Explore the wonders of the ocean with these math and literacy activities that provide hands-on learning through play for our preschoolers!
My daughter has one of the best kindergarten teachers imaginable. She is caring, patient, and so imaginative. Her activities seem to seamlessly flow together, integrating all content areas. In short, she is amazing! One of the activities, that I really loved, was her newest addition to the blocks center. My daughter came home and told me that their "Blocks Center is really rocking the house!" That is high praise coming from my baby. A few days later, I got to go in and see this "rocking" center for myself. It really is amazing. It's so amazing that I decided to put my own spin on it and share it with you! The center has pieces of felt (or foam) for different symbols on a map. All the pieces are hand cut and are just a quick shape in different colors. The center that I made includes: rivers, lakes, roads, houses, bushes, and trees. You can get a free copy of the map key here. Print out the key and cut out felt, then you have all you need to make "Interactive Maps"! Cut out some pictures from a magazine and label them for specific places in the community. Simple and fun! The part I love the most about this activity is that it can include math, writing, science, social studies, and so much more! I wanted to include specific places in my version, so I went through my clip art and whipped up a few. I love how every map will be different and each child's personality can shine through. When I started making our version at home, there were only straight roads. This created a lot of protesting from my kids. Thus, a variety of roads were created. They were right, it does make the maps more interesting and realistic. As we played with the concept, I added task cards. This will allow kids to create maps with a model. It is really great for kids that have a difficult time starting an activity without direction. Sometimes, open ended play seems to overwhelm these children. Adding task cards with directions, allows these children to work from a task. AND task cards give kids practice reading numerals and using one-to-one correspondence. I also made blank task cards, so that partners could create tasks for each other. It's more fun to do a friend's activity, than one provided by the teacher. Why not capitalize on their enthusiasm for "being the teacher"? Adding onto the idea of "being the teacher", I love adding in partner games. Each child can have a turn I love adding a recording sheet to the activity, because it holds each child accountable for their learning and provides a physical record that is sent home to their parents. One thing I so appreciate about my daughter's teacher is that every center has some written or physical component that comes home. I am able to infer from the directions, or completed project, what my daughter is doing that day. I am able to ask her more specific questions about her day, after looking over the work that comes home. It allows me to get more meaningful information about my daughter's learning that day. I love having different recording sheets for the same activity. It can change the whole focus of the activity and it makes it very easy to differentiate. I hope you found some easy ideas to use with your kids. I love that you can just add felt and open up a whole new world... Get your kids excited about maps and the parts of their community with these hands on activities. Make your own, or find mine here. Head over to my blog, Differentiation Station Creations, to find some more activities to add your Blocks Center! Until next time,
Celebrate apple week with your kindergarten or first grade students with these interactive apple investigation activities!
A fun math activity inspired by the book The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. Your kids will love learning math concepts and acting out this classic story.
Fun and EASY Kindergarten Science experiments, printables, and activites to help naturally curious kids explore, discover, and learn!
STEM in Kindergarten? Absolutely! In this post, I share four easy activities that your kinders will thoroughly love.
We learned that all motion is either caused by two kinds of force. Pushing or pulling. I set out clay and let them explore by using the forc...
Celebrate student names with the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes! This blog post for teachers shares fun ideas including a craft activity and engaging discussions. Embrace name recognition and create a welcoming environment where every student feels special.
Kids will LOVE these FREE Paleontologist Printables to practice math and literacy with a fossil, dinosaur, and paleontolist theme.
ALL ABOUT APPLES September is here! We love learning all about apples! Who knew one fruit could bring so many fun books, activities, songs and videos to our classroom? I do an thematic unit every month . These activities are based around the read alouds I choose. This month it is All
Make history come alive for students as they study early explorers like Henry the Navigator and Marco Polo for Kids with hands-on activities and printables!
Preschoolers will have fun exploring apples with this fun fall or back to school themed FREE Apple Science Experiment Worksheet.
These Robot Motor Mats are a great way for your pre-k and kindergarten students to work fine motor skills while learning patterns.
SEPTEMBER NO PREP MATH AND LITERACY ACTIVITIES
Pencil Names - Name Building Practice Printable comes with eight editable pages, containing two pencils. Each pencil has pieces for two letter names up to nine letter names. Getting Pencil Names - Name Building Practice Printable
Learn about Early Explorers for Kids with this fun, 5-week history lesson unit for elementary age kids to learn about the Vikings, Columbus, Magellan, and more!
I have learned that if the class is truly interested in something, they will use reading, writing, and math skills as they explore their interests naturally. I observe and listen closely to discover what they are interested in. Sometimes a book or story will spark an interest. Sometimes an interest is sparked by something a friend shared with the class. Sometimes I notice interests by listening to their stories and their play. Our last large group interest was sparked when one of our friends found an almost dead praying mantis. The kids were fascinated with it and wanted to look closer, observe, and find out more. Every time we went outside they wanted to look for insects! I set out some invitations for them to explore insects further. They quickly started looking through books and models of insects to see what they could find out. I started encouraging them to record what they noticed using different materials. One of their favorites was the book Microsculpture:Portraits of Insects by Levon Biss. It truly took a closer look at insects including closeups of legs, wings, eyes feet, etc. it was such a beautiful book. I set it out with materials for them to create their own beautiful portraits of insects showing what they noticed. They are starting to figure out how to try to spell unfamiliar words by writing the sounds they hear in words. They practiced labeling their insects here also. But the insects they got the most excited about were the ones completely covering our milkweed plants! They wanted to know all about them! We looked at a picture of one and made our thinking visible by recording what we saw, thought and wondered. Then we got our Entomologist tools, took them outside and found out everything we could about them! They were amazing and thorough Entomologists! We recorded everything we noticed and then put some of our information in the computer and found out they are called Milkweed bugs! We then did an observational drawing as Entomologists and used our writing skills to label what it is and some body parts. Here is the display outside our room showing everything we learned about them! The other insects all took a backseat to the milkweed bug! I could have done a traditional insect unit, but these kids noticed something in their environment where they could truly experience it, so I followed the direction they took our insect study. I often let the kids direct our curriculum! They show me what they want to learn and I follow their lead and learn along side them. They were much more involved, interested and excited about learning as we followed their interest. Also, this fell naturally into our science standards of living things and what they need! I can’t wait to see what other interests this group will have that we can dig deeper into! They are definitely bringing in leaves by the bucketful... Here are some other things going on in our classroom: We are still working on those fine motor skills! Our finger muscles need a lot of work! Stories are being created in all of the areas of our room as we learn about story making! Here they are encouraged to show math in an open ended way. At the moment they are working on the numbers 1-10, shapes, writing numbers to 10, counting objects and matching to the correct number, counting to 25, subitizing and patterns. They are also learning to notice math all around us and how we use it in our every day lives. Some Fall art inspiration with sunflowers. They drew pictures of Mrs. Coberly wearing Michigan State colors and wrote “Mrs. Coberly loves Sparty!” Then we decorated her door! They loved this! Unfortunately, the Buckeye/Spartan game did not end well for me! It has been a busy place filled with all kinds of learning!
This past week we have been discussing what belonging to a community means, what communities we belong to (families, class/school, neighbourhoods, sports teams), and the people and places within these communities. We began by discussing the different places we would find in our community and why they are important. Then students had a chance to …
This free Farm Syllable Sort Activity is the perfect addition to your farm-themed literacy centers! Your kids will love it!
One of the first projects or themes I find fun, simple and engaging is learning about Communities (2 weeks) and making a map as the culminating activity to end the unit. (For a total of 3 weeks on Community) This week, I started by reading the class a book on maps I got on Amazon. The book was chunked over a period of 2 days to ensure understanding. Maps - Kindergarten Unit After the story, the students were shown real maps that I had saved from going on little road trips. We sat in a circle and talked about what we noticed on them. I had a few kids share out about a time they used a map with their family. Real maps - San Diego, San Francisco I also had some maps from the San Diego Zoo and and some play maps for kids from a teacher supply store. We watched a video on maps and models from the United Streaming's website. Our district purchased user licenses for all teachers to access their videos on our Promethean Boards. I pulled out our old ELD song for communities from Rigby. The red car is on velcro and sticks to the different places in the community. So we fill in the sentence frames depending on where the car lands. On Tuesday, I read the last chunk of the Map book. Then, I pulled out our Writing Web for the power word "go." (The laminated web is from a district purchased program called Learning Headquarters). I taught the sight words "go" under my own structure however as a part of this writing unit in my TPT Store called Rebus Writing using Sight Words. The word "go" is week 5 of the 8 week unit. With a pointer I pointed to the word web and we orally filled out each sentence frame from the word bank. I allowed the kids to draw their own interpretation of a map on a half sheet of drawing paper as a pre-assessment to see where they are. Most kids drew standard pictures of places but some surprised me and had some streets and people walking in the map to different places. On Wednesday, I read them a book on map keys/legends. Map Keys and Legends I put up a class legend on the Promethean board that had four requirements. The sample legend was pre filled and colored and drawn and labeled. I asked the kids to draw a map on a full sized drawing page that had a: school, police station, neighborhood of homes, and a park. The symbol for each was a: building with flag next to it, building with a car next to it, triangles to symbolize a neighborhood, and a slide to symbolize the park. I set the kids to work and could see them looking up and referencing the sample key as they drew their maps. I noticed an improvement in their pictures from the day before. Once all the required components from the class key were on their maps I passed out markers and let them fill in the blanks and put more detail in the map. I cut out small legends that were identical to the one I had on the board and had kids glue it on the corner of their map. They were allowed to take it home. By Thursday, I brought out the colorful construction paper! The neat piles of color coded paper soon got a little messy! I had pre cut them into squares or rectangles. The first to go was blue because everyone was required to put a body of water on their map somewhere. It could be a river, lake, ocean or backyard pool. Also, the black strips I precut were the first to go because those were the streets and kids were allowed to use up to four. Building community maps 1 Building community maps 2 Children got right to work. They were so excited. Each map came out truly unique. As the kids were finished up I had them set up on the rug so the glue could dry and so kids who needed inspiration could come do a carousel walk around the rug and get ideas. Finished maps One of my late finishers added a church to her map even though we never discussed it. Cute! She made her map look like quadrants! She added sand to the beach and a church! The early finishers were doing literacy centers and reading books from the community tub. Building maps was a busy day. On Friday, I handed back their maps and a blank legend key. I asked them to make a legend for their map. Each was different. map key/ legend I had them glue the legends on the back of their maps. I made them a word bank so they could copy. However, some were ready for inventive spelling and didn't need to reference it. If this were done at the end of Kindergarten I would not even offer a word bank on the board. I would ask all kids to use inventive spelling to fill out their legend. If you'd like the free blackline master for the legend see the link at the bottom of this post. IF I HAD IT TO DO OVER AGAIN... I would not have them glue the legends on the back of the maps. I would display it next to the maps because once I mounted them all on the wall I realized they were hidden. LOL! Oh well. Next year I'll have learned my lesson. Wall of Maps! Almost done. Just need to add their name tag underneath each map. After reflection, I wouldn't have just had the kids draw on blank drawing paper. So I created these blackline masters as well. Enjoy! MAPS BLACKLINE MASTERS
Teaching young children about Christopher Columbus can be fun and exciting. Not only can you teach children about Christopher Columbus, b...
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.
Teaching drama to kindergarten students can be challenging, especially if you don't have drama experience. These kindergarten drama activities are easy and fun.
FUN shape activity for preschoolers using printable road shape mats and hotwheels for learning shapes with a car activity for toddlers.
FREE Halloween themed tracing and coloring pages for kids to practice fine motor skills and handwriting. Kids can trace a picture and a word, then color everything in. Great Halloween activity for preschool and kindergarten kids.
Today's post is going to share a few simple games to add to your word work time. Read the book Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. Illustrate Game Cards Have the students make illustrations to match the word on the game card. I think it is much more beautiful when we use children's art word rather than clipart. Match The Rhyme Working with a small group of children I start with the cards facing up. I would pick a card and the students would have to find the card that rhymes. Find the Rhymes Working independently, students find words that rhyme and put them together. They could record them in their word study journals. Memory Game Play a game of memory. The object of the game would be to flip over a card and find a match. ZOOSE!!! The cards can be played for a game of ZOOSE! In the past, I have shared a game called Moose but instead of Moose we will use a silly word ZOOSE. You take a card and if you read it you get to keep it. If you pick the ZOOSE card all of your cards go back in the deck. click here for Dr. Seuss Rhyming Cards
Observe and explore your own unique fingerprint with this "All About Me" Science activity for preschoolers.
Free printable indoor movement activity cards. Fun images direct kids to act like animals, plants, vehicles, and more to burn energy and move
Your students will love learning about magnets with this fun set of worksheets and activities. The clear and concise format of this resource will help you to make your lessons hands-on and engaging while teaching about magnets, their poles, and how they repel and attract. *You can grab this resource at a discount here: Bundle of Science Activities Magnets Activities Included: - Anchor Charts for magnets, poles, magnetic field, repel and attract. - Drawing examples of objects that are magnetic and not magnetic. - Cut and paste sort. - Draw and write examples of items that are magnetic/not magnetic. - Cut and paste sort - Flip Book - Mini-reader - Writing prompt - Magnet, poles, repel and attract vocabulary pages - Pocket chart sort - Push/Pull cut and paste labeling page - Labeling vocabulary page - Cut and paste sentences - Magnetic/not magnetic color code - Magnets craft Check the preview for more details. Thank you for stopping by! *************************************************************************** Your students will also love this free digital magnets resource for Google Slides: For more science fun, check out this section of my store: Science is Awesome! ***************************************************************************** Customer Tips: Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches: • Click HERE to follow or look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. You will now receive email updates about this store. ☺ How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to login). Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. Each time you give feedback, TPT gives you feedback credits that you use to lower the cost of your future purchases. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom so I can create more for you. ☺ *****************************************************************************
Reinforce sorting skills with these hands-on math centers. Sort by rules, and use different materials with these kindergarten sorting activities.
Here in Virginia, it’s apple picking time at all the local orchards. Time for apple pie, apple cider, apple dumplings, and the list goes on… yum! So of course, we threaded lots of apple activities into our class. We were learning about our five senses in science, so this was the perfect opportunity to incorporate all of them. First, we explored apples with our sense of sight, smell, and touch. The students shook the apples to see if they made a sound, and then determined they did not. When we
Check out this HUGE list of printables, activities and crafts to use as you learn all the famous men and women who have explored the world (and space!).
Get free printables for kids in preschool and kindergarten! Find hundreds of free printable activities for literacy, math, science and more!
Kindergarten/First Grade When I begin teaching at a new school I like to start with the Elements of Art to get a foundation established before working on a final project. With the primary grades my focus is Color, Line and Shape and Pattern. I usually begin with a lesson on color where the students mix the secondary colors from the primary colors and then create their own color wheels. After learning about Color we explored the element "Line". In the kindergarten and first grade classes we discussed vertical, horizontal and diagonal and then the students explored patterning using colored popsicle sticks. They were encouraged to work together to create an abstract line "collaboration". The kindergarteners often have a hard time with the concept of working as a team. It takes a little prodding sometimes but we eventually end up with the table or carpet covered with a giant abstract design. When the time is up we take a moment to observe and talk about their work. Kindergarten Abstract Line Collaborations Kindergarten collaboration First Grade Abstract Line Collaborations After they've had practice making patterns with colored sticks each student made their own abstract line collage using paper "lines". The kindergarteners used colored lines on black and the first graders had grey backgrounds with colored lines. They could also add black lines for accents. Kindergarten Abstract Line Collages First Grade Abstract Line Collages
Friendship-building activities help children in K-3 develop strong social skills. When relationships are an important factor in education, kids succeed in school and life.
These kindergarten anchor charts will give you the tools you need to teach math, reading, friendship skills, and much more!
Name writing practice for kindergarten first requires development of specific skill areas. Read about writing name activities in kindergarten.
KINDERGARTEN MATH UNIT 2 - GEOMETRY I am thrilled to be sharing my kindergarten Geometry Unit with you! The kids love all of the hands-on activities we get to do, and I love how easy it is to keep them engaged. I am sharing so many freebies with you right here on this blog
outdoor math activities for prek and kindergarten.
Explore these 5 senses activities to help students understand their body and learn about these important features. My little learners love learning about their senses, and these activities are designed to be hands-on, captivating, and educational for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students. Plus, I have a 5 senses activities FREEBIE just for you!
