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Lit with Lyns

Bell Ringers- Secondary Smorgasbord Blog Hop

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This week
I’m so excited to link up with the Secondary Smorgasbord to discuss how I get
my students started at the beginning of each class.  This is the most important element of having
a successful class, because it gets students in the right frame of mind-
focused and ready to work. 


When
students enter my room, they know that the FIRST thing they should do is grab
their warm-up/grammar notebook and begin the warm-up for the day.  This is either already posted on the smart
board, or it may be a series of different types of grammar and sentence editing
that we have already glued into students’ notebooks.  For example, on Monday, students glued 8 daysโ€™
worth or warm-ups into their notebooks (I typed up 8 days of different
sentences they needed to correct, analogies to complete, etc.).  There are 4 days on one side of the paper,
and 4 on the back.  This makes it SOOOO
easy for both my students and I, because they already have the work and can get
started right away, and I don’t have to make copies daily. 
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Depending
on what part of speech or grammar skill we’re working on, I will have my
students work on that specific strategy using my Grammar Skills Task Cards
following the warm-up.  This set
addresses the following skills:
  • capitalization
  • commas
  • quotation marks
  • types of sentences
  • dependent/independent clauses
  • types of pronouns
  • action, linking, and helping verbs

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I also
wanted to make sure I hold my students accountable for completing the warm-up,
so I decided to choose a group leader (or row leader, depending on how your
class is set up) each week to check each group member’s warm-up.  Each student can get up to 20 points for
completing the warm-up, and then making the necessary corrections once we go
over it together.  If they don’t correct
the mistakes, they only receive partial credit. 
Then, on Fridays, I collect the charts and give them each a classwork
grade.   You can access the chart for
FREE here. 


An InLinkz Link-up

« Teaching with Task Cards
Promote Classroom Engagement with Technology »

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โค๏ธWife๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿป
๐Ÿ’™Boy Mom๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿป๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿป
๐Ÿ“MS ELA teacher
๐Ÿ’ปCurriculum Designer๐Ÿ’๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ
๐Ÿ–ฅ Integrator of technology๐Ÿ“GA
๐Ÿ”—Links โฌ‡๏ธ

๐ŸŽ’โœจ BACK TO SCHOOL DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOM โœจ๐ŸŽ’Comment ๐๐“ ๐ŸŽ’โœจ BACK TO SCHOOL DIGITAL ESCAPE ROOM โœจ๐ŸŽ’Comment ๐๐“๐’, and Iโ€™ll send the link straight to your inbox. 

Looking for a fun, engaging way to kick off the school year? This Back to School Digital Escape Room is the perfect first-week activity for grades 5โ€“8!

๐Ÿ” Students will:
โœ… Complete a student interest survey
โœ… Learn tips for being successful this school year
โœ… Set meaningful SMART goals
โœ… Work through 3 interactive digital escape rooms
โœ… Practice technology skills while having fun

๐Ÿ’ป NO PREP! Simply share the Google Forms link and let the adventure begin. No locks, cutting, or extra supplies needed!

This high-engagement activity helps you get to know your students, build classroom community, and set the tone for a successful yearโ€”all while students think theyโ€™re just having fun!

Tell me below: Whatโ€™s your favorite first-week-of-school activity? ๐Ÿ‘‡

#BackToSchool #MiddleSchoolTeacher #ELAteacher #TeachersOfInstagram #TeachingIdeas
Teachers and students can stay organized with plan Teachers and students can stay organized with planners and agendas! This digital and print resource comes with multiple formats of both! Comment ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ and have a link sent directly to your messages. 

You will get your own link to this resource on Canva where you can duplicate slides for the year, add text, and more. 

Whatโ€™s included:
* 9 daily agenda templates to choose from
* 5 weekly agenda/planner templates
* 1 monthly planner template
* 1 yearly planner template (more of a calendar with room for notes)
* Planner template for each month of the year (12)
๐Ÿ“š Secondary ELA teachers, this is your sign to ear ๐Ÿ“š Secondary ELA teachers, this is your sign to earn professional development from anywhere! ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐‘๐„๐’๐„๐“ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž the ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐›๐จ๐ฑ! Whether youโ€™re on the couch, in your classroom, or enjoying summer break, you can learn new strategies and connect with educators without the travel. โœจ

#ELAteachers #MiddleSchoolELA #HighSchoolELA #teacherpd๐ŸŒŸ
๐Ÿšจ If your ELA classroom needs a resetโ€ฆ this is for ๐Ÿšจ If your ELA classroom needs a resetโ€ฆ this is for you.
Iโ€™m so excited to share that Iโ€™ll be speaking at the ELA Reset Summitโ€”a free, virtual event designed to help secondary ELA teachers start the year clear, confident, and not already exhausted.

๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ๐†๐ซ๐š๐› ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐…๐‘๐„๐„ ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ค๐ž๐ญ by clicking link in my bio. 

๐Ÿ“… June 23โ€“25, 2026
This isnโ€™t just another PD event. Itโ€™s where you:
โœ”๏ธ Reset your systems (without rewriting your entire life)
โœ”๏ธ Rebuild reading + writing instruction so it actually sticks
โœ”๏ธ Walk away with strategies you can use immediately

Iโ€™ll be presenting on AI That Will Reclaim Your Nights where youโ€™ll learn how to create engaging lessons without the extra prep. 
If youโ€™ve been craving a fresh start without the overwhelmโ€ฆ this is it.

#ELAteacher #SecondaryELA #TeacherPD #BacktoSchoolPrep #ELAReset
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