We wrapped up Friendship Week today. We did a lot of discussing what it means to do a friend and what are some fun/safe things you can do with your friend. I created this fun matching game to use in our sensory bin. I dyed some rice for the first time and it turned out perfect! It also reminded me of grass, so I found pictures of kids on the playground. On the cards I wrote words that describe what a good friend does, like share, help, kind, etc. Then, we picked a card, read the word, and discussed the word more. I added these fun "Buddy Builders" from Amazon and they were perfect "friends" for our park. This book is a great way to talk about the nice things our hands can do. Especially, if you have any kiddos who like to use their hands in an unsafe way ;) I also dyed noodles for the first time, too! We used those noodles to make friendship necklaces! We also used a bead kit for friendship bracelets :) Click on image to grab this bead kit! These peanut butter and jelly color matching cards were a huge hit! We played restaurant and worked together to serve the correct colors. I got these from The Homestead Teacher! Grab them HERE! We like to think of words that start with each letter. When we are out, we will see a letter and I always have to think of something that starts with that letter. It totally helps connect learning, so I made these "F is for friends!" page and we decorated the 'f' different supplies. For our play dough invitation, I printed off this cute friendship clip art set from Creative Clips! We put the friends in our play dough and pretended we were playing at the park! The last game we did was this fun math activity! We had to help the boy get to his friends by rolling our dice and counting each circle. It was a great way to practice some counting, number identification, and taking turns! Grab these activities HERE! *NOTE: the play dough friends are not included in this due to terms of use, but they are free for you to download HERE!
Tons of activities for literacy night with a GLOW theme! These glow-in-the-dark literacy night activities will be a huge hit with students and families!
This FREE Minecraft-themed activity ideas collection is full of fun and engaging activities for kids! Your child will cover literacy, numeracy, art, science, STEM & more!
I did the research so that you don't have to! Here is a list of 10 free resources that are perfect for distance learning in Kindergarten.
Need some If You Give A Mouse A Cookie Activities? We've got tons of fun inspiration with maths games, crafts, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie printables, literacy activities and more.
Fall activities for your little learners for math, literacy, fine motor, and more! There are so many fun things to do and learn about in the fall!
From insect crafts and themed activities to fun facts and games, these preschool insect theme printables are a great way to make learning fun!
With my small group pull-out sessions limited to half-hour increments, I'm always looking for quick, engaging reading and writing activities to reinforce literacy skills. I used to think dice games were only for teaching math and probability, but I'm starting to discover that there are ENDLESS possibilities for using dice with literacy. Are you looking for a few ideas? Well... let's shake and roll! 3 Roll-a-Dice Activities for Reading & Writing My roll-a-dice resource collection continues to grow, but here are a few resources that I've added to my literacy toolbox that may be perfect for your students. 1. Roll-a-Story
Back to school is here, and what better way to celebrate the first week back than with a Name Celebration! I've put together a week full of fun *EASY* literacy activities that your students CAN do without a ton of one on one assistance from adults. Chrysanthemum is the perfect book is for the first
Past, present, and future.
Dear Zoo is such a fun book! Check out these Dear Zoo activities for preschool & kindergarten. Includes a FREE printable game, snack, & craft.
Point of view can be a tricky skill for students. We want to make sure that we are teaching point of view in a very explicit, yet memorable way. I decided to revamp my whole point of view unit with a fun, retro theme which is sure to be engaging and unforgettable for students. In this post, I will share some teaching tips, my favorite mentor texts for point of view, and some groovy activities for point of view with a fun room transformation idea! Before teaching point of view, look at your standard. In first grade, students have to be able to identify who is telling the story at different points, while in second grade, students should be able to determine when characters have different points of view. All of these activities can be used for first and second grades! This post may contain affiliate links. Point of View Room Transformation You do not have to go all out on a huge room transformation. Just by simply having a theme and printing these decorations I have included will be enough to get your students super excited to learn all about point of view. If you want to do a room transformation, I am including links to some fun items that you could use with your students. Families are always willing to contribute or purchase room transformation items for my classroom. So it doesn't hurt to ask if anyone wants to donate! I just send a wishlist on Dojo. Decorations Banner Hippie Sunglasses and Headbands Hanging Paper Lanterns Mentor Texts You can see below some of my favorite mentor texts to use when teaching point of view. All of the activities can be used with any text, passage, or even with your basal. The Three Little Pigs The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs Little Red Riding Hood Honestly, Red Riding Hood was Rotten Goldilocks and the Three Bears Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks! Three Hens and a Peacock Hey, Little Ant Introducing Point of View Even if you teach second grade, you should still cover this part of point of view. I have found that students need review of what different points of view a story can be told. A story can be told from a character's, the narrator's, or from the author's point of view. I then go into first, second, and third person points of view using these posters. Give students key words that they can look for in the text to determine from whose point of view a story is told. We then do this sort together, which I leave up during the unit for student reference. If you teach second grade, you will also need to teach that characters can have different points of view on a situation or event from the story. I then go into what perspective means. Craft If you teach first, you might want to do this craft at the end of your unit. Second grade will want to do this on the first day of your unit. Students will make this fun VW bus craft, including from whose point of view the story is told on the bumper and two pieces of text evidence to prove their thinking. Point of View Activities We want students to be able to provide text evidence that helps determine from whose point of view the story is told. You can do this activity with groups and then can use it as a center for further practice. The graphic organizers go in a progression from identifying point of view of a whole text to identifying when point of view changes in a story. Some stories provide different points of view. I also included a Venn diagram to compare and contrast when characters have different points of view or perspectives. Of course, you always want to do some sort of exit ticket at the end of a lesson. I like to just grab a quick passage and have them tell me from whose point of view it was told or the perspective of the speaker. When I teach point of view, I ask students to think about it as if we are seeing the story through someone else's eyes. So I made these retro Point of Viewers glasses that students can wear when they are identifying and describing point of view. I always give my students bookmarks that go along with our standard, because I want them to apply that skill to their independent reading. By having these in their book bins, it reminds them that applying this skill is important to their comprehension of texts. A fun little activity that you can do at the end of your unit is Brown Bag Book Club. They can fill out the graphic organizer over the text you use that day and glue it to a brown bag. Then, you fill the bag with popcorn. They get into groups to discuss the text and their thinking. There are also discussion questions that I include. This is a great little assessment to use that students will love! If you do a room transformation with this, you have to tell me! I cannot tell you how excited I am about the new retro look! The clip art is so cute and fun! Not only will this unit be engaging for students, but it's really fun for the teacher, too. You can grab the pack by clicking any of the photos or by clicking HERE. Happy reading!!! Save BIG on all of my comprehension units by grabbing the bundle below! So many fun themes!
A great collection of fall literacy activities to work on ABC recognition, learning your name, writing, reading, singing and more.
FREE printable Sequencing worksheets for preschool and kindergarten kids. Includes 15 activities featuring seasonal themes, hygiene such as brushing teeth, washing hands, and fire safety. Great for language and literacy development!
Space activities and centers (literacy, math, fine motor, stem, blocks, sensory, and more) for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.
Need 5 Senses Activities for kids? Check out these 8 Hands-On, grab and go, math and literacy activities for Preschool or Kindergarten.
Here you'll find over 100 Apple Activities for Preschool, Kindergarten, Toddlers and early elementary. Plus, Preschool Theme Apple Activities and Lesson Plans including Apple Crafts, Apple Printables, Apple activities for kids, Fall Preschool Activities for literacy, math, and Apple Playdough sensory play ideas that are fun and educational. Apple Worksheets
These 15 picture book activities go great with your preschooler's favorite stories. Great hands-on activities that help to further explore the books!
Discover the perfect All About Me preschool activity designed for young kids! Get a free printable worksheet that's simple, engaging, and ideal for emergent readers. Download now!
Use these Chrysanthemum name activities, name graph and name crafts to practice and compare names in preschool and kindergarten!
Amazing things can happen with just one dot.
Use letter activities like alphabet collages or letter mats to help kids learn letter recognition and to reinforce letter-sound associations. Here are over 200 material ideas that you can use for your
Amazing things can happen with just one dot.
Are you reading Swimmy by Leo Lionni? Be sure to incorporate this cute, DIY Swimmy stamp craft! It's fun for the kids & easy to set up!
Preschoolers can enhance their fine motor development and practice pre-writing skills with these nine apple themed pre-writing strips! Perfect for back to school time. Cut and laminate the strips and place them in your literacy center, where students can use a dry erase marker to trace the fine motor lines. It's important for pre-k students to build fine motor skills before they begin writing. This resource also helps children learn to write left to right. BONUS: Includes a bonus apple themed line-tracing worksheet! MORE PRE-WRITING PRACTICE TO BUILD FINE MOTOR SKILLS: Back-to-School Camping Construction Farm Germs Gingerbread Pumpkins Sharks Thanksgiving Weather Zoo
Try these If You Take A Mouse to School preschool activities for a back to school theme.
25 crafts, activities, and printables for We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.
I made a few printable activities for my kids to help observe the holiday and understand why we celebrate it. There is an I Spy coloring activity, writing, as well as mystery math activity. They are all free to download below for personal, single classroom, or library use. We also pulled out some activities I
Kids will have so much fun going through this 50-page worksheet pack for fall. It's full of cutting, counting, coloring and writing activities that will keep your students busy and excited for all things autumn!
Check out these 7 activities to use with the novel Charlotte's Web including spider web synonyms, how to draw a pig, spider web art, and more.
The Gruffalo book activities unit with literacy printables, reading companion worksheets, lesson ideas for Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade
For a Forest or Camping themed classroom: Find activities, crafts, snacks, and more ideas than you can use for your Preschool, Kindergarten, or First Grade class and students. Plus FREE DOWNLOADS!
Here are several A Color of His Own activities and crafts that go along with this book wonderful book that has a beautiful message.
Mo Willems Activities and Crafts for kids! Mo Willems infuses humor kids love with an artistic simplicity that seems deceptively easy.
Cross-curricular ideas to celebrate Wilbur and Charlotte.
Following the directions is a skill all kids must learn. Why not make it more fun with this FREE Follow the Directions Activity Pack? These printable worksheets will take them around the town, to animal habitats, through their own bodies, and more!
30+ Kindergarten activities for hands-on learning. Inside you will find Kindergarten literacy, math and growth mindset activities for ages 5-7.
Teach financial literacy early with free printable money worksheets for kids. From preschool to middle school, explore fun learning activities
Last summer I added Mo Willems' The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to my classroom library. Of course, this addition was a no-brainer. Willems' books are always super popular, especially Pigeon books. Just as predicted, my students loved this book. It is the perfect length for the beginning of the year, when attention spans are extra short and students need a little break from all the procedural training they are receiving. Since I knew this book would be a hit, I decided to make it the centerpiece of back to school. I created some basic "Pigeon themed" math and literacy activities, as well as a simple craft. I used these activities intermittently during the first week and was able to glean some great info about my new students' basic math and literacy skills, as well as their fine motor skills and listening skills. One of the Pigeon themed activities was a number/number word/counting mini book. Students traced and wrote the numbers 1-10, as well as the number words 1-10. Then students illustrated a picture to go with each number. We broke this activity up over a couple of days. Students took part in a listening activity. Students had to complete a picture according to a series of questions/statements that I read aloud. (If you've every made a glyph with your students, this activity feels really similar.) Students also put together their first puzzler for the year. This puzzler focused on number representations. Students cut and glued the puzzler pieces to tell what number is represented in the box. By the end, students have a completed picture that they can color. I use various puzzlers throughout the year. This the Pigeon puzzler is a great introduction to how to complete a puzzler. Students loved making their simple, one-page craft Pigeons. All that was required was the Pigeon pattern (I used white card stock), scissors, and glue. The class Pigeons made a really quick and cute back to school bulletin board. In addition to these activities, students worked on counting/cardinality, geometry, place value, number bonds, handwriting, the alphabet, rhyming words, sight words, and more. The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! is a perfect springboard for a variety of skills. For a math freebie (from the printables featured above), click on the picture below. This freebie provides practice with ten frames, counting, and number identification. If you have not added, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to your classroom library, I highly recommend it. There are so many directions you can go with this book. More importantly, your students will love it and be totally engaged. What a great way to start the year, by reading a book that students truly enjoy. :) For more details about the all of the Pigeon inspired activities I used with my students, be sure to click on the picture below. Of course (like most), I'm not certain what this year's back to school days will look like. Whatever the setup, I know I'll be using The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to help me kick off the year. Thanks for stopping by. School Is a Happy Place is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associated Program, an affiliate program that allows this site to earn advertising fees. Please know that all of the recommendations on this site are authentic and come from personal experience.
Wild Thing Book Activities! This unit is fantastic for Maurice Sendak's book Where the Wild Things Are. Writing worksheet and craft included. Perfect for kindergarten or first grade!
Community Helpers activities and centers for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. Plus FREE community signs & fire finger painting printable.
