From my experience, teachers generally have a love of reading. I know one of my favorite activities is to curl up with a good book, and there’s no better time to read than during the summer months! Magazines abound with recommended summer reading lists and best books for the beach. So I thought we would try our own little teacher-approved recommended reading list on The Mailbox® Blog. What are you planning to read during the summer months? What are some of your favorite books from past summers? Type me a quick note to name your all-time favorites! Then you can use the recommendations to jot down a list of potential books to read. Hey, all of these books are teacher-approved—just like our ideas in The Mailbox® magazine!

All the best,
Kimberly

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Some of my favorite days with students were spent in the summer school classroom. In our situation, the atmosphere was a bit more laid-back. The children and I could get to know each other and, best of all, we could take advantage of fun summer themes! I’ve gathered some of my favorite theme-related activities from current issues of The Mailbox® magazine to share with you. Enjoy!

The June/July Preschool edition features a cute beach-themed center. This fun activity is sure to build students’ gross-motor skills:
Youngsters work their arm muscles with this fun idea! Place an oversize starfish cutout on the floor. Then place a tape line on the floor several feet away along with a plastic pail containing five beanbags. A child stands behind the line. He tosses the beanbags toward the starfish, attempting to get one beanbag on each arm.

Bugs are the summer theme of choice in the June/July Kindergarten edition. This whole-group activity boosts students’ phonological awareness.
Youngsters pretend to be butterflies during this whole-group activity. In advance, draw three flowers on the board and number them. To begin, announce a word that has one, two, or three syllables. Lead students to repeat the word as they “flap their wings” like butterflies once for each word part. Then write the word on the flower that corresponds with the number of word parts. Continue as time allows.

In the June/July Grade 1 edition, you’ll find a picnic-themed math unit. Here’s a sweet activity that helps students learn how to tell time:
Here’s a tempting review! In advance, use watercolors to paint a paper plate light brown. After the paint dries, write numbers and add marker details so the plate resembles a clockface on a pie. Use a brad to attach two clock hands to the plate. To begin, sit with students in a circle. Next, lead students in saying the chant below as the pie is passed around the circle. Ask the student who is holding the pie at the end of the chant to show a time on the pie. After a youngster correctly identifies the time, repeat the chant as students continue passing the pie around the circle.

For dessert, I must wait
Until I eat what’s on my plate.
Apple, chocolate, cherry, plum.
Is it time to have some?

Congratulations to R. Weber, Bar Nunn Elementary. She is the winner of a copy of Out & About Math (Grades 1–2) in our weekly blog drawing.

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Change is good, right? I know it is, but here’s my confession—sometimes change scares the heck out of me. And yet I know I embrace change on a daily basis. I guess it’s the big changes that can throw me for a loop. To this day I vividly remember the afternoon my principal informed me that the following fall I would be changing grade levels. My knees went weak and my head began to spin—and not in a good way!

Change is on my mind because I’m imagining many teachers are being asked to embrace big changes in the coming school year: a change of schools, a change of grade levels, a change of teaching colleagues, a change of administration, and so on. Over the years I’ve learned that I’m best with small changes. So when a big ole change comes my way, I try to embrace the big change in small chunks. This works for me. What works for you? What are your words of wisdom for colleagues facing major changes? Please share your insights and positive experiences!

And to all our subscribers; if you have a current subscription to The Mailbox® magazine or Teacher’s Helper® magazine that no longer matches your new teaching assignment, go immediately to www.themailbox.com/customerservice to request a change of editions. Or call toll-free 1-800-334-0298 (Monday through Friday 7am - 9:30pm and Saturday 8am - 6pm CST). We are here to serve you! (Please act quickly, as changes can take up to six weeks to process because of fixed mailing schedules.)

Thinking of you!

Diane

Congratulations to R. Weber, Bar Nunn Elementary. She is the winner of a copy of Out & About Math (Grades 1–2) in our weekly blog drawing.

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My first two years of teaching were spent as a fifth-grade teacher. My classroom was a portable trailer with wood siding (inside and out) and orange carpet. I loved it! Not only could I adjust the temperature in my classroom, but I never really had to stress too much about the noise level. My students sat and worked in cooperative groups, and since fifth graders have a lot to say, we sometimes strayed to the noisy side.

We had art in our classrooms, and one afternoon, the art teacher was circulating in my room, checking students’ progress with his assigned project. My happy tweens were getting a bit rowdy, so this soft-spoken Southern man decided to get the noise level in check. “It sounds like Congress in here,” he loudly declared. (Well, it was loud for him.) I’m not sure that solved the noise problem, but I had to chuckle! I had never heard that expression before, but it fit!

Tell me about a favorite kid-friendly expression that you use in your classroom. Is there one you use so often that your students tend to repeat it with you or you’ve learned from parents that they’re using at home? Please don’t feel limited to sharing phrases for quieting your students. It can be a positive reinforcement phrase, a transition signal, or even a daily greeting.

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I still remember the day in June when my principal asked me to attend a special science workshop. I was so excited…until I learned it was a two-week workshop in JULY! Because I was a newer teacher at the time, I thought it would be in my best interest to attend. Needless to say, though, I was not happy about giving up a good chunk of my vacation. All through June I dreaded the workshop. And when my alarm went off on the first morning of the workshop, I hit the snooze button at least five times. But believe it or not, once I got there, it was like I was in another land. I completely forgot about summer vacation. The presenter was awesome, the content was great, and the other teachers I met were so friendly! It turned out to be a wonderful experience! (Okay, I have to admit…the workshop was only half days, so I was by the pool by 1:00!)

What about you? Are you attending a workshop or conference this summer? Please share. I’d love to know what you’re learning about!

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My husband is a golfer. My young nieces don’t completely understand what that means, but they know they love their uncle, and just recently, they discovered that they also love to play miniature golf. Of course, it was only a matter of time before their two loves got together.

My husband really enjoys spending time with my nieces, but he was hesitant before we ever pulled into the parking lot. After all, he’s a serious 18-hole-playing, course-walking, bag-carrying golfer. When we saw the course, he gave me a quick look. I couldn’t blame him. We were looking at a four-story straw hut contraption with mazes, ponds, and bridges. But what could we do? The girls each grabbed one of his hands and we were off. A little while later, we were laughing and scoring holes-in-one and enjoying the view from the top. We all had a great time!

Isn’t it fun to take time away from the serious business of life and just look at it through the eyes of a child? As much as my hardworking husband covets time for a good round of golf, playing a whimsical round of Putt-Putt with my nieces was time well spent. I’m sure he’ll be thinking about those bridges and mazes the next time he’s on the real golf course with the boys.

As a teacher, you know better than anyone else that spending time with a child can give you a whole new outlook on life. And I know that, unlike my husband, you get to spend a lot of time looking at life through the eyes of children. Why not take a few minutes to tell us about some of your favorite times with your students or with some of the children in your family? It’s sure to make us all feel a bit younger!

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The newest titles from The Mailbox Books have been printed and are now available for sale online.  Click a title below for more information and to get sample pages from each book.

TEC61237 Totally for Twos Age 2

TEC61215 Gross-Motor Skills for Little Learners PreK
TEC61241 Social Skills for Little Learners PreK

TEC61203 Literacy Learning Mats PreK
TEC61204 Literacy Learning Mats Grade K
TEC61205 Literacy Learning Mats Grade 1
TEC61206 Math Learning Mats PreK
TEC61207 Math Learning Mats Grade K
TEC61208 Math Learning Mats Grade 1

TEC61216 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Math Grade 1
TEC61217 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Math Grade 2
TEC61218 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Math Grade 3
TEC61219 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Math Grades 4-6
TEC61221 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Language Arts Grade 1
TEC61222 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Language Arts Grade 2
TEC61223 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Language Arts Grade 3
TEC61224 Activity Cards for Early Finishers: Language Arts Grades 4-6

TEC61235 Hooray for Me! PreK-K
TEC61236 Hooray for Holidays & Seasonal Celebrations® PreK-K

TEC61238 Best of Teacher’s Helper® Phonological Awareness & Phonics Gr. K
TEC61239 Best of Teacher’s Helper® Phonics Grade 1
TEC61240 Best of Teacher’s Helper® Phonics & Word Study Grades 2-3

TEC61225 Big Book of Patterns

Find a teacher store near YOU that carries The Mailbox Books!

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This time of year can be a whirlwind of activity! There are so many things to accomplish! First and foremost, activities must be wrapped up. But, there is also a room to clean and organize for the next school year, as well as a roomful of students to send off for the summer! To help you as you make your way, I’ve collected several of my favorite tips from current issues of The Mailbox® magazine.

I keep a file folder wish list. When I see an item in a magazine that I’d like or I need for my classroom, I cut out the picture and tape it inside a file folder. I have the folder handy when I complete my supply order or when I shop garage sales over the summer. It’s an easy way to keep up with the things I’ll need in the fall.—from June/July Grades 2/3 Mailbox Magazine

To ease my students’ upcoming transition to second grade, I invite each second-grade teacher, in turn, to read her favorite storybook to my class. The storytime visits reduce youngsters’ anxiety and create anticipation for the fall.—from June/July Grade 1 Mailbox Magazine

As I sort through my classroom at the end of the year, I set beginning-of-the-year materials aside in my “First Week of School” tub. This saves time and prepares me for the first week of kindergarten.—from June/July Kindergarten Mailbox Magazine

Intermediate teachers, click here to get a reproducible page from Intermediate June/July Mailbox Magazine that’s sure to help your students wrap up the end of their school year!

Congratulations to Jamie Nolan, Data Administrator; Port Washington, USFD; Port Washington, NY. She is the winner of the Math Skills Workout Book (Grade 4) in our weekly blog drawing.

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Yesterday was a great day. Fellow editor Krystle Jones was working on a reproducible partner game for The Mailbox® magazine, Intermediate. We had talked over the idea and were both sure it was going to be great. Then, when Krystle started working on it, several issues popped up. So we sat down to problem-solve. Boy! We hit one wall after another. Several times, we just looked at each other wondering if there was a solution.

But we kept working, talking, drawing, writing, and talking some more. And you know what? We did it. We came up with a fun game that will give students lots of great practice. I’m convinced that the key to our success was collaborating.

Thinking about collaboration took me right back to teaching and the way a simple idea could absolutely blossom when a few of us worked on it together. There was the archaeological dig Patti and I spent an afternoon re-creating in her yard. (Patti lived a block away from our school.) Then there was the time Valerie immersed Sandy, Mark, and me in the culture of Northwest Coast Native Americans, so we could help our students have a potlatch with the fifth graders from another school. I could go on and on. (Maybe in my next blog…) It all comes down to this, though—collaboration! It inspires me and drives me to be my best. So, instead of more stories from me, why don’t you post a story or two about a time when collaborating has inspired you?

Congratulations to Jamie Nolan, Data Administrator; Port Washington, USFD; Port Washington, NY. She is the winner of the Math Skills Workout Book (Grade 4) in our weekly blog drawing.

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For a teacher, there’s nothing quite like the end of the school year. It’s busy, tiring, fun, gratifying; the list goes on and on. For me, it was a time of conflicting emotions. I found it hard to say goodbye to my students, but I also looked forward to having time off. I longed to spend lazy mornings at my favorite summertime destination, Two Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It’s such an incredibly peaceful spot! But a funny thing always happened soon after vacation started: I would start getting excited about the next school year.

Somehow or another my mind would wander to the topic of school, and I’d start thinking about revamping part of my classroom routine or trying something new for literacy or math. Once I started thinking about it, the ideas would keep coming and the anticipation would build. It sounds crazy, I know, especially since I so looked forward to rest and relaxation in the summer. But that’s what happened, year after year. It was even harder to “turn off” the ideas during the summers before I changed teaching positions or classrooms.

How about you? In the midst of the summer, do your thoughts stray back to your classroom and next year? Or are you able to put those thoughts on hold until just before back-to-school?

Congratulations to Lynn of Dayton, Ohio. She is the winner of the Grades 4–5 Building Math Basics book in our weekly blog drawing.

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