Building Classroom Community - When You are Distance Teaching

What does classroom community look like when you aren't even in the classroom?  How can you build relationships when you are distance teaching?

 It may seem daunting to think about continuing to grow relationships with your students while we are all teaching remotely, but it is possible!

Here are some tips and ideas for building your classroom community from a distance.

1. Reach-out and Check in with students AND parents.

The most important thing right now is to check-in regularly with your students and their parents while you can't see them in class.  Consider using a service like Class Dojo or Classtag to send daily check-in messages with your families.  Pick 3-4 students a day to reach out to personally so that it isn't quite as big a chore.

2. Host Social Gatherings via video

Consider hosting virtual meetings via Zoom or Google Hangouts just for the purpose of letting your students socialize with each other.  You might play fun games such as virtual scavenger hunts or Would You Rather? 

Provide opportunities for those students who are unable to attend the meetings (due to parent work, or lack of devices) to participate in some way.  Maybe they can pre-record a video, or write a letter to be shared with the other students.

3. Co-Create Classroom Rules and Norms

Just like at the beginning of the school year when you created classroom rules and norms with your students, you may want to do this again for the on-line environment.  What are some rules for taking turns while talking?  How do we encourage equal participation?  What types of comments should we leave our classmates if we are collaborating on-line?

4. Continue Classroom Rituals Such as Read Alouds and Morning Meetings

Consider continuing some of the classroom rituals you may have already had in place virtually.  If you had a morning meeting, host a weekly one using a virtual meeting.  If you had a question of the day, consider using a padlet to have students answer remotely.  Many teachers are continuing to read stories to their students each day via Facebook groups or YouTube.

5. Let Students Share Their Lives

I don't know about you, but I have seen more pets, siblings, favorite toys, and even more glimpses into the lives of my students than ever before thanks to Zoom!  Whether through Zoom or emailed pictures, have your students share the things in their lives right now that are important to them.  My students have found more in common with each other as they share.

I share with them too!  Like this picture of our bearded dragon, who looks like he is ready to give a news report.  Pictures like this also make great writing prompts!

I also shared this picture of my son, Luke with a bear!

I shared how we took this picture on my Facebook page here.  If you aren't already following there, be sure to follow for even more teaching ideas, memes, tips, and more!

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Spring Color By Number Worksheets

Hey there, teacher friends! If you're looking for a fun and engaging way to practice math facts with your students while celebrating the Spring season, look no further than these Spring Color-by-Number Worksheets! 

Not only are they a great way to keep your students engaged and excited about math, but they'll also get to enjoy coloring in fun Spring-themed pictures while they practice essential math skills such as addition and multiplication.

I wanted to make fun of Spring color by number versions since it is still pretty cold where we live, but we are all anxious for Spring! Check out this adorable Spring Color by Number addition worksheet!

Speaking from personal experience, my students absolutely adore these color-by-number worksheets and can't get enough of them! And who can blame them? Color-by-number activities are not only entertaining, but they're also a fantastic way to get students to practice their math facts without even realizing it.

I love that they can't wait to practice essential math skills such as addition facts and multiplication facts while coloring fun spring-themed coloring pictures!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

Spring Color by Number Addition

Spring Color by Number Multiplication

If you're specifically looking to target multiplication skills, then you're in luck because we have a whole set of Spring Color-by-Number Multiplication Worksheetsavailable! These worksheets feature eight Spring-themed pages for your students to color, each one focusing on a different multiplication fact. 

And of course, we also have Spring Color-by-Number Addition Worksheets available as well.

What is Color by Number?

Color-by-number is an activity for a variety of ages. They usually have a picture or illustration that is divided by lines into sections.  Each section contains a number or a problem to solve.  There is a key included that tells you what color each section should be based on what is written in the section.

Supplies Needed for Spring Color by Number

* Printable Spring Color by Number Worksheets

* Colored Pencils, Markers, or Crayons

* Printer

* Printer Paper

Directions for Spring Color By Number

1. Download and print the Spring Color by Number printables.

2. Begin coloring the picture based on the answers to each section and the color key code.

So if you're looking to help your students sharpen their math skills this Spring season while also having fun, be sure to check out our Spring Color-by-Number Worksheets today! And if you have any requests for additional math skills or themes, just leave a comment below and we'll see what we can do. Happy Spring!

Save even more (over 50%) by buying them in the four-season color-by-number sets!

Multiplication Facts Color By Number Four Seasons

Addition Facts Color By Number Four Seasons

Pull out the crayons or markers and let your students have fun while learning their math facts with these spring math fact printables!

More Coloring Pages for Kids

St. Patrick's Day Color by Number

Summer Color by Number

Unicorn Color by Number

Bugs Color by Number

A List of Authors Doing Virtual Story Time or Art Lessons

It has been amazing seeing all of the people donating their times and talents to help keep our students learning and busy during this crazy time!  One thing I have especially loved is all of the authors who have been doing virtual story times or art lessons.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

Here is a list of all the ones I have seen so far.  I will keep adding to the list as I hear about new ones.

Lunch Doodles With Mo Willems  

The author of Knuffle Bunny and the Pigeon Books teaches students how to draw some of his famous characters.  These would make great story starters for students to write their own versions of his books.

Carmen Agra Deedy 

The author of Rita and Ralph's Rotten Day reads this story about two friends who are having trouble being friends.

Jon Scieszka 

The author of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs reads this outrageously funny "other version" of the famous tale of the three little pigs.  This is always one of my students' favorites!

RJ Palcacio 

Author RJ Palacio is reading her best selling book Wonder over on her Twitter page.  She reads a few chapters at a time.  I read this to my class every year, so they have been excited to hear from the author herself!

Peter H. Reynolds

The author of The Word Collector is sharing his read alouds on his Facebook page. He shares not only his own books, but books from other authors as well.

James Dean

The author of the Pete the Cat books goes live on his Instagram page  weekdays at 1:00 PM EST to read his groovy books!

Jarrett J. Lrosoczka 

The author of the Lunch Lady and Jedi Academy series has drawing lessons on his YouTube channel.

Kate Messner

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud of The Next President: The Unexpected Beginnings and Unwritten Future of America's Presidents along with several other of her books on her YouTube channel. 

She is also sharing a book club with her chapter book, Ranger in Time: Rescue on the Oregon Trail.  Students can ask her questions about the book or writing as well.

Dav Pilkey

The author of much loved series like Captain Underpants, Dog Man, and Ricky Ricotta has a web page called Dav Pilkey at Home where he shares drawing lessons, excerpts from his books, writing prompts, and more!  If your students LOVE Dav Pilkey as much as mine do, they will love this site!

Chris Van Dusen

Author and illustrator, Chris Van Dusen, shares some drawing lessons and reads A Piglet Named Mercy (which he illustrated) on his Instagram.  He also has how to videos of drawing many of his characters on his YouTube page.

Jamie Lee Curtis  

The author shares her book Is There Really a Human Race? on the Instagram page, Save with Stories.  They also have a ton of other read alouds from authors and actors!

Lauren Tarshis 

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The author of the amazing I Survived series is sharing a read aloud of her I Survived The Destruction of Pompeii, AD 79 chapter book.  The first two chapters are in the video above, but you can find all of the chapters on the Scholastic YouTube page.

While it's not necessarily the author for this series, Daniel Radcliffe and other well known actors are reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  

Have you seen any other author's reading books?  Leave a comment below.

Before you go, head on over to enter one of our giveaways!

The Best Multiplication Read Alouds

I love combining read-alouds with just about any subject content, and multiplication is no different!  Here are some of my favorite read-alouds for helping your students gain a better understanding of multiplication.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

The Best of Times by Greg Tang

Greg Tang uses poetry and illustrations to provide students with rules and strategies for mastering their multiplication facts.

Two of Everything 

This is a tale of a poor Chinese farmer and his wife. Mr. Haktak finds a brass pot, and after his wife drops her hairpin into it, they realize that it is a magic pot that doubles everything.  

This is a great book for teaching a doubling strategy or introducing the concept of multiplication. 

2X2 = Boo! A Set of Spooky Multiplication Stories

Author Loreen Leedy introduces the multiplication facts from 0 through 5 with six funny math stories. This book is another perfect introduction to a multiplication unit.

Count on Pablo

Pablo is excited to help his grandmother (Abuela) sell vegetables at the farmer's market.  See how he uses multiplication to help!  

365 Penguins

The family in this book finds themselves receiving a new penguin each and every day! This book is bound to make your kiddos laugh as they count along with the ever growing penguins!

Other Multiplication Resources

If you're teaching multiplication and looking for some other great tools to help your students, check out the following resources:

Multiplication Color By Number

Kicking It Math Multiplication Fact Fluency Program  

Roll the Die and Multiply

And.... before you go, head on over to my giveaway page to enter to win a Teachers pay Teachers gift card!