This week at school our focus has been on growth mindsets. In Primary 1 and in Primary 6 we have been comparing fixed and growth mindsets. This is something we believe is a fundamental part o…
Singing time yoga also known as position cards, singing time review activity providing tons of movement as you sing Primary songs.
Singing time yoga also known as position cards, singing time review activity providing tons of movement as you sing Primary songs.
When you think about baseline testing or beginning of the year testing, do you include listening skills? Back to school is a hectic time of the year. Adding one more thing to your to-do list may not be something you want to do. Once you see the impact listening skills have for your students' academics and behavior, you will be happy to add another thing to your to-do list. Do you have a "Listen Lizzie" in your class? Lizzie interrupts your reading group lesson to ask how to complete her center assignment. Lizzie does not line up at the end of recess. Transitions are difficult for Lizzie. Lizzie refuses to clean up when you ring your bell that it is time to cleanup. Lizzie often needs redirected during your lessons. Poor listening skills can sometimes be misinterpreted as willful or not making good choices. Some students' behavior and "choices" in the classroom will improve when you add listening activities to your lessons. It is helpful to schedule a conference at the beginning of the year when you have a "Listen Lizzie". Frequent ear infections during the toddler years is common with the "Listen Lizzie" student. If you've ever had an ear infection, you know that it can affect your hearing. An ear infection is similar to hearing with your head underwater. You can hear noise, but not the actual words. You may turn towards who is speaking, but not know the meaning of the words. You may even look for gestures or other body language to help you. --Please note, this is my personal theory and observations. Children learn to follow multi-step directions in the toddler years. Toddlers with frequent ear infections do not develop these important skills. A parent with more than one child may notice a difference in their child's listening skills, but not always. Parents may not realize the impact of listening skills until their child is bringing home notes and/or a teacher requests a conference. There are activities your student's parent can do to help your "Listen Lizzie". Parent Tips: Before giving your child directions, ask him/her to look at you. Say the direction(s) in short, simple sentences. Tell your child to repeat the direction before he/she begins. You will begin by giving one-step directions. Example "Lizzie, bring me your take-home reader." Once your child is successful following one-step directions over an extended time period, add another step. Continue adding steps when your child shows improvement. Remember, this is a skill. Like any skill, your child will need to practice. Think of at least one tangible, measurable thing you can ask your child to do each day. Then ask your child to do it. Example: Set the table One step direction: Lizzie, please put these plates on the table. Two step directions: Lizzie, please put these plates on the table. Then put the forks on the table. Three step directions: Lizzie, please put these plates on the table. Then put the forks on the table. Last, take the salt and pepper shakers to the table. There are activities you can do with your class that will help your "Listen Lizzie" plus strengthen all of your students' listening skills. Listen & Draw - FREE lesson All Listen & Draw Lessons Listen and Draw is a 20-30 minute whole group lesson that you can use to test and strengthen your students' listening abilities. The only supplies needed are the worksheet, a pencil, and crayons. You will read the directions telling students what to draw, one step at a time. You will read the directions 2 times before you go to the next step. Students need to listen closely to what you are saying so they will know what to draw. Students who do not listen closely will not have that part of the drawing in their picture. After listening to your directions, your class will write a sentence(s) about the picture. This is also a good writing sample to show growth throughout the year. Recommendations: Beginning of the Year: Give your class Listen & Draw lesson. Save this lesson for their portfolio to show parents at conference time. Show Growth: At least once a month give your class a Listen & Draw lesson. Hopefully, you will see growth in their listening skills and writing skills. Conferences: If listening skills are an issue, share the Listen & Draw lessons with your students' parents. R.T.I.: You can also use these for R.T.I. Sub Plans & Inside Recess: Use these for inside recess and your sub plans. You and your sub will appreciate how your class is quiet for this lesson. Read stories about listening. Ask your librarian if your school has the books below. You will be happy to see that it is easier for your students to learn when they are good listeners! Listen & Learn Listen Buddy Howard B. Wigglebottom: Learns to Listen Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.
More singing time yoga cards, also known as position cards, review Primary songs in singing time using these yoga cards
This post contains affiliate links. Positional Words are some of those concrete concepts that students need to be familiar with. They are a part of our every day vocabulary, especially in the classroom! “Sit beside her.” “Line up behind the door.” “Walk in front of the building.” These are just a few phrases I can ... Read More about Positional Words FREEBIE
Singing time yoga also known as position cards, singing time review activity providing tons of movement as you sing Primary songs.
These curriculum based word searches help reinforce skills while keeping students engaged. This packet includes 12 different word searches along with an answer key to each puzzle. THERE ARE NO DIAGONAL OR BACKWARD WORDS ON ANY OF THE PUZZLES. The following word searches are included: Color (Colour) Words (both versions) Number Words 1-10 Shapes Back to School Words Days of the Week Months of the Year Weather and Seasonal Words Positional/Directional Words 4 Sight Word Puzzles (beginning words - over 65 words total) Please download the PREVIEW for a closer look.
This quick and easy way to teach positional words is super engaging to students! All you need is a solo cup, a bear manipulative, and a permanent marker! To prep this activity, you will need to draw a “door” on the solo cups. We call the cup “Mr. Bear’s House,” so it has a playful ... Read More about Positional Words
This post contains affiliate links. Positional Words are some of those concrete concepts that students need to be familiar with. They are a part of our every day vocabulary, especially in the classroom! “Sit beside her.” “Line up behind the door.” “Walk in front of the building.” These are just a few phrases I can ... Read More about Positional Words FREEBIE
Need some fun, active learning activities for teaching prepositions in Kindergarten, first grade, or second grade? This post has 5 ideas to get you started!
Your child’s emotions tell you when they are out of balance or neutralized. Before they learned to talk, their language was based on their emotional and physical feelings. It's all about self-regulation.
Today I’m starting a brand new series right here on the blog…because…I think we could ALL benefit. It’s all about the area of reading comprehension and, as educators, we are often really good at providing lots of practice in this area, but, in honesty, it’s a really difficult area to teach. What often happens is […]
Boost your preschooler's math skills with these five fun worksheets!
Anger Iceberg PDF for Kids Includes: 4 engaging printable activities to teach kids about primary and secondary emotions Anger iceberg example, "under the surface" emotion visuals, 6 key reflection questions, and blank "create your own" iceberg worksheet Perfect for social-emotional learning lessons, therapy/counseling sessions, or meaningful positive parenting conversations Get it at the best value in our feelings & coping skills mega bundle! Save 70% on THIS resource in our SEL All Access Membership Bundle! *Protected under copyright © 2022 Such a Little While Note: This is a digital, printable product and no physical item will be shipped. You will receive a .pdf file to download immediately after checkout. File license is non-refundable and for personal, non-commercial, non-transferrable, informational, and educational use only.
During the primary years, kids are no longer self-absorbed.... They are ready to learn how to interact appropriately...how to teach grace and courtesy.
Resources, tips, and materials to help you, help children with autism
Contraction surgery isn't a new concept. There are many wonderful bloggers who have shared lessons in the past. Can you see our smiles? Each year my kids are exposed to contractions with a lesson and centers. We usually host a culminating event with surgery to produce an artifact from our week of learning. Things are so very different this year. My kids need the full experience investigating word construction. Understanding the meaning of words has been an instructional focus for me this year. Before I taught contractions, I started with a mini lesson on expanding. The dollar tree has a pack of expanding animals. They start in the form of a pill. After water is added, the animal expands into it's true shape. Once their animal expanded, we met back on the floor to continue our lesson... Once the kids were settled on the floor, I gave each child a rubber band. The kids were asked to work to make the rubber band expand. Most figured this meant to spread or stretch it out. Then it was time to discuss the opposite of expand, contract. In summary, we came out of this lesson understanding that contract meant to make smaller. Once my students understood the word contract, we watched a brainpopjr.com free video, for this week, about Contractions. If you are reading my post in later weeks, the video will no longer be available to you free until next year. I encourage you to get a membership for one computer. I pay a monthly fee of $8. It's worth every penny. The above video is only a few minutes long but the teacher in me won't allow the kids to watch uninterrupted. I stopped and addressed each concept as it was introduced. Brain Pop instructs with the words not, have, had, has, are, am, AND will. I love how they form a sentence using the two base words for each contraction. Once the words were highlighted red, I paused the video. We worked to contract the two highlighted words by making a letter or two disappear in order to form a contraction. Most of the kids use contractions orally but haven't made the connection until today. Once we determined the contraction, I played the video to confirm our answer. Now we are at the meat and bones of the lesson. Our surgical gear is on. The kids were given letter tiles. I only gave the kids letters to manipulate he is and she will. At that point, we are at our desks. My students were asked to form the words he is. Using a Band-Aid with an apostrophe written on the back side of the pad, we manipulated the tiles by removing a letter and replacing it with the Band-Aid. We repeated the steps with she will. Once the contraction was formed, I had the kids remove the Band-Aid with the apostrophe. The kids pushed together the letters. It became the word shell. Now the kids have an understanding of why the apostrophe is SOOO important. We traveled back to the floor for the introduction to our group centers. I used materials from First Grade Fever's pack called Contraction Surgery Center. I printed five sets of the game which is only a few pages each. Each set has two blank cards and four blank Band-aids. I used this to create a chart and model the center. The only difference, I switched the order in which the kids were to identify the contraction. In groups, they were to find the contraction written on the Band-Aid to the doctor with the two base words. My chart had the contraction written on the blank doctor cards and the two words on the Band-Aids. This gave them a separate but similar task to complete in groups. The kids helped to answer our guided question and we charted a little detail about the apostrophe before the class assisted me in finding the corresponding base words. Prior to sending the kids off to work in groups, we took the time and discussed the thinking questions and recorded a response. This became the artifact we used while matching contractions in groups. The energy was high as kids worked in teams to identify the contractions. Each team created their own chart. The center took approximately 20 minutes to complete. The kids were engaged the entire time. After the group centers were complete, I provided a split bone with two base words. Each kid was given a different word to manipulate with the multiple pages provided in the above unit by Surviving The Little People. After surgery was complete and an apostrophe is added, the kids glued their surgically repaired bones to our evidence of learning chart. What's ahead for me? I truly feel giving up an hour and a half today was beneficial. I gave the kids science, vocabulary, language arts, and centers. Moving forward, we will work in our journals recording sentences by manipulating the base words and recording the contractions. Students will be given various centers to be added in their literacy rotations. I'll share a few books on topic and will include in my students' writing.
Hi everyone! It's Naomi O'Brien from Read Like a Rock Star! I've noticed a lot of teachers heading back to school, and thought I'd share a few of the ideas I use to create a positive classroom culture. For years, my coworkers chalked my sweet and well behaved classes up to the "luck of the draw", but then they had to admit, it must have been something I was doing. We, the teachers, really are responsible for setting the tone in our classroom. Our children are always watching us and how we respond to situations teaches them a lot about how they should respond to us and each other. How I Create and Maintain a Positive Classroom Culture for K-2! I Tell them They Were Handpicked to be in My Class, but Shhhhhh, It's a Secret: On the first day of school, I always let my students know that I have a HUGE secret to share with them. The secret is that I asked for only the best students to be in my class. I let them know that I read information about them, talked to the principal and other teachers, and that I only allowed the best kids into my room. I tell them that this is a secret and that if the rest of the school knew, everyone would be trying to be in our class and then it would get too crowded and too crazy. I let them know they can tell their parents, but nobody else. During restorative conversations, I remind them that they are still the best, deserve to be in my class, and to never forget it. It's always really cute when we get a new student and my students are so excited to have someone new to share the secret with! I Let Them Take Over the Classroom: I give them a lot of opportunities to learn and share with each other. Sometimes it's hard to give up the reigns, but they learn to respect and listen to one another. Every now and then, I pretend to be the confused one, and have them help me learn a concept. They think it's hilarious and they come together for a good cause; to teach their teacher. I Take Time to Start Personal Conversations: Instead of walking around or sitting at my desk, I like to sit with my students and get to know them. I let them know I'm interested in who they are, not just what they can do. It's this relationship building that makes them naturally want to behave better for me. They know I care about them, and it makes them care about me too. I Give Them Plenty of Opportunities to Work Together: Team work makes the dream work! I make them discuss everything with each other, and collaborate often. Also, they are not allowed to tattle! Once they realize they need to work together without any help or conflict resolution from me, they learn to get along (slowly, but surely). I Don't Allow Tattling: I know I just mentioned that, but I wanted to bring it up again. Unless something serious happened, I ignore any and all tattles. Sometimes I say, "All you've done is let me know that you're a tattle-tale. Thank you." They learn very quickly that tattling won't get them very far and it forces them to talk to each other and work out their problems on their own. I always drive home the point that we have to look out for each other, not try to get each other in trouble. Instead of telling me that someone isn't working, they learn to nicely remind the friend to get back on task. This takes a few months to master, but it works out beautifully! I Teach Character Traits: I pick 6 traits that I think will help my students excel. I make sure to make time in our busy day to teach them about these traits; usually right after lunch/recess as a "cool down" activity. I chose Kindness, Ambition, Self-Confidence, Honesty, Thoughtfulness, and Respect last year. Think about the traits that are most important to you. Focus on the traits that you'd like to teach your students to possess. Find creative ways to encourage your students to take on these traits for themselves. I made badges for my students to earn to make sure they were aware of the traits and working on their own character. You can also post pictures of students that show a specific trait frequently in class, write positive notes about good or improved behavior you've noticed, practice acting the traits out in student led plays or skits, make class videos showing the traits, or read stories that exemplify characters that show good character traits. Make sure to point out the traits and have discussions about them. In order to create a positive classroom culture, you must truly be intentional about creating one. It's important to use your character trait vocabulary throughout the day too. I Teach the Art of Giving a Compliment: Compliment Plates were always a hit with my students! Give out plates, give out markers, have a good time! In the beginning of the year, with my first graders, we brainstormed nice compliments and I wrote them on the board for a writing support. They loved going around filling them out, and they loved reading what their friends had to say about them. This was always followed by "Thank you's" and "You're welcome's'" being called out across the room. Even hugs were often being given out for the kind words shared. I pick a Kid of the Day to be showered in compliments! I truly believe doing this daily is one of the most beneficial activities I have done for my students. I found that with my first graders, we had to first discuss how to give and receive a compliment. Outside of "You're my best friend", they really couldn't think of anything else to say. After a lot of discussions and practice, they were giving out compliments left and right, even when they thought I wasn't paying attention. I also had to teach them to accept the compliment with a "Thank you". Surprisingly, some of them would say something like, "No, I'm not pretty." and really had a hard time accepting nice things being said about them. We also had to discuss that simply saying, "I know I'm cute." wasn't acceptable either... I also have a Compliment Count on the board. It's quick and easy, and it gets their attention. (Side Benefit: It helps them count tally marks really well!) If ever anyone outside of our classroom gives us a compliment, they get a tally mark added to the Compliment Count. If the principal gives them a compliment, it counts for two tally marks! This promotes great behavior when they are walking in the hallways, at recess, at lunch, and at Specials. Whenever we reached 20 tally marks, they got some of my stash. I Make My Students Reflect on their Unsavory Behavior: When students act out it is important to give them consequences for their actions. I believe it is equally as important to follow up with the student through a reflection sheet. After the student has been given time to cool down, I take the time to fill this out with them, or have them fill it out themselves if they are able (only after a discussion to make sure they understand what they did wrong and what they can do differently in the future). My students so loved and responded to this that when they were sent to their seats or to a cool down area, some would ask, "Are we still going to talk about this later?" I think they appreciated being heard, forgiven, and accepted again. It's so easy to hold a grudge for the rest of the day, but we have to be the best example of forgiveness to that child and for the rest of the class to see. This is a resource that I made and used, but a quick TpT search will surely bring up a few freebies, if you don't have time to create one yourself! This is also great to make a copy of and keep data on students. It’s also a wonderful way to keep parents in the loop of what’s been going on in class. At Open House, I let my parents know that if they see one of these sheets it means their student has already had consequences, so they should just discuss their child’s plan to make better choices in the future. This helps to build a parent/teacher partnership. I Created An Outsider Looking In: Creating an outsider to notice your class is a great way to promote a positive classroom culture. In addition to our Compliment Count that I track on the board, I created an invisible fairy friend! Sylese, the kindness fairy, would stop by our classroom every once in a while leaving a note, treats, and glitter in her wake. She watches the class without them knowing because she's invisible. They never know when she's watching or when she's coming for a visit. You can have another teacher write the note so your students don't recognize your handwriting. This was basically another way for me to give them a compliment, make them feel proud of themselves, and strengthen our positive classroom culture. This was done once a month, or once every other month. I simply leave glitter on their desks, bring in a treat, like stickers, cookies, candy, a movie, popcorn, (really anything you’d like to reward them with) and post the note somewhere in the classroom. I would usually wait for them to find it, and act like I was just as surprised as they were. Whenever it had been a while, someone always says something like, “Guys, why do you think the fairy hasn’t been back? We need to do better!” You could use anything to keep an eye on your class that leaves notes and fun treats! I Focus on the Behavior I Like: While it can be so tempting to want to always address a disruptive child right every time at the exact moment of disruption, I've learned to ignore it and focus on the behavior I like. If I have 23 students and only 1 is acting out, I'd rather give my attention and energy to the 22 that are doing a great job. I'm sure they appreciate it too. I always let them know when they are doing something that makes me happy. Scratch-n-Stickers were always a quick and easy reward. I also made up some "Caught Ya" cards to reward this good behavior and would slip them onto their desks. They could turn these cards in to enter a weekly drawing. This was a great motivator, and usually got that one disruptive child to stop what they were doing. If not, I would pull them aside at a later time and address their behavior. Because of the way I handled those situations, even at 6 and 7 years old, the rest of my class learned to ignore those behaviors too. Some would even ask if they could help that student make good choices, which was just fine with me! When you've got students that care about themselves, each other, and you, you've got a well oiled machine that is bursting with positivity! I hope you enjoyed these ideas and are able to take some or all back into your classrooms this year. Believe me, you won't be disappointed. Grab this resource for your classroom from my TpT store! Don't forget to come back tomorrow, and for the rest of the month to check out all of the other amazing ideas offered from your friends at:
Fun early finisher tasks with a science theme, great for stimulating creative thinking and writing.
This blog post brings you tips for teaching verb tenses. It includes anchor charts, verb tense activities, and more for elementary grades.
This quick and easy way to teach positional words is super engaging to students! All you need is a solo cup, a bear manipulative, and a permanent marker! To prep this activity, you will need to draw a “door” on the solo cups. We call the cup “Mr. Bear’s House,” so it has a playful ... Read More about Positional Words
Let's start off with some honesty, I've been having some trouble with my pack of learners this year. I have a really wiggly group with little stamina. One day something works for them, another day it doesn't.
Need some fun, active learning activities for teaching prepositions in Kindergarten, first grade, or second grade? This post has 5 ideas to get you started!
Vocabulary related to sports and leisure activities. Key provided.here you are more:https://en.islcollective.com/mypage/my-creations?search_key=sports&type=printables&option=published&id=620769&grammar=&vocabulary=&materials=&levels=&studentTypes=&skills=&languageExams=&dialect=&functions=&page=1&sorting_type=most_newest&filter_type=filter_all&view_type=list&view_length=12 - ESL worksheets
Schüler haben oft Probleme korrekte Sätze im Englischen zu bilden, da sich speziell die Satzstruktur von Deutsch - Englisch sehr unterscheidet. Als Hilfestellun
