FREE alphabet worksheets for kindergarten kids to review letters and letter sounds, and practice proper letter formation.
Fourth grade students have been working on their Romero Britto style self-portraits! Students used markers to capture the brightness and intensity of the colors in Britto's artworks. Britto is a modern day pop culture icon and the youngest and most successful POP Artist of his generation! His cubism style of art brings together bright colors and playful themes. This is the process we used to create exciting self portraits in the style of Romero Britto.Using a computer, digital camera images of
Elementary music teacher blogs, Kodaly Blogs, music sub plans, substitute music plans, music education activities, music resources, music games
I love Morning Meetings with my sixth graders. Our typical Morning Meetings follow the structure from Responsive Classroom, but there are some days that we spend a lot longer on activities than oth…
KINDERGARTEN MATH - UNIT 1 I am thrilled to be sharing this huge Counting and Cardinality Unit with you! This is the math unit we start the year with in kindergarten. The kids love all of the hands-on activities we get to do, and I love how easy it is to keep them engaged.
Teachers, homeschoolers! Visit the Imagination Box Blog for fun seasonal art ideas, freebies, tips, & offers. Do more art in your classroom 🎨
When you make meaningful classroom procedures for older students, you are establishing comfort and familiarity for them.
Get a free editable classroom newsletter template that you can use to send home monthly newsletters to parents! You will love the ease and flexibility of this fully editable PowerPoint newsletter template. Help strengthen the bond between home and the classroom with this communication tool!
When we bought our 1994 Class C RV, we knew it needed a MAJOR motorhome renovation to feel like home. We grabbed a paintbrush and...
Fun STEM activity for outdoor play and makes a great science lesson! (Includes a printable rocket template).
This moon craft is great for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, or older kids. It's a great art extension during a space theme in the classroom.
Enjoy this fun activity with your class after reading The Crayon Box That Talked. Click on the picture above or click HERE to access this file This file includes printable to make a class display:
Looking for a fun Preschool Construction Theme for kids? Check out these 16 Hands-On Construction Learning Activities for Preschool or Kindergarten.
ABC's of Jesus' Life: L is for Lazarus These lessons can be used without the alphabet theme. Just consider them an update with new ideas and printables to teach the Life of Jesus! I designed this Lazarus Trip Strip to be a cut & glue timeline. This one shown has lines for the students to write about each event. Or, they can write the scriptures. There is another worksheet without the writing space. These can easily be used for mixed age groups. Cut and glue This is not included in the application pack. Click here to download. Cut the tomb off on the dotted line. Cut the book pages and stack together in order. Staple the pages onto the tomb as shown. It's ready to use for review, retell and coloring. Color and black & white are included. A maze included in color and black & white with a teacher's answer sheet. There is a word search and crossword puzzle for Lazarus. These Event Cards can be used as smaller visuals and they can be shuffled for the student to re-tell the events and lay them in order. The same full-page size visuals and pictures-to-color can be downloaded below. There are alphabet mazes and worksheets included. These are half-sheets and can be used in Interactive Notebooks. Click here to see a free video on how to make and use Interactive Notebooks. There is a set of 5 and 10 piece puzzles. Click here to download the Lazarus lesson and application pack. There is a one-page foldable book in color and black and white. These pages can also be cut apart and used as flash cards to put the events in order. Click here to download. Click here to download the visuals. Not all visuals are shown. (These are not included in the application pack.) Click here to download the pictures to color. (These are the same as the visuals but are black & white.) Click here to see the other lessons for Jesus in the ABC's in the Life of Jesus series.
Learn more about the symbols of Australia with this FREE and easy to use flip book. Students cut and paste symbols...
This toddler friendship activity is easy and fun to make and is a simple reminder that we are all friends in our classroom. Free printable!
Developing empathy in children has never been more fun than with this collection of 19 simple empathy activities for kids!
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
I love self-portraits. It always amazes me how much each child's personality comes out in their drawings. I constantly have parents asking me, did my child draw that?! The answer is yes! With the right directions/facilitation you can help each child do their best. I love the results of this project and it's simpler then it looks. This project usually takes us about two days. I begin by giving the child a blank piece of paper. (I use white card stock Then I ask each child to think about what their face looks like. Is it round like a ball? Oval like an egg, etc. Then I ask them to draw their head. It's important to use permanent marker, because washable markers will run when painted over. Then I ask the child to think about what they have on their head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc. DON'T DRAW HAIR it will be added later. Last, I have them draw two lines down from their chin to make their neck. Then, we look at our multi-cultural paints together and choose the shade that matches the closest. (You can find multi-cultural paint through discount school supply) They paint all of the white space on their head/neck. I cut out their portrait after it has dried and glue it down on a piece of white card stock. Then we work on their hair. I use blonde, black, and brown yarn. I ask them about what color their hair is, is it long or short, does it need to be braided, in a pony tail, curly, etc. This part is very teacher directed. Some accessory ideas; colored yarn for hair ties, barrettes, streamers folded up for bows, pipe cleaners for head bands, jewels or beads for earrings. Then, it's time to paint in the eyes if necessary. I use white acrylic, because the tempera paint lets the color underneath seep through. Then the child adds a dot with the color of their eyes. We added writing to our art that says "My name is ______." You can read about adding writing here. We display our self-portraits all year in the classroom and then send them home in portfolios at the end of the year. Fall weather has FINALLY arrived here in St. Louis! I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday with the windows open and Cardinal baseball on TV. If you like the ideas found on my blog, please leave a comment and follow me! :)
These all about me, back to school art activities for kids are engaging icebreakers. Encourage creativity and build community during the first week back
Kindergarten artists created these special self-portraits to give their moms for Mother’s Day. The artists learned that a self-portrait is a drawing or painting of themselves. I love the innocence of Kindergarten drawings, and knew their moms would love their drawings too. I struggled with directing the students too much so all the portraits looked the same, but directing them enough so they would have success with their portraits. I decided to take the students through an exercise of exploring their faces and bodies so they did not miss any parts. We pulled our shoulders up to see what we would look like if we didn’t have a neck and they thought that would look pretty silly! We also discovered that our eyes are in the middle of our heads, not our noses. After exploring their bodies, students eagerly began drawing their portraits while adding their own unique touches. After the portraits were finished and the tissue paper backgrounds were added, their classroom teachers helped them write notes and Mother’s Day wishes to their moms around the border. . This project meets the following Michigan Visual Arts Standards: Explore the elements of art through playful sensory experiences. Recognize that art can be created for self expression or fun. This project can be found on our online art gallery ARTSONIA Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services Entry Filed under: News From Mrs. Persch. Posted in News From Mrs. Persch Tags:Artsonia, Kindergarten Art Projects, line, Mother's Day, self portraits, tissue paper.
This week , we worked on two dimensional shapes. Each year , I usually do an activity with food and sorting the food by shapes. I would use...
This step-by-step block printing lesson teaches how to do linocut and foam printing with your students complete with block printing supplies and videos.
The Unfair Game is a totally unfair twist on Jeopardy that your students will LOVE to hate! Learn how to play and find sample game boards in this post.
Dive into the delightful world of the letter D with our 20 letter D coloring pages, freely available as PDFs to download and print for both US letter size and A4!
Cut and glue the missing numbers up to 20!
So you're now working with an older PMLD student, perhaps a teenager and want to work on developing understanding of cause and effect. There is a lot of discussion around the idea of 'age appropriate' toys and resources. What is meant by that is not using toys developed for babies and toddlers with teenagers and young adults. Personally, I think there's no such thing as a toy that's not 'age appropriate' and if it is motivating and enjoyed then there's no reason not to use the toy. I mean, I am a 35 year old woman and I love playing with Lego and my son's toy trains so who says older people can't use toys developed for children? However, you may well have a student who is no longer motivated by those toys, or maybe you've exhausted the use of those toys and want to try something else to support your students to develop their understanding of cause and effect. So what could you use? Well below I have laid out examples of some things that you should have around the house or in school or college which could be used. You may need to attach a switch to them if the young person you work with needs switch access. Items you might find in the kitchen Electric Whisk - plug this in and model to your students how to press the buttons to turn on the whisk. You can have great fun using it with items to whisk up - if it's a cooking lesson then whisking up cream or eggs to do some baking is great. If not then some dish soap and water will create a nice bowl of bubbles in which to then have some sensory play. Salad spinner - this one doesn't even need to be plugged in. Just press the big plunger down in the middle to watch it spin. If you're doing some food preparation lessons then of course you can put salad into the middle and wash it. However, if you want to try a using it differently, why not try using it with paint and spray onto paper for a fun art activity? Blender - plug it in, put the fruit or other items into the top and press the button! Don't forget to put the lid on though or everyone will be covered in fruit! Although, I suppose if you wanted to make it a funny experience you could just leave the lid off but the clean up may not be so fun. Perhaps better to use this as a cooking experience and make some nice fruit smoothies to taste afterwards. Toaster - pop the bread in, pull the switch down and wait for some delicious toast. While waiting you can talk about the delicious smell coming from the freshly toasted bread. This is a nice one for then tasting afterwards but it does take several minutes to go from the cause (pulling the lever down) to the effect (the toast popping up) so perhaps one for students who have already begun to develop their understanding of cause and effect. Egg timer - if you choose an egg timer which has a ring or bell when finished then this makes a good cause and effect resource. Model how to set the timer for about 10 seconds and then count down and anticipate the ringing sound when it has finished. Pans and wooden spoons - using pans, their lids and a wooden spoon to bang them is always a fun and loud cause and effect activity. It's always fun to make a drum out of a pan! Items you might find in a living room Television - most people have a television and using the remote control to turn it on and off this could be used to demonstrate the idea of cause and effect. Lamps - if you manage to get one of those lamps which come on through being touched then they would be a particularly great cause and effect item. However, even a standard one with a switch would be useful! CD player (or other music player) - some of these will use a remote and some will just have buttons to press to turn the music on and off. Recliner chairs and sofas - Okay so this isn't one you're likely to be using in a classroom but if parents ask for a suggestion for home and they happen to have one then they are great fun. If they are electric or have a remote then of course they are easier to use. If not then the button can be more difficult to pull, but it's still pretty good fun to sit on while it moves or to watch move. Items you might find in a bedroom or bathroom An electric fan - plug in and use the buttons to turn it on to different speeds. If you want to make it more visual you could tie some lightweight ribbons to the fan cage so that when it blows it blows the ribbons out too. This is a particularly nice cause and effect resource if working with someone with a visual impairment as they will be able to feel the breeze if sat in front of the fan. Hand held fans - with these there is usually a button you press to turn the fan on and they tend to be battery operated. These are more portable and if you have a few then you can have several students using them at the same time. Hairdryer - another item that is useful if your student has a visual impairment. Just be a bit careful with this as they can be hot, choose the cooler setting if possible. Electric toothbrush - these are great if used as a sensory experience too. You can hold the toothbrush gently on someone's cheek, or arm and they will be able to feel the effect when it is turned on and off. Taps - bath, sink or even the shower. This is another one that isn't portable but many classrooms do have a sink which could be used. Otherwise, this is another one to suggest when at home. Other items you might find and use Torches - if you have a torch then these are also great cause and effect items as you can turn them on and off with the buttons. Great if you want to do some work on this skill in a dark space such as a sensory room or just if a parent wants to do this on one of the dark evenings we have in the Winter. Doorbells - these are great as you just need to push the button for the chime to go off. If you have one with different tunes to play then that can be good fun for doing some work on making choices too. Water spray bottles - I have one of these at home for spraying on tops and shirts ready to iron them. If you have one then these are great as both a cause and effect toy and also as a sensory resource for retelling stories which have water in them. I find it's best to spray them just above so that the water sprinkles down a bit like rain. I do let students spray them at me though as they find that pretty funny and motivating once they realise that pressing the bottle handle actually sprays the water at me! Garden hose - if this has a spray nozzle on the end then it's particularly useful. Have students work on their grip skills to press the handle of the nozzle to activate the hose and allow the water to flow. Oranaments - such as music boxes or carousels - these are great for students to turn and then listen to the music while the carousel or the little dancer turns. Christmas ornaments / decorations - one great thing about Christmas is all the great ornaments and decorations which can be used. Items such as Christmas tree lights with a switch, or sound activated dancing reindeer or Santa clauses. Every year I go around all the Christmas decoration shops and stalls that pop up and look for anything that could be useful in this way. When choosing which items to use you might want to consider things such as your students fine and gross motor skills, how will they access the item, can they press the switch or do you need to look at using Big Mac switch access somehow? You might also want to consider which senses the item is most useful for, can it be accessed by someone with a visual impairment, a hearing impairment? Will the sound be too loud for a student who is over sensitive to noise. As you get to know your students you will learn more about what they find motivating and any likes and dislikes they have as well as their individual needs. Are there any other items you would add to my list? Post in the comments to let me know what items I am missing and to share your ideas!
I put together a simple and fun Humpty Dumpty Craft for my kids yesterday. You can download and/or print my worksheet HERE. Directions: Help put Humpty Dumpty
In February I blogged for the first time about what was actually INSIDE my work boxes. My first post focused specifically on "put in" work t...
Looking for esl task cards to use with your english language learners? Try these picture cards that are perfect for quick and effective language practice!
Social skills are a big focus in early childhood classrooms. Check out these effective tips for how to teach sharing in Pre-K & Kindergarten!
Funnel painting process art for kids
I love incorporating games into math as much as possible. Who doesn't love playing games, right?! But the problem with games is that they often require quite a bit of prep work for us teachers. I've been trying to come up with some that require little to no preparation to use. I'm so excited to
I’ve been using a Word Wall with my high school students for 9 years now, and the results have been incredible. How: I have 90-minute classes, so I’m able to give my students 8-10 minutes of free reading time each day. I put this time at the BEGINNING of the class for several reasons. 1. ... Read More about How and Why to Use Word Walls with Older Students
This post features seven ideas for helping older students who struggle with spelling. FREE SPELLING worksheets are also included for readers.
When Jesus was 12, He and His family went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. On the way home, Mary and Joseph noticed Jesus was missing and returned to look for Him. They found Him in the temple talking with the teachers there. The teachers were amazed. These activities are about Jesus in the temple as a boy.
Guess what? It's the weekend! Two glorious days of sleeping in and lazing about (I wish!). And boy, do I deserve them after the week I have had with my precious treasures. :) The first few weeks of Prep (or Kindergarten if you're not from 'round these parts!) are always tough as the kidlets get used to the routines and rules of school. Throw in a handful of boys with 'tricky' behaviour and you've got yourself a recipe for days that feel like they go on forever... during which you use your 'cranky voice' more than once. This week I found myself using a few behaviour management ideas that are truly 'magic' in a slightly desperate attempt to get things in my classroom back on track. Day-to-day I use the famous 'clip chart', known in my room as the 'peg chart', for kidlets to monitor their behaviours. I use the Monster Manners pack from Growing Kinders as a springboard for moving up (to the pink card - Super Kid!) or down the chart. Seriously, you need this pack! So cute and so effective (also helps that it's free)! I refer to my display daily and the kids get it. Within a day, one of my precious treasures said "You sit criss cross, and that's the bottom of the line!" (If you use this pack, you'll understand!) This year, the clip chart was working for about 90% of the kidlets... and those remaining 10% sure were giving me the run around. Bring in the magic tricks! Trick number 1 is a life lesson, as well as a magic cure for some tricky classroom behaviours. All you need are some dollar store bubbles, and you have some 'Self Control Bubbles'! Take your class outside and sit them in a circle. Explain that you are going to blow some bubbles in their direction, and the first time you do they can pop away as much as they want. Go ahead and let them go wild (within reason... I always tell my kidlets their bottoms must stay on the ground). Make sure everyone gets a heap of bubbles to pop. The second time, explain that you are going to blow more bubbles, but this time they MUST NOT pop a single one... even if it lands right on their nose! Explain that the feeling of really, really wanting to do something, but holding back, is called self control. Ask for a volunteer to go first and choose someone you know will resist the bubbles. Praise them for using self control. Then go around the circle and blow more bubbles at each kidlet (I make sure to get right 'up in their face' so they really, really have to control themselves!) - making sure to encourage all of them to think about how it feels to have self control. As the weeks go on refer back to this activity any time one of your kidlets is struggling with those behaviours that require them to practice more self control. They will be able to recall the feeling, trust me! You might like to repeat the bubble activity a few times during the year - my kidlets LOVE knowing that they are pros at something... and self control ain't a bad thing to be pro at! :) Grab this free pack from my TpT store that will help you use this activity in your classroom. It contains an explanation of how to complete the Self Control Bubbles activity, a label for your bubble bottle, and 3 simple recording sheets. And for my second trick... Quiet Spray! All you need for this is an empty spray bottle. I bought mine from Kmart for less than $2. Fill it with water. My spray bottle wasn't clear, but if it was I would have added a drop of food colouring or some glitter to make it look more 'magic'. I also would have taken time to make sure my label was size-appropriate for my bottle... but you live and learn! :) I added a few drops of rosewater to my Quiet Spray... mostly because I wanted lavender, couldn't find it at the grocery store, but wanted my Quiet Spray to smell calming. Here's how it works: Any time you want your kidlets to work quietly (I used mine today before group work), explain that you will use the Quiet Spray to help them work the best that they can. I ask my class to take a deep breath in through their noses and out through their mouths as I mist Quiet Spray over their heads. MAGIC! You could even use Quiet Spray at the beginning of each day along with some relaxation techniques, or for individual students who need some extra magic in their day. :) There you have it folks, some new magic tricks for you to try with your tricky kidlets. :) Please let me know if they work for you! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! :) Lauren
With so many of my BIG KIDS struggling with fluency, I worked to make it a part of my daily work with students, a Tier 1 intervention that the majority of the class could benefit from. Reading fluency incorporates three main components: speed, accuracy, and prosody, which directly impact comprehension. While I have shared a great deal about incorporating 6-Minute Solutions, here are a few other ways I worked to make fluency fun for my 6th graders.
