Top Ten Resources to Try in 2017

Getting together with some friends to offer a #bestof2016sale for a couple of days, so I decided to look at which resources were the top sellers at Rainbow City Learning in 2016. I hope you'll click on some of the covers below to try in 2017! Some of them may even be on sale!

Take a look at what other teachers are saying about each of these classroom tested and kid-approved resources, all designed to make your teaching day easier, more relevant and fun, on right on target for meeting the standards! 

All you need to get your class or school maker space started and to keep it in use throughout the year! Rated by teachers as "simply genius", "all you need", and "gorgeous resource with fantastic lessons"! This was the first ever Maker Space kit on TpT and is still the best way to roll out the maker movement for elementary students!

Dreaming of a new way to add some fun and whimsy to your classroom Maker Space or to your elementary science classroom? Storybook STEAM invites students to think about their favorite classic storybook tales in a new and stimulating way.

One teacher says this is an "incredible resource... All the planning has been done, all I need to do is to plan the time out. I am so excited to use this for Friday STEM activities. Now, I don't have to work as hard to get things together." 

Another adds: "As always, Rainbow City Learning has hit it out of the park! I cannot get enough of these activities and neither can my students!"

Best of all: This bundle is still growing, so a purchase today ensures more storybook activities to come!

Gratitude SCOOT provides a fun and motivating way for your students to reflect on all they have to be grateful for. It’s a great activity as we enter the Thanksgiving and winter holiday season, and great for encouraging an attitude of gratitude at any time of year.

Teachers report that kids really enjoy this SCOOT game, and that it's perfect for a focus on gratitude any time of the year!

This resource provides some basic ideas for getting started on a Maker Space project. There are three levels of task cards here: The blue level is for your independent learners, the true geniuses of “genius hour”. In this level, students receive a task that names only the sector of society that might benefit from the project. 

All else is open-ended. The green level defines a problem for the student or group to solve. The purple level provides a scaffold for those who need more direction and suggestions.

Backs of cards are included here as well as grayscale versions of all the cards. Three pages of blank cards are also included in case you want to add some tasks of your own!

Teachers say these are great for early finishers or to get a maker space off to a great start!

Help your classroom community to handle stress, breathe easier, and work at the same time! Posters for poses, breath, and motivation!

From a satisfied teacher:  "Just what I was looking for! Complete, thorough, and relevant to the needs of my students. Also, the pictures on each page were exactly what the kids needed to understand the task. Excellent!"

This resource for Close Reading in Math was the first ever on TpT. I developed it specifically to help a struggling student deal with the standardized math tests and the longer story problems found there. Close reading in math helps all of our students to make sense of the problem and develop a blueprint for their work. 

The pages in this resource will work with any multi-paragraph word problems. 

Teachers love the scaffolding of graphic organizers and the rubric. From a teacher who uses this resource: "FINALLY! Some close read skills and strategies for our math teachers to use with students! Thank you so much - great resource!!"

In addition to the great graphic organizers and rubric found in my other close read resources, this one includes a clear explanation of what narrative nonfiction is and how it differs from expository nonfiction, along with a suggested book list for upper elementary students of narrative nonfiction (also suitable for read-alouds).

Teachers have called this resource "awesome" and "great", and also note that it is just what is needed when approaching lessons on narrative nonfiction.

Close reading of science texts and articles will help students become more knowledgeable thinkers in science class.

The pages in this resource will work with any science text or science article in the news that your students need to read as part of their coursework. They may also become more confident test takers!

One teacher says: "Thanks for developing a way to read difficult science articles with my students. This works great with our science book for Sun, Moon and Stars." 

Another says, "These will be a great way to introduce close reading in my science class this year. I appreciate the scaffolded reading notes as well...leads to independence. Thanks!"

Electricity SCOOT” is a fun and motivating way to review Science concepts about electric energy and circuits. The concepts covered in this SCOOT game are now part of the Next Generation Science Standards focusing on Energy for Grades 3 and 4. The responses can be used as a formative assessment, or just a review before the test. 

A copy of the answer key also can serve as a study guide for the test!

Teachers agree that this a fun way to review electricity, and some choose to use it as is for their unit assessment!

Growth Mindset SCOOT provides a fun and motivating way for your students to reflect on the ways in which they react to new learning opportunities and challenges. It’s a great activity at the beginning of the year, as new units are introduced, or as a reflection at the end of the year. The questions on these cards are also perfect to use for brain break discussions, as writing prompts or prompts for a growth mindset journal.

Heather recently said, "My kids loved it and can't wait to do it again. The questions can also be used as discussion prompts or exit slips!"

Hope you've gotten a few ideas for getting 2017 off to great start in your classroom. Be sure to look for a few of these to be specially priced between now and Jan 1!

Happiest of new years, teachers!

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Kids Giving Back

For many years, along with my class, I adopted a local family at Christmas time who was struggling to make ends meet. We would have a fundraising day which was built around displaying project work we had completed, and would serve breakfast and lunch while entertaining parents, friends, and school and community members in exchange for money to spend on clothing, gifts, and even paying an electric bill for the family we had adopted.

It was never hard to find a family in need, especially during the holiday season. We got referrals from a local social service agency, or sometimes we were alerted to the needs of a family in our midst by a caring friend. The family always remained anonymous, and the gifts were delivered by someone who represented us. My students have brought holiday joy and relief to many homes over the years. The gratitude, love, and warmth they received in return was priceless.

I have continued this practice during my recent retirement, and this year I am reaching out to help a five year old girl who is living with her disabled grandmother.  She needs so many of the basics: shoes, socks, boots and a jacket for the winter besides a few toys and books to brighten her Christmas. As a grandma myself, their story has touched my heart. It's still so very true that we need never look very far to find someone who could use a little help.

As I prepared for retirement a few years ago (Please come and take ALL my stuff!), a few of my teaching friends added to the list of ideas that they hoped I would have written down somewhere for others to follow in years to come. The Adopt a Family project was on that list. In this post, I hope to share some ideas with you on how to launch an Adopt a Family project in your classroom. Try it for a group Act of Kindness this month, or tuck it away for next year's holiday season!

Getting Started

Always a great believer in integrated and project based learning, I notice that it is coming back! I couldn't be happier about that, and this project can so easily be a part of subject integration. This will help you to "buy" time to work on your community service project with your kids. My students worked on a group project for display and an individual folk tale for am oral presentation.

As an example, at the time of year that we were working on our project (The Rainbow City Cafe), we were studying biomes, folk tales, sequence, and storytelling. Students had worked in groups on a project asking them to design, build, and set up for display a tourist spot in a particular biome, including a hotel, restaurant, leisure activities (including one involving math), a website, and an advertising brochure. Hmmm...Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. That's STEAM, and we were STEAMin' long before STEAM was cool! 

I taught in a very multicultural school , and several of my students each year could read and speak in a language other than English. Each student could choose to prepare a folktale for storytelling in English or in their first (or second) language. If the second language was their choice, they also needed to prepare a short summary in English for our guests. 

Setting the Stage for Giving Back

We discussed the meaning of the holiday season, had presented the various holidays celebrated by families in our community, and thought about what people who may not have been able to afford the trimmings of a holiday celebration might be feeling. We had a community organization where families in need could sign up for some help with the holidays, and in most years got a family referral from that agency with first names and lists of items on their wish lists. One year, a principal whose school was in a lower socio-economic area contacted me with a list for a family in his school community who had asked him for help. Churches, temples, and synagogues also often have such lists. 

The discussion of our service project moved quickly from my own discussion with the class to our "Town Meeting", run by our class Mayor and City Council. From that point on, each year's project looked a little different, based on the input of our Rainbow City citizens (our mini-society name for our class). 

I would print a list of items requested for our adopted family, using only labels like Mom (size 10), Dad (size L), Boy, 10 years old (size 14), Girl 6 years old (Size 6X), etc. I would also list household items or foods requested and add that cash donations would be accepted for help in paying utility bills. Parents would receive that list, along with a note telling what we were up to, and asking for volunteers to support us in our efforts.

Volunteers can also come from your local high school or house of worship, where teenagers often sign up to work on service projects. This whole project can be run without volunteers, but they sure make it easier and even more fun! I would usually donate the foods that we would serve for breakfast/lunch, and also the paper and plastic serving goods required. Parents can certainly be asked to donate those as well though. Try setting up a "Signup Genius" online to make the gathering of supplies and volunteers more streamlined.

The meals we would serve to our guests ranged from fancier to very simple. One year, a team of parents brought electric griddles and served a pancake and french toast breakfast and others had pizza sent in for the lunch guests. Other years, breakfast was bagels and cream cheese, and lunch was hot dogs served from a CrockPot slow cooker. Easy-peasy! 
Drinks were apple and orange juice in the morning and lemonade and Kool Aid in the afternoon.

Our plan was that each group of guests would spend one hour in our room, eating for twenty minutes, listening to our storytelling for twenty, and then touring our project displays. Students served as greeters who would welcome our guests and take their donations, servers who would bring their food, entertainers who would tell their stories, and tour guides who would show the displays and answer questions about them. Each student also had one free hour during which they could eat and listen to stories, and then assist where needed. Students with diabetes or other special diet related needs would have that consideration built into their schedule. 

Announcing the Event

I created an invitation to be sent home and also to be sent to our school board, central office folks, our school staff, and the staffs of other buildings. I was surprised the first year when the superintendent and assistant superintendent showed up, along with other central office staff. After that, I just came to expect their participation! Other teachers found time in their busy day to have lunch with us, or breakfast during their prep period. We were thrilled to welcome grandparents, aunts and uncles, and neighbors as well!

To make this part of the plan easy for you, I have created a Google Slide resource with editable text boxes for your invitation, rsvp, and teacher and kid schedules. Of course you won't be calling your project "Rainbow City Cafe" (although you are welcome to call it that, if you'd like!), so every part of these slides is editable. Change fonts, words, times, and add and subtract as you wish! Only the backgrounds are locked down. Thanks to Kelly Workman and Paula Kim for those backgrounds! You can get that document by clicking on the graphic below, and then clicking on "make a copy".

Scheduling and Operation 

Our school day started at 8:15, so we planned the arrival time at 9 am for our first guests. Five sessions were scheduled, and we welcomed about 20 guests per session. The guests sat at our student tables with student chairs. Students of course were way too busy to be in their seats! 

Four to six students (depending on class size) were assigned to each job for each session. Each student wore their Rainbow City shirt and a badge holder around their neck showing their own schedule. Student roles were: Greeter, Server, Entertainer, Tour Guide, and Off Duty. I did this project in different years with third, fourth, and fifth grade students. All of those grade levels performed beautifully and independently in these roles, including Special Ed inclusion students from Basic classrooms and EI rooms. Kids wanted to pitch in and help, and it just all came together every time!

Food was prepared in a corner of our classroom or in the teacher's workroom when possible. Most years, we made sure it was very simple and foolproof. Parents and my hubby picked up the food orders from the bakery, grocery, or pizza restaurant. All food was handled with food service gloves and great attention to hygiene. 

Wrapping and Delivery

The day after the Cafe was when the wrapping fun began! Every gift was wrapped by students. Cards were made, decorated, and signed (first names only), and gifts were tagged. Cash and gift cards received the same wrapping attention as clothes and toys. 

Parents volunteered to deliver the packages. If no volunteers were available, I delivered them myself. Drop off was usually at the community agency sponsoring our project, but several times, I was asked to drop off the gifts myself or with the principal from our adopted family's school. Those memories are held in my heart to this day. It really makes you appreciate all you have, and realize that hard times can fall upon any of us. 

What You Receive 

Aside from the beautiful thank you letters and cards to share with your students and their families each year, the magic that comes back to you is immeasurable. You and your students will share the memories and inspiration for other acts of charity and kindness for many years to come. You will have met your curricular goals in an authentic way. Your students will see that they are empowered, they are needed in this world, and that they can make a life changing difference for others. I hope you'll give this idea a try, and I wish you an amazing, joyful year ahead!

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A Celebration of Values

Happy Holidays! I wish you the happiest of celebrations this season, no matter what holiday you celebrate. If I know for sure that you celebrate Christmas, of course I will greet you with "Merry Christmas!" The same for "Happy Chanukah!" if I know that to be your holiday. I also find it easiest to answer in the way I am greeted, whether the greeting fits my own celebration or not. If someone greets me with, "Joyous Jellybean Day!", I will be sure to answer, "Thank you, and a Joyous Jellybean Day to you too!"

For me, the celebrations at this time of the year are all about the values they instill in our hearts, not about the specific names or even specific religious practices. As a teacher of mostly diverse populations over the years, I have loved learning about the diverse celebrations that occur at this time of the year. The similarities have always amazed me. For one, the presence of candles in the rituals associated with so many of our winter holiday celebrations. Candles can symbolize so many different things, but they all succeed at bringing light and love into our hearts. Each of the winter holidays we have studied in Rainbow City also comes complete with lifelong values tidily wrapped up to reaffirm during the holiday season.

And so, as we sing, wrap, greet, feast, and otherwise make merry during these winter months, it's also a great time to address values education with our children. What do we stand for? What's most important to us? What really lies beneath the shiny ribbons and glorious boxes?  Unless we teach in a religious school, we probably shouldn't be teaching religion at any time of the year. But values? Solid, character-building values? Of course we can address those!

In my opinion, Kwanzaa is a perfect holiday to address values that many of us hold dear already. This year, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and Chanukah all converge during the same week. Chanukah -
December 24-January 1, Kwanzaa - December 26-January 1, Christmas - December 24-25. I view this convergence as a sign that it just may be the perfect year to get a Kwanzaa celebration going in all of our homes and classrooms.

If you prefer not to put a label of a specific holiday on your celebration of values this year, it will still work. Who could argue with celebration of unity in your classroom community? Or a celebration of the creativity that dwells within each of us? Responsibility? Self-determination? Purpose? Of course! All of these are so connected to what we try to instill in students every day in every lesson!

You might want to start by introducing a value each day (or each week) in your Morning Meeting discussion. Or start with journals. Start somewhere this year, and build on it next year. I have blogged about this before, but a favorite activity I'm my classroom for years was a carousel of holidays, where we shared the values, foods, and fun of each of our own special holidays. Here's a post you may be interested in:

For an actual Kwanzaa celebration or lesson, you might like this bundle I've put together for you!

Studying Christmas around the world may be fun and enriching for a homogenous classroom, where all families celebrate Christmas. (Are you sure that EVERYONE in your class celebrates Christmas? Have you asked?) Even if you're positive that you stand before a truly homogenous Christian class, taking a look at the values and celebrations of others can't hurt, and may be enlightening! 

Wishing you all the peace and joy that you seek in this holiday season!

For more great December teaching ideas, be sure to check out these Teacher Talk bloggers!

An InLinkz Link-up

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TpT Cyber Sale

Teachers, it's time for TpT's huge Cyber Sale!  Our sitewide sale starts at midnight EST tonight, (Nov. 27), and ends at midnight EST on Nov. 29. Rainbow City Learning will be offering every resource, including huge already discounted bundles, at a savings of 20%! To save even more, add the code CYBER2016 when you check out!
The resources listed below are some of my most popular, and the ones with the highest number of wishlist saves. Take a look at what other teachers are saying about each of these classroom tested and kid-approved resources, all designed to make your teaching day easier, more relevant and fun, on right on target for meeting the standards! Be sure to enter my giveaway at the end of this post to win a $10.00 TpT gift certificate, just to add to the fun of this major shopping event. Fill your cart now and checkout when the sale begins! 
Happy Shopping!

The most frequently wish listed and all-time best-selling resource in Rainbow City Learning is MATH CLOSE READS. I created this resource to help my own students who were flying through the standardized math tests without paying attention to the story problems. The graphic organizers I designed helped my students to slow down and read the problems more closely. 
With frequent close reading of problems in class and as homework, students will develop the habit of looking for data, questions, and extra information as they are tested on their ability to solve story problems correctly. 
I've also been told that this resource is a great tutoring and differentiation tool! Don't pass up the opportunity to save on this popular resource!

The second most popular wishlist item is my ROCK STAR STUDENTS reward card system. Who doesn't like to hear, "YOU ROCK!"? And what if that statement could be connected  to important behavioral goals such as Responsibility, Ownership of work and behaviors, Cooperation, and more? Easy to use and meaningful for students!The third most wishlisted item is my huge MAKER SPACE bundle! Already discounted, you can save even more by snapping this one up during the sale! If you've been thinking about getting a Maker Space started in your classroom or school, this kit contains all you will need to begin while looking like you've been doing this for years!

I hope you'll drop by Rainbow City Learning today and fill your shopping cart with resources to use throughout the year! Please remember that all comments on this blog are reviewed before they appear here. If you don't see your comment right away, please wait a few hours. You will see it, I promise!

Before you start shopping, enter this rafflecopter to win a $10.00 gift certificate! Shopping tip: buy half of your cart, leave great feedback on the items you purchased, and then use the points to save even more on the rest of your order. Exactly what I'll be doing tomorrow! Happy shopping!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The Post Election Classroom

It's over. Our country is reeling from the outcome. Many are celebrating and hoping for great things. Many are plunged into the depths of despair and afraid of what is yet to come. We are in a unique group as teachers. We are all in the same boat - the boat we steer every day - the boat we call a classroom. We still need to face groups of children every day, putting our own views and needs on the back burner. For the school day, we are on stage, and our role is perhaps the most important one ever to be played. The children are witness to history that is happening all around them. What we say and do in the upcoming days is crucial. We have power to shape the world view of our students for years to come.

Our current situation as Americans is so much more than whether our candidate or political party won. People are firmly embedded in one camp or the other in ways we've never seen before. Children are absorbing all that is happening around them. And when they arrive in our classrooms, they are interested in our stance and waiting for our words. In my opinion, it has never been more important to put on a neutral face and to try to love the children through it all. 

Something that has always been very therapeutic for me is letter writing. As an under-challenged elementary student, I often finished my work way early and wrote long letters to friends and family about the book I was reading or how I was feeling in a very boring learning situation. I even wrote some to my teachers and never handed them over. Probably should have because I'm sure they were happy with my learning and progress. I was a quiet little thing and never caused them any trouble. 

As an almost grownup, I wrote letters to my sweetheart in the army. I filled them with love and sealed them with sealing wax. As a young newlywed, I wrote a letter to my mother-in-law once on how her bad behavior was hurting her son and me. Probably never should have mailed that one. Sigh.

I wrote letters to my children from the tooth fairy, and long letters when they were away at camp.

I currently write letters to various people and institutions for various reasons. I always find  the writing itself to be a release and a way to get my emotions back on track. Some get sent and many get shredded. To me, the writing is more important than the sending. It's a personal preference. I try to avoid conflict when I can. This not to say that I stay silent on important issues. I sign petitions and join causes that are  meaningful to me. In college, I marched and sat in. I have always stood up and spoken out against injustice.

Yet in my classroom, I have different goals. It's not a political platform; rather a nursery to grow and nurture young minds. Give them a good start and solid knowledge base. Teach them to think critically and to honor their own thoughts and feelings. It's no secret that I've been retired for two years. A week never goes by that does not find me volunteering in some way in a local school or two though. I love staying in touch with former students and with young neighborhood friends. I can clearly see that our young people are looking for a way of making sense of what is happening in our country and are dealing with some complicated feelings. We often have no idea of what they are hearing and facing at home.

As my small contribution to classrooms this week, I have created a free resource to help kids and teachers in dealing with the current unrest. It's letter writing. Letter writing to our outgoing President. Letter writing to the President Elect and also to Secretary Clinton. Letter writing to parents, teachers, or anyone. I offer some template letters and some further topic suggestions. I offer this in color and grayscale to help with printing. Printing isn't even necessary. Project on your  board and let the kids write their own. 

If you do download and use, I ask that you do not use these letters for assessment in any way. Honor your students' feelings by offering class time for this activity. Allow them to send or dispose of the letters in any way they choose. Show that you respect who they are inside and what they need. 

I also would really appreciate some positive feedback left on the product download page to let me and other teachers know how you used this resource and if it has been helpful. What you think is important to me.

Wishing you peace and healing in the days ahead. 

For more November Teacher Talk, be sure to visit these great blogs! 

An InLinkz Link-up

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Stand for Something

The debates are over, and Election Day is around the corner.  On the friendship front, I'm proud to say that I haven't unfriended anyone on Facebook yet because of ridiculous political statements that I may or may not agree with. No family members have been asked to resign as my relatives either. I've heard though that differences in political opinions have caused quite an uproar for many other people. I generally like to  view people as who they are deep inside rather than as a shallow picture of their political viewpoint. If you're my friend, I tend to watch what you do in real life rather than listen so much to what you post on social media. Likewise with the candidates. I've been watching both for years. I know. Whatever they say during the debates is kinda like reality TV for me - entertaining, but not really real.

Here's what concerns me, teachers. Lots of people are talking about the election and about one candidate or the other not in a very kind manner. And count on this: the children are listening. They are like sponges, soaking up everything they hear. Even when you would swear they aren't paying attention. They might miss hearing how to divide fractions, but they will not miss one word of their families' discussions about the candidates. And then...all that information and misinformation shows up in your classroom.

There's a great old country song by Aaron Tippin (1991) that really says it all. If you don't have strong values of your own, others can very easily fill that void inside you with whatever nonsense or harm they're pushing. "You've got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything." You have a lot of power right now in the lives of your students. Power to help them find what's really important to them, power to show them how they have a choice when issues are presented to them, and power to help them see that their opinions matter. There's a great video on You Tube where Aaron Tippin is singing to his son about the need to stand for something and not to back down, and it later shows the boy making a great decision to back away from "stranger danger". You might want to share it with your students. You've Got to Stand for Something

I can pretty much guarantee that your students' families are discussing the debates now. I'd love to share a couple of ideas with you that I used in my classroom for many election years and in non election years too. It's a kind of fun and easy intro to debating, and I've used it with second through sixth graders. These two activities can also be great prep for persuasive writing.

The first idea is called the "Vote With Your Seat" activity. My kids often called it the "Stand Up Sit Down". First ask everyone to stand. Then announce the topic for debate. For example, "If you think our school lunches are perfect the way they are, sit down." Some might sit down. Keep refining the position statement. "If you think the way vegetables are served in our lunches is ok, sit down." A few more may sit down here. Then "If you think that we should not have a salad bar (we don't), sit down." You could add a couple more refinements, or stop after three. The remaining students could then be asked to briefly meet and then tell the class why they think having a salad bar would improve the lunches in your school.

The second activity is called "Vote With Your Feet". This one is very effective at showing the wide range of thoughts that people actually have about a topic.  Using the same salad bar topic, start with having all students stand together in the middle of the room. Say, "If you think we should have a salad bar in our cafeteria, move to the left. If you think we should not have a salad bar, move to the right. If you're not sure or don't care, stay in the middle." Then ask the first person to the left to state why he/she thinks having a salad bar is a good idea. (Just a sentence or two.) Ask the first person to the right to state why it is not a good idea. Then after each side has spoken, announce "Vote with your feet! Move closer to the side you now agree with or stay where you are." I think you'll be surprised at the movement as you continue this activity with a new speaker from each side. Continue until everyone who would like to speak has had their say. Writing an opinion piece on "Why a Salad Bar Would be Good (Bad) for our Cafeteria" should now be a piece of cake! Or a slice of tomato.

The most important thing to remember is that the topics should be real ones and of importance to your students. Raising or lowering taxes probably isn't of major importance to a ten year old unless family members have already pointed out why, but I'm guessing many of them will care whether or not their soccer field is turned into a salad garden. I've just completed a set of debate task cards to help you get the conversation started with your elementary students, and have added it into my Election 2016 Bundle. If you have already purchased the bundle, just download it again for free! More goodies to be added through January to the bundle as we move through the inauguration and add a new Vice President!

You can learn more about the bundle by clicking on the cover here:

And remember, no matter who you are voting for, you're still my friend!

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