Lucy Calkin's Kindergarten writing paper for the beginning of the year. 8 different writing pages for drawing, labeling and beginning writers.
Back to school ideas to teach your students about sentences and their parts. This color-coded resource is perfect for K-1 literacy centers.
Literacy centers can be a blessing or a pain. This is how to create literacy centers that are smart for the teacher and effective for kindergarten students.
What is the best way to do literacy centers in kindergarten? Free flow literacy centers for kindergarten are something you need to try!
This set of Autumn themed centers for Kindergarten includes a variety of activities to promote early literacy skills and concepts.
Try this fun positional words activity with your preschool or kindergarten students! It's free to download!
I love reading how teachers run their reading block, and I've been wanting to write this post for a while now, because I am often asked how...
Kids are going to love practicing forming and writing both uppercase and lowercase letters with these super cute FREE Alphabet Playdough Mats.
School has officially started for us! We are several days into the school year and I am loving my new class! It's a big group but they are...
Do you reinvent the wheel every single week when it comes to centers, word work, stations.....whatever you happen to call them? Yeah, me too! I know better, I swear I do but it just never fails. I am here today to tell you that there IS A BETTER WAY! Let me begin by saying I am a big fan of Daily 5. I run my room about as closely to the Daily 5 model as possible but this is one area I just never could give in on. The sisters suggest having out materials for students to build words, write words, and work with words during this choice. It is that simple. It is called word work after all right? I have always felt the need for my work work choices to be very specific so that students could be working on what I wanted them to be working on. Wait a minute.....that's the opposite of Daily 5 philosophy. It's all about CHOICE and becoming a BETTER READER so why am I making all of the choices? So here is what I did. I put as many random materials as I could find in my classroom and made them available to students. THAT'S IT! Along with a sight word list to use as a reference and one fun morning of showing them what it was all about and I haven't looked back since. They are working SO HARD during our word work time because they are truly using materials they love and making good choices to become better readers and writers. It has been amazing! Here are a few simple, simple examples. Again...simple! I did not go out of my way for any of these! #1 Magnets I have a couple of really organized sets of magnets and then these just thrown in a clear shoe box. Guess which one gets picked the most? You guessed it! Maybe it's the bright colors or maybe kids are just drawn to chaos. Either way it's a win! #2 Wiki Sticks I lied. I did go out of my way for this one just because I've always wanted to use them. My students think they are really fun! One of my kiddos who struggles the most during word work time (and refuses to use a sight word list) spelled out "tatr tot" last week using these. He was pretty impressed with himself and I was too! I got these from Amazon. You can see them through my affiliate link HERE. #3 Pom poms I've used these for fine motor before but I've never just included them in word work. They get picked every round! I didn't originally tell them to use a cookie sheet to build on but I like how it keeps everything in one space. They came up with that idea. #4 Beads I had these from the Dollar Tree for my fine motor bins too so I just included them in word work for now. They are REALLY interesting to build with because you have to pick up each bead and set it on its side so it won't roll away. The cookie sheet came in really handy for this one. #5 Plain OLD white boards I have really old yucky white boards. Guess what? They don't care! I set them all on the shelf and they pick one, a marker, and a sock (they are baby socks) and write their sight words. Marker dry? DON'T COME GET ME! Just throw it out and get a new one! I put an old assortment of markers in here so we could weed out the bad ones. TIP! Put your sight word list in a sheet protector and students can cross off words as they write them. My students figured out that organization tip too. I love when they help me figure things out! #6 Letter Tiles These came with our Reading Street materials and they are really fun for building CVC words because there are so many vowels included. I encouraged them to work on sight words but I noticed one student building CVC words, blending them together, and then sorting them into real words and make believe words.You better believe I had him share out at the end of word work to show his classmates and now everyone is doing it too. Instant center.....no prep! #7 Scrabble Tiles Seriously though. I have been collecting these forever and I NEVER use them because well.....honestly I didn't know what to do with them. It bothered me a little that they were all capitals but guess what? My kids don't care! They love using the little stand to build words with and it does not matter one little bit that they are all capitals. #8 Letter Stamps I had these already and they are always a part of our word work so this was a station that just stayed the same. I do like that they have to focus on our new words of the week for this one. I have to be in a (little) bit of control sometimes! But my 2nd grade colleague just has blank paper at this station and they stamp any word they want. I'm sure my kiddos would love that too! I might switch it out and have them do that next week. You can get the STAMPS HERE and the STAMP PAD HERE. These are affiliate links which means I get a small amount if purchase through the link at no additional cost to you. Seriously love these though and they have lasted a long time! #9 Paper Centers Yes....I still need a little bit of control and my theory is that some kids will totally love using all of the hands on stuff but some kids still want to complete a paper like a cut and glue, word search, or write the room. I didn't do away with all centers, I just added all of the fun word work centers into what we already had going. BUT! This has already saved me a ton of time in the planning department. I put out 4 papers for the week and that's it. All my centers are planned for! You can see the centers I have available that are aligned with Reading Street stories HERE. This week our story is The Little Engine That Could. You can see the four paper choices on top and then all of the materials stored below. I love these containers from Walmart because the handles on the sides lock the lids down tight and keep beads, wiki sticks, tiles, and pom poms from flying everywhere. I have reflected a little bit on whether these were just working so well because my students are UBER independent right now or because this is just a great fit. I mean really, they are almost 1st graders after all! But I think that these would have worked great at the beginning of the year with some alphabet options just as nicely as they are working now. I put out similar items at the beginning of the year anyway, this would just be some added options. Would I overwhelm my students with all of this in one day. NO WAY! My students have been exposed to all of these items in one way or another (through fine motor stations, word work, or in small group with me) except for the wiki sticks. Those were brand new. I waited a couple of days to add those in to make a BIG deal about them. If this was the beginning of the year I would put out 2 choices until we were really solid with those choices and then add more in. Get the sight word list shown in the pictures that aligns with Reading Street Kindergarten words HERE. These types of centers work great with these Rainbow Word Sight Word lists too! Want to save this post for later? Pin it here! P.S. Get a FREE ALPHABET ACTIVITY when you sign up for my newsletter HERE!
We have been learning about the 5 senses and last week we learned about touch and texture. We made a circle map of thing we can touch, created a texture hand, and felt different objects and used illustrations and words to describe the texture of the objects.
While budget cuts have reduced the number of conferences they get to attend and a long to-do list keeps them out of the teacher's lounge, Pinterest allows teachers to still share the amazingly creative things they are doing in the classroom. I recently visited Stephenville ISD where a fabulous Kindergarten bilingual teacher has been researching Pinterest and adapting the ideas she finds to work for her bilingual students. This idea, for example, became this literacy center: The kids loved it and got in some great practice reading and writing their high-frequency words!
The month of September has really taking over my classroom! I've been busy getting the year started with classroom routines, organization,...
I am over the moon excited to gather all of my learning packs for preschool and kindergarten into ONE SPOT, making them easy to find and access when you need them! Looking for more free resources for teaching preschool? Here are ALL our Preschool Printables! *This post contains affiliate links. Preschool & Kindergarten Learning Activities My ... Read More about 20+ FREE Learning Packs for Preschool and Kindergarten
Kids enjoy watching and touching these tiny, fast-moving critters that fly or crawl. Capitalize on their fascination and set up some bug centers in your classroom.
Classroom teachers have a ton of daily tasks to guarantee that students are engaged and learning. It's a tough job, and a stressful one, too. Teachers wear out easily if their classrooms aren't well managed. Creating a classroom that runs itself while you teach in smaller groups is the best way to keep students engaged.
Free, fun and useful Kindergarten - 1st Grade, Common Core aligned lesson plans, math games, calendars, behavior charts, materials and more!
Everyone loves a camping theme. Learning about nature, forest animals, insects, the night sky, rivers, fishing, and smores will get your students interested and excited to come to school. Parents and teachers all know that when students are interested, they are more engaged, and they develop a love of learning. In this post, I want to share some great ideas for camping centers and activities I do in the classroom with my little learners.
We are 14 days into school (woohoo) and I wanted to share some of the ways I’m supporting my very-beginning writers. One of the best parts of 1st grade is seeing the amazing growth students make in 9 short months. They enter writing single sentences (sometimes single words) and leave writing cohesive paragraphs – it’s...
We had a fabulous week in kindergarten celebrating Q and U! To kick off the week we read Growing Kinders book about Alphabetland...
Jenga game cards are easily my favorite way to teach and reinforce basic math fact, phonics, or grammar practice.
I am so excited about the literacy learning station I developed in our home! It has been working out very well and my son is loving it!
Are you looking for free printable numbers and counting activities for preschool and kindergarten? These math printables will make differentiation so easy!
These free Printable Digraph and CVCe Activities are perfect for practice with identifying digraph sounds and reading long vowel words!
This is another little mouse book by Ellen Stoll Walsh. In this story the mice play in paint and use it to escape from a cat. I use this book to introduce/review color words at the beginning of the year. Here are some of our activities to go with the book. Click on each activity to grab your own copy. Here is a poem we put in our Poem and Song books. We highlight color words. This activity practices color words. We practice patterns with this activity. We read and spell color words with this word search. My DOLLAR SALE at Teachers Pay Teachers runs through tomorrow. Stop by and check out my game to accompany this book and others! Check back tomorrow for activities to go with Mouse Shapes.
Make October Magical with these adorable October Preschool Worksheets - Fun Halloween themes to practice counting, alphabet letters, and much more.
Discover the power of consistent phonics literacy centers in fostering independence and boosting confidence in your young learners. Explore practical tips and resources for effective classroom organization.
I'm working a summer reading and math camp and I wanted to set up some fun camp-themed activities! I haven't gotten to all of the centers yet, but I thought I'd showcase just a few! S'more Fun: Vowel Sorting Activity So far my kinders LOVE this center. I printed 2 sheets of the marshmallows on card stock then laminated them. I used sticks and a hot glue gun to attach them to both sides of the stick. To make the vowel fire outs: Camping & Rolling: Sight Word Activity Camping Spelling & Writing Center: Building Words Sight Word Fishing Game Download Camp Kindergarten Packet in my TPT Store by Clicking HERE!
Learn how to plan and manage literacy centers through differentiated instruction activities, rotations, & behavior management strategies.
If you know me, you know I am in loooove with Daily 5! Ever since incorporating it into my classroom last year, I have loved seeing the variety of skills and strategies my students are working on each and every day. I also love that the segments are short, so we all stay motivated and the energy for learning stays high. I have been wanting to redo how I teach math for a while. As a student, I truly adore mathematics, but as a teacher, I was getting bored. Our district was looking into several programs to adopt and I was piloting Everyday Mathematics. It was definitely a change from our old textbook, but I liked how it mixed things up and spiraled around to keep kids fresh on many math concepts. The district ended up choosing Math Expressions (Please share your experience if you use this!) and this decision allowed me to stop teaching Everyday Mathematics "with fidelity" and monkey around with starting Guided Math/Math Rotations/Small Group Math/Math Centers/etc. for the remainder of this year. I.am.in.love! I know there are many ways of doing this, so I am just sharing what I have been trying and what works so far with my schedule. Some of my greatest inspirations are Elizabeth from Fun in 4B and Dana from 3rd Grade Gridiron. I also have TONS of wonderful links with pictures on my Math Pinterest board-- there are so many inspirational teachers out there :) :) First up, the 3-4 rotations that I use: Teacher Time- spent with me on the rug in a small group, ability-based for the unit, learning a new concept. Lesson Work- practicing the new skill from Teacher Time (usually book work or a worksheet) independently at their table spot. Math Centers- this has been using some of my Word Work Centers as well as my Winter Math Centers. Fact Practice- this is the "I'm Done" center for those students who finish Lesson Work early. I also have Fact Practice as a choice for Math Centers. Some days students don't get to this at all, but I'm ok with that since Xtra Math is a part of our Star Homework each night. Because of time constraints, I could only divide up my class into three groups, so that really limited my use of the cute M-A-T-H or B-U-I-L-D centers that are out there. I just couldn't imagine trying to have super-short Teacher Times or trying to spread one lesson across two days :( With three groups, I am able to meet with kids for 15-20ish minutes and that seems to be just right :) I also tried to keep things aligned with how I do Daily 5 in my class. Because that is so successful, I knew it would be easy for my kids (and, to be honest, on me!) if we started it off the same and ran our math time the same, using some of the same activities as well as the same lingo (like Teacher Time). I began by making an anchor chart of the four rotations as a class: To make the smaller signs, I adjusted my print settings to print 2 signs on one sheet. We then practiced the bottom two rotations over the course of a few days. Because I started this mid-year, it was very easy to build stamina. I started by dividing the kids into two groups and they practiced either Fact Practice or Math Centers. We then reflected on what worked/what needed improving and tried again. I slowly added Teacher Time and then Lesson Work, so that by the end of the second week, we were in full swing. To help things along, since the content does change much more often than in D5, I made small signs to hang on my side white board that listed either the learning target or question as well as the assignments and center choices for kids' reference: This has been a lifesaver because now students have a quick reference point to not only know what we'll be studying in Teacher Time, but they can manage their own Center and Fact Practice time, therefore not interrupting me during Teacher Time (win!). You KNOW I have bookmarks with these rotations, right?! :) I need to go to Bookmarks Anonymous ;) Each student has one and it makes it easy for me to say "Picture 2" and they all know where to go. To learn how to make your own bookmarks from PDF pages, click HERE. To be honest, now that we have been doing this for a while, we don't need these anymore, but I love them just the same and, when our geometry unit is over soon I am going to me remixing the groups, so these will come in handy again soon :) As with everything, the devil is in the details, so prepping is the key. I spent a looooooong time making sure the kids had activities and trying to account for "dead time"-- thus, the Fact Practice option. I also wanted to make materials accessible and easy to get to, so there wouldn't be any excuse for not getting started right away. I am currently storing all of the centers and flash cards in my lovely, colorful cart I purchased from Joann's (50% off and free shipping coupon-- woo hoo!) I will be back soon for more details on how I have been doing Math Centers-- we are using a Bingo Board similar to Word Work and it has worked out well so far. Do you use Math Rotations or something like it? How's it going? PS- I don't have these chevron signs on TpT yet, but is it something you all would be interested in? Let me know and I can get all of the colors together for use in your own classroom-- it's the same chevron as all of my other products HERE. *UPDATE 2/18/13: These are now available for purchase in my TpT Store HERE. All 7 chevron colors are included for every slide as well as a plain background option. Be sure to download the Preview to see an example :) Thanks for such great feedback- I hope you enjoy using these in your class :) :)
Summer is finally here, and it’s time to celebrate with FUN, hands-on SUMMER activities your little learners will go bonkers for! Take the learning outside or get messy inside and...
