3rd Grade Thoughts

Being knee-deep in the first trimester of this school year as well as trying to keep up with my passion of teacher-blogging, I'm realizing that the posts and ideas I have are so scattered across my blog and TpT Store, it's sometimes hard to find information. I'm excited to be continuing this series on the blog called "Monthly Thoughts" to help solve this dilemma.

At the end of each month this school year, I will be uploading a clickable PDF themed around the upcoming month. There will be twenty ideas on that page that will link you to a post, idea, resource, freebie, quote, etc. from my blog or store. Each month will be a new collection of ideas, both old and new, and I hope it will help make the school year and summertime planning easier to navigate.

Be sure to download the calendar page from my TpT Store HERE each month when it's released. It's a clickable PDF, so you will be redirected to my blog, TpT Store, or another website for all of the information when you click the small image.

While I have themed many of the months around holiday items, there are also plenty of ideas geared towards other academic areas, like nonfiction, getting ready for state tests, and more. And if these don't align with your own scope and sequence, hopefully a few can add to your bag of tricks when you do cover those topics in your own classroom.

Today I'm offering the calendar of one of my most favorite months, October, which you can find in my TpT Store HERE.

Monthly Thoughts: October

Be sure to click the image to be taken to this free download in my TpT Store.

My favorite holiday, Halloween, is all over this calendar and I can't WAIT to celebrate it again this year! As with many of the holidays throughout the year, you can find coordinating Word Work and Writing Prompts, as well as QR Codes for math computation practice, Brain Breaks and Technology Resources for the season, and thought-provoking Did You Know? Facts.

You can also find the link to some of my favorite read alouds for this time of year, especially for the middle-elementary grades who may be looking for a new twist on old favorites.

Management is still developing in my classroom, but there's always a need to mix things up a bit, so
Ready, Set, Learn and Exit Slips help keep ideas fresh. My Mountain Climbers for formative assessment can also help your students track where they are in the process of learning a new concept.

I think you'll really enjoy my popular Growth Mindset Resource Round-Up and Bosses vs. Leader freebie lesson to encourage the students in your class to make mistakes and step up as leaders in however they feel comfortable.

There's plenty more, so take your pick and click away to find more information on any and all of the images you see.

Download HERE and enjoy! I hope these ideas will get you excited for the school year ahead!

My Favorite Halloween Read Alouds

I have to admit that Halloween has grown to become my most favorite holiday! I love the costumes, the decorating, and especially trick-or-treating with my little girl.

We are still able to celebrate this holiday at our school, and I am so thankful! We have an all-school parade and then classroom parties before we send them home all sugared-up to go trick-or-treating that night.... Although with that all happening on a Monday this year, it's going to be a rough week!

Nonetheless, I love getting into the Halloween spirit early with things like my Word Work, Writing Prompts, Technology Resources, QR Critters and more. I also love incorporating these great picture books throughout the month leading up to the big day.

So many Halloween books are geared towards younger kids, and rightfully so. I have found that these books below are perfect for third graders. There are some old familiar favorites, nothing is too scary (I find that many students are still sensitive to some aspects of this holiday), and they encourage the fun, magic, and mystery of this day.

Plus, I can also incorporate quite a bit of character education with these titles. I love the lessons of Spookley, Hallo-wiener, and Bone Soup (a Halloween-take on Stone Soup) and they prompt some great class discussions.

To check out these books, simply click on any of the book titles below. Each links you directly to its page on Amazon where you can look inside, read the reviews, and find similar titles.