I love how cute the bald eagles turned out! This is a picture of our Chit-Chit message. These messages are how I teach and review phonics, reading and language skills. There is no better way to teach letter sounds and sound chunks than in the context of authentic reading and writing. We read a sentence just as it is written and then use our schema and other context clues to help us figure out what would make sense in the sentence. Once we think we have it figured ... continue reading...
Search Results for: label/Liberty Bell science experiment
Phonological Awareness Rhyming
There are so many crucial components to becoming a strong reader and writer. Therefore, it can be overwhelming for teachers to plan high-quality lessons to meet each student where they are. However, teachers know that strong phonological awareness sets the stage for decoding, blending, and reading. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on when teaching the science of reading. Luckily, phonological awareness rhyming creates fun, exciting ways for students to focus on letters, words, and ... continue reading...
National Talk like a Pirate Day Activities
Did you know that National Talk Like a Pirate Day is this Monday, September 19th? I've got you covered with this Set the Stage to Engage unit all about PIRATES!!! This unit is also perfect for kicking off the year with a pirate theme, teaching -ar, or it can be used as an End of the Year celebration. This unit is packed full of literacy, math, and science fun. Here are some pictures that Holly Ehle took of this pirate unit in action: First, we "flip" the classroom so it looks like ... continue reading...
Frog Frenzy! Learning all about Frogs
Fun frog lesson plans in a nonfiction unit about frogs. Students read and write about frogs, play math and literacy games, and create a craft, too! Frog Lesson Plans This is one of my favorite units! We love learning about frogs through nonfiction reading and expressing what we learn in writing. I like to start any nonfiction unit with charting our schema about frogs and boy do kids know A LOT about frogs! We then begin reading several nonfiction books and even watch some videos ... continue reading...
Pumpkin Patch Palooza and a FREEBIE
Fall is one of my favorite times of year to teach! I love all things Fall: pumpkins, apples, scarecrows, bats, spiders, owls.... Did I mention it is my favorite time of the year to teach? The littles get so excited about learning and isn't that what it's all about? Sometimes teachers get so bogged down with teaching what's in the basal (no basal for me, thank you very much!) that we forget that true learning takes place when the teacher and students are EXCITED about what they are ... continue reading...
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse Reading Lesson Plans FREEBIE
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse reading comprehension lesson plans for K-2! This FREEBIE includes 5 lesson plans, complete with student response activities and a craft! Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Lilly loves school and especially loves her teacher, Mr. Slinger. That is until he takes her new purse for being too disruptive. Lilly's feelings about Mr. Slinger quickly change. Use this story to teach a good lesson about having patience and being a good listener. You and your students will love ... continue reading...
Peek at my Week {a look at my day}
My sweet friend, Deedee Wills has been doing her Peek at my Week for three years and asking others to link up as well. I love how helpful this is for teachers. It gives us the ability to peer inside each other's classrooms and borrow little nuggets of inspiration here or there to help make our classroom instruction the best that it can be. I've made it a goal this year to link up every Sunday and share as well. Before I start sharing my weekly plans I wanted to first start with my daily ... continue reading...
Batty Over Bats!
Happy Monday Y'all! This is a throwback post about another unit that I LOVE to teach during the month of October. BATS!! Oh, my word! I absolutely love bats. Okay. I'll admit that I wouldn't really want to meet one up close and personal but they are fascinating and little ones love learning all about them. If you already have my bat unit you'll want to head on over to TPT and download the updates that I just added to the unit. The link is at the end of this post. We always start ... continue reading...
How to Catch a Leprechaun
This week we are working on my St. Patrick's Day unit. We made our Leprechaun glyphs and wrote about How to Catch a Leprechaun. These are some of their drawings they did in their journals. It's so easy to teach them how to draw if you do step by step modeling using simple shapes. This was mine that I modeled on the Smartboard. Notice that it isn't perfect and it's all made with simple shapes. Tomorrow we will be ... continue reading...
Graphing Activities to use in your Kindergarten Math Groups
Graphing Activities to practice measurement and data. Concrete, pictorial, and abstract activities to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics. Graphing Activities In Kindergarten, students should be able to describe and compare measurable attributes, in addition to, classifying objects and giving the numeral value. During small-group instruction, students can gain a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. So, make your math small-groups engaging and effective with this math ... continue reading...
Ideas for a Kindergarten Earth Day Lesson Plan
We know how much kindergarteners love holidays! We can almost feel the excitement in the room as the calendar inches closer to holidays like Halloween or Christmas. However, there are other holidays that our young kindergarten students likely haven’t heard of before. Earth Day is one of these important holidays! I’ve put together a list of ideas for a kindergarten Earth Day lesson plan to help you introduce this holiday to your class. What is Earth Day? Earth Day is celebrated every ... continue reading...
Initial Sounds Activities for Phonological Awareness
David Kilpatrick said, “Phonological and Phoneme Awareness is the foundation upon which all the other layers of literacy are built.” Honestly, this quote does an incredible job of explaining the importance of phonological awareness. Since it is the foundational layer for students to read and write, it is essential for students to work on these skills from a young age. Teachers know this importance and work hard to create enjoyable activities. Thankfully, the Initial Sounds Activities for ... continue reading...
Phonological Awareness Small Group Activities
Students learn so many critical skills while in school. For instance, they learn how to add and subtract, which are essential when dealing with money. Additionally, they learn how to write, read, and spell, which are necessary for many aspects of life. Therefore, teachers work hard to create exciting ways for students to learn content. In terms of language arts, it takes time to understand that sounds blend together to make words. Luckily, phonological awareness small group activities are an ... continue reading...
Making Read Alouds Come to Life: Creepy Carrots
Teacher read alouds are just as important as giving students time to read independently. Read alouds take the student's focus away from having to decode the words and gives students a chance to really hone in and focus on the meaning of the story. I love it when I read a story to children, and they love it so much that they beg me to READ IT AGAIN! It's so important to reread books to children and give them time to: Hear you thinking ... continue reading...
Butterfly Lesson Plans | Digital & Printable Reading Response for K-2
Butterfly lesson plans. Students respond to literature using the story, The Very Impatient Caterpillar and also learn about the butterfly life cycle and migration using nonfiction text. Engaging Butterfly Lesson Plans Learning about butterflies is always a fun Spring lesson, or really at any time of the year! Students can easily get excited about these fun insects because they see them in everyday life. There are so many great pieces of children's literature that represent ... continue reading...