Teacher’s Brain

The Benefits of Assigning Spring Break Packets in Elementary

Spring break is right around the corner and it’s something teachers and students alike look forward to. Because let’s face it, the school year can get a little hectic and stressful and breaks give a much-needed reprieve for everyone! 

However, if you have any students, or parents, that are needing a little extra practice over break, spring break packets are the way to go. 

While it’s most important for students to get lots of rest and relaxation during spring break, it can be a great time to squeeze in a little extra practice without the pressure of regular school hours and daily learning. 

spring break worksheets

Here are some more benefits of using spring break packets for your elementary students. 

  1. Keeps up the momentum from the regular day-to-day learning. It’s easy to forget a thing or two over spring break and a set of worksheets can be the perfect way to defeat that. 
  2. Helps develop independence in learning. During the school day, students have teachers to tell them which activities to do and when. By assigning a packet for students to do over break, it gives them a chance to exercise their autonomy and independence with learning.
  3. Boosts responsibility. Assigning a packet to your students and leaving it up to them to make sure it’s done is a great way to build responsibility. As they get into the upper elementary and middle school grades, this is an important skill to have as they will need to take more responsibility for their own learning outcomes. 

Needless to say, I highly recommend spring break packets or spring break worksheets for elementary students! 

If you’re looking for a spring break packet that you can assign to your elementary students, I have you covered! 

This Spring Break Packet resource includes engaging practice worksheets for students in pre-k up to 5th grade! 

These print-and-go packets are perfect for students to use for independent work, with their parents, or with a tutor. They include review for subjects like reading, writing, and math.  

Each packet is designed to help and encourage students to review skills over Spring Break. In order to make this a fun challenge, you will see I included several different covers to choose from while creating your classroom’s packet. I suggest telling students that this is not mandatory, but they will get something for completing the packet. It could be a homework pass, pizza party, trip to the library, or extra recess. This packet is their “TICKET” to the prize!

Pick and choose what works for your class to design your own packet. Our county only gets a week, so I would usually pick 15 to 25 printables to include for students to be able to complete without feeling like they are burdened with too much work. 

Here’s what’s included: 

* 7 Packets (downloads) for Pre-K, Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade, Fourth Grade, and Fifth Grade.  Some of the packets do have a few printables that are the same as other packets if they meet the same standard. Most printables are new designs that hit standards required for the specific grade level.

* Each Packet has a reading log, grade-specific sight words, word banks for writing, comprehension activities, and math activities.

Don’t want the bundle? No problem! You can buy each packet individually as well if you prefer only your grade level.

spring break packet
spring break packet
spring break packet

For summer packets, you can check out my resource here! 

Are you assigning spring break packets? Let me know in the comments!

How To Create A Positive Affirmations Station in Your Classroom

As elementary teachers, we all know how important it is to create a positive and nurturing environment in our classrooms. We all strive to build strong relationships with our students and help them develop the skills they need to succeed both in and out of the classroom. One of my favorite tools to achieve that is positive affirmations!

positive affirmations for kids

Positive affirmations for kids are short, powerful statements that are used to challenge negative thoughts and replace them with more positive and empowering beliefs. It’s powerful to teach them the vocabulary that they need to have a positive mindset!

Do positive affirmations work for kids? 

Yes! When used in the classroom, they can help students develop a more positive self-image, build self-confidence, and improve their overall mental health and wellbeing.

How do you teach positive affirmations for kids? 

Start by explaining what positive affirmations are and why they are important. You can help your students understand that these are short, positive statements that they can use to remind themselves of how amazing they are!

Here are a few tips for teaching affirmations: 

  1. Create a list of affirmations. Together with your students, create a list of affirmations that they can use in their daily lives. Encourage them to think about their strengths, accomplishments, and qualities, and to come up with affirmations that feel right to them and make them feel good. 
  2. Use visualization. Visualization is a powerful tool that can help students to internalize their affirmations. Encourage your students to close their eyes and imagine how they will feel when they reach a goal. 
  3. Practice daily in a designated space. These are most effective when they are used regularly! Place affirmations around a mirror or create an affirmation station by setting aside a space in your classroom just for positive affirmation work. You can place a mirror here or just create a board with many positive affirmation cards displayed that students can use to remind themselves of how amazing they are.
  4. Celebrate successes. Finally, be sure to celebrate your students’ successes as they begin to use positive affirmations in their daily lives. Acknowledge their efforts and encourage them to continue using affirmations to build self-confidence and develop a positive mindset.

If you’re looking for a list of positive affirmations for kids or a positive affirmations resource that you can use to create your own Affirmation Station, I have you covered! 

I created these Positive Affirmation Cards that you can display on a mirror or elsewhere in your classroom. 

positive affirmations resource

In this resource, you’ll find pre-made cards and editable cards full of positive affirmations that you can place around a mirror in your classroom or at an affirmation station.

printable positive affirmation cards

Included in this download:

Black and White Themed Editable PowerPoint:

  • 24 Pre-made Affirmation Cards (4 per page)
  • 4 different types of Titles Cards
  • 2 Worksheets (To help students understand how to turn a negative thought into a positive thought.)
  • 2 Blank editable pages for you to easily add your own affirmations and titles.
  • Directions with Suggestions
  • A Definition Affirmation Poster

If you want to add a pop of color, consider adding construction paper to the back for a border.

affirmation station

This is a wonderful and easy way to incorporate the power of affirmations into your classroom and help your students develop the positive mindset that they need to thrive. 

Are you using affirmations in your classroom? Let me know in the comments! For more classroom management resources, check out my post here!

National Read Across America WEEK Ideas

One of my favorite weeks of school is Read Across America Week! Students dress up every day, bring in their favorite books to share with the class, and we do fun literacy related activities throughout the week.

Here are some ideas to help plan a successful literacy week in your classroom.

First, send home a schedule of themed dress up days. These can include school colors, favorite characters, crazy socks, inside out clothes, western day, sports day or anything your class votes on as a dress up day. Asking parents to send in a special treat on the last day of the week, is a great way to involve parents in on the fun!

On the first day, we share books from home, and they get to read outside with a reading buddy. They love to go outside because it is something different than the regular routine. For centers, we do some fun rhyming activities with crafts, nonsense words and a write the room activity.

Crafts for Reading Across America

The next day, we spend time reading books about different cultures. Students can ask questions. They create a hat by coloring their favorite story book cover on the hat. Students may wear this hat all day to share their love of reading with the rest of the school. They wear them while writing about their favorite story.

Wednesday is WACKY WEDNESDAY for our class reading celebration. It is one of my favorite books by Dr. Seuss! I begin the day by reading the book. Students are dressed WACKY on this day. When they go to lunch, I make about 10 items “wacky” in the room. When they return, they need to find the items. Some ideas are to turn the clock upside down, have a shoe hanging from the ceiling, put socks in the tissue box, place a chair sideways, or have pencils in the scissors bin.

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Animal parts are provided and students are instructed to create a wacky animal from the parts. Then, they write about their animal and give it a personality. Sharing the wacky animals is a must if you love laughter!

Thursday is a day for a Wacky Day during math. It is important for students to know that reading is part of real life to help solve math problems. There are 20 addition and subtraction Google Slides. We read the word problems together as one volunteer student drags the parts to the appropriate area on the slide.

Ending Literacy Week

Finally, on Friday we end the week with a BOOK TASTING. This is the student’s favorite activity! There is a video hook where students learn of a book store that was robbed. The owner asks for their help to solve the mystery. They must solve clues which include “tasting” different books in different genres. The room is set up like a restaurant. They learn about how to set a table, using teamwork to solve a problem and different genres of books. It takes about 30 minutes to prep and 45 minutes for the students to complete. Parents can bring in a snack for the students this day also.