Sparling's Spot

Building classroom community is critical when starting the school year or when you need to reinforce classroom community in January! The book, "Only One You" by Linda Kranz, is a simple book with an important message in today's world..."How will you make the world a better place?" Read this book while getting to know your students those first weeks of school. Use it's wisdom to help build a positive classroom community. It ties in perfectly as you discuss rules, expectations and procedures fo

Love the book "Turkey Trouble" by Wendi Silvano? Me too! Grab this freebie for a fun Thanksgiving reading and writing craftivity. Included in this freebie: *Before and After Reading Vocabulary and comprehension worksheet *Turkey Disguise illustration page *Writing Activity *Teacher Directions

Looking for some fun activities for St. Patrick's Day? Students can work alone, in partners or in teams to compete this challenge. Let your students imaginations run wild as they figure out how to build a trap to capture their tricky leprechaun. Students will use math measurement skills to guide them in this challenge. Download this Leprechaun Trap STEM freebie for St. Patrick's Day! This freebie includes : *Reading passage and questions about leprechauns in Irish folklore *STEM design challe

We all know that Project Based Learning has many advantages for increased learning. Using this PBL unit on Animal and Plant Structures will allow students to take an active role in their learning. They will dig deeper into the content, get excited about their topic and increase their knowledge retention after completing their research and final project. This unit introduces students to the external and internal structures of plants and animals that function to support survival, growth, beh

If you love integrating several subjects to cover core standards, this unit is for you! It fits perfectly into third, fourth or fifth grade where you must teach opinion writing, the 10 Amendments of Bill of Rights in government as well as, report writing. You can also incorporate reading because the project is kicked off with a mentor text, "Sometimes People March," by Tessa Allen. The first component of this product is about opinion writing and how to take a stand on an issue. It in

The job of guest teacher or substitute is difficult! But there are ways to make the job more enjoyable. This product is meant to do just that! I was a retired teacher and decided to return as a guest teacher this year. When I would go into classrooms, I would think of things that would make my life easier as a sub, so I decided to share them with you. Just like a teacher, the guest teacher must let students know his or her expectations. So, I have put together this product to give you way

Students love final projects allowing them to be creative and demonstrate their new knowledge. This Postcard Project is a perfect culmination activity to use after studying United States landforms. The project is designed to be used as a research project for human characteristics but you could also use it with physical characteristics. Students will choose their human characteristic to start the project. They will then research their human characteristic and write a rough draft including

Need to boost positivity in your classroom community? Start a #bekind campaign this February to revisit acts of kindness and caring in your classroom and promote a more intentional use of these acts for the remainder of the year. Students will love using this fun Instagram craftivity to make daily posts of kindness about their classmates. They will also have fun giving feedback to their peers by "liking" or commenting using the popular hashtag feature. This product includes an Instagram crafti

Looking for a fun and easy Valentine STEM activity? I've got you covered! Students in second through fifth grade will love this challenge making Cupid Arrow Shooters. Not only are they fun to make and shoot but they will also use math and science skills on their way to seeing whose shooter can travel the furthest. Working through the STEM Engineering Process, students will use their measurement skills to design and build their shooter. as well as test and evaluate the distance they travel.

Sweeten up your Valentine's Day Math Workshop using Valentine candy! Your students will love working with partners on these hands-on activities that review math concepts you've been working on such as fractions, graphing, finding the average of a set and symmetry. Not to mention the yummy treats they will eat in the process! Materials needed for these activities:Conversation Hearts (individual bags or boxes)Individual bags/boxes of another candy with a variety of colors (Skittles, M&Ms, Swee

Need an activity to get to know what skills your new class of writers possess? This product is for you! Use this back to school personal narrative writing project based on the book "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by Mark Teague to have some fun with your writers and their small moment stories from the summer! This writing activity comes with easy to understand bite-sized mini lessons to teach the author's craft of exaggeration and the basic parts of narrative text. Students will then

Are you getting anxious about your upcoming Curriculum Night? Stressful as it is, this night is probably the most valuable night you will have to build your home/school connection for a successful year. This night is the only time you get your parents altogether for the purpose of talking about your learning environment. The information you share about your philosophy, procedures and expectations for your classroom will help you work as a team to ensure student learning for the remainder of t

Do you ever worry about students who don't have traditional families when you're making cards for Mother's and Father's Day? This product was created keeping that in mind. It recognizes that not all families look the same but they are just as important to celebrate.Allow your students to personalize their "Parent's Day" cards for mothers, fathers, or any other family members who might be raising them. Two cards are included in this product that are suitable for moms, dads, grandparents or any

Looking for a way to teach and reinforce math word problem solving strategies? This product provides you with the TOOLS for your students to become competent problem solvers. It has lessons to teach 6 math word problem strategies with teacher guided and independent problems for for each strategy. Students will also get Strategy Tools to put in their very own Math Strategy Toolbox! Each student will make their own Math Strategy Booklet that will include all of their strategy definitions a

Halloween is a great opportunity for some center fun! This product features integrated activities for second through fourth grades including a writing craftivity, two types of graphing with questions and four choices for Halloween Bingo-vocabulary with pictures and words, addition and multiplication facts. All you need to do is print the activities. These activities can be used in small groups or as a whole group activity during Halloween Week! Some suggested materials that you may w

Need something to take your student's mind a rest from March testing? Give your students a well deserved break on St. Patrick's Day with an afternoon of teamwork and fun. Divide your class into groups of three and challenge them to a Minute To Win It! competition. Finding ways to build community and practice good sportsmanship is good skill to practice all year long. Use the photo booth props to take pictures of your students on St. Patrick's Day. Send them home to parents or feature th

Want to see what skills your new class of writers possess? Use this back to school personal narrative writing project based on the book "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by Mark Teague to have some fun with your writers and their small moment stories from the summer! This writing activity comes with lesson directions reviewing the basic parts of a narrative text and teaches exaggeration as an author's craft they can use in their writing. If you haven't read this book, the kids love it and it

Teachers...have you ever woken up one day when you were too sick to even think about writing a lesson plan for your guest teacher? We all hate to leave the task up to our teammates and often there isn't time to do anything else. With a little preparation ahead of time, you can print these emergency lesson plans and place a copy in your sub binder so you are ready for that day. All you have to do is gather a few companion books for your guest teacher to read that complement the print and go ac

Avoid the “summer slide” of math skills with this 12 week packet to review fourth grade concepts learned this year! Or... get a step ahead for the new year with this packet of math enrichment. It’s based on fourth grade core standards but could be beneficial for students in third grade, too! It can also serve as a great review for incoming fifth graders. Each of the twelve weeks includes:* Core Standard review and practice * Word Problems * Computation which gets more challenging each week Ev

Do your students need a quick reference to help them to remember to read strategically? The Reading Strategy Toolbox will serve that purpose! Each tool in the toolbox represents strategies readers need to remember when they are reading independently. A Strategy Booklet accompanies the toolbox to explain each of the strategies and how to apply them in their reading. You can choose to use the toolbox to teach each of the seven strategies in large group, small group, strategy groups or indepen