop game cards.

I've also previously posted addition and subtraction versions. If anybody downloaded the subtraction one when I first posted it, there were some mistakes. I have since changed them and uploaded the edited version.

Simple subtraction loop game cards

Simple addition loop game cards

One to follow: Nollaig Shona.ie

I've previously posted about my love of the wonderful Seomra Ranga site, on which many of my classroom resources were found! 

Once again, Seomra Ranga's sister site, Nollaig Shona (that means "Merry Christmas" to any non-Irish people reading this!) is back in full swing for the festive season. There, you'll find plenty of printables, PowerPoints, quizzes, links to other online resources, Christmas craft ideas, lined paper and much more! You can download some quality resources as Gaeilge. For anyone out there who's not from Ireland, don't be misguided. Most of the resources are in English or universal!

Here are some of my favourites from the site:

Letter to Santa vocabulary flashcards.

The gazillion Christmas-themed lined pages for creative writing.

The "If You Don't Believe You Don't Receive" poster for children who may be inclined to voice suspicions which are best not heard by all pupils. 

Christmas Origami including Santa Claus, a reindeer, a bell, a Christmas wreath and a star.


Also, if you're a fan of either of these sites, please click here to vote for Seomra Ranga in the Best Individual Blog category of the Edublog Awards. Today is the last day to vote and it only takes a minute to do so!

Subtraction Loop Cards FREEBIE

Hi all,

Apologies for not having posted as regularly as I used to. I find I'm spreading work between my school computer and my work computer and don't seem to think about uploading things as much. Also, as my current unit of inquiry is very specific to the local area, I don't really see the point in posting the resources as I can't imagine most of them will be of use to any of you!

Anyway, here's a nice little freebie to tide you over for a while. It's a subtraction loop game similar to the addition one I posted previously. I have a "How Fast Can You Go?" chart on the wall to accompany it. I blu-tack an A4 page to it each week to record their best times. It's been 12 weeks and the children love it. In fact, they get quite upset if we don't get around to this on a given day! 

Just click here or on the image below to download from Google Drive.

KWL chart headings freebie

I often use KWL charts to start a topic. They're really useful AfL (assessment for learning) tools. They also give you an idea of what parts of a topic interest the child and are a good way to summarise at the end. I tend to write these on A3 paper. I've made these A4 headings to go on top. Click on the image below to download from Google Drive.