Teaching before a break or vacation is always difficult. We have came up with some strategies and activities on how to engage students before a vacation. We hope that you will be able to use some or all of the ideas! Journaling For most students a break from school is exciting. There are probably lots of things that they are looking forward to. Take this opportunity to have them journal about what they are looking forward to. Here would be some journal starters: Over break, one thing I am looking forward to is... because... During vacation, I plan on playing... because... I am excited to be able to.... over break because.... If there is one thing that I wish I could do over break, it would be... because... This activity could be as short as five to ten minutes, or you could turn it into thirty minutes or longer by adding some cool stationery for them to write on, or giving them to draw and color a picture about their break. You could also play some music in the back......

It is hard to believe, but December is just around the corner, and it is time to start planning those December lessons.  I don't know if your December school schedule looks like mine, but we have a plethora of activities during this busy month: assembly programs, choir practice and program, Santa Shop, Christmas Village, etc. With all of these activities and busyness, it is nice to have some easy prep Christmas and December holiday themed lessons up my sleeve, and I am going to share my list with you. Best of all, these holiday activities from Upper Elementary Snapshots are free! Be sure to download all of these amazing resources for your classroom! Christmas Around the World: Italy Freebie Your students will love learning about Christmas customs around the world with this first amazing freebie from The Teacher Next Door . This activity is a great way to integrate reading strategies and social studies concepts, while learning about something fun and thematic in Decembe......

I never know what to give my students as gifts.  Honestly, half the time I wait until the last minute, panic, and come up with some over the top corny gift.  What I have come to realize is that my students don’t expect anything from me, and whatever I do give them they like because it comes from me.  Here are a few cheap and free ideas that may help you, the busy teacher, out. Word Clouds Create a word cloud for each student using Wordle or Tagul .  Students love to read things about themselves! Scholastic Books Scholastic Reading Club always has one dollar books.  If you have bonus points, what better way to spend them?!?  Are you out of time and know you won't get the books before you need them?  Create a "Free Dollar Book" coupon for your students which will allow them to choose their own book on the next book order!  You can download a free printable coupon to give your students HERE .   Board Games Do you have ol......