PRE-K GOAL SETTING CHART My kindergarten incentive kit has been such a hit, I went ahead and created one for my Pre-K friends . We all know as teachers that the standards drive our instruction, but getting our students excited to master these skills is half the battle. Some ki

Here we are again - another month of AMAZING bloggers getting together to share some Bright Ideas. This time I'd like to share some ideas for those wiggly, bouncy, chatty, energetic, wonderful, kinesthetic learners. We all know 'em. We all have 'em. I think kinesthetic learners would pretty much describe almost every child in my class in 1st grade. Maybe it's the age, or maybe it's just my group of lovelies this year - but either way, I think all primary teachers can agree that it pays to have some strategies in your back pocket to break out when you see the wiggles start kicking in. Not to mention that most children learn best by doing. All of the ideas I'm going to share are ones I use in my classroom. I'm not claiming to have created these ideas, and I'm sure many teachers use the same ones, but I just wanted to share what I do. I hope you will see something that inspires you and you can try out in your own classroom. I named these ideas just to help explain, but if there is another name for them that maybe I don't know about or if there is an original creator, please feel free to let me know. I will always give credit where credit is due. So let's start with some ELA ideas: Whole Body Spelling is using your whole body to form letters to spell a word. You could do this with sight words or other spelling words. You can do it in the classroom, but my students love going outside to do this. We even go out in the winter and do this in the snow. Write in the air is just a quick way to practice spelling. We use our fingers in the air as if we are writing and spell words out loud together. This is a hard one to capture in a picture, but here is my attempt. Maybe you can tell that they are spelling the word again. :) Listen and Jump is something we do when reviewing sight words, rhyming words, or vocabulary words. In this picture all the kids have sight words and when I say a word that they have, they jump up in the air. They LOVE this one! Sometimes I will give them other words and say if your word rhymes with "cat" then jump up or if your word starts with a "b" sound jump up. This is also fun because a couple kids might jump up at the same time. Again - simple, but gets 'em moving. Lifesize Making Words - We use letter cards to spell words. As we stretch out the sounds the kids will either stand up or hold up their letter. Sometimes we have vowel teams and those kids link up their arms and say their sound together or we put a Super E at the end of the word and have him/her flip the vowel sound. The person holding the vowel turns around in a circle and says the long vowel sound instead. Acting out phonics is something that really helps my lower readers. They seem to remember things like flipping the vowel and linking arms and so on. Great visual for the whole class. Finally, and probably our MOST favorite, is a variation of the game Hullabaloo. This is such a cute game and my 3 and 5 year old girls really love playing this at home. In the actual game there are rubber mats that have pictures and words with things like animals, food, instruments, etc. You spread these out on the floor randomly. Then you turn on the "announcer". The announcer says things like "Slither over to a yellow mat" or "Hop over to a food". The kids move around and find the mats he's talking about. Then he will say something like, "If you are standing on the elephant you win - take a bow." It's super cute! So I decided to make this into a classroom game to practice word families and as we learn new spelling patterns. I use these pack of foam shapes that I got from the Dollar Tree. Then I write words on them using a sharpie. Right now we are working on long vowels so the pack of words I'm using has CVCe words, vowel teams, and also includes blends and digraphs. But in the beginning of the year I just use CVC words and slowly add in blends. We spread out the words on the floor and I will give directions like, "Tiptoe over to a word that rhymes with feet" or "Crawl over to a word that has a long e sound." We just stand next to the word instead of on them and then I have them read the words they chose. I play this with small groups of children so it is more manageable and because I don't have a ton of room, but it could be played as a class too. In the actual game kids can share mats, so sometimes we do that too. I also use these same cards at our reading table with fun fly swatter to swat the words if we don't have time to spread them all out on the floor. This is also a class favorite and super quick to set up when I don't have the time for the full thing. Now for some kinesthetic ideas to use in math: First up is skip counting. We use numeral cards that I quickly printed on the computer and laminated and each child has a number. We sit in a line or a circle. If we are counting by 2s for example, we will count around the circle and whisper the odd numbers and then shout (not too loud) the even numbers while those children stand up. Then we switch it up and count by other numbers. If we're counting by 3s, we would whisper 1,2 and shout 3, whisper 4,5, and shout 6, and so on. For Greater than/Less than we use the same numeral cards. We make numbers between 0 and 120 (first grade common core standards). Then I have a student stand in the middle and hold their arms like the sign. We practice reading it together. For example: 57 is greater than 46. We will also make numbers and put them in order from least to greatest or vice versa. Sometimes we turn the numeral cards into necklaces using sheet protectors and string and they don't have to hold up the numbers. This next one is something I am planning on getting when I have the money, but wanted to share it with you. In my classroom I have made a Lifesize Tens Frame out of a dollar store plastic tablecloth and washi tape for the lines (sorry no picture). We have kids stand in the tens frame to practice counting, adding, and subtracting using our bodies. But I also just found online this giant 120 chart and blow up dice that I think I will HAVE to get. I also saw another one that was even bigger where the kids move around on it. How fun! Finally is my version of Math Hullabaloo. This is the same idea as the reading version, only using numbers. Again, I write a bunch of numbers between 0 and 120 on the foam shapes using sharpie. Then we spread them all out. I give clues such as, "Dance over to a number with 6 tens" or "Slide over to a number greater than 30." Super fun! Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my Bright Ideas for Kinesthetic Learners. If you enjoyed these ideas, please consider following my blog on Bloglovin' over on the side or following me on Facebook or Instagram.

Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom

Add these 6 angle activities to teach acute, right, straight, and obtuse angles to prepare your students to identify different types of angles.

Here we are again - another month of AMAZING bloggers getting together to share some Bright Ideas. This time I'd like to share some ideas for those wiggly, bouncy, chatty, energetic, wonderful, kinesthetic learners. We all know 'em. We all have 'em. I think kinesthetic learners would pretty much describe almost every child in my class in 1st grade. Maybe it's the age, or maybe it's just my group of lovelies this year - but either way, I think all primary teachers can agree that it pays to have some strategies in your back pocket to break out when you see the wiggles start kicking in. Not to mention that most children learn best by doing. All of the ideas I'm going to share are ones I use in my classroom. I'm not claiming to have created these ideas, and I'm sure many teachers use the same ones, but I just wanted to share what I do. I hope you will see something that inspires you and you can try out in your own classroom. I named these ideas just to help explain, but if there is another name for them that maybe I don't know about or if there is an original creator, please feel free to let me know. I will always give credit where credit is due. So let's start with some ELA ideas: Whole Body Spelling is using your whole body to form letters to spell a word. You could do this with sight words or other spelling words. You can do it in the classroom, but my students love going outside to do this. We even go out in the winter and do this in the snow. Write in the air is just a quick way to practice spelling. We use our fingers in the air as if we are writing and spell words out loud together. This is a hard one to capture in a picture, but here is my attempt. Maybe you can tell that they are spelling the word again. :) Listen and Jump is something we do when reviewing sight words, rhyming words, or vocabulary words. In this picture all the kids have sight words and when I say a word that they have, they jump up in the air. They LOVE this one! Sometimes I will give them other words and say if your word rhymes with "cat" then jump up or if your word starts with a "b" sound jump up. This is also fun because a couple kids might jump up at the same time. Again - simple, but gets 'em moving. Lifesize Making Words - We use letter cards to spell words. As we stretch out the sounds the kids will either stand up or hold up their letter. Sometimes we have vowel teams and those kids link up their arms and say their sound together or we put a Super E at the end of the word and have him/her flip the vowel sound. The person holding the vowel turns around in a circle and says the long vowel sound instead. Acting out phonics is something that really helps my lower readers. They seem to remember things like flipping the vowel and linking arms and so on. Great visual for the whole class. Finally, and probably our MOST favorite, is a variation of the game Hullabaloo. This is such a cute game and my 3 and 5 year old girls really love playing this at home. In the actual game there are rubber mats that have pictures and words with things like animals, food, instruments, etc. You spread these out on the floor randomly. Then you turn on the "announcer". The announcer says things like "Slither over to a yellow mat" or "Hop over to a food". The kids move around and find the mats he's talking about. Then he will say something like, "If you are standing on the elephant you win - take a bow." It's super cute! So I decided to make this into a classroom game to practice word families and as we learn new spelling patterns. I use these pack of foam shapes that I got from the Dollar Tree. Then I write words on them using a sharpie. Right now we are working on long vowels so the pack of words I'm using has CVCe words, vowel teams, and also includes blends and digraphs. But in the beginning of the year I just use CVC words and slowly add in blends. We spread out the words on the floor and I will give directions like, "Tiptoe over to a word that rhymes with feet" or "Crawl over to a word that has a long e sound." We just stand next to the word instead of on them and then I have them read the words they chose. I play this with small groups of children so it is more manageable and because I don't have a ton of room, but it could be played as a class too. In the actual game kids can share mats, so sometimes we do that too. I also use these same cards at our reading table with fun fly swatter to swat the words if we don't have time to spread them all out on the floor. This is also a class favorite and super quick to set up when I don't have the time for the full thing. Now for some kinesthetic ideas to use in math: First up is skip counting. We use numeral cards that I quickly printed on the computer and laminated and each child has a number. We sit in a line or a circle. If we are counting by 2s for example, we will count around the circle and whisper the odd numbers and then shout (not too loud) the even numbers while those children stand up. Then we switch it up and count by other numbers. If we're counting by 3s, we would whisper 1,2 and shout 3, whisper 4,5, and shout 6, and so on. For Greater than/Less than we use the same numeral cards. We make numbers between 0 and 120 (first grade common core standards). Then I have a student stand in the middle and hold their arms like the sign. We practice reading it together. For example: 57 is greater than 46. We will also make numbers and put them in order from least to greatest or vice versa. Sometimes we turn the numeral cards into necklaces using sheet protectors and string and they don't have to hold up the numbers. This next one is something I am planning on getting when I have the money, but wanted to share it with you. In my classroom I have made a Lifesize Tens Frame out of a dollar store plastic tablecloth and washi tape for the lines (sorry no picture). We have kids stand in the tens frame to practice counting, adding, and subtracting using our bodies. But I also just found online this giant 120 chart and blow up dice that I think I will HAVE to get. I also saw another one that was even bigger where the kids move around on it. How fun! Finally is my version of Math Hullabaloo. This is the same idea as the reading version, only using numbers. Again, I write a bunch of numbers between 0 and 120 on the foam shapes using sharpie. Then we spread them all out. I give clues such as, "Dance over to a number with 6 tens" or "Slide over to a number greater than 30." Super fun! Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my Bright Ideas for Kinesthetic Learners. If you enjoyed these ideas, please consider following my blog on Bloglovin' over on the side or following me on Facebook or Instagram.

Your new favorite teaching strategy: This pared-down version of learning stations keeps the movement, interactivity and variety while minimizing the prep work.

Simple math activity that involves children counting beads on pipe cleaners. Great for developing fine motor skills and understanding numbers and colours.

Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom

Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom

Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom

Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom

When I was in school our desks were always in rows and my teachers always lectured. I am an auditory learner so I excelled in school with ...

Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup beating the bongo here! Let's talk about drumming with Pre-K and K children! You don't have to be a...

When some students are asked to explain whether or not an author has fully defended the ideas written in text, some students do not know what to say. This chart will help. It lists and describes the different types of fallacies that writers and speakers make.Click Here To Access This Freebie

Add these 6 angle activities to teach acute, right, straight, and obtuse angles to prepare your students to identify different types of angles.

Get your students moving with these Movement-Based Learning ELA/Math gameboards! With boards included to focus on CVC words, sight words, letter identification, number identification, subitizing, and counting, your students will forget they’re practicing math and ELA skills with these fun and easy to prep games. Perfect for centers, early finishers, partner work, small groups, or teacher-led group activity, these no-prep gameboards are low-prep and have tons of extension opportunity. Two editable gameboards are included inside the PowerPoint so you can fully customize these boards to fit your classroom needs!   Simply print, laminate and you have an easy, hands-on game for your students year after year.  With multiple game boards and blank game boards, you can also easily differentiate this activity for all learners.   This resource includes: CVC gameboards (all five vowels) Sight words gameboards (pre-filled) Letter identification gameboards (upper and lowercase letters) Number identification game boards (numbers 1-20) Subitize and count (numbers 1-10) 2 blank gameboards to customize with your own words or skill  Greyscale boards for printer friendly option How to Use This Resource: To play, you will need dice and counters or playing pieces.  A player rolls the dice and moves the corresponding number of spaces.  If they land on a movement break (an air squat for example) they will perform that movement the number of times on the dice.  If they land on a playing space they will either read the word, identify the letter, say the number, etc.   Looking for more engaging activities? Save by purchasing a bundle! This resource is included in these bundles: Kindergarten Math Activities Bundle Multisensory Phonics Activities for Kindergarten ⭐️ This resource was updated on 4/8/2024! If you purchased prior to this date, please redownload to access the updated gameboards! ⭐️ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have any questions about this resource, feel free to email me at [email protected] Want free TpT credit? After purchasing, please leave feedback to earn TpT credits Don’t forget to click here to follow my Teachers Pay Teachers store for new products and updates!

Build classroom community, teach fairness, foster teamwork in your classroom with 26 easy to play and active games for the elementary classroom.

Use play doh to engage your students while practicing basic math and literacy skills like counting, addition and subtraction and sight words.

Get six hands-on syllable activities with free printables - perfect to get your little one ready to read!

Celebrate the 101st Day of School with this AWESOME Classroom Transformation! This bundle includes a day's worth of activity for your students to enjoy!

Whether your students are lethargic or super-charged, adding movement to your lesson plans will help to solve both issues. Not only is it healthy to move throughout the day, but it can also help students focus and become more engaged with the content they are trying to master. Due to the nature of English classes, ELA ... Read More about 10 Ways to Add Movement in the ELA Classroom

This jump and learn game will help kids by reinforcing learning concepts like spelling an math through whole body movements and proprioceptive input.

iPad Scoot combines technology integration and movement into a whole class game. Paperless, engaging and versatile, get students scooting on the iPad today! Scoot with iPads Scoot is one of my students' favorite ways to review. The game works best with a set of task cards - each with a question on it - that are placed on student desks. Students answer one question at each then move to the next seat when the teacher calls 'Scoot.' In a pinch you can even give students blank paper or whiteboards and have them write questions or have them all turn to

I am so excited to launch my first "series" of blog posts! It's making me feel all grown-up and blogger-like :)My first series is going to be on increasing student engagement in the classroom. Over

Channel students' energy by incorporating opportunities for movement into your lessons. In this #2ndaryELA Twitter chat, middle and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed active learning, including movement in the classroom and layouts that accommodate it, games, hands-on activities, and technology that helps to engage students. Read through the chat for ideas to implement in your own classroom.

Have you found yourself in a review rut? Try out musical games for secondary classrooms to wake up your students and watch them learn!

This Walksheet set covers kindergarten ELA standards for Answering Questions About Unknown Words in Informational TextIn this Walksheet set students will work onConnection questionsMatching meetingsUnknown words Walksheets are printable worksheets that include a movement component. At least one Walk...

Over the past few years, I have struggled and struggled with my students on their innate desire to stand up at the end of class. I would make an almost daily reminder that they need to stay in their seats until the bell rings. I would get frustrated that just as it seemed that the procedure would […]

Incorporating movement is an important part of developing engaging instruction. These strategies are everything you need for fun lessons!

These engaging strategies to incorporate movement in the classroom are perfect for the fidgety students & kinesthetic learners in your class!

I work with a big group of kinesthetic learners. These kids need to move in order to learn best. On today’s post I am going to share with you a really fun movement game that will give your kids a chance to use their entire body while learning. Here is how you play the Letter Sound Jump, a really fun Orton-Gillingham game.

Brain breaks are fun with Mimic Me movement cards! This is a fun, interactive, movement activity or brain break, that students can play when they need a chance to get up out of their seats. This classroom management you activity can be played silently, or you can let the giggle fly! To play Mimic Me...

Movement in the classroom is beneficial for many reasons. First and foremost, getting up to move in the classroom might help anxious students relieve stress.

Your new favorite teaching strategy: This pared-down version of learning stations keeps the movement, interactivity and variety while minimizing the prep work.

Gallery walks are a great way to promote meaningful movement, collaboration, and cooperation. Add these ideas to your lesson plans today!

Movement in the classroom is beneficial for many reasons. First and foremost, getting up to move in the classroom might help anxious students relieve stress.

Are you looking for new and engaging ways to check for understanding during or after a lesson? Give these cooperative learning strategies a try!