What If You Had Animal Teeth?

We sure love the What If You Had Animal Parts book series!    Swing by to see how we turned this book series into a 4 week, close read!  We dig in deep so students can learn, but have fun along the way!  Click HERE to read more!

Sub Plans Made Easy with a FREEBIE and a SCHOLASTIC GIVEAWAY!!!

Hi Peeps! Traci Clausen with Engaging Teaching here... sharing about that fabulous topic... making sub plans!

Taking a day off as a teacher means writing sub plans. We all know how much that weighs on whether or not we take that day! In my little world, life has been in the way a lot recently and that has resulted in quite a few sub days. For these days, I am so thankful for the things that make planning for a day I can’t be in the classroom so much easier.

Stop by my latest post and grab a copy of my sub plan template and a FREE editable version that you can edit for yourself!!


Leaving Scholastic News for my sub to use with my kiddos is a big part of keeping my sub planning simple.

Don't forget to enter the SCHOLASTIC GIVEAWAY while you are visiting, too!

Visit Engaging with Traci Clausen for a chance to win and to grab your FREEBIE!

Responsibility in the Classroom

Running a responsible classroom is something we've worked hard to accomplish each year for over 20 years. It seems as time has gone by, there is a greater need to teach these small humans to care, share, and be aware of themselves, others, their surroundings, and their belongings. Truth be told, these lessons (on being responsible) were once presumed to be home parenting lessons. Truth be told, they are not always assumed to be home parenting lessons nowadays. So we do what we do best...We teach...Reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, PE, music, and responsibility. That's a lot of responsibility for all of us! 

As we work our way through another school year,  hop on over to see a few successful ways we integrate opportunities to practice responsibility in our classroom.

Click the link below to head over to read more at
Fluttering Through First Grade:
Raising Responsible Learners

Teaching Informational Text during Black History Month

We have been learning about some of great leaders and influencers in Black History.  At the same time, we are also diving into text features of informational texts.  Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, and Rosa Parks were spotlighted during these lesson plans!

Swing by for a free file too!

You can read all about it by clicking:  TEACHING BLACK HISTORY MONTH (FREE FILE)

NGSS - Patterns in our Space System with the Earth, Moon and Sun

Are things like my neck of the woods where you are? Our district has embraced NGSS but we don't have a single thing that covers those standards on site!

In a few weeks we are starting our NGSS unit on patterns and predictability found in our space systems.

Hop on over to my blog to check out what we'll be doing!