Thursday, December 29, 2016

Grab 'Em with Guinness World Records

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

As teachers, we've all seen it...  groups of elementary school kids crowded around a dog-eared, well worn copy of Guinness World Records.  Kids are mesmerized by the pictures of the tallest man and the longest fingernails.  They giggle over the flamboyant tattoos and the shocking piercings.  Many dream about being the fastest person, having the most home runs, or any other number of records just waiting to be broken.

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
Guinness World Records is a great way to entertain students, but did you know that is is full of fascinating facts and interesting information that'll peak your class's curiosity and set them up to learn?

If you've ever taken a close look at the inside of Guinness, you've seen it is ripe with possibilities.  So many great ideas, in fact, that the people at Guinness have created a Teachers Guide for the new 2017 edition.

You can use the Teachers Edition with a hard copy of Guinness World Records 2017 (see the end of the post for a giveaway of the book) or the guinnessworldrecords.com.

The lesson plan guide contains activity ideas for grades 2-5 and connect to the Common Core Standards.  Activities include ideas for measurement and mapping, language arts, and science.
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

In my classroom, I used the teachers guide to create a measurement math station.  Students worked with a partner to measure a variety of body parts and then compared their measurements to the record holders.  I've provided the sheet I used HERE as a free download for you.
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
The measurements for the middle section can be found in the Teacher's Edition. 

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

I have to be honest, I always thought that Guinness was just a book full of records, but it is SO MUCH MORE!  It is packed full of interesting facts and information for just about anything you can think of.  As I looked through the 2017 edition I found myself continually thinking about how this book could be used to enhance just about every science and social studies unit I teach in 4th grade!  I'm going to give you a quick pic-tour so you can start thinking about how you could use Guinness in your own classroom.

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
If your students learn about space as part of your curriculum, sharing some of the facts in this section would be a great way to peak interest at the beginning of your unit!
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
If you study geology, clouds, weather, oceans,  or plant adaptations, this section if packed with fun facts students will love!  
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
 Every kids loves learning about animals!  This section is full of interesting information students will get excited about.  If you teach animal adaptations, habitats, spiders, or dinosaurs this is a great section to find attention-grabbing facts!
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
Another great feature you'll find at the bottom of many of the pages is a time line.  
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
This section would be great for teachers starting a unit on body systems! 
 The Journey's section is a wonderful compliment to your study of explorers and explorations.  
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
 The "Do Try This at Home..." section is full of fun challenges students can try at home such as how many sugar cubes can you balance on your chin or how fast can you drink a bottle of ketchup.  
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
 And some crazy things you DON'T want to try at home or anywhere else! 
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
Add caption

Every kids loves toys and games!  There are some great writing prompt ideas you could get from this section! 
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
 For students who love to build!  The facts and information inside this section would be a great way to inspire a STEM unit!  There are also a lot of measurements in this section you could use to have students compare and contrast, find the difference, etc.
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
The Arts & Media section is another wonderful section to find ideas for writing.  
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
There are so many different possibilities with this section!  Writing prompts and facts to grab learners at the start of a science unit are just a couple.   
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
 The sports section is another favorite of students!  
Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!


As you can see, Guinness World Records is a valuable resource for any classroom!  It is not only a favorite of students, but there is a lot of great attention grabbing content inside of this book for teachers to use as a support and enhancement to your grade-level lesson and units!  

Don't forget to download your FREE Teachers Guide by clicking the link above and as a "Thank You" for visiting Literacy Loves Company and reading this blog post, the people at Guinness World Records have given me a copy of the NEW 2017 edition to give to one lucky reader! 

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!

GIVEAWAY GUIDELINES:
  • Since, if you win,  I will have to ship the book to you, the giveaway is only open to people with mailing addresses within the continental United States. 
  • The giveaway is open from December 29, 2016 through January 9th, 2016.  
  • I only have one book, so there will only be one lucky winner!
  • To enter, please enter your information in the Rafflecopter widget at the bottom of this post.  
  • The winner will be randomly chosen by the Rafflecopter widget.
  • The winner will be announced Tuesday, January 10th on my Facebook page, Instagram account, here on the blog, and by email. 
  • The winner will need to respond to my email by January 15th with a mailing address so that I can get your book in the mail that next week.  

Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!


Looking for attention grabbers for writing, math, social studies, and science?  Visit Literacy Loves Company to see how using Guinness World Record can be used for writing inspiration, math centers, and anticipatory sets!  You’ll see Guinness World Records in a whole new way!
Please PIN me. 


Thank you for visiting Literacy Loves Company!  I hope this post has inspired you to take a closer look at your Guinness World Records books for inspiration!

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

For the HEALTH of it! Back to School

This back to school season,  teach your students about germs, diseases, and how to stay well with these 3 health lessons. Perfect for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.



Well, next week I officially report back to work.  It has been a great summer, but I am excited to get my classroom in order, turn all of those ideas I've been pinning and planning into reality, and finally meet my new bunch of fourth graders.  I love back to school time!

What I don't love about a new school year is being bombarded by germs... coughing, sneezing, dirty hands, nose picking, viruses, bacteria...  OH MY!  I can feel my throat start to scratch and my sinuses start to drain just thinking about it.  

In my school district, we teach about communicable and non-communicable diseases, pathogens, and heatlhy habits as part of our health curriculum.  I always start the year with these valuable lessons that we refer to all year long.  Because of a packed schedule, I only teach health once a week, so I need to make that lesson count!  

I've just finished the first three in a HUGE series of health lessons I plan on creating throughout the school year. 

This back to school season,  teach your students about germs, diseases, and how to stay well with these 3 health lessons. Perfect for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.
Here's a little bit about each one of the lessons:
This back to school season,  teach your students about germs, diseases, and how to stay well with these 3 health lessons. Perfect for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.

In lesson #1 students learn what communicable and non-communicable diseases are, examples of each and ways to protect against contagious illness.  As a closing activity they play a "I have, who has" game as a class to review the vocabulary and concepts in the lesson.  

This back to school season,  teach your students about germs, diseases, and how to stay well with these 3 health lessons. Perfect for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.
I'm FREE!  Click to download!
 Lesson #2 goes into more depth about what causes communicable diseases, specifically viruses and bacteria.  The informational brochure talks about the immune system and how it helps defend against these unwanted intruders.  As part of the lesson, students design a germ and create a wanted poster sharing details from what they learned from their health brochure.
This back to school season,  teach your students about germs, diseases, and how to stay well with these 3 health lessons. Perfect for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.
Click to go to TpT.

Lesson #3 teaches students about 8 healthy habits for staying well.  This connect to both of the previous lessons, but goes into more details about how to keep well.  As an opening activity, students participate in an easy to science experiment to discover where the most germs are in the classroom. 

This back to school season,  teach your students about germs, diseases, and how to stay well with these 3 health lessons. Perfect for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.


Each of these lessons includes detailed lesson plans, lesson objectives for posting, an opening activity, main lesson including a non-fiction text in brochure format, and a closing activity.   If you buy the MINI-BUNDLE of all three lessons,  I've also included a grade book page with all of the objectives listed and an assessment covering all three lessons. 

This back to school season,  teach your students about germs, diseases, and how to stay well with these 3 health lessons. Perfect for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.


If you already have a health curriculum, the health brochures are also a great way to revisit the concepts in a literacy center or as a take home assignment.  They include vocabulary, quick before reading activity, close reading/code the text key, and after reading vocabulary task and comprehension questions related to the lesson objectives.  


My next set of For the HEALTH of It! lessons will be focusing on HYGIENE!  If you are interested in getting notification of when these lessons are completed, please follow Literacy Loves Company on TpT!  All new resources are 50% off for the first 48 hours...  that equals big savings.  

*NOTE...  as I use these lessons in class, I'll update this blog post with photos of the lessons and activities.  If you are interested, follow my blog by e-mail or on blog lovin!  

Thanks for visiting Literacy Loves Company Blog!  I hope you stay germ free and have a great Back to School season! 


Attribution for the dirty hands photograph in the video:




Monday, August 15, 2016

You're Hired! Building Community with Classroom Jobs




No matter how long you have been teaching, whether this is your first year or you've been teaching for a dozen, one of the most important things you can do to support classroom management and help your school year go smoothly is to build a strong rapport with your students and a sense of community in your classroom.  There are a hundred different things you can do to accomplish this such as holding class meetings, spending time on get-to-know-you activities the first week of school, and having clear expectations and consequences.

Today I want to talk to you about another classroom routine that not only builds a sense of teamwork in your classroom, but also helps you, the teacher, keep your classroom organized and clean.

I'm talking about classroom jobs.  Classroom jobs are a great way to help your students develop a sense of community and teamwork.  When all your students have one small task to complete each day, they begin to see that when everyone puts in that little bit of effort the class runs more smoothly, stays organized, is more conducive to learning, and is a more pleasant place to spend their day.  As students complete their jobs and are recognized for their effort it builds self esteem and helps to establish a strong work ethic.
A closer look at how to use classroom jobs to build community this back to school season.  Great tips for getting the most from your classroom jobs!

The key here is to make sure that every one of yours students has a classroom job that they are interested in, proud of, and are capable of completing successfully.

A closer look at how to use classroom jobs to build community this back to school season.  Great tips for getting the most from your classroom jobs!

Try to phrase your job titles in ways that make them sound interesting and important.  For example, Recycling Manager sounds much more important that just recycler.  Light Monitor more esteemed than light person.  And Class Botanist more official than gardener.  You want students to be proud of their positions and giving them powerful job titles is one way to do that.

A closer look at how to use classroom jobs to build community this back to school season.  Great tips for getting the most from your classroom jobs!

Giving students choices is important to building relationships and community.   Rather than just assigning jobs to students randomly, it is a good idea to give students a chance to choose which jobs they would like to do.  Classified ads are a great way to give your students some information about each of the jobs.  Each job has a short description so that students understand what will be expected of them if they get hired for that position.  I plan on making several copies of these classified ads and give students time to read through them and circle jobs that are interesting to them.  I also plan on keeping a clean copy on display near my job chart so that the descriptions are easily available for reference throughout the year.

Undoubtably,  there will be some jobs that everyone wants and a few that nobody is interested in. This is when having an Employment Application will come in handy.  In the past, I've written all of the job titles on a large sheet of butcher paper and students wrote their names under the three job titles that they were interested in.  I'd go through and choose a person for each job.  This year,  I want my students to give more thought into what skills they have that would make them the best person for the job that they want.  I plan on asking each of my students to fill out the application with their top two choices.  This will not only give me some information about my students while I am hiring, but it will also give my kiddos practice with the real world task of filling out forms.

A closer look at how to use classroom jobs to build community this back to school season.  Great tips for getting the most from your classroom jobs!
Click on the image to get a free download of the Classroom Employment Application

Hold students accountable for their jobs.  In my class, I have two students who are my "Job Supervisors".  These two students check off  workers as they complete their jobs each day.  This is important because we have a classroom economy and students get paychecks each month for their clean-up jobs.  To help keep track of student positions and to help hold students accountable for their responsibilities, this chart is vital.
A closer look at how to use classroom jobs to build community this back to school season.  Great tips for getting the most from your classroom jobs!

I will be writing another blog post on our classroom economy, but for now I will say that I have found rewarding students for their hard work is an important part of this learning experience.  As adults, we get paid for our work.  I look forward to my paycheck and I enjoy spending my hard earned money.  The same can be said for our students.  They should be recognized for their efforts.  You don't have to have a classroom economy.  There are a lot of different ways you can show appreciation.  You can have lunch in the classroom, indoor recess, a board game party, and the list goes on.  It is just important to let students know that their contribution to keeping the class clean and running smoothly is appreciated.


Classroom jobs may look differently depending on the grade level you teach, but no matter what age your students are, a small task for each student can be beneficial for all involved, including the teacher.  I teach 4th grade and the help my students give me helps me keep my sanity!  My students collect papers, deliver mail, change the daily schedule, make sure the calendar is up to date, sweep the floor, take out the trash, make sure absent students get missing work, make sure the lights are on and off...  and the list goes on.  All of these things I'd have to do myself if it wasn't for their help.  And because every student is helping, our clean-up time is only about 5-10 minutes each day!

If you aren't fully using the power of classroom jobs in with your students, I hope you will consider it.  Like I mentioned above, it might look differently in your class than in mine, but hiring each of your students for one small task a day will not only keep your classroom clean and organized, but it will also have many positive benefits for your students.

If you have more ideas, different suggestions, or questions about how I run classroom jobs with my students, please feel free to use the comment section below!  I'd love to hear from you.

If you'd like to know more about my Classroom Jobs Starter Pack, click on the image below to open a new window to the product description on TeachersPayTeachers.com .

A closer look at how to use classroom jobs to build community this back to school season.  Great tips for getting the most from your classroom jobs!
Classroom Jobs Starter Pack {Editable}
Thank you so much for reading my post!  For more great Back-to-School management and organizational tips, hop on to the next blog post by Teacher Erica.




Don't forget to enter to win some great prizes!  One lucky and deserving teacher will win a $50 gift certificate to TpT!  
Another, equally deserving teacher will win TpT resources from 30, YES THIRTY, different sellers!  What a treasure trove of materials to get you started this school year!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, July 31, 2016

The Best Year Ever Sale and Giveaway!


I know some of us are already back in the classroom and some of us still have weeks of summer left, but it's always the PERFECT time for a BACK TO SCHOOL SALE AND GIVEAWAY, right?!

The prizes are ones that any teacher can appreciate: a $10 TpT gift certificate, a $10 Starbucks gift certificate, and up to $20 in resources from my TpT store!  That's $40 worth of goodies!

To share the love with all my followers on the blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, I'm giving people a chance to enter on each platform...  so, if you have a minute, HOP on over to each of my little social media homes and look for the image above.

To enter, you'll be asked to do something simple, like make a comment or answer a question.  You'll never be forced to follow me to enter, but if you choose to follow me that would be wonderful! Please enter only once at each destination.

TpT followers will find a bonus entry in their inbox, so check your TpT mail!

Click on the image to be taken to TpT!

Each time you enter, your name will be entered into a random name picker. One lucky winner will be chosen on Monday, August 1st at noon (pacific time).  I will announce the winner's name on my Facebook page and on my Instagram account.  The winner will be asked to e-mail me with the items he/she wants from my store and I will email back a link to those items and the gift certificate codes to the winner!  Easy Peasy!

Before you jet off to do some hopping, don't forgot about the HUGE TpT sale that's starting on Monday!  Its the BEST YEAR EVER sale and most sellers have their entire stores marked down 20%!  On top of that, enter the code BestYear and get an additional 10% off!  BONANZA!  I've been filling up my wish list and it's time to move some of those GREAT resources to my cart.  How about you?


Back to the Giveaway!
TO ENTER here on the blog, comment below with the date you were/are officially back in the classroom.  Me, I've got 4 weeks left.  I officially return to work August 29th so I'm still trying to soak it all up!

After you've left your comment, head on over to my FACEBOOK page for another chance to enter! From there you'll be linked to the next stop of 4 stops and 4 CHANCES to ENTER!!  Don't forget the bonus entry for my TpT followers!   I'll be sending out the note this afternoon!

Best of luck to you on the giveaway, back to school, and TpT shopping!


Here are just a few of the resources I've created and added to my store this summer: