Illustrated activity sheet describing a really fun whole class activity that involves the children running around pretending to be magic beans and avoiding capture!
Long list of free Montessori materials found online; perfect resource for classroom teachers and homeschoolers; free materials for a variety of levels, especially preschoolers through early elementary!
What do you recommend for teaching the mouse and keyboard? This blog post goes over all of my recommendations
Curriculum mapping is an essential skill for educators. Curriculum Mapping ensures a teacher teaches all the standards for the grade level by mapping out what…
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!
FREE Call Backs and attention getters for the kindergarten classroom! Great classroom management tool!
Here is a list of some of the Free French Resources found in my TPT store. Click on the title of each resource for a direct link!
Don’t get me wrong — I love candy. And, a jolly rancher, a tootsie roll, or a starburst can work wonders in the classroom for student motivation and enthusiasm. So can pizza parties, and cupcake days, and brunch, and…I’ve had so many types of food parties I can’t even keep track! Recently, however, I’ve been […]
We all know and love Kahoot, right? If you do not know about Kahoot then we have a few blog posts with tips and ideas to get you up to sp...
ChatterPix Kids is a great app for integrating technology and reading. In this tutorial I am going to show you the basics of what the ChatterPix Kids app looks like and provide 9 ideas for you to try with your students.
Free Ten Commandment Bible Printables for K-5. Students learn their ten commandments with our free printable coloring pages, bookmakrs, crafts, flashcards and more.
Why Teach Computer Coding? There is no way of denying it, we live in a digital world. Computers, smartphones, and tablets are everywhere and practically everything we do requires some sort of programming. Since it is our job as educators to prepare students for the future, it is important to introduce and teach computer programming […]
Choosing songs to teach from in the music room can be tricky business. For one thing, there are an infinite number of songs from which to choose. You can easily put your head down to think of one song to use in a lesson only to look up hours later with stacks of books and binders next to
Are you ready to hear about my tips for teaching before and after? I am always thinking about how to best teach concepts-how to make what I am doing is not only evidence based but it is effective. I have a few clients who need to work on temporal directions such as before/after. Teach Before …
I mean...why WOULDN'T you use cootie catchers in your reading block? It makes perfect sense. Ok - remember last week how I was talking about doing a little spring cleaning with some of my TpT resources? Well, I did a little spring cleaning in my file folders on my computer as well. Yikes. Now THAT'S a bit of a rabbit hole. I got in a little deeper than I wanted to, but I figured I might as well finish the job. I got rid of a lot (a LOT) of cringe worthy products that just didn't make the cut anymore, and I got some major organizing done as well. BUT - you know what I found? THIS >>> It's a reading comprehension cootie catcher that I TOTALLY forgot I made! And since it resurfaced for me - I thought I'd resurface it for you! I'm sure I made it for you guys in the first place, but I can't for the life of me find it anywhere on the blog. There's actually 3 different versions. They have different comprehension questions that can be used with any fictional book. They work great as a quick partner review game. You can download them here! Find any long-lost things in your spring cleaning, lately? Pin and Share this freebie:
Providing meaningful documentation has many benefits in the early childhood classroom. Today I want to share some examples of meaningful documentation.
A simple way to teach your students classroom procedures and expectations at the beginning of the school year
We are halfway through Fairtrade Fortnight in the UK – with World Fairtrade Day being in May – and the kids and I have been talking about Fairtrade and what it’s purpose and value is. There’s a wealth of information around Fairtrade online, so I’ve worked through it and pulled out the bits that my …
Have a chatty class? It can feel impossible to teach. Read this blog post to learn 5 simple steps to get your students to actively listen!
I'm so excited to share with you my newest TPT product! I'll be teaching a human body class this upcoming semester at our local co-op. I needed a human body project for kids in my class that will allow them to organize and store the information we learn. I came up with this file folder
Quick strategies to get your kids talking about the RIGHT stuff at the RIGHT time!
A fun and simple musical theory and rhythm game to teach the difference between finding the beat and the rhythm of a song to kids.
An elementary teaching blog sharing K-3 curriculum resources, teacher tips, fun activities, and inspiration for the lower elementary primary grades.
Jeremiah and Amanda are not used to sharing anything, and when they get to kindergarten they must share everything. Jeremiah and Amanda are having a hard time with sharing, they each throw a bit of a fit when the other won't share. The teacher continually comes prancing over to them to explain that in kindergarten "we share everything". Finally, Jeremiah and Amanda have a great idea, they decide to share their clothes. They share their shirts, pants, shoes and socks. This "sharing" shocks the teacher and delights the rest of the class. Once again Robert Munsch writes a story that your students will find quite funny and at the same time it is a great story to segue into what it means to share. Listed below are the reading skills and strategies and ideas you can use to create a meaningful lesson. Below you will also find a freebie I created to go with this book. Reading level: 2.5 Theme/subject: school, behavior Genre: humorous Reading skills and strategies: Asking questions - {possible questions before} I wonder if they really will share everything. {possible questions during} I wonder if Jeremiah and Amanda will ever share. I wonder if Jeremiah and Amanda will get their clips moved down. {possible questions after} I wonder why Jeremiah and Amanda got in trouble for sharing their clothes. **Remember to have your students answer/reflect their questions. Author's point of view – Third. Be sure to find 3 pieces of evidence to support this (he, they, the teacher). Author's purpose – Entertain {evidence} The illustrations of the teacher floating around with flowers and birds around her head are silly. It was funny when Amanda stuck the book in Jeremiah’s mouth. Jeremiah and Amanda looked silly wearing each other’s clothes. All these things make a very entertaining story. Beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} Jeremiah and Amanda started kindergarten. {most important event from middle} The teacher told Amanda and Jeremiah that in kindergarten they are supposed to share everything. {most important event from end} Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share their clothes. Cause and effect – Why did Amanda put the book in Jeremiah’s mouth. Because Jeremiah yelled when Amanda wouldn’t share the book with him. Why did Amanda kick down Jeremiah’s block tower? Because he wouldn’t share the blocks with her. Why did the teacher come running over to Jeremiah and Amanda after Amanda kicked the blocks down? So she could tell them that in kindergarten they are supposed to share everything. How come the paint went flying all over the room? Because Amanda and Jeremiah wouldn’t take turns painting; they tried to both be first to paint. How come Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share their clothes? Because they were told they had to share everything. Character analysis - describe Amanda. Describe Jeremiah. {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character} Character changes – at the beginning of the story both Amanda and Jeremiah didn’t know how to share. At the end of the story Amanda and Jeremiah were sharing their clothes. Classify & categorize – Classify things – things that are good to share and things that shouldn’t be shared. Compare & contrast – Amanda and Jeremiah. You and Amanda or Jeremiah. Your class and Amanda and Jeremiah’s class. Your teacher and Amanda and Jeremiah’s teacher. Connections - {possible text-to-self connections} Not wanting to share what you have. Having someone not wanting to share with you. Sharing your clothes with a friend. Drawing conclusions & inferencing – Why did the author draw the teacher with birds and flowers around her head and to look like she was flying? {text clues} The teacher has a smile on her face and looks really happy and nice. {what I know} I know that flowers, and bird and smiles are all nice happy things. {my conclusion} I think the author drew the teacher to look like she was flying to show that she is a really nice teacher. Main idea & details - {main idea} The story is mostly about Jeremiah and Amanda not sharing. {details} Jeremiah yelled when Amanda would not share her book. Amanda kicked down Jeremiah’s block tower when he would not share the blocks. Plot - the turning point or climax in the story is when Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share everything. Predict – What do you think the story is about. What do you think Amanda is going to do after Jeremiah yells in his face? What do you think Amanda is going to do to Jeremiah’s block tower? What do you think will happen to Jeremiah and Amanda after they made a mess with the paint? Do you think Jeremiah will ever share anything? What do you think Amanda and Jeremiah will end up sharing? What do you think the teacher will do when she sees Jeremiah and Amanda in each others clothes? Problem & solution - {problem} Jeremiah and Amanda are not sharing. {solution} Amanda and Jeremiah finally decide to share their clothes. Sequencing – Amanda and Jeremiah start kindergarten. Amanda won’t share her book. Jeremiah won’t share his bocks. Amanda and Jeremiah both want to be first to paint. Amanda and Jeremiah decide to share their clothes. The teacher faints and all the kids share their clothes. Story elements - list title, author, characters, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution. Strong thought – It looks like Amanda and Jeremiah don’t know how to share. How would you explain to them how to share? Summarize - {someone} The teacher {wanted} wanted Amanda and Jeremiah to share {but} but they never did {so} so the teacher had to keep telling them that in kindergarten they are supposed to share everything. {then} Then Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share their clothes. Theme – It is important to share. There are some things that you shouldn’t share. Happy Planning!
In today's post, I'll share ideas and free materials for teaching beginning Spanish phonics. I'll cover letter sounds, open syllables (sílabas abiertas), syllables with blends (sílabas trabadas), and closed syllables (sílabas cerradas).
Teaching states of matter in kindergarten can be a tricky! Here are some resources to help students gain a solid understanding of the topic!
3rd grade teacher Deanna shares how she saves time and works more efficiently.
Free sheet music of traditional nursery rhymes and children's songs and free fun and easy music theory printable worksheets for kids.
Positive Discipline is a program designed to teach young people to become responsible, respectful and resourceful members of their communities.
Grammar instruction doesn't mean worksheets and sentence fixing. In this post, I share what the research shows to be best practices for teaching grammar!
Breaking apart words is an essential reading skill! In this post, I'll share 5 ways I have my students practice this strategy.
Track student behavior the quick, efficient way: use a checklist. Free, editable trackers can be used to document and graph behaviors.
This back to school "snowball" fight activity will have your students getting up and out of their seats moving around the room to get to know each other.
Music class is an active, engaging, and joyful experience! This is especially true when our musical activities are grounded in creative and intentional teaching strategies. One of the most important teaching strategies has to do with teaching the difference between steady beat and the rhythm of
Teach kids self-regulation in the classroom and beyond with this collection of super fun Zones of Regulation activities, games, worksheets, and lesson plans!
Need a quick brain break in the classroom or burn off some excess energy before homework? Try this no-prep, pumpkin workout! Can you complete each exercise for the letters in the word P-U-M-P-K-I-N? P is for 10 push ups. U is for 10 up and down squats. M is for marching in place for 30 seconds. P is for plank position for 10 seconds. K is for kick your legs for 30 seconds. I is for invent an exercise. N is for ninety seconds of running in place. DOWNLOAD the Pumpkin Workout. The Pumpkin Workout is from this Pumpkin Packet that includes 11 no-prep, FUN activities to get children practicing fine motor, gross motor and visual perceptual skills. This packet is great for brain breaks, indoor recess, classroom party and more! The Pumpkin Packet download includes the following: Roll a Pumpkin #1 and #2 – roll a die to create different pumpkin faces Pumpkin Workout – an acrostic poem for physical activity Pumpkin Brain Breaks – roll a die and get moving Pumpkin Ball Challenge – exercise ball activities Pumpkin Poses – animal yoga poses Pumpkin Patch – fine motor and visual motor game Pumpkin Match Up – fine motor, finger strengthening and visual memory game Design Your Own Pumpkin – visual motor activity Pumpkin Zentangle Coloring Page Jack O Lantern Challenge Maze Pumpkin Maze FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION. The post Pumpkin Workout and Brain Break appeared first on Your Therapy Source.
Huge, FREE Weather Unit has lots of worksheets for kids, fun activities, and science experiments for teaching preschool and K3 students.
Read this blog post if you're looking for Seesaw tips for your kindergarten, first, or second grade classroom.
Classroom/behavior management is one of the most important things to master in your classroom. Having solid behavior management helps maintain a positive classroom environment, while enabling teachers and students to accomplish LEARNING! Here are TEN tips and tricks for behavior management I use in my classroom: Greeting Students at the Door The way you start
I wrote a column recently about brain growth, primarily in children and adolescents. I learned some very interesting information. Our brain naturally grows and changes throughout our life, but we can boost our own brain growth and that of our children by following some simple steps. I’ve read several articles by Eric Jensen, the leading […]
