Hazel Blomkamp has done it again! If you fell in love with Crewel Twists, Hazel's first book published in 2012, you're going to love her new book, Crewel Intentions, too! In Crewel Twists, Hazel introduced us to her unique and colorful approach to surface embroidery. Incorporating beads, a huge
Welcome to our Teacher Trainer Corner. Here, FAME members will find informative articles, great (free!) resources, and ideas for the Feierabend-inspired music program. Scroll down for resources related to: First Steps in Music Articles and Resources Conversational Solfege Articles and Resources SongTales Instrumental Articles FSM Commission for Beginning Band down New Move It!s This content […]
One of the most important elements of Reggio-Inspired teaching is documentation. From experience, I know this can be one of the most intimidating pieces to implement. I want to share one example of a documentation panel I created along with my students in a first grade classroom. I want to share how I simplified this documentation […]
Whenever my mind or schedule feels particularly all over the place, I approach my day from the foundation of mind-mapping it all out first. Mind-mapping allows you to write the way you think - with one thought branching off into another and then another. When it comes to planning my day,
These proper noun lesson ideas are sure to engage your kids! Grab your free template inside!
This week was our first week back and, boy am I tired! My class is great though...very inquisitive and eager to learn. They take their work seriously and are actively working most of the day. Who could ask for more?? We did quite a few things this week, but I want to share with you one "get to know you" project we did that really came out great. I seriously can't stop staring at it! I saw this pin on Pinterest. I love how it looks and thought it would make a great welcome sign. Now, on the pin, the hands seemed to be just colored in. I wanted something a bit more. So we started with creating Circle Maps about ourselves. What made us special? What are some things that have shaped us? Where did you go in your life? etc....Most of the kids finished these Circle Maps in class on the first day of school. I then asked the students to trace their hands and arms on a piece of 11 x 17" piece of paper. They then had to draw, write, decorate, etc...the traced in hand with items from the Circle Map. The goal was to teach their fellow classmates about themselves in a visual way, without giving away too much information (ie: I didn't want them to write paragraphs.) That is pretty much how far we got in class. So, the first homework assignment the students had to finish the project at home. I gave them this sheet so that they could be a bit more focused on their project and add a bit if they wanted. (but if you are going copy-less, just forgo this. They can write the information on a sheet of paper instead.) The next day, the hands came back to school...and they were great! I had the kids get into groups and share what they decided to put on their hands and why. The kids learned a lot about each other in that 15 minute session! You can see some of them used words as well as pictures to tell about themselves. I love the one directly in the center of this picture! Others just used pictures, like the one in the middle here. When I went to put them around a piece of poster board, like in the original pin, they didn't fit :( I think if I had used a smaller piece of paper to trace their hands to begin with they might have. Oh well! I decided to put them up as if the hands were all in a line, raising up.....and it came out great! I overlapped the hands, so I was able to get 5 or 6 on one piece of large construction paper. I then mounted them on my wall. I love it! All in all, this was a fun little project that served as a great way for the kids to get to know each other and make a nice display! What is something you do during the first week of school to help the kids get to know each other and for you to learn a little about them? Follow me on Snapchat for even more teaching ideas!
First impressions are powerful. Make your first statement to your students a positive one.
I have a new favorite chart! I found this on pinterest and knew it would be great to use during the first week with my new little first graders. Amanda (the smartie who made this) from First Grade Garden graciously allowed me to share a printable I made to go along with her anchor chart. I was so busy my first week that I never got around do doing this activity with the kids, so I'm saving it for one of those days when I think they need a big reminder about being good listeners. Also, I may tie it in with a writing lesson on labeling. Click the image to download this document.
Warning! The first computer lesson in the Kindergarten classroom can be chaotic! Approach with patience and much planning! Here in Aus...
When we talk about skip counting with our kids, we explain how the numbers “grow”. Before we get too deep into “growing numbers”, we illustrate this concept by talking about growing patterns. Since my kids were having a little trouble understanding the difference between growing and repeating, we practiced the concept every morning {quickly} during …
We began our first project of the year a few weeks ago. Based on my in depth learning of The Project Approach this summer with Lillian Katz and Sylvia Chard, I am implementing several pieces that I had not done previously. The first difference is that I chose the topic. I wrote an in depth entry in August on the process of choosing a topic. I did, indeed, choose keys. I began the process of Phase I by putting out several keys that I had collected. Luckily, my dad had been cleaning out his house and when he read my earlier post, he sent me a huge envelope full of various keys. I put the keys out on a large wooden tray and set them on a low table with magnifying glasses for a week. Children would pause at the table, look at the keys and make observations. One boy even asked how keys were made. Many noticed keys that were similar to those their parents had. This simple free exploration set the seed for our initial discussion of keys when we did our memory drawings later that week. This is one of the pieces that I have not previously done. I started by sharing a simple story of how I was frustrated by having to drive my husband’s car all week due to mine being in the shop. I kept losing my husband’s car key in my purse. I showed them how his key is a single key and that the key is hidden inside a black holder. They were completely fascinated by the way the key portion popped out when I pressed a button. Then I showed them my car keys with all of the other keys attached plus the key ring bracelet. Then I invited them to share any of their own key stories. We shared a few more. I told them that we couldn’t listen to all of the stories right now, so they were going to sit down at the tables and spend a few minutes drawing their stories and telling them to one of the adults in the room. We spent about a half an hour doing this. Many of the children drew the keys that I had shown them. A few drew about fantasy keys that had powers. And others did draw about their own car or house keys. I sent them home with the idea to talk with their families about keys and see what stories they had. I would love to hear about any other lessons on memory drawing in the context of starting a project with young children. I am still grappling myself with how successful this portion of the process was for my class.
Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tom...
Sharing activity inspired by Should I Share My Ice Cream by Mo Willems! Perfect for homeschool, classrooms, or family fun. Includes a free printable!
This post has been updated to a new location! Click on the image to see all the details!
Hello Everyone! Friday was one of our favorite days! We finished up learning about Martin Luther King, Jr., and living and nonliving things. I love the passion the kids have for learning about important people from our nation's history. Making it relevant to them can sometimes be a challenge. Our class is so diverse as far as ethnicity goes, the kids can't even begin to imagine what life was like in the 60's. For the past 9 or 10 years, I've been able to use this object lesson to bring home the lesson learned through MLK. Get as many different kinds of apples as you can find, or even have kids bring in their favs. Talk about how different each apple looks in color, shape, size, texture. Then begin slicing the apples in half horizontally. The kids will be amazed at the formation of a star on the inside of each and every one. Just like people- We all look different on the outside and are beautiful stars on the inside!! I am so thankful these sweet kids really understand and that they are the future!! Friendship comes in all colors! For my MLK unit CLICK HERE! Next up was a culminating Sci. Fri lesson on living and nonliving. Kids had the opportunity to compare a gummy worm, a live earth worm, and a rubber worm. Did you hear them all screaming at the sight of a real earth worm??? They were so engaged!!! You can't teach this with pencil and paper. Found these at Dollar Tree Sweet team mate picked these up at WalMart Proud of all these brave learners!!! For a printable living vs. nonliving unit, CLICK HERE!! This coming week we will begin focusing on other important men and women from history, and we will begin writing expository text. That may sound like a daunting task to ask of first graders, but if you take it step by step and show lots of examples, they can do it!!! I have posted my "Write to Teach" unit before, but I've gone through and refurbished to break down the steps even further including starting with having the kids write an expository on the person they know best...themselves!! We will start the process with a bubble thinking map, move to a rough draft, revise, edit, and publish with lots of guidance along the way. When the kids are finished they will have a book about themselves!! For you own 20 page expository writing unit CLICK HERE!! I know that I promised you a unit about hot chocolate, and that is still on deck. I'll post it as soon as it is ready!! Thanks for your patience!! Till then, thanks for stopping by to take a peek through our little window!! We are learning and laughing!! Joyfully! Nancy
Ashley Hough demonstrates a fun and useful new quilting technique for creating half square triangles known as tube quilting.
or at least changed the way I approach my pre-k and kindergarten classes! I started teaching pre-K for the first time this year, but not o...
This article will introduce you to a game-changing approach to teaching and learning that will transform your students into independent, motivated, and . . .
The following is a guest post from Dr. Jacie Maslyk . A first grade teacher welcomes her students back to the classroom. She is excited to have a busy space, full of learners talking, working, and playing. Her excitement is balanced with concern as she knows that many students are nervous to re
Are you struggling to find kid-friendly math assessments that cover every 1st grade Common Core Math standards? Are you spending all of your hours creating them yourself? If you are, take a break for a moment and check out the math assessments I created just for little first graders. Before creating these assessments I had 3 goals in mind: 1. Make them kid-friendly. (Don't overwhelm them with boring and complex instructions.) 2. Hit every single standard. (Make this your go-to resource. No more scavenging online every night!) 3. Make it teacher-friendly. (Make it easy for teachers to grade and record results.) These assessments are broken down by each standard so they are perfect for pre-assessment and post-assessment. You can easily see if your students have mastered the standards and use the results to teach or reteach. I hope these assessments will save you some time this year :) Each packet includes: - A copy of the standards used for the packet - 2 assessments for each standard (exception: 3 assessments for each standard in the geometry packet) - Whole-class recording sheets for the teachers - Answer key 1st grade Common Core Standards covered: - Operations and Algebraic Thinking - Number and Operations in Base Ten - Measurement and Data - Geometry As a taster, you can download the freebie by clicking the picture below. :) Here is some feedback from teachers who have used these assessments:
Help your students understand how nonrenewable resources do not last with this hands-on science activity that is perfect for any elementary teacher!
I started back to school this past week with my kids on Tuesday. I had such a great first week and I am so excited to be back making music with them. We spent our first few days going over music room rules and procedures (click here to see rules post), emergency drills, and jumped right into making music. Can I just say that I LOVE pinterest! I found so many great ideas for back to school games through Pinterest as well as from Susan during Level 3. I thought I would share some of the really fun ones that the students enjoyed our first few days back: "Up The Ladder" is a great game for learning the names of your new students. "Down, Down Baby" is from the Amidons. SO FUN! Apparently this is a favorite, because it's being sung on the bus! Hickety Pickety Bumblebee is a fun one to use with K/1. In first grade you could review four voices with "can you sing (whisper, call, speak) your name to me". With kindergarten, it might be a bit intimidating to ask them to sing their name to you on day 1 of music, but let's be honest we are still learning all their names several weeks into the school year. Pull this out with them a little bit later (maybe after you have presented the four voices) and do this then. Mamalama: I learned this in Level 3, and we take it a bit faster than in this video, but it is SO FUN! I even had a student get the last part after just a few listenings. CRAZY! What are some of your favorite first day songs and activities? Still looking for ways to set up and decorate your room? This music room decor catalog will give you lots of idea, plus a back to school tip on each page!
These simple tips and ideas will help you develop a positive and effective classroom management strategy for your elementary classroom.
The 2012-2013 school year was our first year homeschooling. I had a 5 1/2 year old and a just turned 4 year old and we were doing My Fathe...
Shake it Off!
Are you looking for ideas to help your students become successful writers? This post begins a series 30+ writing mini lessons that has proven to help students write effectively. It will provide you with creative ideas to teach students sentence structure, paragraph writing, and narrative writing. It will walk
We are doing first grade phonics now. Get ready to learn and do all of the activities I think everyone will enjoy!
A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year
Here are some of the things we did this week for our Fairy Tale/Storybook Character Unit: We talked about what a fairy tale is and what fairy tales sometimes have in them. We talked about the Story Elements in each of the Fairy Tales we read this week. Little Red Riding Hood Here is the chart I used to fill in the Story Elements as we talked about them as a class. While filling this chart out, we made our characters and set up our classroom (setting) so we could act out the story. Little Red Riding Hood Activity: They made a picture of Little Red Riding Hood and then filled in the boxes describing her. Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears We filled this in after reading the story. I had the students make this story character map for Goldilocks. Cinderella We filled this in together as a class. I laminated these Story Element Anchor Charts so I could write on them with an Expo Marker and easily wipe them off! Writing Activity: If I had a Fairy Godmother... The Three Little Pigs I read two versions of The Three Little Pigs and we compared the two stories. I had the students fill out these WANTED posters for the Big Bad Wolf. Jack and the Beanstalk We did a measurement activity. The Frog Prince Graphing Activity: Would you kiss a frog? Fairy Tale Elements Chart: After reading each fairy tale we went through and marked what fairy tale elements the book had. Storybook Character Dress-up Day: To end our unit we had the students dress up as their favorite storybook character. They came to school dressed in their costume with their book and we guessed who they were. Even all the first grade teachers dressed up! Here is just a peek at some of the storybook characters the first grade teachers have dressed us as during the years. The Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Alice in Wonderland All Laura Numeroff book characters! Click HERE to download my Fairy Tale Unit from my TpT store!
I get a lot of questions on how to teach counting and
25 creative, NO PREP google meet & zoom ideas for distance learning activities. These virtual games & ideas keep kids engaged & make teaching a breeze.
As we approach Winter Break, I realized I haven't written many blog articles lately. I moved to a new city and started in a new-to-me library this year. I've been too busy to do much blog writing beyond my infamous New Releases posts and a couple of random book reviews. I'm about 10 book reviews behind, and they may never get written at this point. It's been an exhausting few months, but Winter Break looms large and lovely on the horizon...only one more week to go!
The 35 best cooking for one recipes are helpful to reduce food waste, and enjoy cooking for one. These 35 recipes are easy and tasty!
This two-page-set helps kids learn how to read a ruler to the nearest quarter-inch. The first page is a student worksheet that uses a scaffolding approach. First, kids just have to label the ruler to the nearest inch. Then, the second ruler has to be labeled to the nearest half-inch. Finally, the...
ALL ABOUT FRIENDSHIP Friendship and conflict solving skills are so important to teach our kiddos. Our job is to teach them important social skills. They need these tools to ensure successful relationships with their peers and adults. It is tricky, but it can be done! I am sharing some
