Basic vocabulary, like knowing prepositions, is necessary for beginning readers. Teach prepositions with this simple game.

I love using interactive lapbooks in the classroom. They are fun to create, engaging and can be used throughout the year to review skills taught. I finally completely my Lapbook Bundle and I am happy to share the lapbooks included with you. Whether you think your learners will enjoy creating all of the lapbooks, if you

Learn about Japan for Kids with this printable book to read, color, and learn about Mt Fiji, charming gardens, and sushi without leaving home!

These 13 picture books are fun to read and perfect for teaching phonological awareness and phonics skills in kindergarten and first grade.

With graduation season upon us, and another school year drawing to a close, this is a great time to help students think about where they’ve been, where they are, and where they’re heade…

This kindergarten blog post will illustrate 17 different activities that can be used to build fine motor activities into your curriculum.

This is a hard good item. This is NOT digital. There is no download included. Find this on my website: (Save $5 no Etsy fees) https://carolynscreativeclassroom.com/anchor-charts/ You will receive: Printed, laminated and cut out anchor chart ready to use! There are NO holes punched in the anchor chart. You may add holes using hole punch or add magnets to the back. Sizes: There are 2 sizes: Large 24 x 36 Medium 18 x 24 (You can find my desktop charts and MINIS only on my website) How to Use: Anchor Charts can be used to teach concepts and then be displayed to review skills. Students have a reference point. They involve students during the creation process and they are much more ENGAGED in lesson because they have input in the creation of them! The anchor charts can be displayed in the classroom and students can refer back to them when working on their own. Important Information Priority shipping (Usually 2-4 business days) Priority includes insurance if your posters get lost, stolen, or damaged in mail. If your charts get lost in the mail, you MUST contact me and start the process. You only have 30 days to make a claim. Shipping is $16 (Includes $8 length charge because these are shipped in tubes and are too large to go through USPS machines) Media Mail - Unfortunately I had to remove Media Mail. If you need this option, please check out on my website. Miss. Hacker carolynscreativeclassroom.com https://www.facebook.com/Carolynscreativeclassroom/

We've been learning about the parts of speech in the most fun ways. A parts of speech printable and flip book, writing our own mad libs, and more.

If you need a writing anchor chart to help your students with visual references, this post has 9 must-make anchor charts to boost your writers.

Art books for kids are an easy way to introduce the seven elements of art to kids. Books make connections between art concepts & your child's life!

Guessing games are a great way to practice speaking, critical thinking and vocabulary building in ESL classrooms starting from young learners through adults. Whether you are an English teacher or a parent trying to improve your child's vocabulary in a first or second language, guessing games are a MUST! Here's where to start: Ages 3-4:

THIS RESOURCE NOW INCLUDES DIGITAL ACTIVITIES AND VIDEOS. THE ACTIVITIES ARE PRELOADED IN SEESAW AND GOOGLE SLIDES. In this gigantic packet, you'll find centers, activities, and printables to support your phonics instruction. I've included pocket chart sorts, worksheets, games, and much more to teach vowel teams and diphthongs. Download the preview to see more! The following spelling patterns are included: AI, AU, AW, AY, EA, EE, EW, EY, IE, OA, OE, OI, OO, OU, OW, OY, UE, UI. Here is a detailed description of each activity included! All of the activities are included in color and black/white. Matching Cards-There are 4 word and picture cards for each spelling pattern. Students can use these in a pocket chart, as a memory game, or as a center activity. Fill It In-Students use a dry erase marker or small magnetic letters to fill in the missing vowel team or diphthong. 4 cards for each pattern are included. Scrambled Sentences-Each spelling pattern has cards to form a silly sentence. Students read the words to put them back together. Find and Dab It-Students use a bingo dauber or color the words that follow the spelling pattern. Pattern Sorts-These are ideal for whole group lessons or in a pocket chart or center. Each sort has headings as well as cards. The following sorts are included: EA, EE, and EY AI, AY, Neither OI, OY, Neither OO (like zoo), OO (like book) Roll and Read-Students roll a die and read the words with vowel teams and diphthongs. 4 versions are included with various spelling patterns. Spin and Cover-Students use a paper clip and pencil to make a spinner and cover words with the matching pattern. The spinners include: AI, AU, AW, and AY EA, EE, EW, EY IE, UE, UI, OW, OU OA, OE, OI, OO, OY OI, UI, AY, EY, UY, OY, OU, AI EE, OE, EA, UE, IE OA, AW, OO, EW, OW Write the Room-Hang the cards around the room and students fill in the missing vowel team on their recording sheet. I've included 30 cards so you can use them all at once, or split it up. After completing their sheet, students will make 2 of their own examples. Printables-I've included tons of printables for you to use as assessments, morning work, for early finishers. Sounds Like Bread/Sounds Like Beach-Students cut the picture cards out and sort them in the flipbook Sounds Like Book/Sounds Like Moon-Students cut the picture cards out and sort them in the flipbook AY, EY, OY Sort-Students cut the picture cards out and sort them in the flipbook What's Correct-Students color the correct spelling of each word Read It And Draw-Students read the words with various vowel teams and diphthongs and draw a matching picture Search and Find-4 word searches with vowel teams and diphthongs Going On A Word Hunt-Students search their books, classroom, and word wall for words including the various vowel teams. Then students write a sentence using some of the words. Cut and Sort-Students cut out words and sort them by their spelling pattern. Match It And Write-Students write the correct spelling under the picture using the word bank. Read and Draw-Students read sentences including vowel teams and diphthongs and draw matching pictures. Real or Silly Sort-Students read words with real words and nonsense words, cut them out, and sort them. Find and Graph-Students read and sort words with vowel teams and diphthongs and graph their results. Word Lists-I've included word lists for each spelling pattern for you to use for spelling words, in lessons, etc. I hope these are helpful to you so you don't have to search! :) The following lists are included: AI AU/AW AY EA (LONG E) EA (SHORT E) EE EI EW/EY IE (LONG AND SHORT) OA OE OO OU OW UE/UI You can read more about these activities on my blog!

Hurray! You're here. Let me help you with fun resources for your primary students to keep them excited about learning!

Do you hate to teach poetry? Do you want your students to learn and enjoy poetry? Try these simple ways to learn how to teach poetry...

Y'all my office smells like something died. Seriously! It started about two weeks ago. I walked in and got hit with a pretty putrid smel...

When your Kindergarten kids have mastered the skills of blending, spelling, and reading words, you may be thinking, "Where do I proceed from here?" Digraphs or consonant mixes are the following phonics skills you can focus on with your kids. Digraphs are two characters that form the same sound,

NYC school teacher Alyssa Cowit was so fascinated by the questions and comments from her kindergarteners that she started an Instagram account called 'Live from Snack Time' to show everyone just how funny and sweet they can be.

K-1 POETRY UNIT I love teaching poetry to kindergarten and first grade students! Even though I have this labeled as Unit 8 in my Writing Series , I actually teach poetry throughout the entire year. We follow the same routine and students look forward to our poetry week every month.

Wow! I am so excited! Today was the first day I introduced this class of kindergarten students to opinion writing and they did an AWESOME job with their writing. I was so excited, I had to share it with you! For starters, we simply discussed the word opinion and what an opinion (what you think about a topic or how you feel about a topic) is, and we talked about how opinions are never wrong or right. Just because you don't like broccoli but your friend does, doesn't make your friend wrong and you right. It's just your opinion. Some of my students actually said they like broccoli. Students on each side of this opinion had to tell me reasons they did or did not like broccoli other than "I just like it" or "It tastes good." One student said she likes it because it's a vegetable and it's good for you. We also gave our opinion on which color we thought was the best. Students gave all kinds of reasons. One students said she thinks yellow is the best color because it reminds her of all the golden things pirates find and that it's a light color that you can draw on. I thought these were great reasons for her opinion. Then we discussed pets. Students can relate well to this topic because the majority of the students have a pet of some kind or have had a pet. Students had to tell whether they thought a cat or a dog is the best pet to have and give reasons for their opinion. We discussed some of these reasons. Then we discussed what "good writers" do when they write and then they were off to write independently. Take a look at these awesome writers. Let me know what you think. I would love for you to share some of your student writing ideas and samples with me. As you can see, dogs were chosen by the majority of my students as the best pet. Let's see if they gave good reasons for their choice. Sample #1: In my opinion, dogs are the best because they are good watch dogs. They can play. Dogs are fluffy. They can sniff good. They beg for their food. Dogs can run fast. Dogs can play fetch. Dogs have sharp claws. Dogs can roll over (on back of paper). I thought this student did a fantastic job of providing reasons for her opinion. Sample #2: In my opinion, dogs are the best because dogs are fun to play with. Dogs bark. Dogs are soft. Dogs sniff. Dogs play with you. Dogs play catch with you. Dogs are big and little. Another great job of providing reasons for her opinion. Sample #3: In my opinion, cats are the best because they are lazy like me, and they sleep a lot, and they're fluffy, and they can jump. I though that was so cute says cats are lazy like her. More good reasons for her opinion. :) Sample #4 (last one) In my opinion, dogs are the best because I like dogs because I will throw the ball. They will bring the ball back. Dogs can dig. They eat bones. My dog is little. They beg for food. He sleeps with me. He is brown. I love him. I like dogs because they're fun. This student even added details telling about his own dog which I though was really good after he had given reasons for his opinion. I was so excited about my SUPER writers today. I'll be sharing more samples in the near future. I can't resist. Please share your writing ideas and samples with me. Writing is my PASSION! I love teaching writing! If you need this writing template, you can purchase it HERE and many other opinion writing topic packets in my store! I also have a freebie opinion writing activity posted here in an earlier blog post and in my TPT Store. Please leave me some comments. Thanks for stopping by!

A blog about autism resources and support from a special ed teacher with first-hand experience.

Here is a silly drawing games that is a lot of fun for kids to play. In this drawing game, you use dice to decide what parts of the drawing you will draw. We have included a face drawing game and a landscape drawing game. This is a lot of fun and it helps children who might not be able to draw freely and creatively...this will help them draw more freely and creatively. This will also increase silliness.

Make phonics instruction interactive for your students with this fun hands-on phonics resource. Read this blog for the guide and a freebie!

Are you looking for ways to teach cause and effect? I love to think outside the box and find ways to teach reading skills in a variety of ways to meet the needs of all learners. I hope you find some ways that are helpful to your students! Offer

Fourth grade class wrote some terrific "sound songs". I got this idea from another music teacher. Thank you! It was a hit.

The Good Egg book activities unit with literacy printables, companion activities, reading comprehension worksheets, craft Kindergarten & First Grade

Have you ever had a practically perfect day of teaching? You know what I mean… the kind of day where the kiddos are right on point. The conversation is academically juicy, kiddos are engaged, and you’re wondering why your admin isn’t picking today to come do their observations! 😉 It’s been a while since things have gone […]

Dog Man may refer to: Dog Man (Book), the first book in the Dog Man series. Dog Man (character), a character created by George Beard and Harold Hutchins when they were in kindergarten. Dog Man (series), A book series by Dav Pilkey. Dog Man (film), Upcoming film by DreamWorks Animation.

If your child likes to color outside the lines, give them creative control over her next work of art with this cute and comical activity.

I loved this lesson! We went back to two very familiar Nancy Carlson books and went on a Punctuation Scavenger Hunt. We noticed that she didn't have many questions marks. I asked the group what kind of book do you think we would find questions mark...a reader in the group responded nonfiction. This week we will do this again with a nonfiction book. This lesson came from the book Mastering the Mechanics k-1 by Linda Hoyt. Writing Craft Anchor Chart While learning about Nancy Carlson, we recorded things we notice about her writing. Retelling Stories focusing on Beginning, Middle, and End I had students work with a partner or two to make these Nancy Carlson posters. I did have a few students work alone. They came out beautiful. Nancy Carlson makes what we call picture bubbles in her books. I love how students have automatically done that. We retold the beginning, middle and end on a Voice Thread. What we learned about Nancy Carlson??? Our favorite is Henry. Nancy Carlson knew in kindergarten that she wanted to be an author. Happy ending Favorite Nancy Carlson Book What I learned About Nancy Carlson This a Voice thread of what we learned about her. Students worked with a partner.

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great holiday and if you're like me you're definitely enjoying your time off school. Yes I love and miss the ...

Cultivate lifelong reading skills.

An ELD Lesson Format That Makes Planning Easier Are you looking for lesson plan ideas that incorporate all four language domains for your kindergarten and 1st grade English learners? I have a weekly system that makes ELD lesson planning easier, provides quality lessons and keeps students engaged throughout the year. One of the key resources I use to implement weekly plans with my K-1 students is a Reading A-Z online book subscription. The reason I love using these printable books is that my students can write in them and then take them home at the end of the week. Don't have a subscription? That's OK! This system still works;) Step 1 is determining students' starting points for reading. My beginning readers/beginning English learners usually start at level aa or A. Step 2 is choosing a book that has relevant and meaningful vocabulary, as well as a repetitive sentence structure. This is important because I want students to build their everyday vocabulary and become familiar with basic sentence structure, as well as exposure to sight words in context. Here are some of my favorite titles... Main Components of Weekly ELD Lessons These lesson components don't change. Each day of the week is devoted to certain components which makes lesson planning much more manageable. - build or tap background knowledge - vocabulary - reading - oral language - writing - word work Additional components: - sight words - sentence structure - letter formation There's enough variety throughout the week that my K-1 students stay engaged and even look forward to the familiar structures and activities. What's great about having a system in place is I know exactly what each week looks like and which components are taught on each day; the only thing that changes is the book. What Does a Week of Lessons Look Like? 👉🏼 Pick an appropriate book and make enough copies for all of the students, plus and extra copy for you. I choose the double sided option for copying, that way all I do is fold the pages and staple the spine. It's super simple! 👉🏼 Tap into background knowledge. This is the first thing we do on Mondays when we start a new book, and it can be as simple as asking, "What do you know about ____?" It gets them thinking about the topic and connecting it to their prior knowledge. I do my best to choose books that my students likely already have some background knowledge of. 👉🏼 Introduce vocabulary. Before we open the book, I lay out pictures from the book. Then we practice identifying the pictures and saying the words. *I always print one copy of the book in color, then cut out the pictures or illustrations to use as vocabulary cards. I also write the vocabulary words on index cards or cut up sentence strips for a post reading matching activity. Once we've practiced identifying and saying the vocabulary words, it's time to open the book. 👉🏼 Identify a sight word- I usually identify a repetitive sight word in the book and have students hunt for and highlight the word on each page. 👉🏼 Read with a purpose. I tell the students something like, "Now we're going to read to find out... " and finish that sentence depending on what the book is about. At the beginning of the school year, when I am reading with my beginning readers/English learners, we do echo reading or choral reading. As the weeks progress and my students' literacy and language skills strengthen, they begin reading more independently and I gradually release that support. 👉🏼 Talk about the book. This is where I can support their oral language development by asking questions about the book. I also model my own response, then they take turns sharing their thoughts and ideas. 👉🏼 Respond to reading. After reading the book, students respond to the book. There is a space in the back of the book to write, so that's were we do the writing. After writing (or before), students add an illustration and color it. Lastly, they share their writing and illustration with the group. 👉🏼 Word Work/Phonics. I always pull word work from the book. I look for a word that I can build word family words with, usually CVC words, then have students practice writing them on a white board. Word work for my students still learning letter names and sounds looks different, so the word work activities are chosen to meet the needs of each group. Other weekly activities are sentence structure and letter formation. For the sentence structure activity I take a repetitive sentence from the book and write it on a sentence strip, then cut apart the words. If I have 5 students in a group, then I have 5 different sentences cut apart. Each student gets one sentence and is tasked with putting the words in order, then reading the sentence aloud. Letter formation is also an important skill we practice each week. I try to tie the weekly letter to something in the book. Lastly, I'll sprinkle in additional activities such as letter identification, read aloud books, thematic monthly vocabulary, and games to keep each week fun and engaging. I think it's important to make learning fun, and my students seem to really enjoy this system. Monthly Thematic Activities Weekly Format of ELD Lesson Components I meet with my groups 4 times a week, 30 minutes at a time. Here's how I structure each week. Monday - tap into background knowledge, introduce vocabulary (pictures are laid out on the table), identify and highlight a sight word, read with a purpose, matching activity- vocabulary words with pictures Tuesday - review vocabulary, reread the book, sentence structure activity, write & illustrate Wednesday - I don't see my K-1 students on Wednesdays Thursday - reread the book (less support), word work from the book (activity depends on the group), color their illustration and share their writing Friday - reread the book (support only as needed), letter formation, add an additional fun activity (game or read aloud), exit ticket out the door (a sentence from the book with no picture support) and a high five;) After Reading the book, students match word cards with their pictures. Exit ticket out the door- reading without picture support. This structure could be easily implemented with a variety of books; they don't have to be Reading A-Z books. But I do really like that students own their books, can write in them and take them home to read to family members each week. Graphic organizers are another great tool for incorporating the writing component when using non-consumable books. If I didn't use this online book subscription, I'd use book sets from my school's bookroom along with some good graphic organizers. Having a structure in place for weekly ELD lessons eliminates the guesswork from lesson planning, and that's huge! If you have a Reading A-Z subscription, try this out with your K-1 students, even K-2! If you don't have a subscription, grab some book sets and graphic organizers and do the same structure. Let me know how it works for you! 🙌🏼 Below is a monthly thematic resource bundle linked to my TPT store. I devote one week out of the month to building monthly themed vocabulary. Each month comes with printable books, a digital book to project for a shared reading, vocabulary cards, a writing activity, plus a fun BINGO game. Each month is also sold separately Happy Teaching!

Hands-On Inference lesson where students become inference detectives to solve the Case of the Missing Cape! Engaging and SO MUCH FUN for K-1!

Inspired by my previous post, I have created a series of 6 doodle sheets that are free to download. I have produced them at A5 size (though they could be made smaller or larger if you choose) and they can either be printed off and used as they come, or trimmed and laminated to make re-usable doodle sheets, as illustrated here. If laminated, they should be used with special dry-wipe pens to allow them to be wiped clean. I also punched a hole in the corner of each sheet and tied them together using a keyring so that I could carry them about more easily. You are free to use these however you choose (except commercially of course!) However if you do wish to use them, please consider making a small donation to help support my personal blog. You can do this by clicking on the button below, or by using the Ko-Fi widget in the sidebar. To get your doodle sheets just click on the each image to open up the full size image, then right click to download a copy. Garden-Doodle Masterpiece Doodle View Doodle Knight Doodle Undersea Doodle Space Doodle

Follow these five steps to teach a child to read. Helpful for parents, homeschoolers, and teachers that are teaching beginning readers.

Hello Everyone! Thanks for stopping by our blog to see what's happening in our first grade classroom! This week we are working very hard on "retelling"stories we have read. Learning how to retell a story helps our little learners as readers and thinkers. It helps to organize thought, and recognize the thoughts we have during reading. It helps us recognize when our thinking changes throughout our reading. Characteristics of good retelling are: using character names, telling about the setting, including the happenings or plot (beginning, middle, and end), discussing the problem the character is having, and describing how the problem was solved. Today I introduced our "retelling rope." Each symbol represents the parts of a story. I have used retelling ropes before, but revamped this with some better visuals. The kids really get it when they can actually manipulate the parts. This year I wrote a simple poem to go along with our retelling activities. We practiced retelling several stories together using the large retelling rope, and then the kids got to make their own mini one to manipulate during their own reading time. After putting these together, some kids chose to work with others to retell a common story (The Lorax has become a favorite for some reason :) !) We also practiced recording our retelling thoughts. We will continue to work hard on this important skill! When I read a story! For your printable of these pages plus larger visuals to make your own retelling rope click here! :) here's the link to the printable with student rope pics! :) Or click here! :) I love helping kids improve their retelling skills!! Don't forget to retell your own stories with your kids!!! Stop by again soon!! Joyfully! Nancy

My litte pigeon and I have been working tirelessly with my little second graders to improve their writing and it is slowly but surely wor...

These affixes are organized in 25 units (2-4 affixes per unit); these units correspond to the units in All About Affixes Practice Printables. You do not need to have the Practice Printables to use these sketch notes, but if you are looking for more structured word work for your students, you can learn more about it HERE.

I'm back! Sorry for the M.I.A.!!! I have been swamped with the usual and getting ready for our Harvest Festival fundraiser. One more week of that and I can hopefully breathe again! I wanted to share a few things we have been doing in our classroom over the past few weeks. I feel so behind! We had our open house and we had these super cute sneaky e guys to greet the parents. We also made the All About Me Bagpacks. Of course, I forgot to get a pic of those. I love this idea using the first letter of each student's name to practice place value. I think Rayann found it on Pinterest. I introduced story structure to my little ones. This is the anchor chart we made to go along with one of the short stories from our reading series. These posters came from my Story Structure Unit. We are loving this vocabulary game from Mrs. Bainbridge. We recorded it in a flap book after we put our vocabulary words in order on the front flaps. The kids are loving Brown Bag Book Club. We made these main idea hands to put on our bags of popcorn. They discussed the weekly story and the main idea before the assessment. You must check this book out! Rayann introduced me to it. It is great for teaching math problem solving strategies! Here is a freebie from my Sneaky E With the Vowel O Word Work Packet. Click *{HERE}* to grab a copy. I just posted my latest word work unit tonight to accompany A Tiny Seed. Off to bed to get ready for a busy day. I am on the decorating committee for our Harvest Festival. I can't way to show you pics! We are going with an Enchanted Forest theme. It's on Friday night, so I will post pics next week. Have a great week, friends!

PRIMARY GRAMMAR UNIT 5 - CAPITALIZATION We completed our grammar units 1-4, nouns , adjectives , verbs and adverbs . Who knew grammar could be so easy and fun right? These four units give students such a solid foundation of basic sentence structure and parts of speec