The Lifetime Learner

Creating Lifetime Learners

Summer Math Puzzles

Is it just me or do the last few weeks of school go by SO fast?! I’ve learned over the years that it’s better to keep my students engaged and on a structured schedule after we finish standardized testing instead of allowing them more freedom. One of the ways I like to keep them engaged is with these summer math puzzles. The theme reminds kids of the fun things to come and I get the comfort of ... read more

Spring Math Puzzles

Spring is honestly one of my favorite times of the year. Kids know the routines, everything seems to be flowing (pretty) smoothly, and we’re wrapping up the end of each of our units in order to start preparing for the end of grade testing. I use spring math puzzles to ensure my students are getting the spiral review they need to practice skills learned earlier in the year. This blog post shows you ... read more

St. Patrick’s Day Math Puzzles

St. Patrick’s Day is so fun to celebrate whether you’re Irish or not! My kids love to wear green to school, look for leprechauns and hope they’ll find pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. I like to keep my kids engaged during this sometimes crazy time of year. I do this with St. Patrick’s Day math puzzles. They’re self-checking and easy to use. This blog post will tell you my favorite 5 ways to ... read more

Number Math Puzzles

I’m going to be honest. I have always been a HUGE fan of puzzles and anytime I can integrate them into my classroom, I do! I love these Number Math Puzzles because they are the perfect way for students to learn their math facts in an exciting way. They’re also self-checking and no-prep which is a win-win in my book. This blog post will tell you my favorite 5 ways to use my Number Math Puzzles in ... read more

Martin Luther King Math Puzzles

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most influential African Americans in history. I make it a point to teach my students about this leader not only during Black History Month but during the course of the year as well. I love bringing up all of his accomplishments and discussing his speeches during our social studies unit on American history. A lot of students in third grade have never heard of ... read more

Math Fact Puzzles

Math facts are in constant practice in my classroom. I know that if students are practicing consistently, they lose their fluency. Because of this, my students complete math fact puzzles every month during our math center rotations. This blog post will discuss my 5 favorite ways to implement using these math fact puzzles in the classroom. WAY #1 I put all five puzzles in a math center and ... read more

Halloween Math Puzzles

Halloween is a really fun time of year when you’re in the classroom (crazy, but fun!). The kids are excited to go trick-or-treating, a full moon always seems to be on the horizon and everyone’s super excited and pumped up. To keep my kids on task, I like to use Halloween math puzzles in my math center rotations. It gets the kids excited but keeps them engaged in what we’re practicing. This blog ... read more

Easter Math Puzzles

Easter is always a really crazy time of year in my classroom. We’re all waiting for spring break to arrive, the kids are hyped up on candy most days, and I’m still trying to teach some instruction. These math puzzles have been a saving grace for me. This blog post shows you my 5 favorite ways I’ve used them in my classroom. EASTER MATH PUZZLES #1 There’s a color and black and white version ... read more

Christmas Math Puzzles

Are you looking for a way to keep your students engaged before Christmas break? These Christmas puzzles are perfect! Students get to practice important Common Core math skills and play a challenging game at the same time. Here are 5 ways to implement these math puzzles in your classroom. IDEA #1 Each puzzle pack comes with 10 math fact puzzles. Put the puzzles in your math centers and have ... read more

Back to School Math Puzzles

Puzzles are a consistent part of my math centers each month. They’re easy to use, self-checking, and my kids LOVE them! I love to use these back to school math puzzles to help my students practice the skills we teach at the beginning of the year. It helps me see what math skills students learned the previous year and what we need more work with. IDEA #1 Each puzzle pack comes with 10 math ... read more

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  • You donut have to stress with this cool reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! You're now in charge of a donut shop and have to complete orders for customers. Use this fun doughnut themed pack of reading skills to spiral review other skills during your room transformation! A digital version i...
  • You are in LUCK with this cool reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! You are now attending a Leprechaun Family Reunion and will complete tasks for each leprechaun that is there. Use this fun St. Patrick's Day themed pack of reading skills to spiral review other skills during your room transf...
  • Get ready to party with this spooky reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! Your students complete challenges that are Halloween themed that are easy to swap out with any Halloween-themed reading room transformation! Use this fun Halloween themed pack of reading skills to spiral review other s...
  • Get ready to party in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with this Thanksgiving reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! Your students complete challenges that are Macy's Day themed that are easy to swap out with any Thanksgiving-themed reading room transformation! Use this fun pack of reading ...
  • Get ready to help Santa with this Christmas reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! Your students complete challenges that are holiday-themed and are easy to swap out with any Christmas-themed reading room transformation! Use this fun pack of reading skills to spiral review other skills during...
  • You will bowl over the competition with this cool reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! You're now a pro-bowler showing off their bowling skills! Use this fun bowling-themed pack of reading skills to spiral review other FICTION skills during your room transformation! A digital version is inc...
  • You can now party with this cool candy shop reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! Students pretend to be candy shop owners while working to complete all of the candy challenges! Use this fun candy-themed pack of reading skills to spiral review other NONFICTION skills during your room transfo...
  • Learn more about life under the sea with this cool reading classroom transformation ADD ON PACK! You're now an under the water explorer! Use this fun ocean-themed pack of reading skills to spiral review other FICTION skills during your room transformation! A digital version is included as well for G...
  • You donut have to stress with this cool reading classroom transformation! You're now in charge of a donut shop and have to complete ten orders. In order to finish all ten challenges, you need to complete the ten main idea challenges that align with 3.RI.2. A digital and print version is included.Loo...
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The Lifetime Learner

1 week ago

The Lifetime Learner
And that’s a wrap on a full week of room transformations!! 🌋 We ended with one that’s always a blast—THE FLOOR IS LAVA!Due to covid regulations, I had to set it up a bit differently this year since we don’t have table groups. BUT— it all worked out fine because having their desks in rows actually made it easier to get all of the tablecloths set up!This year, I used “rocks” (printable safe zones) for them to jump between to get around the lava and their desk was a safe spot too. Everyone not only enjoyed it but behaved really well!After this picture was taken, I also added in a few rivers (blue tablecloths), sand dunes (yellow), and grassy areas (green) so kids had a few more paths to get around too. This helped with the “back up” of kids wanting to go the same direction when they went around completing challenges.Every single kid LOVED IT and this took me maybe 15 minutes to set up. I’ve re-used the same tablecloths from dollar tree 3 years in a row so I didn’t spend a dime.I have the kids fold them all up and pack it in a box at the end of the day so there’s no clean up for me either! It takes us about 5 minutes to do and we all go home happy. 😁 Yay for test prep being over and a week of successful, easy room transformations!! #setthestagetoengage #classroomtransformations #thefloorislava ... See MoreSee Less

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The Lifetime Learner

2 weeks ago

The Lifetime Learner
This was my favorite room transformation with this particular group of students. 🥰The looks on their faces when they came in and saw balloon puppies was incredible! 🐶 🐩 🐕 They worked so hard to earn a puppy to keep and all I had up for decorations was this banner and the balloon dogs! It was 2 hours of pure content, rigor, and made my day stress-free. Tomorrow brings my final room transformation of the year...THE FLOOR IS LAVA! ... See MoreSee Less

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The Lifetime Learner

2 weeks ago

The Lifetime Learner
Rock star day with a 15 minute set up!! This classroom transformation is always so fun!! I hung up laminated stars I reuse year after year and put a hat on each desk. THAT’S IT! 😁 Today was a blast!! The week of room-transformations-every-day continues tomorrow with Veterinarian Day!! I’m doing whatever I can to keep the engagement high till state testing next Monday. 😉 ... See MoreSee Less

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The Lifetime Learner

2 weeks ago

The Lifetime Learner
Day 2 of a WEEK of room transformations complete!! 🦕 🦖 Super easy to decorate for Dino day this year.I found these dinosaur balloons on Amazon and blew them up before placing them around the room (fun fact: you blow up these balloons with straws! 😮) That’s ALL I did for extra decorations and it was perfect for this school year. Any kids who finished got to take one home! This was a great incentive and soooo easy for cleanup😉. Tomorrow...rock star day!! ... See MoreSee Less

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The Lifetime Learner

2 weeks ago

The Lifetime Learner
THIS is what my room transformations typically look like this year. This is Party Planner Day that we completed today. A banner, some decorations on the door, posters/challenges around the room, and a few items on their desk.No tablecloths, no deck-out-every-inch-of-my-room, and minimal prep time (this took me 10 minutes). I bought cookies as a prize and we were ready to go! The kids had a BLAST, worked so hard, and THEY cleaned up the entire thing in five minutes before dismissal. Room transformations can be as simple as you want them to be—-OR as elaborate as you want!I’m doing 5 classroom transformations this week to prep for EOY testing and they will all look like this (and that’s okay!). My kids are learning, I’m happy they’re engaged, and a few weeks from now no one will care whether I decorated the whole room or put up a few items. Value your time. Don’t overdo it (unless you want to! 😜). Do what makes you feel happy—not what you think others expect.It’s all about doing what feels right at the time for me. Different seasons of life, different levels of decor. 😉 Have you tried room transformations before? Do you go all out or keep it basic? I’ve done both ways many, many times! No wrong answers either way! 😊 #classroomtransformation #iteachthird #teachertalk ... See MoreSee Less

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