As we usher in the new year, it’s an excellent opportunity to instill the importance of goal setting in our young learners. For elementary teachers, integrating goal-setting activities into the classroom can be a transformative experience as students begin the new year. Three powerful benefits of having elementary students set goals are… Fosters a Growth Mindset: Goal setting encourages a growth mindset by teaching students that their abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. As they set and achieve goals, students learn to embrace challenges and view effor ..read more

If you want a fun way to bring giggles and cheer into your classroom this winter, simply print out these Grinch Tags and attach them to green candy canes. After sharing this picture on Instagram, I had so many teachers reach out to me and ask for these tags. This is one of the many FREEBIES that I shared with my email subscribers, so if you haven’t joined the Inspired Elementary email list, CLICK HERE. So in true Christmas spirit, I want to share these tags with you, too. My students love these green Grinch candy canes, and I look forward to surprising them with these year after year. I like ..read more

Celebrating winter traditions is not just fun for students, but it also serves as a valuable learning experience. Primary students love sharing about all the things they do with their families during the holidays and it always creates such fun classroom conversations. I want to share a 3-D Winter Traditions Writing Activity that will add a sprinkle of joy to your classroom this winter! This is a wonderful way to embrace multicultural winter traditions to promote cultural understanding among your young learners. Winter is a time when diverse cultures around the world come together to cele ..read more

I love getting elementary students excited about reading! I know with our standard reading curriculum it’s just not that easy to do, but that’s where the magic of our classroom library comes in! I want to share with you a fun idea to help spark some reading excitement in your own classroom library. You do not need to have a large selection of books either, so this is great for first year teachers just starting out too. This idea is simple and you can put it into action with just a few items. Introducing the “GO FISH POND” Place a bin (pond) in your classroom library that is labeled “Go Fish ..read more

Second grade math reviews are an easy way to help students master the new second grade math skills that they are learning each week. By implementing a daily spiral math review, students will have the extra practice necessary to master the second grade math standards. DAILY 6 Math Review is a standards-based, spiral math review that introduces one new math standards a week. Each skill that is introduced is then spiraled in the following weeks ahead.  DAILY 6 is laid out in a predictable six-question format, that does not overwhelm second graders. It is the perfect amount of review to use ..read more

I want to share with you one of my favorite clean-up games of all times called “Magic Scrap.” This is a quick way to get all hands on deck to tidy up your classroom desks and floors. How to play “Magic Scrap:” Simply walk around the classroom and identify a piece of scrap or trash that will be your “magic scrap.” Choose something that is easily identifiable to you. Tell students that it’s “magic scrap time” and that they need to pick up as many scraps as they can, but they need to hold onto them until the time is up. Set a timer or play a song for about one minute. Once time is up, students l ..read more

Teaching students to follow single-step and multi-step directions can feel like a daunting task! But teaching listening skills is so important in the elementary classroom. Did you know that 70-80% of our waking hours are spent in some form of communication? Of that, listening makes up about 45% of our daily communication! When I learned these statistics, I knew that I needed to be as intentional about practicing listening skills as I was about teaching reading, writing and math. I was never provided any kind of listening skills curriculum, so I created a fun and interactive way for my student ..read more

Why Do Math Centers? Setting up math centers in your elementary classroom will allow you time to work with small groups of students. It also provides your students with engaging math practice. Using math centers is how I get students to practice math facts and build their fact fluency, as well as review all of the other math skills they are learning throughout the year. I like to put math centers in place that become routine for students, so each math unit, I’m changing out the skills, but not completely changing the centers. One of my favorite math centers to keep running all year long is Sol ..read more

New Student Bags are a teacher tip that I wish I knew during back to school season as a first year teacher! It would have saved me SO MANY MORNINGS scrambling for supplies when a new student entered my classroom midyear.  As you collect school supplies at the beginning of the year, take some leftover supplies and put together 2-3 large Ziploc bags that include all the supplies a new student will need. Pop a sticky note on the front and tuck them away for the time when a new student arrives. I also love to include a “New Student Bag Tag,” which is a simple, sweet note welco ..read more

Math facts practice is something we do a lot of around here! I want to share another one of my favorite 5-minute math fact games. You know how much I love quick, 5-minute math games, because it is often these simple games that help our students master their math facts! One of my favorite games to play is called “Math Shake!” Cue the student giggles because this game is FULL OF FUN! To play Math Shake, all you need are… Egg cartons Sharpies Marbles See how we play with this short video!   Everything is more fun with a friend, so you can play this in partner ..read more