The GREATEST Website for Highly Engaging Current Event Articles (IMO)

Many teachers have an interest in getting their students to read and respond to current event articles. I think that’s why Studies Weekly magazines are so popular. But what if you could engage your students by letting them choose topics of their own interests, while still accomplishing the goals of getting them to read carefully and respond appropriately?

When I created science and social studies templates for current event articles, I needed a great kid-friendly source with articles that would peak their interest. I wanted my students to be able to choose articles that they were excited to read and write about.

A website called, DOGO News, was just what I was looking for. The website continuously produces high interest articles that even I find fascinating. The best part is that it is geared toward kids, so you don’t have to worry about the content. Please know that I discovered this website on my own and have not been asked to promote them. I just genuinely think it rocks and so do my students.

If you’re interested in my science and social studies current event templates, visit myTPT store. You can even get a FREE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRENT EVENT from my Social Studies Current Event Pack.

Seriously though, go to DOGO News and briefly scan the articles. I can just about guarantee you will be excited to share this with your students.

The PERFECT Activities to Leave for Substitutes

There is no doubt that it can be difficult to leave content-focused, engaging activities for your students when you will be out. You wonder if the topics will be taught effectively or if you will have to reteach when you get back. You wonder if the students will be on task without you being there to redirect them. Regardless of the reason, when we are out we need content-rich, meaningful activities/lessons for our students so that we don’t lose precious time. We all know time is limited and we need to use it wisely.

I’m also going to guess that you are like me and we usually need to pull something together quickly.

When I need focused, engaging, purposeful activities, I pull out science and social studies scavenger hunts, review BINGO, and “I Have, Who Has?” games.

Easy prep. Full of content. Completely fun and engaging for students. Win-win-win. They even go seamlessly together if you want to combine them.

Using these activities has given me confidence that my students are still learning the content they need to know while I’m away and they are super easy to prep. Side note: The holiday activities are PERFECT for parties!

Check out some of the most popular ones!

See ALL of the science/social studies/holiday topics HERE!

And so many more!!!

Check out Animal Groups Bingo FREE!

Clipart by Ron Leishman
Cover Photo by Z is for Zebra

5 Perks When Your Children Attend Your Elementary School

Let’s be honest. Many of us became teachers partially because it is a career that allows us some perks with our own offspring. We love teaching "other people's kids," but our own children are our world. I don’t even care when people give me grief for having holidays and summers off because, DUH!... I knew what I was doing when I chose this career! I fully intended on having summers off with my kids and soaking up as much fun as possible with them. My internal (and sometimes external) response to the negative comments is, “Don’t be mad because you didn’t think of it too!” J

I can’t wait until my kids actually attend the school in which I teach 5^th grade. My oldest is almost there! Many of my teacher friends are greatly enjoying watching their kids progress through the elementary years under their personal supervision. Of course there are also some downsides to having your kids at work, but I’ll just focus on the positives for today.

Perk #1: Coverage

Depending on your team (mine is incredible), you can cover for each other when something comes up. When your child has a special presentation, they want you to come to their Valentine’s Day party, or they are having a meltdown because they lost their favorite pencil… okay maybe not so much the last one.

Perk #2: Their Teachers

You have a “behind-the-scenes” look at your children’s future teachers AND you can usually pick them. We know our kids’ best and worst attributes, and we can generally tell which teacher is going to suit them best.

Perk #3: Forgetfulness

Our children will forget things. Important things. Like the field trip form they forgot to give you and it is due TODAY. No biggie… you can save the day without having to get permission to leave work and haul across town to get to your kid’s school with the slip in hand.

Perk #4: Being a Chaperone

You know your kid’s teacher will let you have your pick of the best trip of the year….

Perk #5: What’s my kid eating?

Walk through the cafeteria at any given time and you’ll see it. Kids go through the lunch line, get a hot dog, chips, and ice cream. Their parents have no idea that’s what they are eating every day. Or, they come with a fabulous home lunch, eat 3 bites, and then throw the rest away. I’m TOTALLY going to find ways to spy on my kids eating lunch every now and then. Or at least ask the aides in the cafeteria if my kids are eating the food I give them!

Perhaps your kids are currently or have previously attended your school? Please comment and share some of the other perks you’ve experienced OR some downsides!

Clipart by Ron Leishman
Cover Photo by Z is for Zebra

Start your test prep ASAP!

Testing overload. No doubt about it. Between district testing for some, in addition to state testing, it feels difficult to justify giving our poor students a chapter test too… and it just doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Perhaps some aren’t feeling the stress, but most teachers and students I know are just flat burnt out on testing. Teaching 5^th grade for 6 years has given me a heavy dose of this reality.

As if the number of tests aren't enough, math and science questions are usually embedded in a sea of reading. If a child struggles to read and understand what the question is asking, how can they solve the math problem buried in it? It is so important to help students learn to problem solve and think critically, with or without high-stakes testing. I start helping my students prepare from about the third week of school. You may be thinking that is overkill and too early… but not when done properly. If anything, it has helped my students to become confident test takers with far less stress. We work on specific routines that don’t actually feel much like test prep, and we practice all year long. I feel that it is about helping students to form good habits long term, not slamming strategies in shortly before, which can add to the stress of the test. 

I would like to share with you how I help my students prepare all year, with low anxiety and great success. The guided toolkit I will refer to is a collection of strategies and procedures that I have put together to increase my students’ success in problem solving multiple choice word problems. They may seem like common sense, and they probably are! However, I believe that many teachers are looking for help in implementing test-taking strategies at a variety of grade levels. 

***So how do I do it? Through a Question of the Day routine with specific critical-thinking, problem solving strategies. Oh, and you will see that this becomes STUDENT-LED, so the focus is on keeping students on track while letting them do the thinking!***

Imagine this: one of your students is standing at the front of the room with the projector displaying the Question of the Day. The students have already worked the problem out on their own paper. Today’s student leader is calling on students and leading the class through each strategy while discussing the “how” and “why” for each decision they make. You have a backseat role as you observe how awesome your students really are as they work together to problem-solve. Occasionally you throw in the assist and do what a teacher does best, but overall, they are running the show. I LOVE watching my students get better at this all throughout the year and they LOVE when it is their turn to be the “teacher.”

* First, I introduce students to the critical thinking, problem-solving strategies that students can rely on and use all year long. Click here to get my test-taking strategies posters FREE!!! I have created a gradual release PowerPoint presentation to guide both teacher and students through this process (YOU learn along with your kiddos!) 

 

* Students receive a strategies guide card (laminate them to use over and over with an Expo marker!) they use to mark off each strategy as they work through their Question of the Day problem. Eventually they won’t need this anymore, but they like to be able to follow step-by-step at the beginning. 

* Use the first two weeks of questions in my toolkit (or any questions you find beneficial) and work through one each day using the student guide card. You lead for the first day or two, and then gradually let students begin to take over. The two-week set (10 days) of questions are focused on “Making Inferences in Science.” The questions are based on my Making Inferences in Science Task Cards.

Of course, this is just a very brief overview of how it works, so check out the PREVIEW HERE to see more!

Please note, these strategies are intended for multiple-choice questions, but as I will mention later, can also be adapted to fit other types of questions as well. This resource is intended to be a GUIDE, not a perfect to-do list. It is NOT research-based. It is simply a resource I created to share what has worked for me in MY classroom with MUCH practice throughout the year. 

(I make no claims that you will see increased test scores by using this resource, but if you read feedback from teachers that have purchased my toolkit, you’ll see they love it!) 

The most important piece of advice is to start as soon as you can and PRACTICE every day if possible, or at least most days. This lends itself perfectly to morning work time. The idea is to develop habits so that come test time, students are ready to tackle the challenge and hopefully won’t feel nearly as anxious.  It takes a bit of the edge off for you too. J

Click HERE to see the Guided Toolkit for Test-Taking Strategies!

Are you a NEW Teachers Pay Teachers seller?

If you have recently discovered a passion for all things TPT as a seller OR you've just never had the "newsletter experience," let me share something with you.... you seriously need to make an attempt to get into the newsletter! It is super easy, super quick, and can make a huge difference in gaining some exposure.

I began selling on TPT in March of 2014. It took me quite a while to discover the newsletter that is sent to buyers and sellers every Sunday. Once I started checking it out, I saw that there were some paid products advertised as well as 10 free downloads each week. My first thought was, "How can I get my products featured?" I will share the steps with you below, but first I'll finish sharing my experience.

After about 6 months of submitting my products to the newsletter each week (yes, that seems like a long time, but it is so worth it), I checked the newsletter and BAM! There was my freebie (Test-Taking Strategies Posters)!!! Even better, I had previously added a link in the description to my Test-Taking Strategies Guided Toolkit, which was my most expensive product at the time. Not only did my freebie get over 40,000 views and countless downloads, my paid product took off too!

 

Now let's get to the point. First, you must be logged into your seller's account. Hover your curser over "My TpT" in the top right corner, and select "See it in our newsletter."

 

Side note: If you don't see this option, you may need to upgrade to a premium membership. After clicking here, you will be taken to a form to fill out. Fill out a few basic prompts and SUBMIT. Pretty simple!

 TPT requests that you only fill out the form once per week for a paid product and once per week for a free product. There are some other guidelines and tips to check out as well.

If you'd like to check out some of the previous newsletters, find this link in your dashboard.

There is no way to guarantee that your product will be selected, but it's much like the lottery... you can't win if you don't play! Make it a weekly habit (preferably early in each week) and see if it pays off!

If you've already had a product in the newsletter, please leave a comment telling about your experience!

Good luck to you!!!

 

10 Reasons to Open Shop on TPT (and stick with it!)

Perhaps you've been a buyer on Teachers Pay Teachers for a while now, and you're thinking... "I could probably make some money doing that." Or maybe you've just discovered that there are sellers making millions of dollars and that REALLY got you interested. I've heard several people say, "It would be nice to just cover my Starbucks throughout the week." What are you waiting for?! You really won't know until you try, so start learning about becoming a TPT seller. Here are 10 reasons why you may never regret opening shop on TPT.

10. You can work whenever you want.
      Seriously. Put in the hours (or sometimes minutes due to our busy lives) when
      it works for you and your family. Of course, the more time you put in, the more
      likely you are to achieve your goals.
9.   Your own students will probably thank you.
      I love to use products I've made at home in my classroom. My students don't 
      realize that I've made some of the fun activities they use, but they sure do enjoy
      them!
8.   You'll be part of an amazing community of people and can potentially make
      some friendships around the world.
      Connecting with other educators and sellers is one of the great perks. As you
      virtually meet new people, you can learn so much. I've found that TPT sellers are
      usually so willing to connect, share, give guidance, and support each other.
7.   You will develop your craft as you go!
       I had NO IDEA what I was doing when I started! I took the time to read blog
       posts, scour the TPT sellers forum, ask questions, and eventually I started to get 
       the hang of it. If you put the necessary time and energy into learning what
       makes your products and creativity different from others, you will hopefully find
       your niche and run with it!
6.    You might just get paid while you sleep.
       Waking up to sales that you made throughout the night can be so exciting! 
       Does it take time to get there? Yes. Is it worth every minute? Yes!
5.    You can start for free!
       You will hear mixed thoughts on whether or not to pay the premium
       membership right away, but if you just want to get your feet wet and have time
       to figure it out first, start with the free membership. As you start to create
       products and make sales, upgrade when you're ready. I am glad I upgraded
       early, but then again, I worked very hard right off the bat and wanted to see
       the fruits of my labor (you'll keep more of your earnings with the premium
       membership).
4.    The "CHA-CHING" sound will NEVER get old!
       If you have the TPT app on your electronic device, you will hear this sound when
       you make a sale. Sometimes it decides not to work, but it can seriously make
       your day!
3.    Enjoy the snowball effect.
       Once you post a product, it is part of your store unless you decide otherwise. As 
       you work to build products, your store grows and hopefully becomes more
       profitable all the time. Revisions and updates are often necessary, but it is very
       gratifying to watch your store develop. The more products you have available,
       the more potential you have to make money.
2.    A year (or 2) from now, you will probably look at your storefront in amazement.
       As mentioned above, with hard work, your store will grow. At the beginning, it all
       seems so daunting. Once you get in a rhythm, you build products as often as
       you can. Before you know it, you will be proud of your hard work!
1.    Your dreams just might become reality.
       Remember how I said some people dream of paying for their coffee? Perhaps
       your dreams are bigger. Imagine being able to cover your car payment.
       Bigger? How about your mortgage, kids daycare, etc.? Dream big, and then
       dream bigger as you work hard and make TPT a part of your life.

I hope you found this post helpful or at least somewhat interesting! If you decide to open shop, I would love to be your "referral!" Just post the link below in the address bar when you sign up. TPT offers seller incentives for helping to bring others on board (at no cost to you)!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Signup/referral:Kellrich
Good luck in your future endeavors!