As I mentioned yesterday, I am revisiting some of my older posts this week, specifically the ones activities to use at the end of the year. #Awards was an idea I got from Joelle Trayers, where students design awards for themselves representing qualities they are proud of. Here is my post from back in 2017 … Read more
This week, I am revisiting some of my tried and true favorite end-of-the-school-year activities. For today, I want to refer you to my post on hexagonal reflection. This was one of those ideas that could have completely flopped, but was way more successful than I anticipated. The students (2nd graders!) were so incredibly thoughtful in … Read more
I am in the process of revising my TPT resources and providing them on this site for free – but it’s taking awhile. In the meantime, since it is Teacher Appreciation Week, I am offering my Summer Pool Party Packet for free. It includes a list of suggested “Brainshines” (instead of brainstorms), a writing page … Read more
I think that the deepest discussions I ever hear in my classroom happen when we do Hexagonal Thinking. If you haven’t heard of this strategy, I explain how I use it with my 4th graders in this blog post. Last year, I did a post on using Hexagonal Thinking to reflect on the school year. … Read more
The PicCollage (or PicKids) app is a versatile tool that my students have used for reflection, creating visuals for a report, and telling stories. Recently, I’ve seen a couple of different articles on the web about students and teachers using PicCollage to make game boards. This can range in educational value from creation for fun … Read more
One of my absolute favorite bloggers, Joelle Trayers, posted some pictures last week of some Hashtag Awards her Kinder students designed for themselves. Of course, I couldn’t wait to try the idea myself! I met with my 1st graders today, and we had a short discussion about hashtags. Then they designed their own hashtag awards. … Read more