Happy New Year! PEOPLE say it every year: it was a hard year. Well… let’s face it, life is never going to be plain sailing, but, honestly, to start working after all these holidays and celebrations seems to be entirely a bit of a challenge, but I say a miracle happened. I got my inspiration at the moment when I did not expect – just over midnight several days ago, when I was browsing for clipart bundles on Teachers Pay Teachers, and I came across one of the sets by one of my favorite clipart artists from Spain – Artifex. I simply fell in love with the bundle and purchased it at the same second when the ideas started to flow.

So, I would like to check my creation out and let me know what you think. I truly appreciate the feedback because I constantly aim for perfection. 
 
If you are about to start teaching your younger kids the classification of living things, then consider purchasing it. Bright and cheerful for interactive Science classroom. Once more time, I say learning shouldn't be boring or might even suppose to be annoying for some. Therefore, it should get better when it can be experienced while having fun.

Hallelujah! Yes, I did it! Though I have limited knowledge of video making/ software; I excitedly present my first short animated video, explaining what photosynthesis is. It is up for your judgment down below.
 
I spend hours and hours looking for the right video to enhance the content that I present to my kiddos in my classroom. However, sadly, despite that is time-consuming, very often my search is unsuccessful. Therefore, I had this idea of making them myself for a long time, but I always found a reason not to do it. Well.. No more. I finally did it!
If you can spare a minute (literally), please check it out, I would very much appreciate any feedback. Here's it is:

If you would like to use it in your classroom, you can download it is available on my TpT Store. Click here. 

An important aspect of Social Studies is civic education. Given the fact that this year is an election year in the United States of America, it offers an excellent opportunity for students to see democracy at work. Voting and elections are an essential part of the  U.S. Government.  At least take a peek into the electoral process - from party primaries to the general election, the qualifications to vote in 1776 and in the present, etc.  

The United States Presidential  Election 2016 has been a roller-coaster ride of suspense and surprises right from the start. In my belief, anyone living inside and outside of the United States of America should not miss this race replete with valuable “teachable moments.” It is unlike any other in modern history. Don’t you agree with me?

Therefore, I would like to share my findings with you. I have no doubt these free resources will get our kiddos excited and engaged. ​

Though, my kiddos love my engaging worksheets, I'd felt like my classroom was still missing. Well... It's not true anymore.

To make long story short, I will just say that yesterday, I spent long hours looking for interactive supplementary games and activities for my oceans and continents curriculum. Have you tried looking for it?

There is so much information out on the Internet, but not quite what I had in my mind. Thanks to the gods and guardian angels, I finally found something -> www.purposegames.com, where I became a game creator. 

It's Today, I came to realize that there were no sighs, rolling eyes, nor grunts when I said "that" word... "homework" while wrapping today's grammar lesson up. My heart filled up with unbelievable joy when I realized how far I came this school year. Believe me, it is worth celebrating it. 

Yes, there is constantly discussion going on about pros and cons of homework in our teacher's lounge but this post it is not about that. It's about "Why do teachers give homework if once they hated it themselves?"

I am the one who believes in the "magic" of homework. Oh... yes... I said it despite the fact that I do remember myself sitting in the class and eagerly waiting for the bell to ring, hoping my teacher forgets/ won't have time to assign the homework. I have to admit I had even days when I thought that some of the assigned homework were just a waste of my time. 

Today, as a teacher, I explain my every action to my kiddos because, as my practice shows, students tend to fight less when they understand the reason behind it.  So...

If you are like me, you are also in the process of last minute preparation for one of the most beautiful season of the year - spring. This year I am using St. Patrick's Day to kick start the "Season of Green". Using cultural celebrations around the world is an exciting way to promote internationalism and world citizenship in the classroom. I believe, incorporating different thematic learning across the curricular engages students. There is a ton of fun celebrating every single one of them. 

For the last several years I'd been using the resources such as crosswords, coloring pages, etc. Online world is full of various worksheets and handouts. However, this year I felt my classroom is ready for an upgrade to meet the needs of my students, so I got myself a challenge to create a set of St. Patrick's Day handouts.

This is the result: 

Are you counting the last hours of 2015 already? Are you ready for the new "monkey-ish" 2016? I'm trying to ease my way back into school mode slowly but determined for some great adventures. Fingers crossed, we will all have a smooth transition back to school in January!  

This time I would like to share with you my ideas for the first day after this winter break. Rather than 'getting tough' on kids, I do my best to take advantage of their energy and excitement at the New Year and use it to my advantage! These are the activities that I have in mind.

I have to admit I am one of those ESL teachers who believes in combining crafts with meaningful learning activities as we call it on TpT "craftivities". It does not seems like a big deal for an adult but I have noticed it is a "biggie" for my kids. 

After some time I naturally came to believe that my fifth graders are motivated better when they combine scientific problem, writing task and etc. with arts. They enjoy this form of activities more than plain worksheets or a blank page of their notebook. 

Making New Year’s resolutions is a tradition that I like to uphold as well. So every year after Winter Break I come back to my classroom with a new set of goals. It's a great opportunity to start fresh for me and my kids. 

There are some Mondays when I need a little more inspiration than others. Here is a kick start for today! I hope you will find it inspiring and helpful as well. 

Don't you often feel like you are a magician or that you are expected to be one in order to be the best teacher you could be? I know I do. 

This time I would like to share with you something so simple yet a small detail that have changed my teaching style forever - clip art for handouts and presentations. I truly feel like it brought some quality and originality to my classroom. Every single time I gave my made handouts or showed my presentation on the monitor my kids were engaged and excited. Yes, it is time consuming but well worth it. 

I first started with the cute top-quality for free clip art and backgrounds by Laura Strickland on mycutegraphics.com. It was exactly what I needed at that moment - one source of student friendly clip art and I will repeat myself - they are for FREE and they can be "used in the classroom lessons and activities, personal printable projects, scrapbooking, personal home crafts, blogs, and more". 

Have you ever heard your kids saying how boring is Social Studies? I did! Actually, I hear it every single new school year. It seems the least likable subject. To be honest, I did not like Social Studies when I was a kid neither. 

But History shouldn't be boring. It simply can't be boring. It's too important, and not so that we don't repeat our past mistakes; instead, history shouldn't be boring because it teaches us so much about who we are, the universal things that we all experiences, no matter the age, label, or time period. History helps us to understand each other. So, I decided to find a way to change it for myself and most importantly for my little ones. There are some tips and my personal observations.

Hi, everyone!

Welcome back to school! I truly hope you are as excited as I am to be back. Summer was great but I am ready for new challenges! Are you?

Thank you for following my social media accounts and being a fan of my store and blog. It means a lot to me! Especially to those who say ITD is a part of their daily life. That truly makes me smile. 

Thanks for your feedback and likes your leave me on a daily basis. I know I do not have thousands and thousands of followers, but that does not worry me. I am appreciative of those I have! So, I am having Back to Cool Sale on August 19th through August 21st. Do not miss this chance to save up to 50%. 

Cheers and have a happy beginning the new school year! Visit my TpT store. Check some of my recent updates. 

Enthusiastically,
MrsRU

As you are going to discover, I adore interactive classroom activities, especially foldables and QR codes. Many of my postings will show these activities I prepare for my classroom. I have noticed my students enjoy them as well.

During this particular activity, they use flashcards to study from and to self test with the help pf QR codes. It's a lovely set  of printables for their interactive Science notebooks. 

I know there are a lot of printable out there but I needed something simple and basic yet fun and 21st century oriented. I do realize the flower is a pretty complicated plant, with lots of little parts which help it reproduce. For that  reason, it's probably best to look at the basics of a flowering plant before we get into the more difficult stuff such as the parts of the flower, its life cycles, etc. for your little VIPs.

Description: This Grammar lesson assists students in reviewing the grammar concepts on different types of sentences as well as subjects and predicates. Encourage your students to take notes and pictures, ask questions and actively participate in class discussions. 

Learning objectives:

• Show the understanding of terms;
  
• Identify, form, and use complete, declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory sentences, and interjections in writing and speaking;
  
• Recognize sentence and fragments;
  
• Identify complete and simple subjects and predicates. 
  

There wouldn't be a proper holiday without a sizzling sale for inspiring teachers and those who are passionate for educations. So, here it is, I am kicking off the party of Fourth of July with a 10% discount on my Social Studies study guides, PPTs, foldables and so much more. Available today through Sunday.  Let's celebrate this special day in the U.S. history together!   

Cheers and have a happy and safe Fourth of July! Visit my TpT store.

Enthusiastically,
MrsRU

Description: This Grammar lesson assists students in learning about different types of subjects and predicates: complete and simple subjects and predicates. Encourage your students to take notes and pictures, ask questions and actively participate in class discussions. 

Learning objectives: 

• Define a subject and a predicate;
• Identify the complete and simple subjects;
• Identify the complete and simple predicates;
• Form sentences with complete subject or predicate;
• Use complete subjects and predicates correctly in writing and speaking.

Description: This Grammar lesson assists students in learning about the two basic building block of a sentence: a subject and a predicate. Encourage your students to take notes and pictures, ask questions and actively participate in class discussions. 

Learning objectives: 

• Identify the parts of a sentence;
• Define a subject;
• Define a predicate;
• Form sentences;
• Use subject and predicate correctly in writing and speaking;

Learning objectives: 

• Review the definitions of declarative and interrogative sentences;
  
• Define a imperative sentence;
  
• Define an exclamatory sentence;
• Identify and use a variety of sentences types;
• Identify interjections;
• Correctly punctuate and capitalize sentences and interjections;

Not every lesson looks alike, but all lessons more or less share certain basic parts. I am sharing tools and resources that I use to build the foundation of grammar of my fifth graders. 

Description: This Grammar lesson assists students in learning about two different types of sentences: declarative and interrogative, focusing on punctuation and capitalization. During the process the learn to distinguish the differences between a sentence and a fragment.

TIP: From the get-go, encourage your students to take notes and pictures, ask questions and actively participate in class discussions. 

Learning objectives: 
• Define a sentence and a fragment;
• Determine the differences between a sentence and a fragment;
• Use complete sentences and recognize sentence fragments in writing and speaking;
• Define declarative and interrogative sentences;
• Distinguish the key factors when differentiating between declarative and interrogative sentences;
• Know and use conventions of declarative and interrogative sentences punctuation and capitalization;
• Demonstrate effective word choice, academic vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure allowing accurate communication of meaning in written work.​