Teaching growth mindset can be done with read-alouds! Rosie's Glasses is a great book for this. Get ideas for using this book to teach being positive.
Is your child battling to tie their laces? Here's the easiest method out there for teaching your kids to tie their own shoelaces. Just moments after being taught the method, a keen young man proves how easy it is to imitate these simple instructions. There are not many instructions that a kid can learn on
Help kindergarteners compare length & use appropriate vocabulary with this FREE "Shorter and Longer" activity. Great hands on practice for comparing length.
Practicing mindfulness is a great way to calm your child and make them attentive. Here're 10 simple and quick mindfulness exercises your child will enjoy.
Here are 10 super fun movement songs for kids to get them up and moving! These are great brain breaks as well.
Learn how to teach children self-control the right way with this collection of fun yet powerful self-regulation strategies and activities for kids!
It's another week of teaching bible class to these precious three year olds! They sure loved this lesson of Samuel and the fun activities that went with it. ARRIVAL Just like every week, the first 10-15 minutes of class the children come in and play with toys that are laid out on the table. It is
Combine Art with Anatomy in this X-Ray Skeleton Hand Lesson! This project is perfect for elementary art, but could be a fun Skeletal System Activity for Middle and Highschool as well! A perfect Fall Art Activity, it's spooky enough for Halloween art while also teaching important shading skills and s...
Building resilience in kids helps them to navigate through the difficulties. These resilience strategies will help them to cope with challenges & loss.
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!
Ask yourself these questions whenever you are contemplating new information, or looking to improve your critical thinking skills
Free patterns math worksheet for preschool and kindergarten. Students finish the patterns in each row. I would then have the students color the pattern as
If you have an extra-chatty class, check out this post with tips for how to get your students to stop talking in just one week!
A lesson plan! A lesson plan! My kingdom for a lesson plan!
I created this culture jars art lesson for an Art and World Cultures class, and continue to use it in art classes because it is so well received. The word
Using these free monster printables your class can make all kinds of wild monsters! We have a two free monster body templates as well as monster eyes and mouths that you can use as many of as you wo
Create a Math Block I can't say this enough. An effective math block will help you tremendously! It creates routine and structure that you need to make sure everyone is on task. This is what I include in my math block: Engaging Mini Lessons Math centers Independent practice visuals throughout the classroom Use A
Sun prints are so easy, fun, and exciting to make with kids. They are also called cyanotypes and can be made on fabric as well as paper.
Jesus did some unconventional actions while He was here on earth. One of those events included speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well. Why did Jesus do this? Use a glass of water to teach children about the Living Water.
Join this special community helpers circle time for a full week of free virtual preschool. We will learn about firefighters, doctors, teachers, and more!
If you are looking for some high-interest activities, try using animated shorts to teach inference. Free handouts focus on student learning.
Use this collection of Paul Klee teaching resources and complete Klee Famous Artist Unit lesson plans to teach elementary art class.
Pattern worksheets for preschool and kindergarten. These free worksheets will help your kids learn to recognize and complete patterns, and will also give practice recognizing basic shapes and letters. Worksheets from K5 Learning are pdf documents and are easy to print. No login required.
Introducing the letter a to your class or child? Check out this free letter a lesson plan with lots of crafts and activities!
When trying to differentiate instruction for our students, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Here are 6 Easy Ways to Differentiate Instruction
Roy Lichtenstein name art, featuring Ben-Day dots
I could never say enough positive things about using a work box system in the classroom-- for any child. I've used them with typically developing peers in the classroom as well and it's an amazing way to in-bed practice and skill maintenance, all while working on attending to a task as well. Over the summer I did a whole post on how I structure this system in my classroom. You can check it out {here}. But one thing I've never done is actually post photos of the activities I have in my boxes. My boxes have grown since I last posted a photo this summer. I have 83 work boxes available in my classroom at all times. I know that sounds like the only thing that make up the shelves in my classroom are work boxes, but I promise it's not. It might be close, but it's not! I don't have a lot of remaining storage in my classroom. So to constantly be changing out activities and finding a storage system for previous activities is a little challenging for me. So I prefer to just have a lot of boxes available. We also need a high number of boxes to complete each day. Let's break it down. I have 10 students total, 8 of whom complete work boxes at some point doing the day. Children complete anywhere between 1-10 boxes a day. Right now, as a class, we are completing 28 boxes a day. We come to school 4 days a week, so that's completing 112 boxes a week. And planning so strategically that a child doesn't repeat a box during the week. It's a huge planning challenge. And my paras are awesome at catching my goofs! I'm hoping to come across some appropriate shelving between now and the end of the year to expand our boxes even more. Sounds crazy I know, but it will make the planning challenge so much easier when there is a larger amount to pick from. So the whole point of this post-- what's in the boxes?! I use a combination of handmade activities, printable activities, and existing manipulatives from my classroom to make up my boxes. Our lowest tasks are simple "put-in" activities and our higher tasks include activities like capital and lowercase matching using clothespins and sight word matching mats. I've been trying to come up with more and more put-in activities so that's what I'm going to share with you today. In another post I'll share another category. For this activity I saved a small peanut can from the grocery store. (Yes I washed it out) I simply cut slits in the lid--these lids are super easy to cut into which is nice. It's the perfect height for dropping these mini popsicle sticks into. This activity is another saved container- an almond one. I have saved a ton of these! They are a great size and again, the lids are easy to cut into. This one has a circle in the middle of the lid and heart erasers to put into the container. This activity I found on pinterest. I simply saved a Parmesan cheese shaker, washed it out and added q-tips. When students open the box the cheese shaker is already open. (It would be too challenging for my little guys to get open independently- it's tough!) This task I clearly didn't make. It is courtesy of Lakeshore Learning. Students simply place the buttons in. This jar is one of three included in the pack and can be purchased by clicking {here}. If you wanted to make a more challenging task for a student you could place two jars into one task box so the student has to sort as well. This is the second jar included in the Lakeshore pack. I used another almond container for the activity. And obviously a hole punch to put the holes in the lid. Students have to put the beads into the container through the holes. I saw someone else blog about these small paint containers they found at the Dollar Store. They really are great! I bought four of them and used one for this work box. Students simply push the pom-poms into the container. This activity is similar to the Lakeshore bucket with buttons. I found the small yellow containers at the Dollar Tree in the baby section. They come in a multi-pack which is nice, BUT, they are a pain to cut holes in the top. It's a much harder plastic than I thought, and it cracked in the corners. If I hadn't gone through so much trouble to cut the slot in, I probably would have used another almond container. This was one of the first work box activities I made. I recycled a cookie dough container and cut holes in the lid. Then students just have to put pom-poms into the holes. I'd like to re-do this container at some point because most students catch on that the middle hole is big enough to just drop the pom-pom in versus pushing it through the hole. I don't know if you would call this a "put in" task, but I do. They're putting pegs in a peg board! I can also guarantee you that this peg board is older than I am. For this activity students push down the lever on the gumball machine to get a stone out, then they have to place the stone in the container. I liked the idea of students using their index finger to get the lever done-- additional fine motor practice. Sometimes more than one stone may come out, but that's okay. So there you have it. Those are our current "put in" activities. I hope you get some new ideas for your own work boxes from these. Next I'll share our sorting activities.
Welcome! This blog post explores a project that depicts one cohesive image divided into 7 sections which illustrate the 7 elements of art: line, shape, color, form, value, texture, and space. The elements of art the artists toolbox they can use in an endless amount of ways to create infinite art solutions. This is a
Free set of printables to go along with Magnetic Tiles. Includes two levels of difficulty. Builds problem solving skills.
Students can travel across the globe without leaving the classroom. Check out these fun geography lessons for any grade and curriculum.
It's not summer without a homemade burger on the grill and all the extras that go with it. Follow our Test Kitchen tips for the perfect burger.
A slanted wall can be challenging to decorate, but with these tips on How to Decorate a Slanted Wall in a Bedroom, you'll learn all you need!
Day of the Dead nicho craft activity. 4 nichos for Day of the Dead. Photos + step-by-step video tutorial. Download, make + celebrate today!
Setting SMART goals is a great way to challenge yourself and your family to effectively make healthy lifestyle changes. This article shares how to make your goals SMART to help set you and your family up for success! Download our worksheet below to make your goals SMART-er! Setting a Goal Our Favourite Tip for Family…
All English as a Second or Foreign Language classes need a good warm-up activity to gets brains working and bodies active. Here are my top choices for ESL and EFL Warm-up games for kids to adults.
Hey, everyone! It's Deanna from A Primary Owl, are y'all gearing up for the end of the year? It's closing in on us really fast! Packing up, end of the year checklists, grades....all of this just piles up so quick! Plus I don't know about you but if you have your own children you also have chorus performances, dance recitals, coach's gifts and teacher gifts, etc of your own to get. So I thought I would put together some ideas of things we all could do now at the end of April (almost May) to help get a jump start on things and maybe, just maybe we can get ahead???? CLEAN OUT YOUR COPIES So this is a huge clutter area for me, my team sends so many copies and frankly I just don't do all of them. So last week, I organized. I figured out what I still needed to do before the end of the year. I also decided what might be saved for next year and then with all the left overs I asked a parent volunteer to make review packets for my kids to take home for the summer. Not all of them will do it, but I do have parents that appreciate a little work over the summer and I don't feel bad for wasting all that paper. START TAKING THINGS HOME I collect junk from home around my desk! Like coffee mugs, water tumblers, lunchboxes, sweaters, gifts from parents, you name it! Plus I always leave one winter coat at school just in case I forget my coat, so last week I took home a great big bag of all that stuff.....a more few things that I won't have to drag home the last week of school. What do you have around that you could take home now? CHECKLIST/SUMMER PROJECTS Start your checklist now! Or at least get ready to start it! Designate a basket for special projects that you want to work on over the summer. When you come across something as you are cleaning or organizing, throw it in there. I already got my school's end of the year checklist, so I put it on one of my special clipboards so I don't loose it. I also keep my own checklist of things I need to get done around my room. I love printing these off and putting them on my clipboard to keep me on track! {click the picture to get your FREEBIE!} INVENTORY ITEMS Does your school do a huge inventory? We do, so I've already started finding some bar coded things I know are going to be on the inventory list and put them aside on a shelf. I also started returning items to the media center that I have checked out that I no longer need. I also ask my media specialist for a list of things I have checked out that I need to start looking for. At least then, if I am missing something I can start looking for it now and not later! GRADING This one is huge! I start getting so burned out on grading papers! But if I get too behind then I can't catch up when grades are due. Make the important grades a priority (like I have stack of opinion writing that I keep shoving to the bottom of my pile) and figure out what papers you can just put some stickers on and call it a day! How do I keep my papers organized? I love my IKEA cart! MOVING Are you moving to a new classroom or a new school next year? Start looking for boxes NOW! I am moving a new school next year and I already asked our copy lady and our cafeteria manager to save me some boxes. Organize as much as you can before you start packing and it will make unpacking so much easier! END OF THE YEAR GIFTS This is the best time to start thinking of all those gifts you need to get, room moms, volunteers, the teachers on your team....and your own children's teachers! Starting early means hopefully you won't be rushing around at the last minute and forget anyone. Need some more end of the year ideas? Follow our Pinterest board! And pin this post for later:
Here's how to decide if the Handwriting without Tears preschool program is right for your child. The most important thing to keep in mind is...
You know when you are searching and searching and you just can't find what you are looking for? Well that is w
6 simple tips and lots of fun fine motor activities to help you figure out how to teach a child how to tie their shoes the fun way!
