Literacy ideas and resources - Tales from Outside the Classroom

I Am Thankful For Thanksgiving Writing Activity

With Thanksgiving around the corner you might be looking for seasonal writing activities. With this year being what it is, I wanted to design a digital Thanksgiving writing activity so it could work in any school setting: traditional in person, hybrid, or virtual learning. I am not a big celebrator of Thanksgiving. It’s a complicated holiday. I do, however, focus my Thanksgiving work in the classroom around being thankful. Our conversations in the classroom revolve

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Celebrating Dot Day

Several years ago I learned about International Dot Day. Since then, I’ve incorporated it into my classroom every year. International Dot Day is celebrated on September 15th-ish each year and is brought to you by The Dot author, Peter H. Reynolds. If you’re not familiar with him, or his books, take this as your opportunity. His books, especially those that are part of the Creatrilogy series help show students important character traits through familiar, real-life

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Bitmoji Bookmarks

Each year, I end out the year with some student gifts. I give my students at least one book, and some resources they can use to continue to learn in more fun ways with their family. This year, our end of the year is looking incredibly different than ever before. I will be giving students summer gifts when they pick up their supplies in a few weeks. In the meantime, I am going to deliver

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Tips for Funding Your Classroom Library

The area of my classroom I am most proud of is my classroom library. What started out as a respectable, but not so diverse collection of books, has quickly grown into something I can showcase. I’ve had students in awe of the selection shouting “This is like going to a real library!”. While there are definitely areas that are in need of some love and expansion, especially my non-fiction offerings, I’m consistently working to add

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Classroom Library Organization

Organizing your classroom library is probably one of those things you never thought of until it was time to put it together. That’s how I was. I had accumulated a decently sized collection of books, and then I walked into a classroom where I was also given a good supply of books for my classroom library. I also had zero built in space for a library and I knew I needed to be shelving and

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Hi! I’m Tessa!

I’ve spent the last 15 years teaching in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, and working beside elementary classrooms as an instructional coach and resource support. I’m passionate about math, literacy, and finding ways to make teachers’ days easier. I share from my experiences both in and out of the elementary classroom. Read more About Me.