The Toucan Teacher

The Toucan Teacher I’m a K-5 English learner teacher who loves to read and travel! Check out my EL resources on Teachers Pay Teachers!

I’ve been eyeing this book for a while and finally bought it for my classroom! “A is for Bee” is such a unique and fun ...
09/01/2026

I’ve been eyeing this book for a while and finally bought it for my classroom! “A is for Bee” is such a unique and fun alphabet book that celebrates language and highlights some of the challenges language learners face with those alphabet charts we love to use in early elementary years. I love that this book incorporates such a wide variety of languages, too! Highly recommend for all you K-2 teachers, EL/TESOL teachers, and language lovers like me 🥰

We talk a lot about OELPA testing, but right now, it’s OELPS season! Unlike the OELPA, this screener has 3 steps and a ...
08/28/2026

We talk a lot about OELPA testing, but right now, it’s OELPS season! Unlike the OELPA, this screener has 3 steps and a built-in practice test plus some hand scoring parts. Federal requirements say we need to both assess potential students and notify (current and new) families within the first 30 days. Time consuming, but it helps me learn a lot about my new students and their needs and strengths!

Year 16 starts tomorrow ❤️ eal enl
08/18/2026

Year 16 starts tomorrow ❤️

eal enl

08/17/2026

The struggle is real 😂. Loved seeing all my coworkers again, loved seeing all the kids at open house night- but all that people-ing after an introverted summer with my family is exhausting!! 😂

Anyone else relate?

Well, I obviously had to buy this one 😂We walked around Japantown, San Francisco - if you’re ever in the area, it’s the ...
08/02/2026

Well, I obviously had to buy this one 😂

We walked around Japantown, San Francisco - if you’re ever in the area, it’s the oldest and largest Japantown in the country and has so many neat places to explore! I also found a bilingual Japanese-English book for my classroom 🥰

I’ve been reading my way through a summer class and finally got to read these two books - excellent for elementary reade...
07/29/2026

I’ve been reading my way through a summer class and finally got to read these two books - excellent for elementary readers! I read both with my 7 year old and liked the writing and storylines. Love that there are so many in the series, too! I’m definitely adding Yasmin and Ali the Great to my EL classroom library 🥰.

2nd & 7 is one of my absolute favorite resources in the Central Ohio area! I have been so lucky to get books for both m...
07/28/2026

2nd & 7 is one of my absolute favorite resources in the Central Ohio area! I have been so lucky to get books for both my classroom and for my school’s Little Free Library through their programs. If you teach (or if you have your own kids!) and live near central Ohio, definitely go! Also, if you have books to donate, this is a great place to do it!

My second teaching job was at a charter school in Columbus where I taught ELA. My school didn’t have a library (you read that right!), so I spent a LOT of my own money finding books for my students to read. I wish the book bank had existed then!

Have you been to the book bank? Any other free book resources you know?

07/26/2026

Anyone else?? Still soaking in every bit of summer break here, we are not ready for all the back to school things!!

It’s been one year since we put up my school’s Little Free Library , and we have loved it 🥰.This sort of came up organic...
07/25/2026

It’s been one year since we put up my school’s Little Free Library , and we have loved it 🥰.

This sort of came up organically from a unit I was doing with my 2nd and 3rd grade students. We were learning about libraries and within our unit, I showed them some Little Free Libraries and we read about them. My students asked if we could build one at our school, so they wrote letters to the principal and designed and measured out what they thought we should do (lots of authentic writing here!). My dad, who worked with kids as a school psychologist for years and is great at building, met with my students at school to talk through designs. And he made it happen!

Forever grateful to my dad for building this, my principal for supporting the project, my students for their creativity and passion for the project, my aunt for painting the books on the sides, and 2nd & 7 for the TONS of free books to fill it!

Do you have a Little Free Library in your area? They’re some of my favorite things to find 🥰

Have you tried Boom 💥 cards in your classroom (EL/ESL or otherwise)? Boom Cards by Boom Boom cards are one of my favorit...
07/25/2026

Have you tried Boom 💥 cards in your classroom (EL/ESL or otherwise)? Boom Cards by Boom

Boom cards are one of my favorite general teaching tools for all language levels and grades. They can be simple enough for preschool but complex enough for secondary! To use them, make a free Boom learning account and search for a topic. I might look for newcomer vocabulary like parts of the body or feelings/emotions, or I might search for a more complex topic like conjunctions or modal verbs. I’ve also made a ton of my own to match my TPT units and support student learning 🥰.

My students ASK to play these! I love to add them as a quick activity after we’ve learned a new topic - it allows me to gauge understanding in a fun new way without losing their attention!

DM me or comment if you’d like to see more of my Boom cards or to learn how to use them! They’re such a great tool for so many learners!

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