The Joy of Teaching

Sharing creative ideas and lessons to help children learn

September 23, 2014
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

Quick Bulletin Board Ideas for Fall

image of fall fun bulletin board ideaThis blog post is for busy teachers who need a quick bulletin board makeover to give the classroom an autumn feel. Whether you need informational, interactive, or decorative bulletin boards in your classroom, we hope these simple templates and ideas will help! Click the links below for your free Evan-Moor bulletin board templates.


Save these free bulletin board downloads: PIN IT!

Fall Fun Bulletin Board: Leaves change color and fall to the ground on this autumn bulletin board that displays student work. Included are templates and caption letters. Variation: The leaf templates could also be used for students to answer math riddles or to add a word a day to the display.

“Pick of the Patch” Pumpkin-Themed Bulletin Board: A field of pumpkins provides a bulletin board area for displaying student work. Includes teacher and student directions, caption letters, and a pumpkin poem.

spider web bulletin board directions

Spider Web Bulletin Board

“All Caught Up in Good Work” Spider Web Bulletin Board: A display of student work is suspended from a large web on which three pipe-cleaner-and-paper-plate spiders dance. Included are teacher directions (with a suggestion for students to write nonfiction paragraphs about spiders) and caption letters.

October Bulletin Board Ideas: Three bulletin board ideas and patterns for October, including Halloween symbols, pumpkins, and bats – with ideas to have students add to the boards.

owl theme bulletin board ideaOwl-Themed Bulletin Board: A quizzical owl sitting on a branch of a tree asks about the good student work displayed on this bulletin board. Included in the unit are teacher directions (with additional suggestions for writing riddles), caption letters, and an owl.

For over 200 bulletin board ideas and templates, subscribe to TeacherFileBox, Evan-Moor’s online lesson library. Or, visit Evan-Moor’s Teachers Pay Teachers store and download our bulletin board templates for $1.99 each.


Contributing Writer

Image of Theresa WoolerTheresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.

September 17, 2014
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

5 Practical Tips for a Less Stressful School-Day Morning for Mom

Mom and young son eating breakfastIt’s back-to-school time, and if you’re like me, the mornings haven’t been as easy as they were during the summer break.

I’m envious of those who implement the ambitious ideas and tips on Pinterest boards, such as:

While these are clever ideas, this type of organization doesn’t always fit my family’s lifestyle, and adds the pressure of more to-do’s. So for those of you who are in pure survival mode (like me), read on…

In my humble opinion, it starts with taking care of you first:

  1. Get at least 8 hours of rest. You probably started sleep deprivation with pregnancy, if not sooner. Going to bed earlier—closer to when your children go to bed—will help improve your mood and cognitive functions for activities like multi-tasking or driving a car. Learn more with this article: Sleep Deprivation: The Dark side of Parenting.
  2. Set your alarm before the kids wake up. I find this the most helpful, even if it’s as little as 15 minutes earlier. Waking up before the kids gives me time to take my shower, drink a cup of coffee, do some reading, catch up on email, or walk the dogs.
  3. Provide 1–3 options for breakfast. Better yet, decide the night before. As the morning groans begin, you don’t want to delay the best way of starting the day: eating a healthy breakfast. So, give your children options for breakfast that you can handle preparing, or better yet, decide the night before so you have things pre-planned and ready when they wake up. Check out Martha Stewart’s 30 quick and easy breakfast ideas including parfaits, smoothies, and breakfast sandwiches.
  4. Plan your outfit. Yes, Mom, this means you. As much as we hear about setting clothes out for our children, especially those of us with daughters, it is as important for you to know what you are wearing so you are not slowing down the morning routine or getting frustrated at the last minute wondering what you will wear.
  5. Get ready the night before. Pack the children’s homework, plan lunches and snacks, pack sports bags, set reminders out for your spouse about soccer practice or picking up milk on the way home. If these things are done the night before, it will help you sleep better and help to ensure nothing is forgotten the next day.

We want to start the day for ourselves, spouse, and children as calmly and organized as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to rearrange your house and label every single thing. Instead, I recommend taking some time out for you, do a bit more pre-planning, and definitely get more sleep.

I hope these tips are helpful for you. Please share your own practical school morning routines below.


Contributing Writer

Trisha Thomas is the mother of two and serves on the board of directors at a co-op preschool. She has also been a marketer of educational materials for grades PreK–8 for more than 15 years.

September 12, 2014
by Evan-Moor
1 Comment

Tips for a Successful Back-to-School Night

Image of owl with the words welcome back to schoolTo say that my first back-to-school night as a teacher was a bit nerve racking would be an understatement! However, through the years, I learned some invaluable lessons that helped me build confidence and set the stage for an outstanding year.

Back-to-school night tips:

  • Create a sign-in sheet and a parent volunteer sign-up sheet for specific responsibilities that haven’t been filled. (See sample sign-in form.)
  • Create an agenda, print copies, and make them available for parents at the sign-in table. Your professionalism and organizational skills will impress parents. (Provide pens and paper for note taking, too!)
  • Compose your introduction to parents and try to memorize it. This will get you through the initial jitters and help you exude confidence, warmth, and conviction.
  • Shake the hands of parents as they are entering the room and finding a place to sit.
  • Place informational flyers at the sign-in table (or on the desks) so that parents can have something to read while waiting for the program to begin.
  • Help parents locate their child’s desk. Here is a cute idea using students’ self-portraits.
  • Create a PowerPoint presentation of the vital information and/or a parent packet. Topics to cover include: Common Core Standards information; tips for reading with your child; homework expectations and sample of exemplary homework packet or assignment; report card sample with explanations of how scores are determined; clear and concise parent expectations and responsibilities; list of educational websites, etc.

Other ideas:

  • Have students make invitations for Back-to-School Night.
  • Have students write a letter to their parents and place it on their desks. (See sample letter form.)
  • Take photos of the students working in every curriculum area and throughout the day. Then, create a slideshow or PowerPoint presentation of ”A Day in the Life of a ______ Grader.” This will give parents (especially English language learner parents) a clear idea of what a day looks like for their child.
  • Ask parents to complete the “Tell Me About Your Child” form and to write a letter back to their child. (See parent letter form.)
  • Videotape students introducing themselves, talking about their goals for the year, what career path they want to follow, etc. Keep each video well under one minute! Then, create a simple movie of the clips. PARENTS LOVE THIS!

Do you have other ideas for a smooth back-to-school night? If so, please share!


Contributing Writer

Image of Blog Contributor Alice EvansAlice Evans is a forty-year veteran National Board Certified elementary classroom teacher and a published author. She recently retired from the San Diego Unified School District and has published a children’s chapter book entitled Torrey Pines Summer.

September 3, 2014
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

What Every Parent Should Know About Common Core State Standards

What every parent should know about Common Core chalkboard imageIf you live in one of the 43 states that have adopted Common Core State Standards, you have probably heard about the new standards and may have questions or opinions about them.

As a parent of a kindergartner and a first grader, I am sharing resources I found particularly helpful in better understanding Common Core. Before you review the resources below, it is important to understand what the standards are and what they are not.

  • The Common Core State Standards tell teachers what students need to learn, not how to teach them.
  • Common Core State Standards are not a curriculum, but rather a roadmap of what each student should know by the end of the school year.
  • The standards are organized by grade level (Grades K–12) and two curriculum areas: English Language Arts and Math.
  • The standards provide details of the skills or concepts students are expected to learn for each grade level and subject areas (e.g., Language, Reading, Literature, Writing).

Here are examples of two Common Core State Standards for Grade 1:

  • Math: Measurement and Data, Grade 1 (MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.B.3): Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.
  • Language: Conventions of Standard English, Grade 1 (ELA-LITERACY.L.1.2.B): Use end punctuation for sentences.

It is important to note that the standards do not tell a teacher how to approach the lesson on time or punctuation. Meaning, the standards are not lesson plans. A teacher instructs students using materials that the school or district provides, such as a core textbook or core curriculum.

The Common Core standards are simply there for guidance of what to teach for each grade level and curriculum area. This guidance often provides an opportunity for educators to collaborate and provide better feedback to us (parents) to help our children succeed.

Here are my five favorite resources to help you understand Common Core State Standards:

  1. A 3-minute video explaining the Common Core State Standards.
  1. A complete list of standards by subject area and grade level.
  1. Parent guides to help you understand what your child will be learning in each grade level and how you can help.
  1. What every parent should know about Common Core State Standards.
  1. Your child’s teacher: Reach out to your child’s teacher to get familiar with the curriculum selected and why/how your teacher will be addressing the Common Core State Standards.

Contributing Writer

Trisha Thomas is the mother of two and serves on the board of directors at a co-op preschool. She has also been a marketer of educational materials for grades PreK–8 for more than 15 years.

August 27, 2014
by Evan-Moor
3 Comments

The Case for Keeping Handwriting Practice in Our Schools

picture of handwriting practice on lined paperIs handwriting here to stay? With our increased use of technology and day-to-day texting, typing, and tweeting, it’s no surprise that handwriting is suffering and may seem like a “lost art.” However, the scientific and psychological research supporting handwriting provides evidence that handwriting should be an integral part of the curriculum from preschool through high school.

Of the many reasons to keep handwriting instruction in our schools, here are two that I find most interesting:

1. Learning to write by hand is connected to reading acquisition–while typing and even tracing are not.

Research shows that teaching young children to write letters activates part of the brain that becomes crucial to reading. The act of shaping and forming letters develops successful phonological processing in early emergent readers and writers:

 “The emerging consensus is that the motor experience of manually creating letterforms helps children discriminate the essential properties of each letter, which leads to more accurate representations, bolstering both skilled letter recognition and later reading fluency.” For more information see this article: “Neuroimaging correlates of handwriting quality as children learn to read and write.”

Another study, “The influence of writing practice on letter recognition in preschool children,” compared the differences between handwriting and typing for children 3 to 5 years old. The results showed that handwriting training contributed to the visual recognition of letters more effectively than typing training, among the older children in the test group.

2. Handwriting helps the brain process information.

Taking notes by hand has proven to help students better absorb and retain information in comparison to typing on a keyboard. In a white paper from the educational summit, Handwriting in the 21st Century?, Dr. Virginia Berninger of the University of Washington reported that “after studying students in Grades 2, 4, and 6, those who used handwriting wrote more words, wrote words faster, and expressed more ideas than those who used keyboarding.”

In recent studies by two psychologists, Pam A. Mueller of Princeton and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of UCLA, college students who took notes by hand performed better than those who took notes on a laptop:

“In three studies, we found that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took notes longhand. We show that whereas taking more notes can be beneficial, laptop note takers’ tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words is detrimental to learning.”

How to Keep Handwriting Alive

In her commentary entitled “Educating Students in the Computer Age to Be Multilingual By Hand,” Dr. Virginia Berninger offers this strategy to incorporate handwriting in the busy school day: “One effective, research-supported strategy is to teach handwriting at the beginning of lessons as “warm-up,” just as athletes do warm-up exercises before a game and musicians do warm-up exercises before a concert. The warm-up is then followed by spelling and composing instructional activities. Handwriting instruction does not have to take up valuable time for meeting other Common Core standards.”

Daily Handwriting Practice book coverIf you’re looking to improve your child’s handwriting at home or add handwriting instruction to your lesson plan, Evan-Moor’s Daily Handwriting Practice is a solution. Daily exercises in small doses help to practice and improve handwriting skills.

Handwriting, printing, and keyboarding all have their place in school and in preparing students for college and careers in the 21st Century. After all, Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs was a talented calligrapher!


Contributing Writer

Image of Theresa WoolerTheresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.

August 21, 2014
by Evan-Moor
2 Comments

How to Tell If Your Child Needs Glasses

The American Optometric Association estimates that as much as “80% of the learning a child does occurs through his or her eyes.”

Eye ExamDr. Karen Taugher, a parent and optometrist, points out that children’s eyesight can seemingly change quickly and that children may not even realize that they have poor vision. These undetected vision problems can cause frustration in school when a child can’t see the board or focus on deskwork.

As your child heads back to school, Dr. Taugher recommends looking out for signs that your child may need glasses:

  • Squinting: the classic sign that a child is struggling to see near or far
  • Holding one eye: a child may cover one eye while reading or focusing on something in the distance, such as the television
  • Eye rubbing: eye strain may cause fatigue and you will notice your child rubbing his or her eyes after reading or doing homework
  • Headaches: frequent headaches in the frontal region or brow may be a result of squinting
  • Difficulty reading: a child who is a reader may have trouble keeping his or her place while reading

Other signs include:

  • Short attention span
  • Complete avoidance of reading
  • Tilting the head to one side
  • An eye turning in or out
  • Seeing double
  • Difficulty remembering what he or she read

Next steps

If you suspect that your child has problems with vision, schedule an eye exam with an optometrist or ophthalmologist. The American Optometric Association recommends that children receive a comprehensive eye exam at least once every two years, or more frequently if risk factors or specific problems exist. A child’s first eye exam should be conducted no later than 5 years of age. Eye issues can be treated and often corrected with early diagnosis.

Good vision contributes to success in school!


Contributing Writer

Image of Theresa WoolerTheresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.

August 19, 2014
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

Classroom Success Kit: 10 Favorite Resources

Part of the excitement and challenge of education is that teachers have to be ready at a moment’s notice to meet the needs of any child who walks through the door. I can’t even count the number of times that I would take notice of the hum of activity in my classroom, feeling extremely grateful for the collection of resources that helped make it possible for me to engage students with diverse needs.

Here is a list of my ten all-time favorite resources:

  1. Evan-Moor’s TeacherFileBox
    This is one of my favorite tools for quickly finding ideas and reproducible activities for differentiating instruction across many curricular subjects. Yearly individual subscriptions and school site subscriptions are available. Try it for free for 14 days!

  2. Awesome Primary Action Units by Carnes and Sutherland (P.E. and movement activities)
    Use this resource for planning developmentally appropriate P.E. movement activities that use simple equipment and require little or no prep time.
  3. PRIM (Pre-Referral Intervention Manual)
    I almost cried when I bought it, it was so expensive. However, this book proved itself over and over again. It was like having a committee of experts at my fingertips. This book proved valuable for implementing strategies, confirming strategies that I was already using, and preparing for SST and other meetings.
  4. Brain-Based Learning Resources
    Information regarding brain-based learning is helpful for understanding how learning occurs in the brain. This background knowledge can help you navigate through any trend in education—using learning strategies that work, while at the same time implementing changing curricular requirements. This article, Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action, is a good starting point. There are also books available on brain-based learning.
  5. Common Core Top PicksCommon Core Curriculum Supplements
    If you are looking for ways to “tweak” your curriculum to meet the needs of the Common Core State Standards, there are some new resources available that are inexpensive and easy to implement, such as Evan-Moor’s Reading Informational Text, Reading Paired Text, Text-Based Writing, Take It to Your Seat Centers: Common Core Math, and Daily Math Practice. Use this link to download sample lessons from new Common Core resources and other Evan-Moor titles.
  6. Plan Book
    Most teachers I know carefully plan out their year, some with the help of technology. For me, paper and pencil was easiest for jotting down ideas and reference materials as needed. My favorite planning tool was the Evan-Moor Daily Plan Book, with extra pages for small group planning.
  7. Art Instruction Books
    Having a collection of art instruction books and projects helps integrate art into a busy day and integrate art with other subjects using uncomplicated supplies. Here are a few of my favorite resources:

  8. Evan-Moor Dailies
    The daily practice series help solve the “not enough minutes in the day” problem. The 15-minute mini-lessons make it possible to practice and review a wide range of topics in a short amount of time. Dailies include A Word a Day, Daily Academic Vocabulary, Daily Language Review, Daily Reading Comprehension, Daily Science, Daily Geography Practice, and Daily Math Practice.
  9. Free Online Articles/Groups
    I recommend exploring to find what you need. At most sites, you can stay connected by subscribing for free. A few examples are ASCD Learning Community, ASCD SmartBrief, Education Week, and Edmodo.
  10. Teaching Channel
    As teachers, we have little or no time to observe other classrooms in action. This website makes available to you a library of live short videos demonstrating various pedagogical topics. You can sign up for topics of interest and they will be dropped into your email inbox for you.

As a member of the education community, what resources do you find helpful?


Image of contributor Marti BeeckMarti Beeck started her career in education as a parent volunteer in her three children’s classrooms. Her teaching experience, including adult school, intervention, and the primary classroom, was inspired by her background in psychology and interest in brain-based learning. Marti currently works in the field of educational publishing as an editor.

August 14, 2014
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

5 Ways to Organize Student Work

student folder with stickersHaving a place for students’ completed work and notes to go home may be the single most helpful organizational idea for your classroom. Here are some ideas to manage the paper flow:

  1. Hanging folder system: Cardboard pockets decorated with a nametag and/or photo can be hung on the wall or a bulletin board. Hanging folders can also be used in a file system for personalized homework activities or to gather student work for portfolios.
  2. Labeled shelf cubbies: Cover cereal boxes with contact paper and then stack them to create inexpensive cubbies. Covered cereal boxes (or plastic bins) can also be used to organize classroom library books by topic or to individualize reading materials for a student or center group.
  3. Take-home folders:
    • Card-stock pocket folders can be purchased inexpensively at seasonal school supply sales. When students return their folders, place a tiny sticker on the front of the folder. As the year progresses, students collect more stickers!
    • Give each student a large manila file folder to decorate. Open the folder to laminate it, then fold it and staple two sides. Cover the staples with fabric tape. Students can easily insert work and notes to take home throughout the school year.
    • See this blog post for suggestions of what to include in student folders for the first day of school.
  4. Pocket folders at students’ desks: Having a pocket folder at each student’s desk helps students stay organized and file work that needs to be finished.
  5. Prong-type binders: These binders can be kept in students’ desks to organize topical needs such as words to practice or songs and poems that are collected throughout the school year.

Contributing Writer

Image of Theresa WoolerTheresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.

August 12, 2014
by Evan-Moor
3 Comments

DIY Classroom Storage Ideas

Preparing your classroom for the year ahead can be an overwhelming task. This blog focuses on creative ways to store, organize, and sort classroom items.

Top 10 Classroom Organization Ideas

Some of our favorite do-it-yourself classroom organization ideas can be created from everyday items found at home or inexpensive finds at the dollar store or hardware store.

  1. Hang a shoe organizer to hold paperback books or center supplies. A hanging sweater organizer works well to sort construction paper.
  2. Use a large beverage tub or laundry basket to hold and transport students’ lunches and PE equipment, to collect library books, or to file student portfolios. If you buy several laundry baskets of the same type, the baskets can be stacked easily when not in use.re-purposed food container covered in duct tape for pencils and markers
  3. Wash round food containers and then cover them with contact paper or printed duct tape to hold markers, pens, and scissors. Or, secure large round food containers together to file student papers, classroom passes, art supplies, etc.
  4. Glue a magnet to repurposed containers that can be attached to magnetized whiteboards to hold dry erase markers.
  5. Keep art supplies accessible by placing scissors, glue, markers, etc., in plastic cups placed in a muffin tray or by gluing small tins or containers to a Lazy Susan.
  6. Create a centralized supply table to hold items needed every day using baskets, cleaning supply caddies, or small crates to organize supplies.
  7. Sort center activities and art projects in zip-lock bags. For easy access, bags can be stored upright in a plastic bin.
  8. Customize large binder clips to organize stacks of paper. Use Mod Podge or glue to attach small labels to the clips. (ex: “To be graded,” “Return,” and “Misc.”)
  9. Use large magnetic clips to clip notes or papers to the front of student desks (or use clothespins with pieces of self-sticking velcro).
  10. Hang a pegboard on a wall, add hooks, and hang small tin pails or buckets to hold classroom supplies.

What’s your favorite way to organize classroom supplies? Please share your ideas.


Contributing Writer

Image of Theresa WoolerTheresa Wooler has more than 10 years’ experience in K–6 classrooms as a parent volunteer, has taught high school English, and is currently involved in education through Evan-Moor’s marketing communications team.

August 7, 2014
by Evan-Moor
0 comments

3 Myths Surrounding the Common Core

I encounter a lot of misinformation about the Common Core State Standards. Let’s take a few moments to explore three of the most frequently encountered myths.

Common Core FactsMyth #1: Everything is changing!

Fact: While it’s true that the new standards may represent a different way of measuring student success, they’re not entirely new. The new standards are based on the most successful state standards, so they actually look familiar to many teachers. And since the Common Core State Standards don’t prescribe any particular curriculum or teaching style, you’re likely to find that many of your favorite teaching techniques and lesson plans still have a place in the CCSS classroom. Effective teaching is still effective teaching.

Myth #2: The Common Core State Standards are complicated and hard to understand.

Fact: The Common Core State Standards are detailed and specific. But once you understand the organization, and take a moment to familiarize yourself with a few terms, you’ll see that the standards are straightforward. There’s nothing about the standards that is “tricky.” They are logical. Understanding CCSS and meeting their requirements is well within the grasp of every teacher. Download your very own copy at http://www.corestandards.org and read it. You’ll see what I mean.

Myth #3: The new standards are a federal mandate, and politicians (not teachers) put them together.

Fact: The federal government wasn’t involved in the development of the CCSS. State governors and education commissioners led the initiative. Even though it’s unlikely that they asked you for your opinion, the standards most certainly weren’t created without teacher input! Actually, one of my favorite aspects of CCSS is the way in which teacher organizations were invited to provide individual teachers to help with the standards’ formation. These standards are research based, not politically motivated. And actual classroom teachers provided specific, concrete feedback at many steps along the way. Here are the teacher organizations whose members offered feedback:
• National Education Association (NEA)
• American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

These are organizations that you might belong to. I’m confident that they represent us. And that’s why I believe that these new standards empower teachers more than many of the previous generations of standards did.


Contributing Writer

Contributor McKnightDr. Katie McKnight is an educator, author, and consultant. Her career in education began as a high school English teacher in the Chicago Public School system more than 20 years ago. She received her B.A. degree from George Washington University, her M.Ed. from Northeastern Illinois University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Today, she serves as a Distinguished Professor of Research at National Louis University.

Sign-up for education inspiration for PreK–8 teachers and parents.


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive emails from Evan-Moor. You can unsubscribe at any time by using the Unsubscribe link found at the bottom of every email.