Blog - Primary Planet

Classroom Writing Center Activities

4 Fun and Engaging Writing Center Activities! Freebie Alert!

  My writing center is the hub of my classroom!  It is everyone’s favorite spot!  Read on to find 4 fun and engaging writing center activities! Pssssstttt…keep reading, I think I see a freebie in your future! This post does contain affiliate links.  If you use the link I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for your support.     The writing center in my classroom is a combination of Paper Storage and Maker Space.  The kiddos get what they need or want, then find a spot in the room to do their writing or

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Mentor text for teaching adjectives.

Picture Book for Teaching Adjectives: Mentor Text Monday {FREEBIE included!}

  I’m Back!  Welcome to Mentor Text Monday!  Today I am sharing with you a fantastic picture book for teaching adjectives!  Click Read More to continue…   I really enjoy teaching my students about adjectives!  Using adjectives make their writing so much more descriptive and fun!   Toad by Ruth Brown in a fun Picture Book for Teaching Adjectives! I love this great children’s book with descriptive language!  It is the story of a horrible toad, a slimy, mucky, disgusting toad!  The kiddos love the gross factor of the adjectives in this book!  It follows the toad through the swamp where

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Tips for Parent Teacher Conferences with a Freebie

5 Easy Teacher Tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences

  It’s that time of year again,  Parent-teacher conferences!  Now, I know that some teachers dread parent-teacher conferences. I am not one of them.  I enjoy (most) of my parent-teacher conferences, so I thought I would share some teacher tips for parent teacher conferences to help YOU enjoy them a little more!  Click the read more button to read on!   Teacher Tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences #1: Entertain the Siblings! It is inevitable that parents will need to bring their children to conferences.  Sometimes it just can’t be helped.  Make sure that you have some items where the kiddos can entertain themselves

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Getting Ready for Back to School

Back to School Open House Ideas

Back to School is just about here (for me at least).  Here are the things that I have been working on in my classroom to Get Ready for Back to School and some fun Back to School Open House Ideas! Back to School Classroom Set-Up!  Where do I begin? Here is what my room looked like the first day that I walked in: Over the years I have learned that I have a tendency to get off track when setting up my room.  I always have grand plans for projects that I would like to do over the summer.  Sometimes

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Back to School

Back to School Self Care

Welcome back to my Getting Ready for Back to School Blog Mini-Series!  So, only 2 weeks left to go.  You know what that means right?  You are running “Outatime”!  Your summer is ALMOST over!  What am I doing?  Back to School Self Care! ME time…  or more importantly, family time!  This is a great time to STOP thinking about school for a minute.  I know, I know.  That is REALLY tough, but once school starts it is even HARDER to stop thinking about school for a minute.  Do it NOW.  I promise you won’t regret it. Back to School Self

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Back to School

Getting Ready for Back To School Mini Blog Series: 3 weeks to go…

Welcome back to my Getting Ready to Go Back to School Blog Mini-Series!  So, three more weeks until back to school.  So, what am I doing now?  Now is the time to MAKE STUFF!  Now, I don’t go crazy making stuff, but I started a list at the end of last year of things that I wanted to make (or remake) for this upcoming school year.  This is also the time that I start making my (big) purchases so I can be sure that my classroom is set up (coming up later in the series) for Meet the Teacher Night, which

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Get Back to School Ready! One month + before!

How to Get Back to School Ready with a Month or More to go! 4 Ideas and a Free To-Do List

Am I ready to go back to school? NO!  Am I thinking about going back to school? Yes, I begrudgingly admit that I am thinking about it!  I still have a little more than a month left of summer vacation, but here is how I get back to school ready!  Read on and don’t forget to pick up your freebie! This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase (with no extra cost to you). For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit

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Teacher Bullet Journal: My teacher planner

My Bullet Journal: One planner does it all (almost)!

I, like you, wear many hats in a day.  I am a wife, a mother (of a teen and a tween), a teacher, a union discussion representative, a blogger, and a teacherprenuer!  Phew!  Seeing it all written out like (and the list isn’t totally complete) makes me tired.  I have to keep up with it all somehow!  That is why the word teacher is in quotes.  This is about my bullet journal. It helps me Keep it All together in one spot!  Before I go on, I have to caveat a little…I do NOT lesson plan in my bullet journal.

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Building Reading Stamina

5 Easy Strategies for Building Reading Stamina from Day 1

Building Reading Stamina is something that we start on our very first day back to school. Until our reading stamina is built, a lot of my lessons are on hold! We start slowly, just three minutes to begin. One of the best ways to help my students build their reading stamina is to help them have a plan for their reading time. So, how do I go about building reading stamina with my second graders? Read on! This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on

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Professional Book Study: Teaching Reading in Small Groups by Jennifer Serravallo

Teaching Reading in Small Groups by Jennifer Serravallo Book Study!

Today I am blogging over at Adventures in Literacy Land!  We are doing a summer book study of Jennifer Serravallo’s book Teaching Reading in Small Groups.  If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, head over there.   I am talking about Chapter 4 today: Guided Practice Toward Independence: Strategy Lessons for Comprehension, Print Work, and Fluency. This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase (with no extra cost to you). For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link!

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Asking questions read aloud

Springing Into Action: Asking Questions with The Wednesday Surprise

Teaching my students to ask and answer questions while reading is one of my favorite units to teach!  Why?   The books of course! Keep reading for a freebie and even more great reading ideas!   This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase (with no extra cost to you). For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link!   I always introduce Asking Questions with a brown paper bag. I place something inside and let the kiddos ask questions. Then, we talk about which questions were

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read aloud acrostic poems

Mentor Text for Writing Acrostic Poems

  April is poetry month!  So over the next few weeks, my Mentor Text Monday posts will all be Mentor texts for teaching poetry! This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase (with no extra cost to you). For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link!   I love teaching poetry! There is so much freedom in writing short bursts of texts, that don’t always have to follow the “rules”, or have strict rules so you have to be really creative

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