4 Must Do's on the First Day of Pre-K. Worried you missed something while lesson planning for the first day of school?
Planting lifelong foundations in early childhood
Sorting is one of the first units covered in many early childhood classrooms. It is an essential skill for little ones to understand before many other math skills are developed. Little learners need to know what makes objects the same and different in order to understand the concept of sorting. Same and Different This may
Building Functional Pretend Play Centers in an Pre-K Classroom
Let’s take a look at some activities included in the Lola Goes to School special education book companion!
I cannot believe a new school year is right around the corner! I love the excitement that I new school year brings. I also love the planning and preparation that I new school year brings. I have slowly been easing myself back into "work mode," analyzing my class schedule, staff assignments, and rotation activities. Today, I will be sharing some of my ideas for rotations in early childhood special education (ECSE). With that said, while I teach ECSE and focused on ECSE when creating these rotations, these ideas can work for other special education classrooms as well. How do you get the students to your table? If you are interested in learning about how I get my students to my rotation activities, check out my color coded classroom blog post here. It talks all about my schedule system. Today, we will be talking more about the WHAT we do at the rotation tables. How many rounds of rotations do you do each day? I recommend doing two rounds of rotations. I recommend the first round of rotations to be the more academic "goal" work and the second round of rotations to be the more social and "fun" work. I recommend doing this because students tend to be a bit more motivated and focused earlier in the day. Also, anything can happen towards the end of the day. Get the goal work done and the data collected at the beginning of the day so that you do not have to worry about it. How many rotation activities do you have during each round? I have three rotation tables during the first round of rotations and four rotation activities during the second round. This will vary depending on the number of students you have and the number of staff you have. What are your rotation activities? First round of rotations: 1) IEP Goals Math 2) IEP Goals Reading I set up my two IEP goal tables the same way. I use a 10 Drawer Seville Cart, add numbers to each drawer, and assign my students various activities based on their IEP goals. I use this assignment sheet to assign my students different activities based on their specific goals. If two students have similar IEP goals, I assign them both the same drawer number. In addition to the goal work, I place one thematic activity based on the unit that we are working on in one drawer of the cart. This is an activity the my students can work on once or twice during the week instead of working on their goal work. Both of these tables have a correlating binder which includes the assignment sheet, student IEP goals, and data collection pages. *sample activity sheet with fake student names and fake student goals. You can download this sheet for FREE here. 3) Art/Fine Motor This is probably my favorite rotation table! I love planning fun crafts and art projects. I use Pinterest to find many of my activities. I try to find activities that challenge my students to touch a variety of medias and practice a variety of fine motor skills (cutting, tracing, gluing, etc.) We only do ONE art project each week. I break the art project up into small steps for the students to accomplish each day. Once the students have completed their art project, I have cutting pages, tracing pages, and other fine motor pages in a binder that students can work on. These FREE brain boxes are also a perfect addition to your art/fine motor center. And lastly, don't forget the painting smocks to help keep your students clean! Second round of rotations: 1) Teacher Table (Learning without Tears) I LOVE Learning without Tears (formerly Handwriting without Tears). I have realized through the years, that it is best implemented in a small group setting. This year, I will be leading a Learning without Tears center each day. I simply follow the teachers guide as I lead this center. 2) Social Skills We use Second Step for our social skills curriculum, but this center is focused on peer interaction in our kitchen area. Students are prompted to share, take turns, and pretend play. All such skills can be very challenging. This center is simple and requires little to no prep. I simply switch out the toys and manipulatives depending on the theme of the month. For example, when we are studying healthy bodies, we have a doctors set out for the students to interact with. 3) Building Blocks This is another fine motor center; however, we use no pencils or papers in this center. Students are challenged to participate in hands-on activities that challenge students to use their fine motor skills. 4) Sensory Table This is another really fun center. We have a wonderful sensory table that I fill with various sensory materials each month. We use rice, beans, sand, magnetic letters, thematic materials, and all sorts of other things to make this center fun and interactive! My students LOVE this center. I hope that this blog post got you thinking about your small group rotation activities. Happy planning!
Ice cream math activity perfect for your summer activities for preschoolers and kindergarten kids. Free printable number cones available, too.
Lots of books, songs, and activities to build literacy-rich circle times with toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners.
Keep students engaged and check out this must-try collection of hands-on, educational, and FUN engineering activities for kids!
4 Must Do's on the First Day of Pre-K. Worried you missed something while lesson planning for the first day of school?
We’ve compiled a list of all our favorite General Conference traditions, ideas and activities for families to make General Conference more meaningful and fun.
When trouble is abound in your Preschool or Kindergarten classroom, Sandi is here to save the day! Sandi is an incredible, seasoned, and passionate Kindergarten teacher here to solve your preschool classroom management woes once and for all! Here are Sandi's 7 tips for making sure your Preschool classroom is running smooth and peaceful. Preschool
K-1 LABELING UNIT How do I teach my kindergarten and first grade students to write? I think every teacher has wondered this at some point. It can seem overwhelming... especially when getting started. I am so excited to share with you how I tackle writing and writer’s workshop! I will sh
At the Crafty Classroom, we have over 30 preschool themes with numerous printables and activities you can use in your homeschool or classroom!
Transform circle time into a delightful learning experience with our curated list of 30+ best activities for kids.
Tracing activity page: trace the dotted lines from the ball to the related sports equipment! Click for more products from Early Childhood Resource Center Also Check Out My Collection of Tracing Activities: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Tracing-Activity-Collection-5071842 Early Childhood Education, Preschool, PreK, Kindergarten, Toddler, Lesson Plan, Fine Motor Skills, Tracing, Worksheet, Sports, Printable, Balls
Promoting independence is a key goal, and one important milestone is independent sitting. Independent sitting not only enhances student’s physical
Establishing a goodbye ritual in an early childhood special education classroom
These baby sensory activities allow babies to learn about themselves, explore objects, and begin to understand how the world works.
Reggio Emilia is an approach to early childhood teaching. Here's everything parents need to know about this educational philosophy.
Handing little learners a pair of scissors for the first time in a classroom can make teachers a little uneasy. Spend time focusing on how to cut with scissors, as well as, seeing what tool learners are ready to use is important. What Scissors to Use? There are many levels of development a child needs
Increase student independence and learning in your special education classroom with community helper vehicle task boxes!
Centers or "Play centers" are centers that are intentionally planned; with a purpose in mind. A lot of my play based centers are planned aroun
Name writing practice for kindergarten first requires development of specific skill areas. Read about writing name activities in kindergarten.
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!
Wondering how you can keep a calm classroom and create a soothing learning environment? Find out in today's episode.
I am always looking for ideas to shake up my OT treatments and try to get creative with activity tolerance activities, because it is just NOT functional or
Successful early experiences in math have a powerful effect in how your child develops their mathematical thinking, a important skill to master for use in their everyday lives. Our math printable worksheets will help your young child learn their numbers, shapes and other basic math skills.
Expand your study of Art History for Preschoolers with more hands-on exploration featuring 15 Matisse art projects for kids. When we first started our exploration of Art History Kids, we began with Matisse. His use of vibrant colors and large geometric shapes – whether in his early years painting or…
This huge collection of song lyrics, printables, fingerpuppet ideas and movement activities will ensure educators always have new program ideas!
A super fun arrow jumping game for kids. Comes with a free printable.
Loose parts come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. They stimulate the imagination and develop fine motor skills in kids of all ages. Set up invitations to play and see the true beauty of childhood innocence come forth while kids explore their prompts.
If you're looking to build confident writers it's important that they develop the skills in these four stages of beginning writing.
Learn what a sensory diet is, how it can benefit your child's learning, focus, behavior, and emotional regulation, and discover which activities should be part of your child’s individual sensory diet.
