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Teaching is a #LaborOfLove – TpT Dollar Hashtag Sale!

September 4, 2021 by Amy Leave a Comment

If you ask me, Back-to-School came way too soon. Yet here it is: it’s arrived fast and furious, and whether you’re in the thick of it or just getting started–teachers everywhere are feeling some type of way. You’re here for the kids – teaching is a #LaborOfLove, right? – but there’s a lot on your mind.

Whether you are excited, exhausted, worried, or a combination of it all, I’m here to give you good news. Good news in the form of one dollar deals to complete your back-to-school toolbox.

On Sunday September 5th and Monday September 6th, we’d love to offer you a 2-day sale of $1 products on TpT.

#LaborOfLove Hashtag Sale! Search this hashtag on TpT to find hundreds of resources for only $1.

Simply enter #laboroflove on TpT on September 5th + September 6th (that’s Sunday + Monday), and find hundreds of products marked down to only one dollar.

Our hope is that you can load up on everything you need to start your year off right and set yourself up for success no matter what the school year brings.

You can also access the deals directly using this link: bit.ly/3D0u8Ty.

I’m putting two resources in the sale:

Snag these Discussion Questions & Creative Writing Prompts for The Hunger Games for only #1 with the hashtag #LaborOfLove.

These chapter-by-chapter discussion and comprehension questions with creative writing prompts are perfect for cooperative learning, group or class discussions, and assessment!

Use these hexagonal thinking activities with any novel! Only #1 with the hashtag #LaborOfLove.

Hexagonal thinking activities are the perfect way to strengthen your students’ literary analysis and critical thinking skills – and they work for a wide variety of ages! Use this resource with any novel. While the activity sheets are permanent, you can edit the hexagons – and use all the parts in any combination, making this super flexible.

Happy shopping!

Back to School TpT Sale & Gift Card Giveaway!

August 27, 2021 by Amy 1 Comment

If you’re like me, you thought things were improving – but now, as we head back to school, the horizon has darkened a bit. With case counts rising and restrictions beginning again, it’s hard to know what tomorrow will look like in our classrooms. Work loads, available resources and materials, and time are all different from what we’re used to – and who couldn’t use a little help?

That’s why TpT is running a special sale on 8/31-9/1. Many resources will be discounted up to 25% with the code BTSBONUS21. I love shopping TpT’s sales because I can get the resources I need to save loads of time while saving lots of money, too.

I’ve used these resources towards the beginning of my school year – maybe they’ll help you, too!

The Mayflower Compact isn’t just for Thanksgiving time – because at it’s heart, it’s really about the creating a governmental plan, and that’s really about debate and compromise and teamwork! This lesson is perfect for having your students craft their own classroom rules. After learning about the real Mayflower Compact, students craft their own. This resource comes with several versions: print, cursive, scaffolded, and fully blank. It’s available in both print and digital versions.

Chris Grabenstein’s Shine sets the perfect tone for positive student reactions!

I love Chris Grabenstein’s middle-grade novel Shine! It’s perfect for showing the power of hard work and appreciating the gifts in those around you. Shine is a fabulous story to use at the beginning of a school year to emphasize these positive interactions. Find everything you need to make this reading fun and interactive with these resources.

Take your students’ ability to think critically deeper with these hexagonal thinking activities.

Teach your students to think critically about any story with these hexagonal thinking activities! Better yet, you can continue to take the lesson deeper all year as these pages are editable. Use them with any novel, story, or lesson in a variety of ways: literature circles, cooperative learning, assessment, and more.

Take your gifted students higher with this historical fiction story into the early days of Mary Shelley’s writing career. Imagine what might have inspired her to write ‘Frankenstein!’

What inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein? What put together a woman, a professional career, and science fiction? Take your students through this fictional foray into what might have happened with these discussion questions and creative writing prompts for Emma Carroll’s Strange Star.

You can save even MORE money if you win this gift card! Enter using the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What will you be shopping for next week?

Five Reasons Why Your Students Need Mock Trials

June 8, 2021 by Amy Leave a Comment

There are so many reasons I love teaching with literature, but one of the biggest is that it can spark learning in so many ways. That’s what happened when I chose to use The Lemonade Crime with my kids’ book clubs a few years ago – a book that lends itself well to mock trials.

I created a few simple mock trial resources for my students to use so that they could practice what they had learned about the American legal system – and they went far beyond what I expected. I’m a huge fan of mock trials now, and here’s why I think you should be, too.

5 Reasons Your Students Need Mock Trials

PS – The following is totally applicable if you’re a classroom teacher. With larger numbers, there are many ways you could hold your own mock trial! You don’t need a full class, though – I’ve done these with only a handful of kids, and they work beautifully.

A mock trial is a simple PBL (project-based learning) assignment. Students are given a problem to solve (is so-and-so guilty or innocent?) and then they work to find an answer to that question. This is a real-life type of assignment, and students can see the point in it. PBLs are easy for teachers to use, because once you give the assignment and provide the basic motivation and materials, the students run with it. This leaves the teacher free to conference with students and to guide as necessary.
Mock trials are interactive. A basic American courtroom trial involves two legal teams, a judge, a jury, and others. That means people who are working together, listening to each other, trying to refute arguments – teamwork! Kids typically like to work together – and a mock trial has enough roles for kids to be able to plan their parts individually or in small groups and then to use their natural strengths. Those students who usually have a hard time sitting still, taking notes, or just listening have a chance to shine! –> How does one have students work together during a pandemic? No worries! I created this digital mock trial so that students can still collaborate and host an online event. This version can be done together online or individually.
A mock trial assignment is creative. It’s never the same twice, as no two students will think of the same reasons and rationales, and so a certain amount of thinking-on-your-feet is required. There’s not necessarily a right or wrong answer. This allows students to piggyback off of each others’ work and can extend learning in new directions.
Mock trials ask students to think from new perspectives. This inherently involves higher-order thinking and takes students deeper into the minds of characters and events than they may go otherwise. It also provides scaffolding for students who may have trouble doing this independently.
Mock trials are engaging. Students are people and most people are competitive. We want to win! By ramping up the drama when you present the assignment, you create buy-in for the students – and they will automatically want their legal team to win. With that goal in mind, they’re engaged – and engaged, motivated students are more likely to learn – and to behave. It’s a double win!

I’ve created two mock trials to pair with fairy tales. These are stories that most kids know and can easily relate to – but directions are included for using these with a literature class.

The great thing, though? You can teach so many things with these mock trials: character traits, civics, teamwork, public speaking, and more. To that end, these mock trials can be used with a wide variety of purposes in mind – an equally diverse age range.

Put the Third Little Pig on trial with these print and digital resources.

Put Goldilocks on trial with this mock trial resource.

Here’s what other teachers had to say about these resources:

What to teachers say about these mock trials?

I created these resources using fairy tales that most American children know – but that doesn’t mean they should only be used by children! Older students are able to dig deeper into the nuances of the stories, and others can use them, too! These resources have been used with classroom teachers for literature and social studies work, but also with homeschoolers, scout troops – even a pre-law college class! The sky’s the limit for these open-ended, flexible plans.

Have you used a mock trial with your students? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!

The Teacher Appreciation Sale is Coming! {Giveaway}

May 1, 2021 by Amy 4 Comments

This year has been one for the record books, hasn’t it? Whether you’ve been teaching in person, online, a weird combination, or whether you’re a new or experienced homeschooler, we’re all tired of living with the stress of not knowing what’s next and what’s safe to do. Making decisions is exhausting – and I want to help you with that. It’s time for a little teacher appreciation.

If you’re like me, when you make a purchase, you weigh the benefits of the purchase against the cost of it to decide: is it worth it? In this case, will the time saved be worth the money?

I want to make those decisions easier for you. That’s why I’m giving away TWO $10 TpT giftcards – just in time for the sale next week!

It’s a TpT Gift Card Giveaway just in time for the Teacher Apprecation Sale!

The Teacher Appreciation Sale begins Tuesday and ends Wednesday night at midnight. You can save up to 25% with the code THANKYOU21. All of the resources at my store A Nest in the Rocks will be marked down these days – but if you win a gift card, those dollars will stretch even more!

Here are some of my favorite products:

Digital Discussion Questions & Creative Writing Prompts for The Hunger Games

I love this digital version of the print-based Discussion Questions & Creative Writing Prompts for The Hunger Games! It’s designed to be Google compatible and with full screen slides and large font sizes, it’s ideal for 1:1 or distance learning classrooms. It even features a writing project designed just for this digital product! Of course, if you need both versions, you can save money by purchasing the bundle here.

What might Romeo and Juliet’s wedding scrapbook have been like if they had waited just a few days and invited people? Have your students design a digital scrapbook using character- and plot-based evidence from the story. They’ll love this fun project – and you’ll easily see how much your students understand!

Of course, staging your own mock trial for the Third Little Pig is always popular, and now it’s easier than ever with both the print-based and the digital versions available! You can even score both versions and save even more.

Games & Printables for Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

If you’re reading Chris Grabenstein’s middle-grade novel Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, these games and printables are for you! They’re perfect for hosting a culminating event to your time, no matter how in-depth you’ve gone with the book. With games, printables, and even a recipe, this is a fun way to celebrate good books – and you can even use it for an informal assessment!

So are you ready to win? Enter using the rafflecopter below – and let me know in the comments how you’re doing this year!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#GoldMedalDeals are Headed Your Way!

April 10, 2021 by Amy Leave a Comment

This has been a TOUGH school year! We’re all tired – but as wonderful as teaching is, no matter where or who you’re teaching, breaks are wonderful things.

Well, we can’t give you a day off, but we can give you a good deal that will save you some time – and that’s close, right?

While we are unable to put into words what your tireless work has meant in the past year, we can show our appreciation through actions. We’d love to offer you a 2-day sale of $1 products on TpT.

Simply enter #goldmedaldeals on TpT on April 11th + April 12th (that’s Sunday + Monday), and find hundreds of products marked down to only one dollar.

Our hope is that you can load up on everything you need as you near the home stretch and that you can enjoy your well-deserved victory lap without the worry of what will fill your lesson plans for the next few months.

I’m offering two resources for only $1 during this special sale. Have you tried hexagonal thinking? This strategy provides a great way to provide scaffolding for struggling readers and to make critical thinking and story analysis – usually a very abstract concept – more concrete. Snag these Hexagonal Thinking Activities for Any Novel here, and if you want a bit of background about using this strategy, you’ll find why I love it here.

One of my favorite resources is a mock trial for the Three Little Pigs. When the pandemic hit last year, I created a digital version of this resource so that students could continue to put the Third Pig on trial and keep digging into the American justice system. This resource works well with a wide range of students: primary kids considering the Pig’s story, older kids learning to consider ethics and the law, and even scouts earning badges! Get your own copy for only $1 here!

You can also access the deals directly using this link: bit.ly/goldmedaldeals

Happy shopping!

What do you need to help you get to the finish line? Comment below!

Book Club, Dystopian Edition: The Hunger Games

January 21, 2021 by Amy Leave a Comment

One of the things I love about homeschooling is our ability to study literature in any way that we choose – and we choose to make it as hands-on and interactive as possible. Which, of course, has gotten much more complicated with this pandemic and the need for social distancing.

That’s one reason I was super excited to teach The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, though. It’s the perfect book to study outside!

We had a lot of fun with this book, though – not just at our interactive, outdoor book club event, but with the reading and the analysis. Suzanne Collins is a master of symbolism and meaning, and that made it super fun to peel back the layers of this story.

Book Club, Dystopian Edition: The Hunger Games

We spent time discussing the story and having some competitive contests in teams. The kids built things, hunted for things, and got creative, all in the spirit of teamwork and fun and competition.

I think that digging into a story really helps color in the meaning for kids. It helps them take the story deeper and relate it to their own lives. When they debate the issues and think about how the characters might act under different circumstances or what they might do themselves in similar situations, it gives them the opportunity to see the issues in a new light.

That’s why I’ve enjoyed creating these discussion guides and creative writing prompts to accompany The Hunger Games. They’re specifically designed to engage your students in the themes and layers of meaning of the story, as well as to think analytically about what’s happening and to write creatively about the their opinion of the story’s events.

Print-based Discussion Questions & Creative Writing Prompts for ‘The Hunger Games’

There are two versions of this product. One is print-based and formatted just like other discussion guides I’ve created. It’s great for whole classes, book clubs, literature circles, co-ops, or anywhere you need a print-based, in-person resource.

Digital version of the Discussion Questions & Creative Writing Prompts for ‘The Hunger Games’

The digital version is all new. Designed specifically for on-screen use, it features widescreen slide sizes with large fonts for easy reading. The slide layout is simple so that it’s not distracting. It contains all of the discussion questions in short-answer slide formats, as well as the (most of the) creative writing prompts. I did create one creative writing project just for the digital version. The discussion questions and answer key are included in the pdf of teacher materials, giving you a total of 167 pages + slides.

I’m still having fun with this story and am busy creating more resources to make teaching The Hunger Games both easy for you and fun for your students. Stay tuned – there’s more to come!

What books are you reading with your students right now?

Are you looking for more creative resources? Click here to find ideas for your interactive book club event and here for more teaching resources!

Save Big at the TpT Extra Bonus Sale!

September 11, 2020 by Amy Leave a Comment

TpT wants to support teachers during these crazy times, and that’s why they’re throwing an extra Bonus Sale! It’s a one-day-only sale on Tuesday, September 15, and you can save up to 25% with the code EXTRABONUS. Every resource at my shop A Nest in the Rocks will be on sale because I want to help you find the resources you need.

Here are a few of my favorites:

The Three Little Pigs Mock Trial — Three Little Pigs Mock Trial

Over the summer I updated my Three Little Pig Mock Trial resources. Both have the same content that’s received rave reviews, but they feature cleaner lines, better clip-art, and more pages.

I know that many of you are teaching under crazy conditions right now, and I wanted to make sure that you still had access to this fun way to teach bias, the American justice system, and critical thinking. This product has been used by elementary teachers, law professors, and even scout leaders, so it’s already very versatile, but I wanted to find a way to make this still accessible to you even if you were working digitally. To make that happen, there’s a new digital-only format that allows students to learn about courtroom roles, bias, and then imagine what each person would say throughout the trial and type it into the slide show. This resource is Google compatible and can be used individually, discussed in bigger groups while you share your screen, or however you can imagine!

The print version has also been updated.

This bundle has been really popular lately. The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart features almost lyrical writing and lots of ethical questions. Your students will be engaged from the first page in this modern survival story that pits boy-against-disease, boy-against-mountain, and explores themes of friendship in a variety of ways.

This resource includes a variety of lessons to make your teaching load lighter. The discussion questions are open-ended to encourage student engagement and are reformatted for comprehension or assessment. Also included are creative writing prompts that take a variety of forms.

The unit study involves mapping, research, geography, poetry studies, and more. Links are included to make research easier and safer for students.

The book club activities include both teacher planning and student work pages. The teacher planning pages include ideas for guest speakers, field trips, costuming, recipes, and more. Student pages include art projects, printable labels, and party ideas.

Finally, the printable posters feature quotes from the book that are designed to make you think. These could be purely for decoration or could become discussion openers, story starters, or essay topics.

Squint is the fabulous story of a boy with an eye disability and a complicated home life who has big dreams and learns to see others and himself from new perspectives. In this day and age where bullying, tolerance, and acceptance are buzzwords, this is an important story, and Squint opens the door for discussing these issues in fun ways.

Like with The Honest Truth bundle above, you’ll find discussion questions, creative writing prompts, and book projects in this bundle; but this Creative ELA Bundle also includes hexagonal thinking activities. This resource includes printable hexagons with seven different analysis pages. Some are intended for use before reading and the rest for during and after; all can be used individually, cooperatively, or for assessment.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library Printable Escape Room — Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Printable Escape Room

Looking for something different? This printable escape room for Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library challenges students to solve the same kinds of puzzles that Kyle Keeley and his friends do in the book, all while giving you the opportunity to assess their comprehension and critical-thinking skills. A digital version of this resource has been created for you using TpT’s Digital Creation tool, which is compatible with Google Apps.

Pin this video to share the deals with your friends!

There you go – the most popular resources this week from A Nest in the Rocks! I hope that, whatever you choose to purchase from TpT’s Extra Bonus Sale, you find something that will bless you, help you, and make your teaching life a little easier. Don’t forget – use the code EXTRABONUS to save up to 25% on Tuesday!

Happy shopping!

Enter to win a $10 TpT gift card here – just in time for sale shopping!

What are you currently needing as a teacher or homeschooling parent? Let me know in the comments – maybe I can help make it happen!

It’s a Hashtag Sale Just for Hero Teachers: #HeroDeals

September 5, 2020 by Amy Leave a Comment

Teachers are heroes – and you deserve deals to match your service. That’s why I’ve put my head together with a team of teacher sellers to find a way to honor you for your tireless service, love, and time you are pouring into your students this year. It’s time for #HeroDeals.

We are hosting a Dollar Deals sale on TPT on Sunday, 9/6, and Monday, 9/7, where hundreds of bestselling items will be marked down to only $1.

Simply search #HeroDeals on TPT those two days to find tons of gifts that will keep on giving throughout this school year and beyond.

And thank you–we see you, we support you, and we believe in you.

You’ll find loads of great resources on TpT by searching for #HeroDeals. I’m marking these two resources down to only $1 during this sale:

Have you read The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise yet? It’s a fantastic story by Dan Gemeinhart, the author who also wrote The Honest Truth. Gemeinhart’s lyrical writing style and deep characterization makes for a memorable story – and provides great opportunities for discussion and creative writing. That’s what you’ll find in this ELA resource: discussion questions for every chapter, formatted for you as the teacher and for the student in a way that works well for homework, cooperative learning groups, or assessment. Included are creative writing prompts in a variety of styles. Both are available in print and digital formats.

I love teaching about the first Thanksgiving on American soil by the European settlers – I’ve been to Plimoth Plantation three times! That’s why I created this resource for teaching elementary kids about the Mayflower Compact. The idea is that you teach them the structure and purpose of the original document and then they can create their own. I used it around Thanksgiving time, but many teachers like to use it towards the beginning of the year to help their students create class or group rules. It contains information about the original Mayflower Compact, a version of the Mayflower Compact in modern English, and printables for creating your own in a variety of styles. Create Your Own Mayflower Compact is available in both print and digital versions.

Pin this image to share these HeroDeals with your friends!

This sale kicks off tomorrow – Sunday, September 6, and runs through midnight on Monday the 8th! I know it’s a long holiday weekend, but take a few minutes to search #HeroDeals on TpT to snag great deals on the resources that will make your job easier.

Teachers are heroes. Thanks for everything you do.

Need more creative ideas for teaching about Thanksgiving? Go here to find fun ideas that I’ve used when teaching first grade and fourth grade in public school AND whole families in a homeschool setting. Try these activities and then ask your students to discuss or write about their thoughts and feelings about their experiences.

Now Available: Three Little Pigs Mock Trial in Print & Digitally

August 17, 2020 by Amy Leave a Comment

I love planning our book club events; I mean, I really love it. They are some of my very favorite lessons to plan and to hold. Still, the boys surprised me when they asked to hold a trial in connection with one of our books a few years ago, but I dug in and created a whole mock trial plan. We put the Third Little Pig on trial that day for his attack on the Wolf, and the boys couldn’t have been more excited! I loved seeing their faces and how engaged they became in the lesson.

That kind of engaging, interactive lesson is what I shoot for – and this pandemic-quarantine had me stumped for a while: how could we turn this kind of creative thinking loose in a digital way? How could we still put the Third Little Pig on trial?

So I’ve created a digital version of the trial that is compatible with Google Apps. It has a landscape layout to maximize ease of reading and is full of color. The lesson still asks you to discuss bias and point of view with your students, but this version also includes that throughout the lesson. Going forward, it still teaches about the people involved in a criminal trial and what their responsibilities are – but it’s fully interactive. Most slides have textboxes where students can respond to the information presented. When the trial begins, students can type in what they think each lawyer, witness, or person might say. This gives them the opportunity to consider the bias of each speaker, to think critically and creatively, and to see how one character might respond to another. There are also slides for students to consider the evidence impartially, as a jury should, and to write their verdict.

I’m really excited about this new digital version because it can be used by anyone, anywhere! Did you know that I’ve heard from many people about how this resource is being used – everywhere from elementary school to pre-law students and even with scouts studying citizenship? It will still work beautifully for your book club or co-op, but it’s also perfect for cooperative learning, whole class events, or even classes working in a paperless or 1:1 format. It’s exciting to see how this project has grown!

That made me want to spruce up the print version – so I’ve worked on that, too. The new, updated print version has almost twice as many pages. It has all the same components, but many are included in different versions so as to be accessible for students of different ages and abilities. Additionally, they have all been reformatted for a cleaner look.

I’m going to work on updating the mock trial product for Goldilocks and the Three Bears next, so if these mock trials are something you can use, stay tuned!

I’m almost finished choosing books and planning book club events for this year, too. That means making lots of plans since I don’t know which events will be in person and which might have to be digital, but I’m so excited to read and dig into these new books with the kids! If you’re looking for creative ways to have fun with literature or to encourage reluctant readers, stay tuned for this year’s plan – and find more about our past adventures here.

Pin this image to share this mock trial resource with your friends!

Want to know more about the benefits of mock trials? Find out five reasons they work here.

Have you used a mock trial with your students? Share about your experience in the comments!

TpT Pop-Up Sale! One Day Only!

August 17, 2020 by Amy Leave a Comment

TpT wants to support teachers, and what better way than by having a Pop-Up Sale? This school year is hard enough – don’t spend more money than necessary. Take advantage of this one-day-only sale to get the ready-to-use resources that will streamline your workload. Use code BTSBONUS20 to save up to 25% on August 18th ONLY.

TpT has been working hard to give digital options to teachers, and the new digital tool makes it possible to turn any pdf into a resource that’s compatible with Google Apps. All of my already-created resources are available with this new tool, and I’ve used this tool to turn the bestselling products from my store into resources that are digital and ready-to-go just for you.

I’m also hard at work creating new digital resources that will make your job easier and engage your students in thoughtful, meaningful learning. My first resource of this kind is the Three Little Pigs Digital Mock Trial Project, and there are more on the way!

Here are some other resources that I think will make your work easier:

Squint is a fantastic book with diverse characters and feel-good lessons. It’s perfect for the unrest and troublesome times in which we’re currently living.

The Honest Truth is about a boy trying to determine what real truth is in the midst of heartache. The prose is amazing and there are great – and fun! – lessons to be learned from studying this story.

Shine by the funny Chris Grabenstein is a wonderfully sweet middle-grade story. Journey with Piper through a year in her new school, where she tries to make friends and win an award, all the while learning what it means to shine. These creative book projects are perfect for your book club, co-op, family, or classroom, and they’ll encourage your students to have fun with literature, all the while digging into the meat and rabbit trails connected tot he story.

Whether you need to help your students understand why rules are necessary or are prepping your Thanksgiving lessons early, this look at the Mayflower Compact will help you achieve both goals. Have your students read about the Mayflower Compact and then write their own. This resources includes different versions with different levels of scaffolding to support students of with a variety of abilities.

Remember, the TpT Pop-Up Sale is happening tomorrow, August 18, ONLY! Save up to 25% with the code BTSBONUS20. All of the resources at A Nest in the Rocks are included!

Have you returned to school? What does school look like for you right now? I’d love to know! Comment below and share!