Creating an Inclusive Classroom with Walmart

Saturday, August 19, 2023 No comments
This is a sponsored post from Walmart. All opinions are my own. Thank you for shopping with the commissionable links below.


It is SO important to me to have an inclusive classroom. I want every student to feel seen, empowered, and supported. This back to school season Walmart is making it easy for every child to go back to school confidently with not only their inclusive products, but also their quiet hours for those that need it. I love it Walmart. Keep it up! 😍 I snagged some items for our calm down kit that our counselor provided us and some items for back to school self portrait crafts! I know all of these products will be put to use in my classroom this year and they will support all of my students! Love it so much! 



Make Your Back-to-School Teacher Wishlist with Walmart!

Monday, July 17, 2023 No comments
This is a sponsored post from Walmart. All opinions are my own. Thank you for shopping with the commissionable links below.

Teachers spend over $750 on their own classrooms each year. That is INSANE. Walmart is making it easier to get our classroom needs met with "teacher registries" at Walmart.com. 

I use Walmart.com ALL of the time for normal shopping, but now I can create my own teacher wishlist that my friends, family members, and even school community can shop to support my classroom for the upcoming year. 

I love that people can shop my list and the items are quickly delivered to my door/classroom just like if I was ordering groceries at Walmart.com. It's quick, easy, and hassle free for not only me (the busy teacher), but also for those wanting to support me. 

Head over to Walmart to create your own wishlist by clicking HERE. Enter your personal information, your shipping address, and make sure to make your list PUBLIC so it is searchable on the website. Once your wish list has been created, add all of the items you need for your classroom to your list. You can take a sneak peak at what my wishlist looks like below! 

This year I am going to focus on paper products and necessary school supplies we need to get the year started. If you are looking for some basics to get your wishlist started, shop what I added to my wishlist below. What items would you add that I am missing?


Once you get your wishlist completed, share on Facebook, at Meet the Teacher, and with anyone that is interested in supporting you and your classroom this year. With Walmart's easy to use website and quick delivery, you will LOVE having your wishlist on their website! 

Wax Museum Information & Recap

Thursday, July 6, 2023 No comments


Each year one of my FAVORITE projects is our annual Wax Museum. At my old school - students picked important Americans to research. At my current school we pair the Wax Museum with our American Revolution unit and students pick someone that was important in the Revolutionary War. No matter what you are learning, I highly encourage you to include a wax museum in your activities because it provides an incredible opportunity for students to not only research, write, and learn - but also it provides students the opportunity to present and public speak and those are LIFE SKILLS that they will carry with them forever. I am going to break this blog post into questions and answers. If I missed an important question - drop it in the comments and I'll get it added asap! 

Question: How long does this project last?

Answer: The project is a long one. We start early because we want students to have plenty of time to research and memorize their speech. We also want to give parents plenty of time to hopefully create a costume of some sort. This year we started our research in early February and our actual museum was at the end of March. 

Question: What are the different components of the Wax Museum?
Answer: The components of our wax museum include: research, written speech, backdrop, costume, and memorized speech.

Students research their person during library time. Our awesome librarians help with this. We upload a graphic organizer to Google Classroom that students complete while they research. It keeps their research guided as they work. Then - in ELA students turn that research into a paragraph written in first person. They begin to memorize that speech as they work on their backdrops at home. We practice our speeches LOTS at school so that our students get comfortable speaking and sharing in front of others. 

Question: How do students choose their person?
We have a list of important female and male American Revolution people that we post on Google Classroom. I give students two nights to go home and do a bit of research to see who they want to be. Then - I have them talk to their parents about who they want to be. I want parent support and buy in. I have them bring in a sticky note with their top three choices and have it signed by a parent. We do a luck of the draw who gets to choose first - and we do that until everyone has someone. This past year everyone got one of their three choices. 

Question: What parts are students responsible for doing at home?
We send a five foot piece of white butcher paper home for students to decorate. We simply do not have enough space at school for them to spread these out to work on. We make sure they have three weekends to work on them and lots of time. Students can take home any supplies they need. I offer to print pictures if they need them, etc. I try to make this as easy as possible for them. The only stipulation of the backdrops is that they have to say their person's name and they must include images that represent their person. This leaves students LOTS of ways to be creative. 

Parents also help their students come up with a costume. We have a box of extras for those that don't have anything and provide support as we can. We tell them not to buy anything. Khakis and a white shirt for boys and a plain dress for girls works just fine! 


Question: What rubrics did you use?
Over the years, I have developed rubrics for every aspect of this project. I post ALL of the rubrics on Google Classroom so that students and parents know exactly what is for a grade and what is expected for each part. Another coworker created a parent email that we share with our parent. It simply breaks down the timeline, explains costume ideas, and includes pictures. 

I have added my rubrics to Teachers Pay Teachers. They are all Google Docs so that you can edit and revise if you need to! The only rubric not included is the science portion (they made a 3d button) because that is not my rubric to share! The rubrics included are: research rubric/graphic organizer, paragraph rubric, poster/outfit rubric, and a rubric for their speech. 

Question: What other resources did you use?
Answer: I LOVE picture books, so I give my students lots of picture books to use as they research and learn about their person. You can access a list of all of the books I purchased here. 

Black Friday Sales Round-Up

Thursday, November 24, 2022 No comments

Hey friends! I have compiled a list of ALL the sales for this weekend to make shopping EASY for you. I will continue adding links as I find them. Shopping through my links provides me a (very small) commission and it costs you absolutely nothing. This is a small way to support my small business and it means the absolute WORLD to me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Abercrombie 30% off everything +15% AFDANI

American Eagle - 30% of everything

Amazon - SO many deals

Anthropologie - 30% off everything/40% off sale

Athleta - 30% off everything

Banana Republic - 40% off everything

Best Buy 

Converse -30% off sale 

DSW - 30% off (almost) everything

Express - 50% off everything

Fahlo - CUTE bracelets/animal tracket - use code savings20

Gap - 50% off everything

JCrew - 50% off everything

Kendra Scott - 30% off everything 

Kohls

Loft - 50% off everything 

Lululemon

Macys

Nike - save up to 60% off

Old Navy - 50% off everything

Spanx - 20% of everything

Target

Tarte - 30% off everything + free ship

Walmart

Simile/Metaphor Google Slide Project (By Teaching in Room Six)

Wednesday, November 23, 2022 No comments


When I saw Teaching in Room 6 post this idea over on her instagram, I immediately added it to my lesson plans. My kiddos were OBSESSED with this project and I, as the teacher, was OBSESSED with the outcomes. The "art" was so much fun - but since my kiddos were so motivated by this project, their similes and metaphors blew me away as well! 

With Stephanie's approval, I have decided to make a blog post to *TRY* to explain the ins and outs of this project. It can be a bit overwhelming since it involves technology, but I promise, if you teach your kiddos the basics, they will blow you away with their quick learning and end products! I showed my kids simple ideas and they ended up teaching ME all the things! So - with that - I encourage you to give it a try EVEN IF the technology aspect is intimidating for you! 

I felt like the EASIEST way to explain everything would be through images, so you will find those below. Please don't hesitate to leave questions that you still have in the comments and I will address them in the post. These slides appear a tad blurry on the blog post, but if you click on them they will expand and clear up so that you can fully see everything AND read the directions. = )  After going over the directions I will take some time to explain how I graded them as well. 

How to Create the Simile/Metaphor Projects

I highly suggest you model EVERYTHING with your students before releasing them to work independently. Modeling was a GAME CHANGER in my classroom. 





The last thing that we need to talk about is how I graded these assignments. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I use rubrics for EVERYTHING. It takes the questioning out of *MY* grading and it gives students a clear understanding of what I expect from them. They have the rubric throughout the project so that they can constantly refer to it. The important part of this project is the similes and metaphors, so you will see those with a higher point values, but I also wanted to give points for the fun part too. If you'd like to make a copy of the rubric I used (and then you can edit it to meet your own kiddos' needs) you and grab it HERE.

Thanks again to the AMAZING Stephanie over at "Teaching in Room 6" for this incredible idea and for letting me share the details with you! = ) Just a reminder to drop any questions you have in the comments so that I can get them answered for you! Happy creating!