All Posts By

Teachers Love Lists

Fun Books for Grammar Read Alouds – Organized by Grammar Skill

October 19, 2019

A big list of the best books for grammar read alouds organized by grammar skill! These books are my favorites for kids to learn about nouns and verbs all the way to similes and metaphors.

 

It was a lot of work but I had a lot of fun making this list of grammar books! I hope you love it!

 

Grammar Read Alouds – Organized by Skill

 

There are actually a lot of great books with fabulous pictures to teach all the different grammar skills that I love so I wanted to compile a list for you to be able to find them quickly and easily and save as a reference for when you go to teach each grammar concept during the year. I provided the links for you to see them directly on Amazon if you want to check them out – some links are affiliate links which means I get commission if you buy from the links, it’s no extra cost for you but I wanted to let you know!

 

NOUNS

One of the first grammar concepts taught is nouns!

My favorite way to introduce nouns is to quickly say that a noun is a person, place, or thing and then read a fun book to try to find all the  nouns! A great book to do that with is Incredible Ned – it is a really cute rhyming book about a little boy with an awesome imagination. When he pictures a word in his head, that thing appears… and that thing is usually a noun so it makes it really easy to find a lot of nouns in the book. I recommend reading the book in front of an easel and having kids race to raise their hands when you turn the page if they see any new nouns then write them down before reading the page. It makes it a lot of fun to hunt for nouns together 🙂

 

Any of the books in the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly series are also awesome for this! Read the book aloud then have students raise their hands when they hear or see a new noun – they think it’s really fun to do that! Since each page is a new thing the old lady swallowed, there are plenty of nouns in the book to find!

 

These books exist for a lot of different themes and holidays so it’s especially fun to pick one from the series for whatever time of year it is! For example, in my Best Halloween Books for October Read Alouds book list, I put the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat version 🙂

 

 

This book is part of a series you’ll see a few times in this post. I honestly find these books so cute and easy to use to introduce parts of speech. This one, If You Were a Noun, has an adorable space theme and is a great first book to read to introduce nouns.

 

 

 

This book to teach nouns is also part of a series. This author has written a lot of books to help teach the different parts of speech and I like this one – A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink – for teaching nouns.

 

 

 

 

 

A Lime, a Mime, a Pool of Slime is also by the same author if you can’t tell 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also get a 12 book set of his books that includes the 2 above if you end up wanting a lot of these.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay so speaking of bundles of books, this book Chicken in the City also comes in the Grammar Tales 10 book bundle!

This is a cute little book about a chicken named Lu-Lu who lived on a farm then moved to the city. The book has a ton of nouns in it to spot together so it’s a fun one to read while you’re still in the spotting nouns phase of teaching nouns 🙂

 

 

 

Verbs

Okay, moving on to verbs! You’ll notice some of these books in the verbs category (and other upcoming categories) will be books from some of the book series that I mentioned in the Nouns section.

A Verb for Herb is another cute Grammar Tales book I love for introducing parts of speech!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another book for introducing verbs is If You Were a Verb that is by the same author as the If You Were a Noun book above. Like I said, you’ll notice a lot of my recommendations end up being from the same series. I like consistency and think it helps kids realize you’re introducing a new topic when they see the new book. Plus I simply like these!

 

 

To Root, to Toot, to Parachute is another cute verbs book. Be prepared for a lot of giggles when someone points out what a toot can be 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

For even more verbs practice from this author, you can also read Slide and Slurp, Scratch and Burp

 

This book and the one right above this are also in that 12 book set I mentioned in the Nouns section.

 

 

 

So this book, It’s Hard to be a Verb, is actually not a book specifically to teach parts of speech but I still love it to read while learning verbs because it’s about a little boy who has trouble paying attention and sitting still (pretty sure some of your students can relate!)

 

If you want more books to teach specific behaviors, one of my favorite lists I’ve ever made is my Classroom Management Books Organized by Behavior list so you can literally pick any classroom behavior your students are struggling with (tattling, blurting, sharing, whatever) and find the perfect book to read aloud to teach them how to properly behave. It really is one of the best book lists I’ve ever made – definitely check it out whether you’re a teacher or a parent 🙂

 

 

Adjectives

Adjectives are one of my favorite grammar concepts because it’s fun to describe things! You can literally pick any thing or anyone for kids to describe and they are instantly good at finding adjectives 🙂

 

My favorite way to introduce adjectives is with The Very Cranky Bear! You could use this idea with any book you love that has a character that can be described with a lot of adjectives. The picture on the front cracks me up and so clearly illustrates what “cranky” means. Start off with talking about the picture and what cranky might mean based on the picture. Once you establish its meaning, talk about how it’s an adjective and that an adjective is a word that describes something. That starts another great conversation of other adjectives they could use to describe the bear – let them tell you he’s big, hairy, grumpy, etc. and write down the words they come up with to describe him. Such a perfect little lesson to introduce adjectives! Then, of course, you open the book and read it and it’s adorable 🙂

 

 

 

Quirky, Jerky, Extra Perky: More about Adjectives is another great Brian P. Cleary book but this time for adjectives!

 

 

 

 

If You Were an Adjective is another great book for teaching adjectives. It does touch on types of adjectives like comparatives and superlatives so it’s a nice way to introduce that when your kids are ready.

 

 

My favorite book to introduce comparatives and superlatives, though, is Breezier, Cheesier, Newest, and Bluest because the illustrations are just so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Another cute book you can read when studying comparative adjectives is a fictional read aloud about 3 pigs that are brothers: Pig, Pigger, and Piggest. You can make this into a fun lesson by taking adjectives and adding -er and -est to them and then deciding if they’re real words or not. You’ll come up with some silly words so it can be a fun lesson 🙂

 

 

 

Adverbs

Adverbs are important but a little trickier to teach than adjectives so I think having great books with examples is especially important for this concept.

 

 

Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely: What is an Adverb? is another funny rhyming grammar book from the series I keep sharing. Can you tell I like these?? 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

There’s another one for even more practice called Lazily, Crazily, Just a Bit Nasally: More about Adverbs to keep practicing what makes a word an adverb.

 

 

 

 

A fun book to practice recognizing adverbs is Suddenly Alligator! It is filled with adverbs that stand out in the sentences. A fun activity you can do is have students raise their hands if they think they hear an adverb. If several hands go up (which they will because, even if they don’t hear them, some kids will notice how the word changes in the sentences and know to raise their hand), say, “Ooh! Okay, let’s read it again and see if you can find it” to give everyone a chance to raise their hand when they hear it. Once you identify the adverb, read the sentence again to have them figure out what verb it describes. I don’t recommend doing this for every sentence but it’s fun to do for a few!

 

I really like this book in general because it is a silly little book kids enjoy and has a ton of vocabulary potential. I feel like it uses a lot of words kids may not know but can easily understand by the picture and/or a quick explanation. For example, “approached” is a word young kids may not know that you can easily act out and help them learn while reading the book. Because of that, I feel like you can read this book multiple times and focus on different things each time – making predictions (the first time you read it), adverbs, vocabulary building, and more!

 

I also like If You Were an Adverb for introducing or practicing adverbs because it emphasizes how adverbs describe a verb with helpful, illustrated examples… even saying verbs and adverbs go together like peanut butter and jelly 🙂 I recommend having your students stop and identify the verb in each sentence then the adverb that goes with it as a fun practice exercise as you read it. You could do this one first instead of the first books I mentioned if this series is what your students are used to.

 

 

This book is super silly and cute!! I love it as a fun read aloud in general but it is also filled with adverbs and adjectives so you can practice the difference between the two. Adjectives are in red text and adverbs are in green text so kids can even practice independently. You could have them write the adjective and the noun it describes… and the adverb and the verb it describes – as a whole group, small group, or even independent activity. I love it as a read aloud though because it’s so fun! The book I am talking about is The Big Problem (and the Squirrel Who Eventually Solved It) as you can see to the left. It also has a great message about not judging others and how everyone can be friends 🙂

 

 

Contractions

I’m and Won’t, They’re and Don’t: What’s a Contraction? is a book you can use to introduce contractions. It introduces kids to apostrophes and shows how they replace letters to form contractions

 

 

 

 

 

If You Were a Contraction is another book you can use to help explain it to kids!

 

 

 

Once you learn contractions, encourage your kids to point them out to you in books or anywhere they see them. It can be a fun game to try to find them. Whenever they find them, figure out with them what 2 words may have formed the contraction they’re seeing. It’s an easy way to incorporate grammar into your everyday life in a fun and meaningful way.

 

Compound Words

Compounds words are so much fun!!! I absolutely love the giggles that come from smushing 2 words together that sound so silly to see if they’re a compound word. It’s such a fun thing you can do all day with 2 words to see if the 2 words make a compound word or a silly nonsense word. There are a ton of books that have compound words in them but these are some fun ones to explicitly teach it:

 

I like Thumbtacks, Earwax, Lipstick, Dipstick: What is a Compound Word? for introducing compound words. It’s just so nice to have these books if you’re new to teaching grammar and want help explaining concepts. Even if you’re not new, it’s nice to have all the visuals and examples. I feel like kids retain the introductory lessons better when they had word and picture examples in a read aloud form, which is why I wanted to make this list, because it’s my favorite way to introduce new grammar concepts.

 

 

 

A fun little book you can read that makes light and fun of compound words is Flying Butter. It’s a silly way to practice compound words in a fun read aloud.

 

 

 

 

Once There was a Bull… (frog) is a cute simple little story where the pages end with half of a compound word and the next page starts with the 2nd half. I love this because it shows how each part of the word is its own word combined into 1 word. Once kids pick up on the pattern, they love to try to guess what the compound word is going to be once they get the first half of the word 🙂

 

 

Then there’s also the If You Were a Compound Word if you’re more into that series. I like the above books better for introducing compound words but I think it’s nice to have consistency if you’ve been using this series (and I LOOOVE a lot of the books in this series for other concepts). I just think there’s a lot of other fun compound word books.. so many books use compound words in the titles (butterfly books, strawberry, etc.) so there are a ton of different books you can use or display while teaching compound words.

 

 

Prepositions

Prepositions are another fun grammar concept to teach. You can hide an object all around the room and then have kids describe its position using prepositions. Have a little toy dog and hide it under a pillow, on top of a desk, and so on! There are also a lot of picture books dedicated to teaching prepositions since it’s usually taught pretty early in a child’s grammar learning.

 

Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse: A Prepositional Tale is a super fun read aloud that practices prepositions. The illustrations of the animals are awesome in this book! They illustrate the prepositions in such a fun way. I think it’s such a great book for introducing positional words!

 

 

 

 

Of course, If You Were a Preposition to continue following the series.

 

 

 

 

As well as the next book in the other series – Under, Over, By the Clover: What is a Preposition? I think this book and the one above are great as well but prepositions are a pretty easy grammar concept to teach, in my opinion, that I think you could just use fun books that have a lot of prepositions in them, act them out, and have your kids understand pretty quickly. I might make a list of books just for teaching prepositions because there really are so many… and they’re a lot of fun!

 

 

Pronouns

I and You and Don’t Forget Who: What is a Pronoun? is my favorite book for introducing the concept of pronouns. It makes the comparison of pronouns being like a substitute teacher and say they are sub for nouns. It seems a little silly but I think it’s a really easy way to relate it to students. It’s also a great way to remind them what a pronoun is.

 

 

If You Were a Pronoun is also great practice to keep recognizing them in sentences and the nouns they replace.

 

 

 

 

 

Alliteration

There are SO many books with alliteration in them. So many that I want to create a separate post for them – I will compile a list of my favorite kids’ books with alliteration and link it here when I do 🙂

 

 

Conjunctions

Coming soon! 🙂 I already have books picked out for this and the below categories but it takes me awhile to format the lists so they are easy to see the books in an easy format so I am going to publish this now so I can get it out to you right away! Please save this page to check back later so you can see my new recommendations – this has been so fun to write so far to share my favorite books for grammar and I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far!

 

 

Interjections

Coming soon! Cool! 😉

 

 

Similes

Coming soon! Similes are SO fun.

 

 

Metaphors

Metaphors also coming soon!

 

I also have even more grammar books lists I want to make for skills that I have more than just a couple of recommendations for that I want to dedicate an entire post to. You can follow me on Facebook if you want to see when I announce new lists! You can also use the little Facebook icon below to share this post if you want to save it that way to remember to come back for the new books I share.

 

Okay, so I am excited to get the rest of the book recommendations out to you but I can’t wait to get these ones out first! I have been working on this post for SO long and I just don’t want to wait any longer! 🙂 I hope you have loved it so far!!

 

If you want to pin this to Pinterest to remember to come back, here is a quick image I made that you can pin!

 

Fun Grammar Read Alouds organized by grammar skill - save this awesome list of books to read to teach grammar!

 

Thank you so much for reading!

 

If you want to see more of my lists, check out this organized list of all my lists:

AWESOME LISTS

I have book lists, teacher tools I recommend, classroom themes and jobs lists, and all sorts of fun lists!

 

If you like this one, I also recommend Best Classroom Management Books Organized by Behavior since it’s organized into categories like this one!

 

Feel free to let me know below if there are any other grammar concepts you would like to see book lists for or simply to say hi – I love chatting with you all 🙂

How to Teach Yourself Spanish At Home in Your Pajamas

December 9, 2018
How to teach yourself Spanish at home

How to teach yourself Spanish at home in your pajamas is surprisingly easy if you have the right books and tools!

 

I have always wanted to learn Spanish and have picked up words and phrases over the years but a few years ago, I decided I truly wanted to be able to read, write, and speak fluently. I tried a lot of different things – some were super helpful, some were kind of helpful, and some were a total waste of time.. so I’d like to help YOU not waste time and go straight to the helpful!

 

I provided links for you to see some of the resources I recommend on Amazon if you want to check them out – some links are affiliate links which means I get commission if you buy from the links, it’s no extra cost for you but I just wanted to let you know! 🙂

 

What really finally got me learning Spanish was this book. I absolutely love, love, love this book, Basic Spanish, and recommend it highly for your first book for learning Spanish. I have recommended it to so many people. Usually because they asked me how I learned Spanish so quickly after starting. I had a group of friends who decided to learn Spanish at the same time as me and they were flabbergasted at how far ahead I was so quickly (which really motivated me to keep working through the book!) so I told them all about this book since they were relying more on audio CDs, apps on their phone, or computer learning programs. This book seriously made it SO easy for me to go from knowing a few words to being able to read and write simple sentences in Spanish and pick up a lot of vocabulary in a naturally progressing way so I really enjoyed it.

 

I spent a really long time researching how I wanted to start learning Spanish and flipping through Spanish learning books in bookstores and bought a stack of books like this. I started a few of them and went, “eh” but then when I worked on this one, it just clicked. So my advice: Start with this  book! If that’s all you do today and totally just stop reading this blog post right here, order this book and do that. Then, come back for more recommendations once you’ve gobbled that one up and know you can trust me lol. If you’re the type of person who learns by practicing, by reading and writing, then this is definitely going to be helpful for you. I can’t speak for other learning styles because that’s how I learn, but I imagine it’d be helpful for anyone. After I did this whole book, I actually felt like I could speak Spanish. That was huge for me. Slowly, of course, but the fact that I was capable of forming sentences to say whatever I wanted made me so motivated to keep learning.

 

I was so excited to practice my Spanish, but I knew it was at a basic level, so I actually ended up ordering kids’ books in Spanish. Don’t laugh at me (okay, you can) but I ordered early elementary school level readers and I actually really enjoyed reading them and building new vocabulary in Spanish that was fun (kid level science words :)) Yes, that probably makes me a little dorky but it really felt rewarding to be able to read things in Spanish… even if they were meant for kids. I started out really easy like these:

 

I actually found the National Geographic Kids books in Spanish really interesting, even as an adult, and there are a lot of them! Obviously they’re geared for kids but I enjoyed trying to read them in Spanish and I’m not sure if I should admit this as a former honors student/university graduate but I learned a few new things 🙂 Here’s an example of one of the books: Las Ballenas, and if you click on this cover, you can see it and a bunch more of them if you look at the “Customers who bought this item also bought” section if you scroll down a bit. There are some really interesting ones about all sorts of science topics! IMPORTANT – If you notice, there is a number 3 in the corner. That’s the reading level. I recommend levels 2 and 3. You may enjoy the 1 books (I still bought them and did) but you’ll probably read them super fast and not feel like you learned or practiced much Spanish but the levels 2 and 3 I personally found just challenging enough for when you’re just starting out with the practice book. These are readers, not read aloud books, so expect them to look like readers for kids… lots of great pictures, only a little bit of text per page. I recommend ordering 1 or 2 and if you enjoy them, order more. If it’s not your thing, try something else 🙂 I personally enjoyed them a lot but that may be the kid in me. Like I said, my husband made fun of me (lovingly but I think he meant it, haha) so I may be rare in thinking these were a fun way to practice… but it was for me!

 

 

I also ordered some of these Time for Kids books like ¡Locos por insectos y arañas! since I had enjoyed the above series so much. I think I ordered 3 or 4 of them and I liked them too. I wasn’t sure how to determine the level but, for example, this one I found to be easy…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… and this one, Reptiles y anfibios reptantes I felt was much harder.  Check the image previews to see if it’ll let you peek inside the text so you can gauge if it’s at your level or not. I personally was so excited to practice my newfound Spanish reading skills that I bought them all, ha. I figured if it was super easy, it was still great practice and if it seemed too hard, I could come back and read it later once I knew more Spanish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I said, my husband poked fun at me a little bit for reading kids’ science books but I don’t care – I was really excited that I could read and understand them because of doing that Basic Spanish book I mentioned above. I was so proud of myself but wanted to keep learning so I looked at the big stack of Spanish books I had bought, flipped through them, and picked this one to do next…

 

I think this book, Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, is seriously AMAZING. It feels like it covers absolutely everything and I love the way it explains things before practicing each concept. The practice sentence writing is great… I love when it has you read paragraphs and the way the paragraphs are practicing what you already know while throwing in new vocabulary in a supported way… I love the way it introduces new vocabulary. I just love it.

 

It has been SO helpful for me in my journey to becoming fluent in Spanish. Be prepared to use this book throughout your entire journey of learning Spanish, even if you’re taking a Spanish class or trying to learn it through another way on the side. I really think you could use just this book to completely teach yourself to be fluent though. It is amazing.

 

If you are also learning in another way and you come across a tough concept you’re not understanding (like indirect and direct object pronouns… lo, la, los, las, me, te, what?!), find that section in this book and do the lesson and practice and I think you’ll find you actually get it! I’ve done this so many times and it’s been so helpful, especially with things that didn’t come naturally to me when I was first learning like reflexive verbs.

 

I definitely recommend doing the Basic Spanish book I recommended at the top of this post first, though. This book is a great book to start immediately after that one. It felt like an easy review for a few moments and then it hit the ground running 🙂 For me, I think I would’ve been lost if I started on this book without doing Basic Spanish first but really, if you truly want to teach yourself in your PJs, I think those 2 books are the only things you really need. This Complete Spanish book is, by far, the best book I’ve come across for learning Spanish on your own.

 

For these books, make sure you are checking your answers in the back of the book immediately after doing an activity! Each time it has you do a practice activity, check your answers immediately after (so it’s fresh in your mind), be really picky, and correct them if they’re wrong, even a little. Make sure you have the correct words, all the accents, etc. I think I actually retained so much more from when I had to correct myself. I also always read my answers out loud right after doing them but before checking them against the answers in the back and found mistakes myself first that way which I really think helped me learn. Even when I thought an activity was super easy and wanted to skip checking my answers, sometimes I’d see little mistakes when I was checking them and learn something new. Sorry if that seems obvious but I wanted to share because it was helpful for me!

One thing I didn’t mention that I think also helped me a lot with both this book and the Basic Spanish book are ruled index cards for review. These books are going to be introducing A LOT of new vocabulary to you! They do a great job of weaving them into the new lessons but it’s still easy to forget new words. You don’t have to do this but I truly feel what helped me learn quick and retain so much was taking notes and using index cards.

 

 

As I went through each page of Basic Spanish and the Complete Spanish book, I had a piece of blank copy paper where I wrote down any new vocabulary words I came across as I was working (which, honestly, was a lot each time). Just a simple list like…

comer = to eat

correr = to run

in a big long list. I’d write words I already knew but could possibly forget too – for me, writing things down helps me remember so I erred on the side of writing it down.

 

Then, when I finished a chapter (sometimes that was in 1 sitting and other times it was several sessions of doing the book before finishing a chapter), I would take that copy paper list to make note cards from. If I really felt like I knew the word already, I didn’t make a note card but if I thought there was any possible way I could forget that word someday, even in months, I made a note card. I made a note card for each word typically (“comer” on one side, “to eat” on the other) for simple vocabulary practice. I also wrote phrases or sentences I wanted to remember. I also wrote conjugations of verbs, especially irregular ones where the front of the card said “Conjugate poder in present tense” and the other side said “Yo puedo, tú puedes, él puede,” etc.

 

Then, I can pick up my stack of note cards anytime and review. I found it really helpful to review them before picking the book up to do the next chapter… especially if I waited a long time in between working on books. It’s really easy to forget to work on the book for weeks and then feel really lost when you get back to it.. so note cards keep it fresh! You can even keep them next to your bed to do any sort of practice when you have a few minutes. When you know a card immediately every single time, put it in a “I know this” stack somewhere else so you don’t waste time practicing it (but don’t throw it away! Even if you think you’ll never forget the word, keep that “I know this” stack somewhere in case you take a long break from Spanish and need to review it again). But taking those cards out once you’ve mastered them allows you to keep your note card stack thin and focused practice on the words/concepts you mix up, struggle with, forget, etc.

 

It was really fun to watch my “I know this” stack be hundreds and hundreds of note cards high in my end table by the bed. Now it’s thousands and thousands, literally, and takes up the entire drawer 🙂 and I still, to this day, always have a stack of note cards I’m currently working on memorizing as I learn more and more vocabulary and concepts.

 

Speaking of vocabulary, if you want to jump start your vocabulary, my recommendation is this book:

 

This book, Spanish Vocabulary, is by the same author as the Basic Spanish book so if you liked that format, this is a great book to expand your vocabulary. It is A LOT of vocabulary so I only did it bits and pieces at a time while doing the Step by Step book because it felt overwhelming to do more than a few pages at once since it was so many new words but it was cool to learn so much vocabulary… and a lot of words you don’t typically learn in other Spanish learning books.

 

I actually bought some of the other books in that Practice Makes Perfect series of books and liked them as well but I don’t want to overwhelm you with options. & Honestly, I didn’t need much else once I used the Complete Spanish book. Again, the Basic Spanish and Complete Spanish books are what I recommend to really get you going! If you crave more, then I’d get the Vocabulary one.

 

Other things I did to keep the learning fun was watching my favorite movies with Spanish subtitles. Put on a movie you know every line by heart… but put the Spanish subtitles on! Read the Spanish at the bottom as you watch the movie. You can also look for the movies you love IN SPANISH and watch them with Spanish subtitles. It’s just a fun thing to try and see if it helps. I’m not much of an auditory learner so that method doesn’t help me much, but it is a nice way to hear it spoken out loud for pronunciation, learning common phrases, etc.

 

I also watched Spanish T.V. sometimes but often found, when I was first learning, that they speak sooo fast BUT if I put Spanish subtitles on, that did help. I personally like reading better though 🙂

 

So once I worked through the Complete Spanish book, I decided to try harder kids’ books and ordered a few classics. I looked for books I enjoyed in elementary school so they’d be easy but familiar stories. It was actually really fun and nostalgic to read them again as an adult but in Spanish. I think it helped when the book had a movie I knew too so I actually remembered the imagery really well so when it was described in Spanish, I could easily picture it. The first one I read in Spanish was…

 

 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Well, technically it was Charlie y la fábrica de chocolate 🙂 Again, just like I said for the readers, if you click on this cover, it’ll show you the page for this book but down below it, in the “Customers who bought this item also bought” section, you can see if your favorite childhood chapter books are there!

 

 

 

 

If children’s fiction isn’t really your thing, this AWESOME non-fiction series that teaches children about historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and so many more is also available in Spanish!! I REALLY enjoyed these! I found them easy enough to read but challenging, I feel like I picked up a lot of vocabulary, and I actually did learn a lot of new facts about each historical figure. I really recommend these! If you have kids, I recommend the English versions for them – they’re awesome books for kids.

 

Oh, one thing I totally forgot to mention is how important it is TO READ OUT LOUD when you’re first learning. Every single time you read and write in those practice books I recommended, read what the book says out loud. After you write something, read it out loud. Read everything out loud. When you go over your note cards, read out loud. When you read these kids’ books, read out loud. Just like a kid learning how to read in their native language for the first time, you need to read out loud in order to learn and retain. You’ll catch mistakes that way, you’ll work on your pronunciation that way, you’ll retain what you’re learning that way. Trust me, read out loud. 🙂

 

Another thing that I think will help you a lot is to have a really thorough Spanish/English and English/Spanish Dictionary to look up words as you’re reading these books or any time you don’t know a word in general. The practice books are really good about defining words for you and having their own dictionary but sometimes there are words they don’t list or you come across them in your own reading. This may be really nerdy but sometimes when I look up a word, I look at other words on the page to see if any are interesting to write down too.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay so speaking of nerdy… I am a HUGE HP fan so the second that I saw Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal and realized that the series was available in Spanish, I was sooo excited and immediately ordered them all… when I was still working on the Basic Spanish book haha.

I tried to read them anyway and they were definitely waaay above my reading level 🙂 I actually understood what I was reading (probably just from having read the English versions multiple times and from seeing the movies so many times) and really enjoyed diving into the first book again but I am a perfectionist where I want to understand every word I am reading and the book had a lot of verb tenses I didn’t know yet so I decided to put it down and come back to it later.

 

I actually really love having it on my bookshelf because it’s sort of like a goal book. Like that pair of pants that doesn’t fit you because it’s sizes and sizes too small but it’s your goal pair of pants to the weight you want to be. (Am I the only one who tortures myself in that way by keeping way-too-small pants?) I feel like it’s my goal book for where I want to be in fluency.

 

You know what? I’m realizing that I know those verb tenses now from having worked so much in the Complete Spanish book that I bet I could read that book pretty well now… and now all I want to do is wrap up this post so I can go cuddle in bed with it… so that’s precisely what I’m going to do! 😀

 

The moral of that story, though, was to find your favorite book in English and see if it’s available in Spanish! Especially if it’s a beloved series you’ve read multiple times or have seen the movies of. Then, you can already picture the scenes in your head as you’re trying to figure out any Spanish words you don’t know – it makes it so much easier and you pick up so much vocabulary that way! You may not be able to read it yet but it can be your goal book. I know that wanting to read the HP books made me push through learning the more complex verb tenses so I could understand what all the -aba words in the book were (you’ll understand that later lol).

 

I hope this post has been helpful for you! I’m literally off to go try to read that book since I know I actually can now! I’d love to hear from you in the comments anything that’s been helpful for you in learning Spanish that I didn’t mention! If you try any of these suggestions, I’d also love if you came back to let me know how they worked! A lot of people try to learn from apps on their phone but I really think the practice book style of learning is the way to learn all the proper grammar, sentence structure, and truly become fluent. There will be times when a concept is tough and you get frustrated because it just does. not. seem. to. make. sense. especially with how sentences are structured differently. There were times I thought, “I’m just not going to get this.” and for those things, I just pushed through the lesson and practiced but kept going through the next lessons and then eventually it did make sense. Not always in that lesson, sometimes much later, but it did. Things I just didn’t think I was going to ever get (indirect object pronouns, for example) clicked eventually. So keep pushing! You can do this! 🙂

 

Be proud of yourself, too, for taking on such a new skill! I’m proud of teaching myself Spanish and I hope you will be proud of yourself too! It’s a cool thing to take on learning a new language. It gets hard but it’s exciting. I remember the first time I tried to define a word for someone in English that I had just used in Spanish and realized I couldn’t. The word was so much more descriptive and made sense to me only in Spanish. That was a cool moment! I also remember the first time I had thoughts in Spanish. I remember the first time I heard 2 strangers having a conversation in Spanish and I understood all of it. I also remember how excited I was when I read those readers above that are written for little kids. Be excited for those moments! The excitement is what will keep you going through learning all the grammar haha… and I’m still waiting for the day I have a dream in Spanish! Maybe if I fall asleep reading HP in Spanish tonight?? 🙂

 

Okay that’s enough rambling! Go get the Basic Spanish book and get started!! 🙂

 

If you want to pin this post to read later, feel free to use this image below. To pin it, hover over the picture and click the red “Save” button:

How to teach yourself Spanish at home

 

Thanks so much! If you’re a teacher, you may like my other lists so feel free to peek around! 🙂 One of my most popular posts has been my Classroom Management Books Sorted by Behavior which teachers have told me they loved but it’s also a great list of books for parents to teach kids desirable and undesirable behaviors too! I love making lists so I hope you enjoy them!

Chalkboard Classroom Decor and Ideas

July 25, 2017

Chalkboard classroom decor is super trendy right now because, well, it’s cute! I think teachers love it so much because it combines the bright colors of today’s classrooms with the nostalgic black chalkboard look of when you when you think of a traditional classroom of the past.

 

Since it’s such a popular classroom theme, it was easy to find everything you need in this fun style so everything matches! I’ve compiled a big list to help you decorate! Some links are affiliate links which means I make commission from purchases made through the links that I use to upkeep my blog and bring you fun ideas! 🙂

 

 

 

 

First things first, a Welcome Pennant for your bulletin board to welcome your new students!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that pennant would look really cute on a bright neon color background of fadeless bulletin board paper or fabric and cute chalkboard borders like these. I love the shape of them!

 

 

 

 

I’ve also started to love straight edge borders because I love doubling them with the typical wavy edged border which makes a really cute look.

 

 

 

 

These chalkboard bulletin board letters are so cute to go along with it.

 

 

 

 

 

This fadeless chalkboard bulletin board paper is just the cutest to make a chalkboard background for your boards. So important that it’s fadeless, too, since it’s so dark. I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

This awning also matches and is so darn cute. I love the awning trend to really make bulletin boards pop. So fun! Make sure the length is the same as your board though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

These chalkboard magnetic letters are a lot like the above letters but magnets! That makes it really easy to stick on your whiteboard to spell out “MATH” and “READING” or “OBJECTIVES” or even “CALENDAR.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of calendar, this chalkboard calendar set is really adorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Months of the Year poster is cute to add to your calendar area too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a matching Days of the Week poster as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also recommend this Place Value Pocket Chart for your calendar time to count the number of days in school each day as well as practice building other numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a normal 10 pocket chart, this chalkboard pocket chart is really adorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m also obsessed with this black polka dots storage pocket chart which you can use for a lot of different things. Here’s a fun real example of it being used to hold alphabet letter cards:

How to Organize Phonics Pocket Chart Centers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a cute 10 Pocket File Storage Pocket Chart in the theme as well! I love these types of charts for paperclipping copies by day and subject to help me copy ahead and be organized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more organization fun, I like these chalkboard supply labels too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You could also use these chalkboard name tags to make your own labels for buckets and bins or use them to put kids’ names on cubbies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I personally like these name plates for labeling cubbies or desks to have the writing lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also really like this chalkboard birthdays bulletin board set to put all your students’ birthdays up in the classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This classroom jobs set is also great for setting up your system. Here’s a giant list of classroom jobs, too, for ideas of what to have your kids help with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having a job means also following the classroom rules so this rules poser would be cute right next to the job chart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a cute incentive poster to also track behavior or reading or whatever you want to give your kids a sticker for!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a pack of stickers to use for the chart in the theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stickers also fit in these incentive charts you can give to each individual student (to keep themselves or hang on the wall to track something toward a goal or reward).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s also a pack of essential classroom posters in the chalkboard theme you could use instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t use library pockets a lot but I know a ton of teachers do and these are adorable so I wanted to include them. They can make cute, useful displays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These chalkboard stars are great to add to any display to add more style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also like these chalkboard accents to create any type of display you want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also hang inspirational posters around the classroom to keep up your theme with motivating sayings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you really want to go all out, you can change your alphabet to a chalkboard alphabet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s also a chalkboard cursive alphabet if you want cursive writing instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, this chalkboard notes set is too cute to not put on the list! I go through a lot of little notes and this set is adorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another stationary item are these adorable Welcome post cards to send to your students before school starts to ease some nerves. What a cute introduction to your theme as well!

 

 

 

I hope you loved this compilation of chalkboard classroom decor. I also have this for a Superhero Classroom theme and am working on more for more themes. I’ll be adding links to them in my Giant List of Classroom Themes post so keep checking that to see them as I make them!

 

 

Love this? Check out my other popular posts:

Best Classroom Management Books Organized by Behavior

Giant List of Classroom Themes

Giant List of Flexible Seating Ideas

Best Back to School Books

Back to School Books Specifically for Kindergarten

Classroom Must Haves

Reading Must Haves

Math Must Haves

 

 

Hover over this image to find the pin button to save this to Pinterest for later!

Chalkboard Theme Classroom Decor Ideas and Tips compiled into a big list with actual items to show you that you can use to decorate your classroom in an adorable chalkboard theme!

Superhero Classroom Theme Decor and Ideas

July 20, 2017

Superhero classroom theme decor is so much fun! There are so many cute superhero classroom theme items out there to make your room POP! POW! ZOOM!

I’ve compiled a big list of my favorite decor ideas to help you decorate. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I make commission from purchases made through the links that I use to upkeep my blog and bring you fun ideas! 🙂

 

 

 

 

Your students will be so excited to walk into such a fun themed classroom and one way to get them even more excited is to tell them how they are superheroes and give them these super cute pencils and erasers to use on the first day!

 

 

 

 

 

This is a great intro on the first day to explain your behavior or expectations, procedures, and routines including classroom jobs. How cute is this classroom jobs chart?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have a helper of the day, I love the idea of having a cape they can wear all day as your special superhero helper. This cape is a cute cape for children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You could also have capes ready that kids get to wear if they reach the top of the behavior chart – now that’s motivation! This pack has a clip chart you could use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This How to be a Superhero poster is a cute reminder for how you want them to behave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids love getting handwritten notes from their teachers so I love to have little thank you cards to write a quick little note to kids who get to the top of the chart or were especially sweet that day. They’ll LOVE it and can take it home to show their parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even just a little Superhero Sticky Note that says something kind can have your theme… and boy this set is cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you do an Incentive Chart for your students, this one is super fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are also these Incentive Charts for each individual student too if you do that. I love using these for reading goals!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are Superhero Mini Stickers to use with the charts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE Stickers. This Superhero Sticker Roll of 100 stickers is great for putting on graded work or as a treasure chest item they can choose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t have a treasure box already, here’s a Superhero Chest to perfectly match your theme!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want even more superhero storage, this storage box is cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here’s another storage bin option!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think my favorite decor item on this list are these Superhero Paper Lanterns if you’re allowed to hang things from  your ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superhero ABC poster

 

 

 

My other favorite is this set of Superhero Alphabet and Phonics Posters that has all the letters and phonics sounds in 11 different superhero themed backgrounds including this one so you can decorate with whichever you want or even mix and match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a pretty much pre-made word wall where you can just write in your curriculum’s sight words and kids’ names. I recommend laminating them first before you write the words on so you can change them later in case you change grades, sight word lists, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a cute number set for 0 – 31 but I especially love the number poster it comes with for practicing a new number in a bunch of different ways during calendar time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of calendar, I love this Superhero Calendar Set.

Please note that the numbers and months are sold separately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pointer is awesome for pointing during calendar time. I love getting new pointers kids are excited to be teachers with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s another resource you can use for calendar time to study numbers or just a fun themed pocket chart in general. This is a cute blue Superhero 7 Pocket Chart with the cityscape at the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s also this long, red Superhero 10 Pocket File Storage Chart. I have a chart really similar to this that I use to store copies for each subject. I paperclip sets for each day and put them in the folder for that subject. Anything that helps me be more organized, I appreciate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of organization, I love labeling things! These Superhero Name Tags / Labels are so cute for labeling cubbies or buckets of supplies or anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another fun name tag option for the superhero students!

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also put student names on these library pockets too. I don’t use these but I’ve seen other people use them in cute ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I’m obsessed with these pillows – how cute are these?! Love this POP! Pillow perfect for throwing in your reading area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s more but these 2 were my favorite. You can find the Zoom! pillow here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


If you send out postcards to your new students before school starts (I totally recommend doing that by the way – it makes them feel excited or squelch nerves and starts building that rapport right away), then these Welcome to Our Super Class postcards are perfect to introduce your theme.

 

 

 

 


It also helps students feel part of the classroom community to see their names around the classroom as well, as their birthdays, on Meet the Teacher or Open House nights. I recommend having the birthdays from your class list already written on the Superhero Birthday Chart for those nights and add kids who aren’t on it on the spot if you have any new class list members show up. This is one I definitely recommend laminating and using a dry erase marker so you can edit easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another easy way to make them feel welcome is… well, a Welcome Banner 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a ton of cute superhero bulletin board sets and ideas out there so I’ll just share a few since this is SO cute! Have you seen awnings on bulletin boards yet? It looks so cool – definitely measure your board to make sure it fits lengthwise but man oh man, I love this Superhero Awning – so awesome!

 

 

 

 

 

This cityscape bulletin board border goes really well with it!

 

 

 

 

Here’s another really cute superhero bulletin board border I love.

 

 

 

 

Okay, that’s a lot! I hope you’ve gotten a lot of fun decor options and ideas for your superhero themed classroom. Check out my big list of classroom themes if you’re still deciding on a theme. I’m working on more posts like this for other themes that I’ll link there so keep checking that post 🙂

 

Love this? Check out my other popular posts:

Best Classroom Management Books Organized by Behavior

Giant List of Classroom Themes

Giant List of Flexible Seating Ideas

Best Back to School Books

Back to School Books Specifically for Kindergarten

Classroom Must Haves

Reading Must Haves

Math Must Haves

Giant List of Classroom Jobs

 

Hover over this image to find the pin button to save this to Pinterest for later!

Classroom Theme Superhero

Giant List of Classroom Themes

July 20, 2017

Giant List of Classroom Themes! Picking a classroom theme can be hard but decorating for it can be so much fun! Here is a giant list of classroom themes for you to choose from AND some of them have entire pages dedicated to them where I show you fun ideas you can use!

  • Space
  • Ocean / Under the Sea
  • Beach / Tropical
  • Superhero

For a TON of decor ideas, check out: Superhero Classroom Theme Decor Ideas

  • Hollywood / Movies
  • Circus
  • Chalkboard

For a TON of decor ideas, check out: Chalkboard Classroom Theme Decor Ideas

  • Forest / Camping
  • Desert / Cactus / Sunshine
  • Jungle
  • Zoo Animals
  • Farm
  • Animal Prints
  • Cowboys and Cowgirls / Western Theme
  • Sailors / Nautical
  • Space
  • Owls
  • Dogs / Paws
  • Polka Dots
  • Stars
  • Chevron
  • Quatrefoil / Moroccan
  • Rainbow
  • Primary Colors
  • Neon Colors
  • Pirates
  • Monsters
  • Candy / Sweets
  • Board Games
  • Construction
  • Cars
  • Transportation
  • Hot Air Balloons / Kites
  • Robots
  • Bees
  • Black and White
  • Puzzle Pieces
  • Music
  • Art
  • P.E.
  • Library
  • Drama / Theater
  • Computer Lab
  • Science
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Burlap
  • Apples
  • Flowers
  • Sports
  • Baseball
  • Hockey
  • Soccer
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Horses
  • Foxes
  • Cows
  • Subway
  • Crayons
  • Patriotic
  • Smiley Faces
  • Flamingos
  • Pineapples

I hope that gave you some fun new classroom theme ideas! If you know a fun theme I didn’t list, please comment and let me know 🙂

 

If you’re setting up your classroom, check out these FLEXIBLE SEATING IDEAS too! Lots of great ideas for how to incorporate flexible seating into your classroom.

 

These are also some great Back to School books to read to your new class:

Classroom Management Books to Teach Each Behavior Organized By Behavior

Best Back to School Books

Back to School Books Specifically for Kindergarten

 

 

Did you know that Amazon has a ton of ideas for classroom decorations??

Search the name of any theme + classroom theme (for example: Cactus classroom theme).

You can even use this box below!! Change “Cactus” to your theme 🙂

I am an Amazon affiliate so I earn commission on purchases through my links (it’s no extra cost to you but I wanted you to know!). I love looking at cute classroom decor on there!


 

If you want to save this list for later, you can pin it by hovering over either of these images and using the pin button that pops up! 🙂

Giant List of Classroom Themes - I love these classroom decor options and ideas!

 

Classroom Themes Elementary Ideas

How to Market Your TpT Products

January 17, 2017

Want to know how to market your TpT products? I’ve got you covered!

 

Creating teaching resources on TeachersPayTeachers is an amazing creative outlet that I think many of us have craved for so long but it’s one thing to make fun teaching resources and another thing to actually get them out there in front of people to find! I hope this list can help you be successful in your TpT journey! Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a commission for purchases made through them. I only recommend things I love! 🙂

 

So how do you market your TpT resources??

 

1) Marketing on Pinterest

Mastering pinterest is a must! Pin your products regularly. I personally recommend 5-10 a day to get started and work your way up to 20-30 pins a day. You want to try to spread them out throughout the day. How do you pin all day without being on the computer all day?

Tailwind!

 

Try it out free and see if you like it. I personally think Tailwind is AWESOME. It allows you to schedule your pins all in one sitting and then pins them for you at whatever days and times you choose. I can’t believe I ever tried to market without it. I used to get on my computer to pin a couple pins at a time 10-15 times a day… for years. What?! Now I use Tailwind and do it all in one sitting. I’m currently scheduled over FOUR MONTHS in advance and it’s so nice to know that it’s working for me while I focus on what I truly love doing… creating and writing.

 

Tailwind also has a feature called Tribes that can be super helpful. You can join different tribes of other TpT sellers who share their best pins with each other. It’s a great way to get others to pin for you and find great pins from others to share! A lot of collaborative boards have rules where you have to follow ratios (example: you have to post 3 ideas for every product you post) so tribes are a great way to find teaching ideas pins from others to be able to maintain your ratios.

 

My favorite part of Tailwind is actually the analytics it provides too! I love being able to see if my pins on collaborative boards are actually getting repinned. Tailwind has a “Pin Inspector” feature that makes that really easy for me to do. I also use the “Pin Inspector” feature to analyze pins on my own boards. I really love that tool!

 

If you feel lost with Pinterest, you are not alone. There is so much to learn and conflicting information everywhere. Try things, play around with your strategy, and see what works for you!

—

Update: I still use Tailwind, but I do the majority of my pinning using SmarterQueue now and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE SmarterQueue because it loops! IT. LOOPS. What that means is that I only fill in the content once and it continuously loops! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 Love that so much! All of my pinning is automated now and I absolutely love it. If you haven’t tried SmarterQueue for pinning, I recommend doing their free trial to see how you like it!

 

2. Email Newsletter

You may be thinking you don’t have time to write any sort of newsletter or you don’t have people to follow you yet… perfect!

 

Start your newsletter now. I started collecting emails with a little sign up on the side of my other blog for well over a year before I ever sent an email. When I finally felt ready to send something out and like I had something to say, I had an audience built to actually send something to. You don’t want to have something to say and no one to say it to, so start your list now!

 

If you’re in Facebook groups of other TpT sellers, you probably keep hearing people talk about how much they love ConvertKit for their newsletter.

 

I am constantly hearing of people who had other email list providers and switched to ConvertKit, especially recently as word has spread about how much people love ConvertKit, so it’s definitely worth checking out now so you don’t pick another newsletter provider just to do all the work of switching later.

 

There are other options out there too though so check them all out and see which one best fits you and your needs! If you find one you like, search ConvertKit vs. (whatever it is) to compare it and make sure you read several articles from the first page to get a good idea, not just one person’s opinion. Do that with any 2 mail services you’re considering to read about how others with experience with them feel.

 

3. A Blog

Start a blog! If you’re creative enough to create teaching resources, you probably have a lot of other great ideas to share with the world! Even if you only write once every month or two, start one now. Two very popular places to host a blog is either Blogger or WordPress. I plan on writing a post on how to start a blog soon so keep a look out for that!

 

4. Facebook

Start a business Facebook page. Even if you don’t plan on using it much, make sure you claim your business name on all the social media channels before someone else does and so they can slowly grow until you’re ready to start utilizing them. It can be hard to get great reach on Facebook but SO many people in the world use Facebook every single day so it’s worth having for those random posts that explode. I don’t personally but a lot of people also do Facebook ads to expedite the growth of their page and get their posts seen. 🙂

 

If you have a Facebook page already and are just having trouble keeping up with it, consider scheduling your posts. Facebook has a built-in scheduler that you can do all the work manually or you can get one of the amazing scheduling services like SmarterQueue that allows you to save evergreen content for easy recycling to save you time. I love that I can write a post ONCE and they set it to loop indefinitely (in other words, literally never have to do it again). You can write ALL your posts for the entire year and set it to post for you. Then, when it goes through them all, it will loop them all again next year. Aaaamazing!

 

I absolutely love SmarterQueue. It’s so easy to use and, as I said, it loops your posts over and over so you only ever have to set up your posts ONE time. Then it is on an infinite loop! Amazing! It also allows you to put posts into categories and pick the days/times you want each category to post so you get an awesome, perfect mix of the things you share and not a random mix. It and Tailwind are my 2 favorite things for making marketing easy!

 

If you are brave enough to hop in front of the camera, do Facebook Lives from your business page! It’s a great way to share teaching tips and other fun teaching ideas through video. They seem to get a lot of engagement. I find it too scary right now but a lot of people have fun with it!

 

5. Instagram

So many teachers love Instagram and use it daily. It’s such a fun place to share teaching ideas and connect with teachers all over the world. One great thing about IG is that, even if you have very few followers, you can use popular teaching hashtags to reach a lot of teachers. It’s also nice you can use specific ones for your grade level or specific niche if you have one to reach teachers just like you.

 

For example, if you teach kindergarten, look through the #iteachk hashtag. That’s an easy way to find other kindergarten teachers to follow. Once you follow and look at their pages, it’s easy to find other people with similar interests through them as well by interacting in their comments section. 🙂 Same goes for #iteachfirst #iteachsecond #iteachthird etc.! Other really popular hashtags are #teachersfollowteachers and #teachersofinstagram among many others. Just click on the ones other people use to find others… and, of course, tag your own photos with relevant hashtags so they get seen!

You can also schedule your Instagram posts (can you tell I love to automate things?? It makes me feel so organized & on top of my social media when I know things are already scheduled for me) using Tailwind!! Check out Instagram for Tailwind – it’s pretty cool!

 

There are other ways to market your TpT resources that I didn’t cover like Twitter. I don’t know enough about them to speak about them so I’ll leave that to others to do.

 

I hope this list has been helpful for you!! I’d love to hear from you in the comments what social media platform you find best for marketing your teaching resources. When we all learn together, we grow together so I am excited to have shared these tips! Let me know if you have any questions!

 

You may also like this post:

Best Blogging Tools for Teacher Entrepreneurs

If you want to pin this post for later, here is an image for you to pin 🙂

Great tips for how to market your Teachers Pay Teachers Products... a must read for any TpT seller!

Christmas Gifts for Teachers They Actually Want

November 26, 2016

Christmas gifts for teachers – figuring out what to get your child’s teacher can seem stressful. Are you feeling pressure to give your child’s teacher a Pinterest worthy craft that you don’t have time to make? Please, please don’t. They don’t even want it. Trust me! Sure, they’ll appreciate the fact that you thought to give them a gift but they DON’T want another cute mug filled with candy with a clever pun written on a note tied to it. Isn’t that a huge relief??

 

I’ll tell you what teachers really want!

 

I wrote this with the holidays in mind but these gifts can be given ANY time of year when you want to give your child’s teacher a gift – their birthday, teacher appreciation day, end of the year, etc.

 

But first, I have to say: Please NO MUGS! I mean that with love. For some reason teachers get gifted a million mugs – their kitchen cabinets are full of them! Teachers are sentimental, love your child, and appreciate any gift but mugs honestly end up in the next yard sale and the candy/treat inside typically goes in the trash. It’s still totally appreciated, of course, but teachers have so many mugs that they probably truly can’t fit anymore in their cabinets.

 

Other things most teachers don’t want: lotion, hand soaps, candles, fuzzy socks, candy/treats, anything cute but useless from Pinterest

 

So what do you get your child’s teacher?? Here is a list of teacher gifts we actually want!

Just FYI some of these are Amazon affiliate links which means at no extra cost to you, I get a commission for purchases made through the links.

 

1. My #1 recommendation: Flair pens

This is easily my top recommendation. It is such a great gift! I feel like EVERY teacher I’ve ever talked to is obsessed with these specific type of Flair pens. You probably don’t follow teachers on social media but I do and if you ever spend any time browsing, you’ll see teachers are obsessed with these pens! They constantly post pictures of them on Instagram when they buy them and receive many ‘likes’ and heart eye smileys in the comments from other teachers. They’re pure gold in the teaching world – you’ll definitely put a smile on their face if you buy them these.

 

2. Hand written card from you

You’d probably be surprised how much this means to your child’s teacher. Take a moment to include a card that says how much you appreciate them and what they do for their child… they’ll probably cry ugly tears when they read it after the kids have left for the day.

 

3. Expo markers (or other school supplies)

It may seem like a lame gift but it’s not – teachers ALWAYS need more expo markers so they’re much appreciated, especially a big pack of the fun colors like this! Definitely get Expo brand if you buy dry erase markers. Teachers get giddy about school supplies – if they supplied a list at the beginning of the year, definitely look at that to see the items/brands they prefer and see if there’s anything on there that you can restock that might run out like glue sticks. Usually a lot of our supplies are drained by Christmas. A lot of teachers buy pencils, crayons, copy paper, etc. out of their own pockets so they will appreciate these practical gifts much more than a jar filled with candy canes.

 

If your school doesn’t send home a list, other school supplies teachers love (and the brand matters!) are:
– Elmer Glue Sticks
– Astrobrights color paper
– Crayola construction paper
– Scotch scissors for them (they cut a lot of things out by hand so having high quality scissors that are easy on your hands is so nice)
– Mr. Sketch markers
– Ticonderoga pencils (these pre-sharpened ones are great!)

 

Want to really knock it out of the park? This is an AMAZING gift.
Get them a personal laminator and laminating sheets!

This is the one many teachers are obsessed with and it even comes with the sheets it uses! It’s possible they already have one (they’re all the rage in the teaching world) but they won’t mind a 2nd and they’ll definitely appreciate the sheets if so! If they don’t already have one, you will just make their year with this gift. These are very, very loved by teachers! We laminate new activities constantly so it’ll get used A LOT throughout the year to enhance learning for your child. I’m getting excited about it just thinking of a parent getting this for their child’s teacher!

 

4. Anything made by your child

Your child’s teacher spends all day with them – they love them – so anything they write to show them appreciation is cherished. Don’t worry about making some fancy handprint craft or something. It can literally be a scribbled drawing of them and their teacher on a piece of scratch paper that says “I Love You Ms. ___, you are the best teacher!” and it’ll be 1000x more treasured than anything you printed/made that you saw online. Teachers LOVE sweet notes and drawings from their kids. Encourage your child to write a heartfelt note thanking their teacher and why – it’s especially adorable with the littlest of kiddos if they use their own invented spelling – we can read anything, don’t worry. 🙂

 

5. GIFT CARDS!!!

They are not impersonal. If you feel guilty giving a gift card – oh my gosh, don’t! That’s the absolute BEST gift. It’s not any less thoughtful and much more appreciated. You don’t have to include anything with them except maybe a card.. BUT make sure it’s one the teacher will actually use.

 

A great gift is a gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers.
The teacher will think you’re quite hip. Your child’s teacher probably buys a lot of their curriculum off of the site (with their own money) and if they’re one of the rare teachers that doesn’t… well then you just opened up a whole new world to them! It’s a place where teachers create classroom materials and sell them to other teachers and millions of teachers use it to find free and paid materials for their classroom when what the school provides just doesn’t cut it or they just want fun activities designed by other teachers for their students.

 

Another fantastic gift card is directly to Amazon!

You can get anything on Amazon! Many teachers buy books and other things for their classroom on Amazon, as well as things for themselves, so it’s a perfect gift! They have really cute options for holiday packaging that come with the cards too – I love this Santa one!

 

Another great gift card option is Target!
Teachers LOVE Target. Again, if you follow any teacher hashtag for even a second, you’ll see post after post of teachers posting what they got from Target and sometimes hundreds of comments of teachers gawking.

 

A gift card to treat your child’s teacher to a nice dinner is an awesome gift if it’s in your budget. If you do a restaurant gift card, though, try to make sure they actually like that restaurant or pick a restaurant like The Cheesecake Factory that has a ton of menu options. A lot of teachers have stacks of $5 here and $5 there to food places they don’t eat at. Your child might already know what they often get for lunch (from cups on their desk) or you can have your child say to the teacher, “Miss G, what’s your favorite restaurant?” Kids blurt out random questions like that all the time – the teacher might not even notice they’re fishing. Even if they do realize it – oh well, at least you know what they like! 🙂 The amount is totally up to you – I linked a $25 option because I think that’s a wonderful amount but, really, any amount is appreciated! Even $5 to a fast food restaurant is a nice thing to stuff in a card.

 

For some reason teachers get a lot of gift cards for coffee. Maybe people realize how much caffeine is required to wrangle 25 little ones all day? 🙂 A lot of teachers will absolutely love this BUT not all teachers drink coffee so just make sure first! Ask your child if they ever bring Starbucks to class or drink coffee at work.

 

If they do drink coffee, a Starbucks gift card is awesome!

Again, don’t include a coffee thermos or mug with it – just don’t. A gift card is enough. 🙂 This is a set of 4 $10 Starbucks gift cards for all your kids’ teachers and maybe even 1 for you! They have all types of denominations and I love that you can order so many different gift cards from so many places directly from Amazon – it just makes holiday shopping so much easier.

 

 

 

Like I said, please don’t feel pressured to make something cute from Pinterest. Who has time for that? & they don’t even want it… I know I’m repeating myself but seriously, isn’t that such a relief?! 🙂 A pack of colorful flair pens or a small gift card stuffed inside a handwritten card will literally make you the coolest parent around. I hope this list has been helpful for you! Just remember, your kids’ teacher(s) LOVE your kid(s) – gifts are appreciated but not expected so don’t let it stress you out. Anything you give them will be absolutely appreciated, even if it’s just a scribbled love note inside a Christmas card from their student… I just wanted to share with you some things teachers would love to receive! Merry Christmas!

 

Want to pin this to save for later? Feel free to use these!

Christmas gifts for teachers that they actually want! Great list of what to get your child's teacher for the holidays!

Teacher gift ideas your child's teacher will love! No more mugs!! These are great gift ideas to give the teachers you love!

 

You can also hit the little Facebook icon below to share this on your Facebook if you want! I am really hoping to make Christmas gift shopping for teachers much easier for parents! I really enjoyed making this list and I hope you enjoyed it too. Thanks for stopping by!

 

For more lists, check out my Awesome Lists page to see book lists, teacher tools recommendations, and a ton of other lists for teachers such as lists of classroom themes, classroom jobs, and so much more!

Best Halloween Books for October Read Alouds

September 28, 2016

Best Halloween books for October read alouds!

 

Here are some of my favorite Halloween books! I provided the links for you to see them directly on Amazon if you want to check them out – some links are affiliate links which means I get commission if you buy from the links, it’s no extra cost for you but I just wanted to let you know!

 

Room on the Broom is a classic and favorite of many kindergarten and first grade teachers. You can find a ton of fun learning activities to go along with it because of this. It’s a cute story about a witch flying on her broom but she keeps dropping things! Every time she goes to pick up what she dropped, another creature asks if there’s room on her broom to hop on. Her broom finally snaps and a dragon snatches her up. The ending is really cute! I highly recommend this one to read aloud to your kids.

 

 

Halloween Hustle is about a skeleton dancing down the street. It’s one of those books that rhymes in such a fun flowing way that makes it really fun to read. The pictures are fantastic and engaging for young kids. It’s a silly book kids always love to hear read aloud.

 

 

 

 

Mr. and Mrs. Frank N. Stein have a son, Frankie Stein, and are shocked when he looks… normal! They try all sorts of things to make him look and act scary. I love the ending – he practices and practices in his room trying to be scary for his parents and then comes out looking like himself (a normal kid) and his parents are terrified – he’s the scariest in the family! It has a great underlying message about being yourself.

 

 

I actually love Frankie Stein Starts School even more! It has really great pictures. Frankie from the book above starts school and the other kids – vampires, witches, etc. – think he looks funny (because he looks like a normal kid). They aren’t very nice to him because he isn’t scary looking like them. Throughout the day, Frankie does cool and scary things and scares the kids and they end up loving him. It’s a great story to talk about how you should be kind to everyone even when they are different. This is definitely one of my favorite Halloween read alouds!

 

 

Dragon’s Halloween is a great book that has several stories about a silly dragon character. One of the stories he goes into the woods and hears scary growling and gets scared… but it turns out it was just his stomach! The stories are really cute and will have your kids laughing and loving Dragon.

 

 

 

 

Another dragon themed Halloween book I love is Me and My Dragon: Scared of Halloween. A little boy loves doing things with his dragon but his dragon is scared of Halloween so he dresses him up as a bunch of silly things trying to get him excited for Halloween but his costumes don’t work out which make for really funny illustrations. He ends up just being a dragon for Halloween and people are amazed at his “dragon” costume. 🙂

 

Who else needs a costume? A monster! Monster Needs a Costume is another hilarious book about a traditionally scary (but totally not) creature needing to find a Halloween costume. I love reading this one aloud! It’s a silly rhyming non-scary monster book about a monster who needs to find a Halloween costume and tries out a few options. It’s a book that definitely makes kids giggle, especially when he puts on a tutu to be a ballerina!

 

 

 

My Monster Mama Loves Me So isn’t necessarily a Halloween book but it’s about monsters so you can definitely read it in October with your Halloween books. It’s such a cute story about all the way his monster mama takes care of him with super funny plays on words like she goes to all his beastball games and makes sure he brushes his fangs. It flows really well as a read aloud and the pictures are really great. It really is so sweet – it would actually be a great bedtime story too!

 

I also love Fright Club! A group of monsters try to start a fright club but then some cute little critters want to join! The monsters turn them down and say it’s for scary monsters only. The little critters hatch a plan and scare the monsters which helps the monsters realize everyone can be scary and the more the merrier in their club! Not only is this a silly read aloud kids love with fun illustrations but it is a great book to start discussions on why it’s important to include everyone and to not leave anyone out. This is one of my favorites!

 

 

Little Baby Mummy doesn’t want to go to bed so he plays hide and go seek with his Mummy (mom) and, as he looks for her, he runs into a lot of fun Halloween characters that tell him to go to bed while he looks. I love how he runs into a lot of characters who would normally be scary but he’s not scared… until he sees a tiny little mouse. Where’s My Mummy? has great illustrations and it’s such a fun non-scary Halloween book to read aloud.

 

 

 

 

The Spooky Wheels on the Bus is a Halloween version of the famous song. You can sing it to your kids and they will LOVE it! …and probably sing a long 🙂 You can also sing-song read it which is what I do. Such a fun book for Halloween!

 

 

 

If you like singing books, you’ll love Shake Dem Halloween Bones too! I read it in a sing-song-y way but you could definitely sing it if you wanted to. It has a fun repetitiveness to it so be prepared for your kids to sing along with you! This is a favorite of many teachers and kids alike.

 

 

 

It’s also hard not to sing along to The 13 Nights of Halloween too. It is written to the tune of the popular Christmas song as it goes through Halloween things.

 

 

 

 

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat is a must read Halloween book so you can read them for each holiday. Kids just love this series. They’re a lot of fun to read aloud and see what the little old lady eats next. This book is also on my giant list of Best Bats Books where I show all my favorite bats books which are also great October read alouds.

 

 

Another favorite of many teachers and kids is The Hallo-Wiener. It’s about a sweet wiener dog named Oscar that the other dogs at obedience school make fun. His mom makes him a hot dog costume for Halloween, although he’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to wear it, he doesn’t want to hurt his mom’s feelings so he does. The other dogs make fun of him and he can’t keep up with them so he doesn’t get any treats. However, when a monster scares the other dogs, his size that they make fun of is what makes him able to save them. It has a great message about treating others who are different with kindness and not to be cheesy but I love when an underDOG saves the day. 🙂

 

Working Mummies is a fun rhyming book with wonderful illustrations that go through all the jobs mummies (play on the word “mommy”) do like teacher, doctor, waitress, librarian, etc. with fantastic illustrations of Halloween characters like the dentist mummy who replaces vampire teeth. It has so many fun pictures – it’s a great read aloud!

 

 

 

The Littlest Pumpkin at the pumpkin patch has big dreams to be a beautiful jack-o’-lantern but people keep coming to the pumpkin patch and not picking her. All the pumpkins get chosen one by one but her. The patch closes and she’s sad and alone… but after the stand closes, all the mice come out and have a Halloween party and turn her into a Jack-o’-lantern and she’s so happy. Such a sweet story! You can use it to talk about how the other people didn’t pick her because she was small but how she was absolutely the perfect size for the mice. Another book with a great message!

 

 

 

Splat the Cat: What Was That? is a fun one – kids love Splat! Splat the Cat and his friend are trick or treating and they have one house left… the spooky old house! I always love the fun illustrations from the Splat the Cat books!

 

 

 

 

Scaredy Cat, Splat! is another fun Splat the Cat Halloween book to read to your kids!

 

 

 

 

 

If you have kids who love dinosaurs (what kid doesn’t?), they’ll love this cute story, T. Rex Trick-or-Treats! T. Rex wants to be something scary for Halloween. He keeps saying everything isn’t scary enough until he realizes he can just be himself. It’s a fun read aloud! This is also on my Fun Books for Teaching R Blends list! 🙂

 

 

 

 

The Night Before Halloween is a fun book to read the day of Halloween in class (or at home) if you have school that day. There are a lot of books in this series so I like having these in my collection to add a familiar rhyming book to read the night before holidays.

 

 

 

 

Wee Witches’ Halloween is a non-scary book about witches. In fact, they want to be scary and aren’t very good at it. 🙂 I love this simple rhyming book for its detailed pictures and adorable storyline. The young witches go to witch school to learn how to scare but they’re not very scary and even win a costume contest for their “witch costumes.”

 

 

 

Another fun witch book is A Very Brave Witch. All the witches are terrified of humans because they’re different from them. Sweet and funny story about how the brave witch ends up making a human friend and finds out they’re not so scary after all. I absolutely love the sassy kitty character in Alison McGhee books and kids love finding the cat and pointing him out on all the pages.

 

 

Crankenstein looks like a Halloween book so it’d fit in for October read alouds but it’s more of a book about being cranky but it’s fun to read this time of year. Kids love it as a read aloud and it’s good to start a discussion about how to act when you’re cranky. For a HUGE list of books BY behavior for a lot of great classroom discussions, check out my Giant List of Books By Behavior!

 

 

 

Skeleton Meets the Mummy stars Sammy the skeleton. He is so excited to go trick or treating but his mom has him go on an errand to drop off soup to his Grandma Bones first. On the way, he hears spooky noises then he runs into a mummy! All the sound words the author uses makes it really fun to read aloud and the illustrations are cutesy not scary.

 

 

 

 

Monster Mischief is about some monster friends who get together to make monster stew on Halloween but they tip it over by accident! This book has a fun rhyming scheme and is silly like when one of the monsters rips his pants. It’s a fun read aloud to add to your collection if you need more.

 

 

 

 

A Halloween Scare at my House is a fun read rhyming aloud where a lot of monsters come to town to give people a fright! They end up giving the boy the prize for best costume for being a scary kid. 🙂 Kids love this one!

 

 

 

Bad Kitty is one of my favorite children’s book characters so I had to include Bad Kitty Scaredy-Cat! If you don’t have Bad Kitty books for your library, you need to get some ASAP! They are hilarious, kids love them, and it’s hard not to fall in love with the bad kitty! The series has a few great picture books that make great read alouds as well as easy chapter books that are perfect for kids just starting on chapter books.

 

 

 

 

Kids, especially boys, also LOVE Fly Guy so Fly Guy and the Frankenfly is a great book to have in your collection for your boys. As always with Fly Guy books, the illustrations and story are funny and great!

 

 

 

 

I love having all the Froggy books for every holiday so, of course, Froggy’s Halloween is one of them!

 

 

 

 

For your kids who love Click, Clack, Moo, Click, Clack, Boo! is a fun Halloween version about how Farmer Brown doesn’t like the spooky sounds of Halloween but his farm animals have a different plan! They throw a Halloween party in the barn.

 

 

 

 

 

For your girls who love the Pinkalicious books, get Pinkalicious: Pink or Treat for more Pinkalicious fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of little girls also love the Fancy Nancy series so I included Fancy Nancy: Halloween… or Bust! in this list.

 

 

 

 

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this list of my favorite Halloween books! Hopefully you have found some new ones to add to your collection.

 

Don’t forget to check out my Best Bats Books list for more October reading fun!

 

I love children’s books and making lists so I have a lot more book lists coming! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to keep up as well as check back here. 🙂

 

To check out some more of the lists I’ve already made, check out:

Best Back to School Read Alouds

Best Books by Behavior (great for teaching specific behaviors like tattling, sharing, etc.!)

Back to School Books for Kindergarten

Flexible Seating Classroom Options and Ideas

Classroom Must Haves

Reading Must Haves

Math Must Haves

Huge List of Classroom Jobs

How to Organize Classroom Jobs

8 Reasons Why Kids Need Recess

 

Best Halloween Books for October read alouds perfect for kindergarten and first grade - giant list of over 30 favorite Halloween books for kids!

Best Bats Books for First Grade or Kindergarten

September 12, 2016

Best Bats Books for first grade or kindergarten to learn about bats!

 

Here are some of my favorite bats books! I provided the links for you to see them directly on Amazon if you want to check them out – some links are affiliate links which means I get commission if you buy from the links, it’s no extra cost for you but I just wanted to let you know! Bats are one of my favorite science topics because kids love learning about them and there are so many misconceptions that kids find the real facts fascinating!

 

 

I LOVE Home in the Cave – it’s my favorite bats book! It is an adorable fictional book but it’s packed with great bat vocabulary and information! Baby Bat is afraid to leave his cave. One night his mom goes out to hunt for bugs and he apprehensively learns to fly and ends up meeting a lot of other night animals out exploring. It has great illustrations and the way it teaches you so much about bats with a sweet fictional story kids can relate to is just perfect.

 

 

 

 

Hello, Bumblebee Bat is a fantastic book for introducing kids to bats. It has simple text where each page asks the little bumblebee bat a question like what he eats or where he lives and he answers with great information about bats. It’s laid out in a way that makes it a great read aloud or even a book they can try to read themselves. Bumblebee bats are the smallest bats in the world so kids think they’re adorable as well!

 

 

 

 

Bat Jamboree is a really cute counting book about performing bats! Even though it’s a counting book, it’s definitely a book first graders and even second graders would still love to hear read aloud.

 

 

 

 

Bats on Parade is by the same author and so much fun! This book also has a math component but the counting is by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s so it’d be a really great introduction to arrays and multiplication but you could completely skip the concept and just have it be a really fun read aloud for little ones. The illustrations are great and it’s fun to see all the ways the bats participate in the parade!

 

 

 

Fly Guy Presents: Bats is a book kids love that combines fiction and nonfiction. Fly Guy is a classroom favorite so I love seeing them making these books to teach science concepts. Buzz and Fly Guy go to a bat cave at the zoo and learn all about bats. It has great kid-friendly text, fun illustrations, and real photos.

 

 

 

 

If you’re looking for great nonfiction for bats, definitely check out Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats! I think it’s really well written with interesting facts about bats. It’s a little more text heavy than a typical read aloud but the way it is written and the content keeps it engaging!

 

 

 

Bats by Gail Gibbons is another interesting nonfiction book about bats that you most likely have already. I love the way it labels the bats in the book. It’s a great read aloud to teach kids about bats.

 

 

 

 

 

Stellaluna is a classroom classic. It’s a cute story about a baby bat who ends up in a bird nest with baby birds. You can find so many learning activities to go along with this book since it’s a classroom favorite of many teachers.

 

 

 

If you love the baby bat theme, Nightsong is precious. It’s about a baby bat who goes out flying by himself and his mom tells him to use his “good sense” and has beautiful illustrations to show how the little bat learns how to use echolocation from his point of view.

 

 

 

 

Little Bat is also about a baby bat who is going to venture out into the night by himself. All of the animals encourage him each with a piece of advice, typically 1 sentence for the 2 pages. The illustrations are fantastic – I love how they span across both pages and are really engaging.

 

 

 

 

What Is A Bat? is a great nonfiction book with a lot of information about bats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Geographic Readers: Bats is also a great nonfiction book for kids to read about bats. Kids love the real pictures and it’s filled with information.

 

 

 

 

 

Bats: Biggest! Littlest! is another great informational book on bats with engaging real photographs and fun facts laid out in an interesting way. It’s written in a way that gives a lot of information but in a way that kids can easily understand so it’s a great addition to your library, especially for kids to pick up and peruse themselves.

 

 

Bats (Nocturnal Animals) is another book with engaging real photographs to have in your library for kids to pick up and learn about bats.

 

 

 

 

 

Bats – Creatures of the Night has illustrations rather than real photographs but is another nice reader for your 1st or 2nd grade students to read and learn about bats themselves.

 

 

 

 

Biggety Bat: Hot Diggety, It’s Biggety! is a really cute fictional Level 1 Reader that has really cute pictures and a fun rhyme and repetition so kids will enjoy reading it themselves. It’s about an adorable bat named Biggety who sees that all the other animals have friends and he wants friends too.

 

 

 

 

Bats Around the Clock is another fun rhyming book starring dancing bats that also incorporates time to the hour. You could easily ignore the math concept and just use it as a fun read aloud OR use it to introduce telling time to the hour. It’d be an easy and fun way to incorporate math into your science and reading.

 

 

 

 

Bats at the Library is one of several books in a series by Brian Lies that shows bats having a lot of fun in different places! They’re great read alouds! I love the illustrations and the rhyming makes them so much fun to read aloud. The bats go into the library in the middle of the night and have a lot of fun reading books and playing games in the library.

 

 

He also has Bats at the Beach which features great illustrations and rhyming text This is the one I like the most in the series! I love that the bats use moon-tan lotion and roast bug-mallows. It shows all the games and activities the bats play at the beach – they even surf! I just love this one for reading aloud.

 

 

 

 

In Bats in the Band, the bats all play instruments and play a concert.

 

 

 

In Bats at the Ballgame, the bats all go to see their favorite bat baseball players play a game.

 

 

 

 

Magic School Bus Going Batty is one of my favorites because I love using Magic School Bus videos and books for teaching science topics. Kids love the adventures of Ms. Frizzle and her class. In this one, the bus grows bat wings, the class turns into bats, and Ralphie is convinced Ms. Frizzle is a vampire. This book throws in a ton of learning about bats so it’s a great book to read to teach about bats while enjoying an exciting fictional story. Kids love this one!

 

 

Another kid favorite is There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat! I absolutely love reading the books in this series aloud to kids – they just love the things the old lady swallows and the repetitive rhymes. There are books like this for so many different holidays and kids just eat them up. This one has a Halloween theme with some of the other things she swallows so it is also on my giant list of Best Halloween Books for October Read Alouds!

 

 

 

Ms. Bitsy Bat’s Kindergarten is about a class of animal kids who love their teacher Mr. Fox but find out they’re getting a new teacher. The kids start to worry about all the things their new teacher might not do but Ms. Bitsy Bat becomes their teacher and does all the things they worried she wouldn’t. It’s a sweet story and kids can easily relate to the fears of what your new teacher would be like. It’d actually be a great back to school read aloud! Make sure you check out my Favorite Back to School Books list and Back to School Books for Kindergarten list if you want more back to school book ideas. I also have a list of books BY behavior that are great reads for back to school or any time of the year to address specific behavior issues like tattling, worrying, interrupting, etc.

 

Baby Bat’s Lullaby is a sweet book with beautiful illustrations for a younger crowd. It’d be a sweet bedtime story for younger kids (preschool age) who love bats. The mom lovingly describes her baby bat as she lulls him to sleep. I just adore the pictures in this one so I had to include it.

 

 

 

 

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this list of my favorite books about bats! Hopefully you have found some new ones to add to your collection. I love children’s books and making lists so I have a lot more book lists coming! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to keep up as well as check back here. 🙂

 

If you need more great October read alouds, check out:

Best Halloween Books

 

To check out some more of the lists I’ve already made, check out:

Best Back to School Read Alouds

Best Books by Behavior (great for teaching specific behaviors like tattling, sharing, etc.!)

Back to School Books for Kindergarten

Flexible Seating Classroom Options and Ideas

Classroom Must Haves

Reading Must Haves

Math Must Haves

Huge List of Classroom Jobs

How to Organize Classroom Jobs

 

8 Reasons Why Kids Need Recess

 

Please feel free to pin this to save this list to read later!

Favorite Books about Bats for Kindergarten or First Grade

Best Blogging Tools for Teacher Entrepreneurs

August 31, 2016

Here is a list of the best blogging tools for teacher entrepreneurs, or really any person working from home to build their business!

 

These past few years have seen a huge rise in the teacher entrepreneur! So many people in the education field are starting their own businesses: blogging fun and creative teaching ideas, creating educational materials for TeachersPayTeachers, and all sorts of things. If you were born to be a teacher, you were probably also born to be an entrepreneur. You probably have great management and organizational skills, you’re creative and positive, you’re self-directed… you possess all of the skills necessary to be a successful business owner… so now you need some tools!

 

I compiled this list of what I think are the best blogging tools or must have items for your home based business that I personally love. This list could really apply to anyone who works from home so if you’re a photographer, blogger in another niche, or any sort of entrepreneur – I think you’ll still find this list helpful! I provided the links for you to see the tools I recommend directly on Amazon – some links are affiliate links which means I get commission if you buy from the links, it’s no extra cost for you but I just wanted to let you know! 🙂

 

My absolute favorite thing I’ve purchased is my vertical mouse. I didn’t even know these existed until I was getting a lot of pain in my wrist and lower arm and was researching solutions. I tried carpal tunnel exercises and resting but nothing really worked… until I found this mouse! The first couple times I tried it, I didn’t like it and thought it was too big for my hand. Now I don’t think I’d use the computer without it. It glides really easily, is super easy to use, and I have no wrist pain anymore! When I tried my old mouse or try to use my laptop’s pad, my wrist pain comes back immediately so I know this mouse was worth every penny.

 

Another thing I can’t recommend enough is a quality office chair. Do not, I repeat do not, sit on your couch hunched over for hours. You don’t have to work in an office – roll your chair into the living room in front of the T.V. so you can still watch your favorites. This is the chair I have and love but I highly recommend you go in person to an office store and try them out to find the one that fits you perfectly. Make sure it gives you lumbar support, is adjustable to fit you perfectly, and has you sitting straight up and down. I used to always work on the couch with my laptop and my back/neck hurt all the time.

 

Another creative option is this Gaiam Balance Ball Chair. They’re supposed to be great for your back! I don’t personally have one but I have friends who love theirs. All the secretaries at my doctor’s office also rave about theirs. I am really thinking of getting one soon! They have fun colors to choose from in the adult sizes and kids love them for flexible seating (I have a huge post of flexible seating options and ideas for the classroom) so why not us too? 🙂

 

Edit: I do own one now and I love it! It really makes me feel like I am sitting up straight!

 

I actually try not to sit that often when I am working on my computer. I often put my laptop on a plastic storage bin on a dresser (I’m super fancy) to create a makeshift standing desk. I also have a treadmill desk and bike desk that I LOVE. I vary my position all the time so I stay active. Sitting isn’t healthy so I try to do as little of it as possible despite how much time I spend on the computer.

 

I am OBSESSED with my treadmill desk. I have had the LifeSpan TR1200-DT5 for several years now and I love it just as much as the day I got it. I am not that coordinated so I was hesitant but I got used to it immediately. I usually walk at a low speed and check emails, do my pinning, check social media, write blog posts, or whatever else I need to do! I love the huge desk it has – there is plenty of room for my computer, mouse, and a lot of room to spread out all the papers I’m using doing whatever I’m doing. The treadmill desk does take up a bit of room but it’s so worth it to me. I have mine in the corner of the family room so I can walk, work on the computer, and watch T.V. at the same time.

 

I also have a bike desk! Not going to lie, sometimes I just feel like sitting. When I just want to sit, I sit on the bike desk. Sometimes I barely move my legs so it’s just a little movement and other times I super-peddle while working – I like that I can choose the intensity by just peddling or not. It’s really nice to have options! I actually find myself peddling really fast sometimes not thinking about it and being winded! So I like that it provides exercise too!

 

 

Another must have is a quality color printer. I have had my Brother wireless printer for a few years now and I love it. It prints beautiful color so I really love it for printing centers and color activities!

 

 

 

Something I just recently got that I’m obsessed with right now is my electric hole punch! True story: I hate 3 hole punching things and was in an office store the other day and saw one of these. I didn’t know they existed! So naturally I went to Amazon to find it cheaper 🙂 and read reviews. This is the one I ended up with and I love it so far. I have already made so many binders worth of things with it because hole punching is so quick and easy now.

 

 

If you’re working on your computer all day, you need a good one! The most important thing to me was speed and battery life so I did a lot of research and tried a lot in store. I couldn’t find my exact one because I think it’s an older model but this Lenovo ThinkPad is really close to it! I absolutely LOVE the touch screen. I didn’t think I’d use it but I find myself using it all the time. I don’t use the folding up option much because I’m not a tablet person but I’m sure other people do. I just love the battery life on it because I used to be a Mac user and it was really hard to find a PC that compared in battery life! This is my 2nd Lenovo though and I really like this brand. I also really like the keyboard on this particular computer – it’s nice to type on and, well I blog, so I do a lot of typing! 🙂 It’s also SUPER portable. It’s so small and lightweight compared to my laptop before it. It’s been great to take on trips – I can use it in the car, in hotels, and also easily on airplane tray tables.  What type of computer do you use?

 

If you take pictures of your products or pictures for your blog, you also need a digital camera! It’s okay if you can only afford a point and shoot for right now – they can still take amazing pictures and are easy to use. When you’re ready to get a DSLR, I recommend Canon. I have a Canon Rebel T5i and it takes really, really beautiful pictures.

 

 

Okay so this one is a little embarrassing but if your eyes ever hurt or feel strained from working on the computer, Gunnar Optiks glasses are great! My eye doctor actually recommended them because I was getting eye pain from working on the computer all night (anyone relate?!) so I wear them when I am working on the computer at night to filter out the glare. My husband may or may not make fun of me for looking a little goofy. 🙂

 

 

Last but not least, BACK UP YOUR STUFF. Definitely get some sort of back up to back up all of your files. You work so hard on all your creations, blog posts, whatever… make sure you back them up. I use a Seagate External Hard Drive but also back up by putting my things on more than 1 computer and on flash drives. I back up the back ups of my back ups. 🙂

 

 

 

I hope this post was helpful for you! These are some of my favorite tools that I use for blogging and building my business. I’d love to hear in the comments if you use any of these too or what other things I should know about!

 

As you may have guessed by the name of this site, I LOVE making lists. Check out some of my other fun lists:

How to Market Your TpT Products

Classroom Must Haves

Reading Must Haves

Math Must Haves

Best Back to School Read Alouds

Back to School Books Specifically for Kindergarten

Best Books by Behavior (great for teaching specific behaviors like tattling, sharing, etc.!)

Huge List of Classroom Jobs

How to Organize Classroom Jobs

Teaching Interview Questions

8 Reasons Why Kids Need Recess

 

Feel free to pin this to read later!

Best Blogging Tools for Teacher Entrepreneurs