Student engagement will be through the roof, with the Case of the Missing Cookies! September kindergarten and first week of school activities for first grade. Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? This is a fun rhyme to practice as a part of your first week of school activities. Students love hearing their name and hearing the names of their friends. This fun rhyme has been used for generations because it gets kids engaged! They love the repetitive chant as they ... continue reading...
Search Results for: label/Liberty Bell science experiment
18 Virtual Field Trip Ideas for Early Learners
A list of 18 virtual field trip ideas for kindergarten and first-grade students. This collection of ideas consists of videos and interactive virtual tours. Virtual Field Trip Ideas Here are a few ideas for you to send home to students or show your own kiddos at home! Have fun with these virtual field trip ideas for early learners. #1 San Diego Zoo Check out live videos of animals. There are games, coloring sheets, and craft ideas, too! #2 Polar Bear ... continue reading...
Case of the Missing Cookies: A Cookie Detective Unit
I am happy to report that I just started my second week of school with students and I have the cutest group of kids to love on each day. It's so great to be back in the classroom this year! I will share more about my new classroom later, but today I wanted to share the fun unit that I did with my students last week. As you probably know, student engagement is very important to me. In today's world, getting students excited about learning is the key to success and motivation in the classroom. ... continue reading...
Zoo unit Day 1 Giraffes
I LOVE this time of year. My little sweeties are becoming independent thinkers and learners who have blossomed into readers and writers AND all of my Favorite units are in the Spring!! Zoo animals, Dinosaurs (my fave), and Insects (my fave), What???!! I can have more than one favorite! :) I spend two weeks on each of these units. There is just something about these topics that get kids super excited about learning! Today we learned all about Giraffes. ... continue reading...
Compound Eyes
We had a lot of fun looking at the world through a bug's eyes! We did the science exploration from my insect unit and then created this anchor chart to show what we found out. My sweet little friends Lucy and Caroline did the drawings for the chart. ... continue reading...
Insect planner
Hey Friends! I hope you are having a fabulous week. The good news is tomorrow is Friday! Can I get an amen? We are right in the middle of our insect unit. You can click on the mini-planner below to see how I plan it out. This mini insect planner includes the activities we do during our whole group reading/science instruction. For those of you who are waiting on the Common Core Essential Questions for First Grade, I promise I am almost finished. I am so sorry that it has taken me ... continue reading...
Spider Unit Fun!
OOPS! Excuse the apostrophes above. Geesh! I wish I had noticed my mistake before I took the screenshot. :) My spider unit is available on TPT for only $5.00 I will be adding some things to it within the next few days. If you have already purchased it check back next weekend to get the new goodies! The Spider experiments and many more are available in my best selling, Simple Science Volume 1 unit. I will be working on Volume 3 just ... continue reading...
Going Buggy! Butterfly and Mantis
Whoo-wee! This week was CRAZY! Our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders were taking the CRCT test this week which meant no planning time and very little recess. I don't drink but this week just about drove me to it! I don't know about you guys but I am ready for Summer vacation. We get out of school on May 25th so the countdown has begun. :) Even though it was a crazy week we still had lots of fun learning all about insects. We learned about butterflies and drew the life cycle of a ... continue reading...
CHIT-CHAT! This n that!
This is another poem that I use at the beginning of our Mental Images unit. I read the poem the first time for enjoyment and then I read it slowly a few times while the kids drew their Mental Image. Our dragonflies... these turned out beautiful. I forgot to take a picture of their writing. Our story elements chart. Going Buggy Glyph. I've had a lot of emails asking me about my schedule and how I ... continue reading...
Tacky and the Winter Games Lesson Plans (Free File)
Winter Games Lesson Plans for kindergarten and first grade. These are perfect to use during the Winter Olympics. Tacky and the Winter Games Don't you just love Tacky the Penguin? My class has always enjoyed this character, so when I saw Helen Lester's book, Tacky and the Winter Games, I knew I had to add it to our Engaging Readers Series. The version of the Engaging Readers one comes with 5 days of close reading comprehension activities: Visualization Retelling Connections ... continue reading...
Pigeon Books: K-1 Lesson Ideas
Pigeon books lesson ideas. Fun reading lesson ideas for kindergarten and first grade. Reading comprehension, responding to literature, and word work! Kids absolutely LOVE these books by Mo Willems and so do I! Using books that kids love AND teaching reading comprehension strategies is a win for everyone! Check out some great lesson ideas for kindergarten and first grade using two of my favorites. All of the lesson plan printables can be found in Engaging Readers March Set Two. Pigeon ... continue reading...
5 Lesson Ideas for Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly and a FREE FILE!
5 reading lesson ideas for Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly. K-2 Reading Comprehension lessons, responding to literature, and a FREE FILE! Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly Reading Lesson Ideas This book is a fun story about a first grader who makes a name for herself after a class field trip to learn about butterflies! A great book to use during science when learning about butterfly migration and metamorphosis. We've planned out 5 reading lessons for you to print and teach! ... continue reading...
15 Fall Videos for Kids | Great for a Primary Classroom
Fall videos for kids! Use these fall videos to teach about leaves, pumpkins, bats, owls, and spiders during your fall-themed lessons. Fall Videos for Kids It's Fall Y'all! Autumn is such a fun time of the year in the classroom and even out of the classroom. With the weather getting cooler and the leaves changing colors, it gives you a special kind of feeling! During the Fall season, we oftentimes teach about the falling leaves, pumpkins, bats, spiders, and owls as we lead into Halloween. I ... continue reading...
PreK Curriculum
Do you always feel rushed over teaching everything needed during preschool or transitional kindergarten? I’m sure you do! We often only have our students for a few hours each day. While we need to set time aside for snacks, bathroom breaks, and some play time, we also have so much material we want to teach students. Thankfully, there are amazing PreK curriculum offerings that combine all subjects with hands-on, engaging activities! Importance of Senses Our adorable 4 and 5-year-olds ... continue reading...