3 Exciting Ways to the Use 36 Weeks of Skills Bundle In Your Classroom

Teachers have loved our 36 Weeks of Skills practice and now we are offering even MORE! Our 36 Weeks of Skills now comes in a bundle of math and language arts skills to practice with your students. Each set of skills are designed to take a few minutes of your busy schedule while packing a powerful punch! Your students’ skills will benefit from the fun and efficient practice pages! 

Why practice skills weekly?

I have a friend who teaches middle school math. I remember her telling me how frustrated she was one day after a unit test when a student walked out of her room and exclaimed, “I never have to think about multiplying fractions again!” 

I’m sure this was not a one time thing. How often do students have the mindset of, “I need to learn this information for a test, then I can dump it.” That is exactly why is important to consistently practice skills. It will teach students that they will need to retain their knowledge, it’s not just learn, test, dump.

Weekly practice will help keep skills fresh on your students minds and help them to better attain fluency with a given skill.

Fluency is the ability to quickly recall facts and concepts. When skills are practiced weekly, fluency will improve. Your students will get more comfortable with their knowledge and skills as they take a few minutes each day or week to practice. 

As students practice a given skill more, they will feel less confusion and anxiety about that skill. They will gain confidence in their abilities as their skills and knowledge increase. 

Now for the important question that you are asking yourself… How do I implement 36 Weeks of Skills practice into my schedule?

36 Weeks of Skills Weekly Practice

Have everyone practice one skill together, once a week. It should take no longer than a few minutes to keep the skills fresh in your students minds. You can do this as homework, no-prep warm-ups, quick reviews, fast finisher practice, and more!

In the 36 Weeks of Skills bundle, some skills, like Math Fluency, are specifically designed to be used this way. You may choose an appropriate time limit depending on the age of your student(s) and time them to see how many they can answer correctly.  The amount of problems answered correctly should improve as the school year progresses. You can also have students complete the fluency practice with no time limit. In this situation you would expect more accuracy and completion.

36 Weeks of Skills Daily Practice

Some skills in the bundle are better divided into sections. One section to be completed each day of the week. This way your students are practicing daily, instead of weekly.

Our Backwards Story Problems are particularly designed to be done this way. They are divided into 5 sections: equations, brainstorming WHO and WHAT, writing a story problem, writing a short story, and illustrating. One section is to be completed each day. 

Differentiate for Students to Practice Targeted Skills

The final way to use the 36 Weeks of Skills Bundle is to differentiate. Maybe Pedro needs to work on Math Fluency, while Marie needs more practice on Writing. Set aside the time in the school day, or week, depending on your class needs, for “Skills Practice” and assign students the skill that they need to work on most. 

Introducing the 36 Weeks of Skills Growing Bundle

Our 36 Weeks of Skills library is growing! We have versions geared towards both teachers and parents. Currently, we have Math Fluency, Backwards Story Problems, and Writing Prompts (Alternate product for Preschool/Pre-K and Kinder: Nursery Rhyme Sequencing) all available in ONE bundle! Soon more skills will be added to the bundle so you will have lots of choices for weekly skills to practice with your students!

So what’s being added?

• Backwards Story Problems (Alternate Product for Preschool/Pre-K and Kinder: Counting)
• Quick Math Reviews
• Fixing Sentences (Alternate for Preschool/Pre-K: Beginning, Middle, and End Sounds)
• Beginning, End & Middle Sounds
• Math Riddles
• Fill-In-The-Blanks (Parts of Speech Practice, similar to Mad Libs. Alternate version for Preschool/Pre-K/Kinder)
• Parts of Speech
• Social-Emotional Learning

BONUS way to use the 36 Weeks of Skills Practice:

Homework Packets

When we released our 8 weeks of At Home Learning Bundles in the Spring of 2020, we had lots of teachers ask if we’d be extending them beyond 8 weeks. Some teachers wanted to use them for weekly homework packets, but they needed a lot more than 8 weeks for that! The good news is, that option is now HERE with the 36 Weeks of Skills Practice Bundle! If you send homework packets, this could be a great option to use for that.

Early Finishers

I’m always look for options for early finishers! Too often, I catch myself saying, “just read a book.” Not a bad option just something kids get tired of doing. Having some quality work, on hand, is so nice! Keep these 36 Weeks of Skills Practice on hand and let your students choose which skill they want to practice when they finish early.

Exit Tickets/Transition Times

Do you ever finish up part of your lesson and need like 3 minutes to get set up for the next thing? Enter 36 Weeks of Skills! Pass out one of these and keep your students busy for a few minutes while you get ready to transition to your next activity.

Math and ELA Center Work

Add these into your center rotations for math and ELA. It will be low prep for you, but will pack a punch for your students! When the whole bundle is complete you will have multiple math and ELA activities for EVERY week of the school year!

What are you waiting for? Grab the 36 Weeks of Skills Bundle today! Available for grades Pre K-6th Grade.