I Have A Dream (Martin Luther King Jr. Day Activity)

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Squarehead Teachers

I love Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream of peace. It is a huge overwhelming goal, but when each of us makes an effort to be kinder, we will see results. Use this page as a springboard to start a class discussion about making the world a better place in the areas we each have influence.

This one is a half sheet for younger grades. Click here to download: I Have a Dream – Half Sheet

This one is a full sheet for upper grades and middle school. We don’t often get to discuss behavior on social media (and many youth don’t get this discussion at home), so take this opportunity! Click here to download: I Have a Dream – Full Sheet

I’ve also done some anti-bullying activities! Click here to see my post about an awesome one!

“Snapshot of Fall Break” Graphic Organizer

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Squarehead Teachers

Thank heavens for fall break! It can’t come soon enough and it never lasts long enough! At least you can have an easy way for everyone to share their fall break adventures with this easy printable! Have your students write or draw something to answer each prompt.

Click here to download the PDF: Snapshots of Fall Break

“Snapshot of Summer” Back to School Writing Activity

Posted on August 18, 2018 by Squarehead Teachers

As an elementary school kid, I always looked forward to telling my classmates all the cool things I did during the summer. I also usually wanted to tell my teacher about my summer… and so did everyone else! Teachers can facilitate a mass “share your summer experience” activity with this simple (self explanatory!) page. Depending on your grade level, have your students draw or write about each of the 5 prompts.

Click here to download the PDF: Snapshots of Summer Break

Some students don’t have amazing vacation stories to tell, so I tried to include things that every kid can write/draw about (like “things I ate”) when I was creating this page. Good luck on your first day!

Using Birthdays At School to Create Positive Classroom Culture

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Squarehead Teachers

Birthdays can be distracting at school. But if you play your cards right, you can use birthdays to create a positive classroom culture. By focusing on positive characteristics of the birthday kid, you can allow for natural discussions on topics such as friendship, being polite, following directions, etc. I’ve got a simple page we use to acknowledge a birthday kid’s positive traits. I start by writing mine for the whole class to see (using the document camera). I talk about something the child does well, and praise them for it (subtly reminding the rest of the class of that expectation). Then I have each student complete the page for that student as well. I challenge them to use a vocab word (from the current week or past) in their writing and only let them do the picture AFTER they’re done writing.

Click here to download the full size PDF: I like ____ because

Click here to check out my other thoughts about celebrating birthdays at school.

Santa’s Elf Application (Writing Activity)

Posted on December 3, 2015 by Squarehead Teachers

Santa's Elf STICKER

Kids crack me up. They say, write and do the silliest things! Here’s another opportunity to capture all that creativity. This writing activity asks kids to apply to be one of Santa’s elves. Be sure to give kids an opportunity to share their application with other students. Maybe have the kids collect “endorsements” from classmates (Have students write their name on the back of a classmate’s paper to indicate that the student shared it with them). Merry Christmas!

Click here for the free printable PDF: Santa’s Elf Application

Interview A Classmate (Back to School Printable)

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Squarehead Teachers

Class icebreaker activities are always fun. Here’s a simple way to get to know your students while assessing their writing. It’s a simple “Interview a Classmate” activity, free over at my post on We Are teachers. Click here to hop on over there!

Interview a Classmate preview

Paragraph Practice – Getting Ready for School in the Morning

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s another of my paragraph practice pages. This one is about getting ready for school in the morning. The focus of this page should be the structure of the paragraph, including transitions. I intentionally chose a topic that kids wouldn’t have a hard time thinking about.

Getting Ready STICKER

Click here for the free printable PDF: How to Get Ready For School in the Morning – paragraph practice

Favorite Game (Paragraph Writing Graphic Organizer)

Posted on May 25, 2015 by Squarehead Teachers

Paragraphs are so basic that sometimes we as teachers want to zoom right through them and get on to essays. But good essays are made of good paragraphs, and the more paragraphs you have together, the more important it is to organize your thoughts properly. For this reason, I’ve built a few paragraph organizers to help you focus on the important pieces (transitions, introductory sentences, etc.). I’ve intentionally chosen topics that won’t be hard for kids to write about (there’s no “right” answer) so the content won’t distract them from focusing on proper paragraph construction.

The first one is about their favorite game to play. For the supporting sentences, kids could write about 3 aspects of the game, 3 reasons they like playing, etc.

Click here for the free printable PDF: My Favorite Game to Play – paragraph practice

Check back soon for more paragraph practice!