Teaching children how to play nicely with others is a common social skill that needs to be frequently addressed. As educators we will say things like, “be kind” or “treat others the way you want to be treated”, however we need to explicitly teach these skills. We cannot expect for children to know these social ... Read More about Social Story: Playing Nicely

This reading response worksheet is ideal for practicing story elements, reading strategies, comprehension, text connection, author study, vocabulary work and so much more!

These Bible Story Print & Fold books are quick and easy to prepare for your Jewish or Christian preschool program. Print & Fold books are a great

Create ur own cursed emoji 👍👍👍👍 There will be additions over time (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠) And if ur actually reading this, don't forget to drink water ! Have fun ^^

How to outline your memoir using a simple 3 step process. Make sure you write a memoir outline before you start drafting the manuscript!

After successfully using the Christmas Roll a story someone has asked for a different one to use everyday. So here it is: Download: Roll a story Great for: Warming up during a circle time. Warming up during one to one sessions. Using imagination to tell a story. Working out how to solve a problem. Understanding emotions […]

Angular, geometric shapes, hard edges, and monolithic constructions. You are either in a Lego set or looking at an example of brutalist architecture. It’s a devise style, with some seeing it as the pinnacle of function over form, while others just think of endless, soulless commie blocks, with rotting, exposed concrete.

Need a simple way to visualise your character arc? Print this worksheet + learn about Kurt Vonnegut's hilarious story shapes.

Jami Gold's Writing Worksheets: Help for all writers, from newbies to experts and from plotters to pantsers.

“What has been my prettiest contribution to the culture?” asked Kurt Vonnegut in his autobiography Palm Sunday. His answer?

Hi there, I am thrilled to be joining my #kinderfriends for another great blog hop! We are sharing some of our favorite books for the classroom. The books I'm sharing today are all about bugs. I always end my school year with a big unit on insects and these are some of my must have books on the topic. I also have a great FREEBIE for you, so keep reading to go grab it. Bugs for Lunch is written by Margery Facklam and illustrated by Sylvia Long. I love this book because it introduces the concept of predators who eat insects. It has wonderfully written rhyming text just right for young children. The detailed illustrations are realistic and easy to understand for the little learners who will be looking at each page. It has a section in the back of the book with more information about each of the predators including humans with some of the countries and cultures where people eat bugs. You can go grab this book at Amazon by clicking on the image above. If you purchase this book through my link, I will recieve a tiny commission for sending you there. Thanks! (This is true for any of the links to Amazon on this post or anywhere on my blog.) All the book images on this post should take you to Amazon so you can get the book. The Backyard Books series by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries are MUST HAVES for a unit on insects. I alternate the focus of my unit each year between butterflies, ladybugs, and honeybees. I have one of these books for each of those insects. You can also find these books for ants, dragonflies, snails, and spiders. This book, Are you a Butterfly? takes your class through the journey of a butterfly's life cycle in a fun and conversational way. It is loaded with information including food, molting, growth, and also has a section at the end with more interesting facts. The illustrations are incredible and depict many important concepts you will be teaching your students if you do a unit on insects. You can grab this over at Amazon by clicking on the image above. Beetle Bop is by Caldecott Honor winning author and illustrator, Denise Fleming. This book is so much fun! Her colorful, vibrant illustrations and energetic, rhyming text will keep your little students engaged as you enjoy a variety of examples from the largest group of insects - beetles. My kiddos were interested to learn that ladybugs are part of the beetle family and we discussed that they are actually named ladybird beetles. This book is perfect for pre-k and kindergarten students! There are lots of language lessons you could connect with this book. It also makes a great five minute filler when you just need something quick. Do you know these books written by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long? I absolutely adore them. I own every single one they have created and my kiddos love them too! A Butterfly Is Patient is a non-fiction introduction into the world of butterflies that covers a variety of interesting concepts. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and they will delight your little entomologist's minds. I consider this book a treasure and I can't recommend it enough. If you teach a unit on insects or butterflies, you need this book in your collection. It touches on life cycle, pollination, protection from predators, food, size (smallest and largest), wing scales, comparison to moths, and migration. You may also want to check out some of the other titles by this dynamic duo. My other favorites include A Seed is Sleepy and An Egg is Quiet. After reading an awesome non-fiction book, I like to record some of the information my students remember or find interesting. This year we used a tree map to do that. We recorded information after reading A Butterfly is Patient and Are You a Butterfly. The check marks on the chart show when a second or third child contributes an idea that has already been recorded. The tree map becomes a handy reference in the classroom during our unit. This chart is blank and laminated so I can use it for any topic we are studying. I use Vis-a-vis wet erase markers to record our ideas. Then when we are done with our topic, I just wipe it down and tuck it away until we need it again. That's a little time saver for charts you know you will use over and over. I also want to share a fun art project you can do with your students to make the butterfly life cycle come to life for them. We made caterpillars using egg cartons cut down to four sections. First my students painted them and then we decorated them another day. The caterpillars were up on our flower garden bulletin board for several days. Then, when our live classroom caterpillars went into chrysalises, each of my little students wrapped their egg carton caterpillar into a butcher paper chrysalis. Then we hung those back on our bulletin board. Meanwhile, I also had my students paint a set of wings that were perfectly sized for the egg cartons. I framed this painting activity as a lesson on symmetry and didn't mention that the wings were for our caterpillars. The kiddos only painted one side of the wings and folded them in half to paint the other side. If you do that with your students, make sure they use LOTS of paint. This is the bulletin board with the chrysalises hanging in the garden: Then... this is the sneaky part... on the Friday afternoon before our open house, I take the caterpillars out of the paper chrysalises and glue the wings onto the caterpillars. I come back in on Sunday, when they are dry, and gently fold the wings around each body as I tuck it back inside the chrysalis and tape it back together. They go back on the bulletin board so that my little learners don't suspect a thing. Each student gets to open up his or her chrysalis during open house and discover that the caterpillar grew wings inside! This project is a bit of a time investment for the teacher, but the payback in joy for children is so worth it. ( It makes parents really happy too.) Here is another one up close: Her rainbow striped wings match her rainbow caterpillar perfectly! I think she knew what the wings were for... I usually put the butterflies back up on the bulletin board for another week before I send them home. Here it is: OK, this is my last book recommendation for you about bugs. I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe and Ed Young is a fictional story about the littlest cricket at Swampswallow Pond. The cricket is desperately unhappy because he has taken a criticism to heart and believes he is ugly. He whines "I wish I were a butterfly" on just about every page of this classic tale. After lots of great advice from other bugs at the pond, it finally takes a long talk with a dear old spider friend to make him realize that being special is about much more than outside beauty. The story ends with a fantastic realization as a butterfly hears the cricket's beautiful music and declares "I wish I were a cricket" leaving young readers to infer how that made the littlest cricket feel and what he might have said next. The almost abstract illustrations by Ed Young are truly extraordinary and create a pond environment from a bug's perspective that will inspire a young child's imagination. I adore this book and read it to my class every year. I would read it even if I didn't do an insect unit. It's a great story with a good message. And finally... here is your freebie! This story map page can be used in many ways. Here you can see we used it as a way to record the setting, characters, and plot from the story above. I have my students do this as a small group activity with an adult to do the labeling and dictation. It is a great way to check comprehension and extend learning about any piece of fiction. Students can also use it as a map for their own story writing. Here is another by one of my little students: And here is what the blank looks like. The section in the upper right hand corner is blank so that you can write in the title and author/illustrator of the book you are using before you make copies. I hope this is helpful to you and your students! You can go grab this in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Just click on the link below the story map to go get it. Story Map FREEBIE by Katie Byrd There are lots more great books and ideas from the #kinderfriends. Keep hopping along and go visit my friend Robin over at Class of Kinders. Just click on the link below her picture. Class of Kinders - Book Bash Blog Hop Thanks for stopping by! Happy teaching!

Inside the fight to keep 'Nimona' alive so the adaptation of ND Stevenson's acclaimed graphic novel could make it to a screen near you.

Book Inspired Kids Crafts Roundup - I Heart Crafty Things A big hello today to all of you lovely Glued to My Crafts fans! My name is Rachel and I blog

Step into the animated world of Toy Story with the Woody Amigurumi, a delightful crochet project that brings the courageous cowboy character to life. This

Argh! These wenches need to walk my plank!

Triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights remains a mystery today. Many respected experts in late gothic iconography have tried to interpret it.

sim dump by rhdweauni0

I can't even believe May is almost here…. time flies in the spring! This might just be my favorite time of year to teach kindergarten.

“PTSD” or “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” is such a common term today that one can scarcely read the headlines or watch TV and not hear it at least once

Get more from northern siberia winds on Patreon

Sometimes it’s difficult to decide where to begin telling a story, and “begin at the beginning” isn’t always the best advice. Click here to download this writing worksheet (PDF) The beginning of your story need not take place in your opening scene! The opening scene can be used to… Capture the reader’s attention with an…

How to create a retell literacy center in kindergarten. Plus a list of 20 famous stories and retell props (with printables) to complete this center.

Emotional skills are increasingly important in school--here are some resources to help build courage and SEL in the classroom.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month—write a 50K word novel during November) starts today, and while I plan to continue blogging throughout NaNo, I wanted to make sure I gave you something good to keep you happy during my crazy month. *smile* Of course, whether or not you’d define today’s post as anything good might depend […]

Do you need educational activities for your preschooler this summer? You'll love these Summer Preschool Worksheets that cover counting, letters, and more.

Teaching students to sequence and summarize stories is crucial to their reading comprehension of fiction texts. These reading crafts are fresh, hands on and unique fiction activities for supporting students in breaking down sequencing and summarizing key events. It is an alternative to reading response that will help you to reach all learners in your classroom. These summarizing and sequencing activities require little to no prep, and the only materials needed are scissors and glue (word rings needed for the "key" events ring craft). WHAT’S INCLUDED: 8 Sequencing and Summarizing Crafts: Sequencing Movie Reel: Students illustrate and describe 5 key events in the story in the order that they happened. A large (full page) and small (2/page) movie reel options are included, as well as options for illustrations and descriptions or illustrations only. Film Strip Lift the Flap: This craft is similar to the craft above, but is a one page only option. Timeline Lift the Flap: Students record events from the story in a book shaped timeline. They illustrate the important events on the front of the flap and describe it on the back page. Summarizing Bookworm: Students can record as many key events as they want on this bookworm craft. Each event is a segment they add to build their bookworm. Lift the Flap Storyboard: Students create a storyboard of 6 or 12 scenes from the story, and describe each scene under their drawings. 5 Finger Retell Book: Students fill in the palm of each hand to create a retell book. Options are included for students to fill in "First, Next, Then, After that, Finally" or "Characters, Setting, Beginning, Middle, End." "Key" Events Key Ring: Students write events on each key. Keys number 1-9 are included, as well as a blank option with no number. Somebody...Wanted...But...So...Then Lift the Flap: Students fill in the flaps to create a S.W.B.S.T. summary.

Looking for memoir writing advice? Check out these do's and don'ts for struggling memoir writers.

Great ideas for preschool discovery baskets, for math, small worlds, pretend play and science

■□■□■□■□■□■ 24 EA colors & textures all frames & genders with hat chops shadow-, specular- & normal map included all LODs TOU included in download file ■□■□■□■□■□■ 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .…

Thank you so much for letting me partner with you in teaching your kids the scriptures! Enter your information below to receive the links for the following FREE Bible story printables.

When it time for kids to do some story writing, often it’s difficult for them to start because either they don’t know exactly how to organize their story or they don’t know what to write about. This FREE Story Writing Pack helps with both problems! *This free printable pack can be found towards the END of ... Read More about Story Writing Ideas for Kids {FREE Pack}

Functional fixtures are finally getting a splashy makeover and we've got you covered. We rounded up our favorite colorful appliances, hardware, and finishes to add a pop to your kitchen, bathroom, or living space.