A Day in a Kindergarten Classroom
I LOVE a group costume. Whether it’s Halloween, Read Across America Week, or just a fun themed-week at school, you can sign me up. But a group costume needs to meet two simple criteria. 1. It needs to be easy, and 2. It needs to be inexpensive. Here are some of of my favorite group costumes from over the years, along with everything you need to recreate them. Play Doh The year my team went as Play-Doh was so simple, and yet we got a huge reaction out of it!
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and it’s time to plan activities accordingly that are engaging and effective. Having engaging lessons and activities planned will help keep the holiday crazies away, and students will remember them because they are FUN! Here are my top ten Thanksgiving themed resources! Turkey Close Reading This short informational passage about turkeys is perfect for reading with young students. Thanksgiving Math Centers Add a Thanksgiving twist to all of your math centers. Students love these simple games and activities that provide practice with important math
Making applesauce in the classroom is my favorite part of fall! There’s nothing like the smell of homemade applesauce filling your classroom alllll day long. Oh, it’s so good. To make this applesauce, you don’t even need a recipe. You will need 4 bags of apples, some cinnamon, and water. No sugar or extra additives. Just goodness. Before my students come in, I peel and chop most of the apples. I save each student a large chunk of apple to chop up. We get started first thing in the morning,
Ah, the first day of kindergarten. So much promise and excitement leading up to this big milestone in the lives of your students. There is so much truth in saying that the goals for the first day are to “get them fed and get them home.” If you can do that, then I definitely call it a win. But you need to do a little bit more to fill your day. 😉 Here is what the first day of kindergarten looks like in my classroom. ARRIVAL When my students enter
Do you struggle to maintain ongoing communication with parents during the school year? So often, we start out with the best of intentions, but the parent-teacher relationship can be one of the first things to drop off as the busyness of the year sets in. I know that’s true for me, as sending home that weekly newsletter becomes such a chore. But over the years, I’ve picked up some great strategies for keeping families in-the-know. Follow these easy tips to keep communication going strong all year long. Tip #1 Use
I can’t believe I’m writing this post already. The school year is flying by, and the 100th day of school is right around the corner. This will be my 13th 100th day of school, and I have a set of go-to books that I always read in the days leading up to it and on the big day itself. Here are my top five read alouds for the big day! This post contains affiliate links. 1. 100th Day Worries In this story, Jessica struggles to come up with a collection
Does bringing an Elf on the Shelf into your classroom seem like a hassle you just don’t want to deal with? Let me tell you, you’re not alone. A quick Pinterest search is enough to scare away the bravest of teachers. You have to be pretty brave to allow an Elf on the Shelf into your classroom. It’s already a crazy time of year. You’re trying to keep the learning going strong, while also figuring out parent gifts, holiday crafts, and end of marking period assessments. Not to mention the
Close reading is so painful! If this is how you feel about close reading, then this blog post is for you. I love to teach close reading, and I’ve been doing it long enough now that I’ve got a system in place that works very well for my students. I hope this post gives you some good information to take back to your classroom. I’ll also share a close reading freebie at the end! Here’s the basic procedure that I use for every close reading lesson: Introduce and Predict Introduce the title of the
It’s only the beginning of July, but after only a few weeks of relaxing, your mind is starting to wander back to the classroom. It’s almost impossible to NOT think about it. All the bloggers are sharing their “Back to School Tips and Tricks” posts. Instagram is blowing up with everyone’s Target Dollar Spot finds. And all of the stores are cruelly showing us, with their Back to School Displays, that summer break will be over before we know it. But it’s got me thinking about my own tips for starting the
We recently had ice cream day for “i” day of our ABC countdown to summer. Instead of buying ice cream, I decided we would make our own. I knew it would be a great memory-making activity for my students, and *bonus!* we could tie-in a how-to writing to go with it. A couple tips: If you decide to try this (you really should!) don’t get too hung up on the kind of salt you use. I’ve make ice cream in bag plenty of times using plain table salt–but ideally, the
