Are you looking for activities for young learners who are not in school for an extended amount of time due to illness, vacation or school closure?  Have you thought about how you are going to get your activities to your student (s) during this time?   I have put together a FREE packet for teachers and parents to help children practice these skills over the break from school.  The good news... you do NOT need to print anything.  This packet  is set up with picture files called JPEGS so a selected page(s) can easily be attached to an email...

Learning centers are a favorite time of the day.  My kids love the hands on activities and I am thrilled they they are engaged in skills based practice. Teachers are often asked my administrators about student accountability.  Many choose to use a recording sheet to check student work. I have to say, at time I have used a recodring sheet but I truly believe it placed the accountability of student learning on the teacher and not the students. Not to mention, 1-copies are always an issue, 2- I dislike checking excessive papers and 3- stu...

Are you an organizer by heart or does the term ORGANIZE make you twitch? Well either way, organization can help keep teachers one step ahead of the students so let's see what we can do to make our school year run just a little smoother! ORGANIZATIONAL TIP #1 Have curriculum prepped and ready to go ahead of time. I try to make it a point to prep as much as I can in the summer and organize it in a way to make it easy to find when I need it! Parent volunteers can also be a great resource to help you prep materials ahead of time and ...

Its so exciting to select the perfect alphabet as we set up our classrooms, but how much use does it actually get?  Alphabet Posters are a a great visual for students to use throughout the day as the posters hang above your board in the front of the classroom.  That being said, students need to be exposed to the alphabet in a variety of ways!   Alphabet Posters can be  be used as large flashcards during circle time.  I print them 2 to a page so they are large enough for all students to see from any place on the carpet! Depending on the...

Small group rotations is one of my favorite times of the day!  It is the time of our day for explicit instruction in literacy and math with students... YES, even in pre-k!  The best part is, with the careful planning for hands on activities and games, students grow and thrive while playing! Small group literacy includes activities that focus on name recognition, phonological awareness, letters and sounds, writing  and prereading skills! Note:  This post contains affaliate links to products I love using in the classroom! Most children ...