Teaching Heart Blog

This is my second year teaching third grade in PA.  So, this is my second year of getting third graders ready to take the PSSA’s.  In my state this is the first time that students are exposed to the state tests.  I want it to be a positive experience for them.  I wanted to share some resources that have helped me make state testing time so worthwhile and also fun for my class.    I want their first memories of this time of year to be pleasant.   My goal for review before tests is to trick them into more learning fun…  This post will share some of the test prep ideas I use the... 

Fractions are a really hard concepts for my third graders…  but with the few tricks I have up my sleeve, they are  all proficient in the area of third grade fraction standards after teaching this topic.  In this post I am sharing some materials, videos, and printables that I find necessary when teaching fractions to third graders. First start hands on and with lots of visuals.  So of my favorite hands on resources and visuals include: I love that each of my students can have their own bag of fraction strips so that they can visually see the size of each fraction and also find equivalent... 

Students need lots of practice determining which kinds of stories are multiplication and which kind of story problems can be solved with division. My third graders struggle with knowing the difference between a multiplication story and a division story. This craftivity is perfect practice of writing multiplication and division stories using fact families.   I used this with my third grade class after test completion of Topic 8 in our Envisions Math Program.   You can learn more about this at TPT – click here! Students color the snowman’s scarf and then cut out the pieces and glue... 

Happy October Teaching Heart Friends….  I have a free goodie to share with you.  I used it in third grade this year with great success.  Perfect for reviewing with my third graders at the beginning of the year about what makes a great paragraph.  The burger is a great way to remember this! Para-burgers! Here are some close-ups of the finished product.  Thanks to one of my teacher friends for allowing me to use her classes close-up pf the burger…. Click here to download the pieces to make your own Para-Burgers! Enjoy!        

Check out the free download from my friend Emily in this post… I feel so blessed that last year I joined such a great group of seven third grade teachers who work so well together.  You never feel alone in this team and we all divide up tasks to help make all of our students have a great year.  Every single teacher in the group has made me a better teacher this year.  I mentioned the PIE system I use in my classroom now thanks to some of those teachers.  I also wanted to share some of the things I use by another teammate who has many of those things online in a TPT store.  She motivates... 

My first summer post of hopefully many…  I want the next few posts to be super resources for you…  especially if you teach third grade.  I plan to share with you some of the things I learned and used successfully this year and will  continue to use in the new school year.  For this post, I wanted to start with how important sharing the love of reading with your students is and one wonderful resource that I used this year with great success to create readers that love to read.  I truly feel that as teachers (and parents too) that want good fluent readers, we have to help design... 

Hey…  Hope you are heading into the final quarter of the school year like I am!  I just finished state testing and I am so happy to be done with my first experience with that.  Now my fingers are crossed and prayers are going up in hopes my students scores rock! Anyhow, I wanted to share some very popular Teaching Heart resources for the end of the year… Let’s start with Mother’s Day!!!  I am making these again next year.  The cards are cute and the moms seemed to love them.  You just need some tea bags and you are set!!! This Mother’s Day card was so fun to make... 

Click here to download… 11 pages of resources to help you teach cause and effect, comparing and contrasting, and problem and solution. All in a snowman theme. Anchor charts and student themed sheets to use. (includes pictures of finished projects) Cause and Effect; Use with the story Sneezy the Snowman. Brainstorm reasons why a snowman might melt. Have students write and illustrate their own cause and effect sentences or stories on the organizer. Problem and Solution: Snowman graphic organizer can be used with any story. Snow Pals Compare and Contrast. Partner students up to interview... 

I am getting ready to take this fireplace below and make it festive and also make it go along with a George Washington Novel Study my grade level is starting when we return on Tuesday.  I created a few things to make the fireplace below come alive… It’s blank now, but hopefully I will share a finished picture soon…  I am sharing my FREE printables for you to use in the meantime. One is a multiplication wreath.  Directions are included.  My plan is to hang some of the finished ones on the fireplace and the rest somewhere else. Click here to download this multiplication wreath! Every... 

Long time no post…  I know.  Teaching the “big kids” now… well third grade seems big from my second graders!  I have been knee deep in learning yet another curriculum and another building. I have been busy…. Our team just finished a two week novel study of Frindle .  I created a packet to use during the week and it went over very well with my students and many of my team used some of the resources found in the set.  I tried to create the activities so that my students would need to go back into the text to find the answers to the questions.  Also, I created...