A Big Announcement & A Big Freebie

It’s official – Summer Vacation is over.  We returned from Agadir, Morocco on Friday and I was hit over the head with that big stone – reality, in the form of: laundry, dishes, and preparations for the new school year.  Yikes!

Anyhooo – once I get through the chaos, I come to the new school year, which I am super excited about.  I recently accepted a new teaching position at the International School of Morocco, a small, new, amazing school here in Casablanca.  I will be teaching a multi-age class of students in 3rd and 4th grade – or year 4 and year 5 if you are going by the UK system.  The International School of Morocco uses a combination of UK standards and AERO standards, and I am super excited to learn and teach this set of standards.  Like last year, my class will consist mainly of English Language Learners, although at much different levels.  These two facts have triggered me to begin two brand new projects: Problem Solving Path and Differentiated Vocabulary Packets – both are works in progress. 

Problem Solving Path is going to be my big, math bulletin board.  I have been warned that my students are not all accustomed to the more strenuous UK math standards, so I am developing an ongoing, real life, problem solving program for my students.  I am also incorporating QR codes into this bulletin board, since my new classroom comes fully equipped with an IPAD!!!!!  Here’s a sneak peek at the program, with more details coming soon.

My new students are a combination of new English Language Learners, English Language Learners who already have some language base, and native English speakers who are living in a non-English speaking country.  All of these students are in need of vocabulary lessons, so I am developing weekly Differentiated Vocabulary Packets to give them that assistance.  The first week of school, we are going to focus on back to school vocabulary (school supply names for my newer English learners, school personal names for my intermediate students and course names for my more advanced students).  Grab yourself a FREE copy of this HUGE packet at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Each week, my class will focus on a different topic for our vocabulary, and I will post these packets on TPT, in case you want to use them with your class.  If your class is needing a particular type of vocabulary, please leave me a comment, because I am sure that my students will need that vocab too!

Okay, that’s it for today – a big announcement and a big freebie.  Check back this week – I start pre-planning on Thursday, and I promise classroom pictures soon!