One of my favorite read alouds to share this time of the year is Gustavo The Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago. Gustavo The Shy Ghost is a story about a shy ghost who's just too shy to make any friends, but he really wants to try. It's such a well written and beautifully illustrated story and a perfect read aloud for any time of the year, but especially timely for Día de los Muertos. I love this book for all sorts of reasons and it's such a great choice for a class read aloud. There are so many different topics and skills that can be addressed before/during/after reading. While there are many different SEL lessons you can pull … [Read more...] about Gustavo The Shy Ghost
Education
Clear the Lists
It should go without saying, but just in case you need the reminder, teachers are everyday heroes. Truly. And if their ability to effectively teach during a pandemic (either virtually, in-person, or asynchronously) didn't convince you, I'm not sure what will. And whether you believe it or not, facts are facts :) There's nothing I love more than working with teachers and I'm always chomping at the bit this time of the year to help in any way I can. I know the time and money teachers selflessly spend in their classrooms trying to make their learning environment a comfortable space that engages each learner. It's more than they have to … [Read more...] about Clear the Lists
The Koala Who Could – A Virtual ELA Lesson
This week's lesson is all about making inferences and I'm reading aloud the story, The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright to practice our inferring skills. You can watch the full video lesson HERE: I'm using this printable to talk more about inferences and what readers do when they infer as they're reading text. To illustrate the concept of making inferences prior to reading the text, I created an "Inferencegram" printable to tell a story. Basically I explain that my mom has given me the task of buying a gift for her friend, but I know NOTHING about her and have no idea what kind of gift she might like. So, I need to INFER what … [Read more...] about The Koala Who Could – A Virtual ELA Lesson
Charlotte and the Rock – A Virtual ELA Lesson
This week's lesson is all about a little girl named Charlotte and her pet rock. Charlotte and the Rock is a PRECIOUS story...from the storyline to the illustrations and everything in between, this is one of my most favorites. I'm using Charlotte and the Rock to reinforce the concept of making predictions. You can watch the full video lesson HERE: I'll use this printable as a reference for what it means to make a prediction. This printable would be great for your kids to have on hand as you're reading the story. While it can absolutely be used with any book you're reading, we'll use this to make a prediction about Dennis. … [Read more...] about Charlotte and the Rock – A Virtual ELA Lesson
Rot The Cutest in the World – A Virtual ELA Lesson
I love picture books with personality and Rot The Cutest in the World is full of just that! Rot is a story of a mutant potato who isn't short on confidence UNTIL he starts thinking he should be just like everyone else. The story is illustrated so incredibly well and the lesson/theme is perfect for kids of all ages. Rot is great to use as a mentor text for several different concepts & skills (theme, character traits, making predictions, etc.), but for today's ELA lesson we're focusing on Fact & Opinion (with a heavy emphasis on the opinion piece.). Feel free to check out this video to see this lesson from start to … [Read more...] about Rot The Cutest in the World – A Virtual ELA Lesson
Llama Destroys the World – A Virtual ELA Lesson
If you haven't read Llama Destroys the World yet, let me introduce you! This is one of my FAVORITE picture books. The illustrations, the story...it's whimsical and hilarious...and there are so many different activities you can do with your kids after reading this book. I love to incorporate several different comprehension skills when reading this story. To start, this is a great book for reinforcing the concept of cause and effect. I'll start with a "hook". If you watch the video, you can see how I set the stage for introducing this skill with an egg. After the hook, I'll explain the concept of cause and effect using this … [Read more...] about Llama Destroys the World – A Virtual ELA Lesson
25 Reading Activities for Home and School
Encouraging reading at home is a foundational step to instill within your child a lifelong love of reading. Providing our kids opportunities for reading in any form (whether it be a book, comics, graphic novels, newspapers magazines, recipes, etc.) is critical for establishing a solid foundation. Reading for the simple pleasure of enjoyment is so important, but if you’re looking for a few ways to extend a reading experience with your child, or students, these ideas might help. Challenge Accepted!Designate a specific number of books to read within a given time frame. This can be done individually, as a family, etc. Keep a running list … [Read more...] about 25 Reading Activities for Home and School
Building Relationships – Use Your Spidey Senses!
Creating opportunities to share an experience together is one of the best ways we can help build relationships with others. Whether it's establishing connection with our kids, co-workers, spouses, or family & friends, shared experiences are the building blocks in the foundation of relationships. As teachers and parents, it's important for us to create opportunities that allow our kids to engage in those experiences. Whether you're a parent with kids at home or teacher with kids in school, it's important to be intentional in the experiences you're providing. One of my favorite relationship building activities for both home and school … [Read more...] about Building Relationships – Use Your Spidey Senses!
200+ Conversation Cards for Kids
As parents, we have a strong tendency to fall prey to the familiarity of routine. The monotony of the normal day-to-day tends to set the tone for the interactions we have with each other & our kids, too. Oftentimes, I can predict how a conversation with my boys will go before I even initiate it. As a mom, I crave authentic communication and conversation with my kids. Sometimes I feel like I'm pulling teeth to get more than one word answers from them. I also realize that asking them the same questions over and over again breed the same answers. I'm always trying to engage my kids in conversation one way or another and I've … [Read more...] about 200+ Conversation Cards for Kids
100+ Activities For Kids to do at Home
As COVID-19 continues to shut school doors, many parents are finding themselves with their kids at home and struggling to keep them engaged in meaningful activities. I put together a list of 100+ ideas to help you keep your kids occupied in meaningful ways. While these ideas aren't necessarily academic, they will learn from them. Real life skills, patience, problem solving, creativity, perseverance, and so much more. I hope these ideas are helpful, as well as enjoyable, for both you and your child(ren)! Get in the Kitchen!- Scour Pinterest or sift through old cookbooks & magazines for new recipes. Some of my favorite kid … [Read more...] about 100+ Activities For Kids to do at Home
30 Free Virtual Learning Resources for COVID-19 School Closures
As schools all across the country continue to shut their doors amidst growing concerns of COVID-19, I've been encouraged to see so many individuals and companies provide virtual opportunities for kids to continue their learning experience even when they aren't in the classroom. I thought it would be helpful to share a landing space here that would provide both parents & teachers with free resources that can be accessed while your students/children are at home. If you'd like to add any additional resources in the comments, please feel free to do so as well. I hope this helps make things a little easier for us all. Before sharing … [Read more...] about 30 Free Virtual Learning Resources for COVID-19 School Closures
6 Conversation Heart Activities
There are so many different ways to use conversation hearts instead of saving them for a sweet treat. Here are 6 different ways to use conversation hearts in the classroom and will definitely have your kids looking at candy in a whole new way! 1. WAR OF HEARTS War of Hearts has always been a class favorite and there are a few ways to incorporate this one into your instruction. This game is played like the card game, War, and here are a few different ideas for play... Partner Play - both players grab a conversation heart from a bag/container and count the number of letters on each. Players write the numbers in the matching heart … [Read more...] about 6 Conversation Heart Activities
Penguins
This time of the year lends itself to learning about winter animals and one of my favorites to incorporate into reading and science is the penguin. When starting any kind of informational/non-fiction unit of learning, it's good to start with a schema chart. Here's an example of one I used in the past to assess what my kids thought they knew about penguins before we started our unit and understand what they hoped to learn as we explored the topic further. A chart like this will stay displayed on the whiteboard throughout our unit of learning. This gives the kids an opportunity to add more information (new learning) to our chart and we … [Read more...] about Penguins
Monster Math – a Freebie!
I can't believe we're staring down the end of another month. I swear the older I get, the faster the days and months fly by. Anybody else? Last week I sent out a math game to my email club. If you aren't subscribed, I'd love for you to join us. I promise I won't inundate you with emails, but it's definitely the quickest way to get updates and freebies just like the one I'm about to share. I designed these games to accompany the activities I created to use with the book, Monster Trouble. Monster Trouble is a great read ANY time of the year, but it definitely lends itself to the festivities and themes in October. This game is no … [Read more...] about Monster Math – a Freebie!
Fitting It All In with Science
When I work in different schools and talk to teachers in between sessions at conferences, I always hear something along the lines of, "there's just note enough time for (science & social studies!!!!)" Teachers. I feel you. I really do. There's barely enough time in our day to teach the skills & objectives you need to teach in the first place! So often, we as teachers look at our curriculum and see everything through compartmentalized lenses. If we're teaching literacy skills, it must be done during our ELA block. If we're teaching math, it can't go beyond that 90 minute time frame we have carved out … [Read more...] about Fitting It All In with Science
Why We Gave Our Child The Gift of Time & Delayed His Start in Kindergarten
I'm often asked by friends and strangers alike what my thoughts are in regards to holding a child back an extra year as opposed to sending them to Kindergarten with a June-early September birthday. As a former K-2 teacher who spent fifteen years in the classroom, I definitely have my opinions about this. However, instead of sharing my perspective solely through the lens of a teacher, I'd love to share my opinions with you from the viewpoint of a mother who made this decision for her child as well. Keep in mind that these are my opinions based solely on my personal experiences. We all have vastly different experiences both in and out of … [Read more...] about Why We Gave Our Child The Gift of Time & Delayed His Start in Kindergarten
End of Year Writing Activities
The end of the school year is always so bittersweet. While I always loved anticipating the freedom summer would bring, I was always really sad to say goodbye to the kids who spent the year growing and maturing right before my eyes. As I've said before, I always loved spending the last few weeks of school reflecting on our year. It's also such a great time to look ahead to summer. I love implementing writing activities and crafts at the end of the year to give me an opportunity to do both. I created a set of four different hand-drawn craft templates to accompany writing prompts. These prompts are pretty straightforward and simple … [Read more...] about End of Year Writing Activities
Editable Growth Mindset Awards
If you know me well, you know how much I believe in the power of telling kids WHO they are. I love praising kids not just when they succeed, but when they progress and improve, too. The end of the school year is one of my favorite times of the year for doing just that. While I think it's important to celebrate growth and progress all year long, I love giving kids tangible pieces of praise in the form of awards to affirm how much they've grown throughout the year. I am so excited about these growth mindset awards! These tangible pieces of paper praise are great for recognizing yearlong growth, but they're also perfect to give to kids … [Read more...] about Editable Growth Mindset Awards
End of Year Reflections & Memories
In years past, I loved using the month of May to reflect on the school year with my kids. As much as I loved doing this for myself, I've always felt like there is so much power in showing kids how far they've come in just a few short months. This was especially fun in Kindergarten. I loved showing my kids writing samples from the first few months of school compared to how they're writing in May. "That is NOT my writing!", they'd exclaim. "I never wrote like that!" Trust me sweet children. You DID. And those first few months of your writing journey were painful (for both of us). Can I get an amen?! As soon as our countdown to … [Read more...] about End of Year Reflections & Memories
Sight Word Fluency
I recently had the privilege of providing professional development for an amazing group of primary teachers. We discussed a lot of different strategies, best teaching practices, and activity ideas. Professional development days are always my favorite...especially when teachers are eager & excited to learn more in an effort to provide kids with every learning opportunity they possibly can. During this particular PD, we talked a lot about sight words. It always fascinates me how the expectations differ from school to school, district to district. At this particular campus, the teachers were using Fry Words as the basis for their … [Read more...] about Sight Word Fluency
Keepsake Ornament
You might not know this about me, but just in case you were wondering, sentimental stuff is my jam. This time of the year brings out the sap in me and I find myself knee deep in everything that's nostalgic. My favorite part of the holiday season is decorating our family tree. The store bought ornaments are great and all, but my tender heart lets out a sentimental tear or twenty whenever I pull out the ornaments handmade by my boys. Their little fingerprints painted on the matte acrylic kills me. Can you even believe their fingers were tiny enough to cover just a teensy portion of an ornament?! Now their man hands would CRUSH them! But … [Read more...] about Keepsake Ornament
Preparing for the Thanksgiving Holidays
*This post contains affiliate links via Amazon* On a personal level, Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. The parades. The family. The FOOD!!!! And when the weather cooperates, it's one of the most magical days of the year (for me, anway). So it should come as no surprise that I would feel the same about celebrating in the classroom, too. Well, any holiday, really ;) Here are a few things I've done with my Kindergarten and First Graders through the years during the month of November. Of course, I don't have time for everything you see every single year, so depending on the dynamic and abilities of my students, I pick and … [Read more...] about Preparing for the Thanksgiving Holidays
Back to School Gift & Teacher Questionnaires
At the beginning of every school year, I like to send small gifts in with my boys to gift their teachers. Typically these gifts aren't expensive nor or they extravagant. Just a simple little token of appreciation to let them know that we're looking forward to a great school year with them as our teachers. I was at my local Hobby Lobby about a week ago perusing the scrapbook aisles and I found tubes of washi tape on clearance for less than $5!!! I was so excited. I use washi tape in my planners, snail mail, bible journaling, etc. so I bought several different tubes to bring back home. I knew the amount purchased far exceeded what I … [Read more...] about Back to School Gift & Teacher Questionnaires
ELA in a Day -Back to School
As we embark upon a new school year, I wanted to take a quick minute to introduce you to a literacy resource I think you'll love...especially if you're a Kindergarten or 1st Grade teacher. When I'm visiting classrooms and working with teachers, one common recurring thing I continue to hear is, "I wish there were an easier way to fit it all in." If you're anything like most teachers, I'm sure you feel the same way. Last fall Abby and I started brainstorming different ways we could help teachers streamline their literacy instruction while maintaining the integrity of the standards & objectives as well as providing teachers with … [Read more...] about ELA in a Day -Back to School
