Today we are excited to share with you our favorite Halloween books for young readers. Books are always the perfect way to learn about a holiday, make connections to the world, go on an imaginary adventure and maybe even giggle a little. Halloween books are always a little silly and I loved sharing them with my kids. Do you love…
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Supplies Doughnuts (Glazed work the best!) Candy Eyes Plastic Vampire Teeth (Dollar General has them out now) Directions 1. Take a pair of your Plastic Vampire Teeth and carefully place them in the circle part of the donut. Donuts come in all shapes, so you might not get a perfect fit, however, they will still look pretty festive! 2. Now take…
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Teaching CVC Words Teaching CVC words is a natural transition from learning sounds to reading words. CVC words consist of words that are a consonant, vowel, consonant combination such as cat, log, bed. In order for children to be able to read a cvc word, students must first know the sound each letter makes in the word. The goal is…
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Teacher Costumes for Halloween Do you have a teacher costume that you get to wear to school for Halloween? Maybe you get to be your favorite book character. I always loved dress up days when I was teaching. Yes, I know, as a parent, dress up days can be stressful but the kids have so much fun. It’s totally worth…
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Have you started working with small groups yet? If you have, one thing you might be focusing on is building your young readers fluency. This is not something that happens overnight so develop a mindset that we are seeking progress over perfection. Reading is a cognitive function that requires the use of different parts of the brain so every child…
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September often means teaching about apples if you are in an early childhood classroom. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite apple read alouds to share with you. Reading books is such a great way to introduce a topic, give pictorial examples and to reteach science concepts through nonfiction texts. Apple Books Hello World! How do apples grow? This board…
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BAT TIME! Even if you don’t celebrate Halloween, this adorable bat snack is sure to be a fun time for your kids and super easy to make. Make sure you keep reading for our favorite bat books and a learning video too! Ingredients Oreo sandwich cookies Brown candy coating or chocolate almond bark Candy eyeballs (I used these.) Candy corn…
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What are fine motor skills? Fine motor skills are the ability to make movements using small muscles in the fingers, hands and forearms. Examples include cutting, buttoning, carrying small objects, eating, etc. Strengthening these skills leads to the highest form of fine motor skills which is handwriting. In the early childhood classroom (and even sooner), it’s important to provide a…
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What is a sight word? Sight words are words that do not follow rules of spelling (standard phonetic patterns) or decoding so children must memorize them. Starting in kindergarten, students are required to learn sight words as part of their balanced reading instruction. Teachers usually pick either the Dolch Words list or the Fry Words list to plug into their…
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Building Stamina In Young Learners Why is building stamina in young learners important? What is STAMINA? Stamina is the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort. Why is stamina important to teachers and for students? Just like you build the stamina to run long distance, you also need to build stamina to read, write, listen, and even sit. Everything…
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If You Give A Mouse A Cookie is always a class favorite for back to school. Today we are sharing this fun craft activity. Supplies: Canvas or Cardstock Paint Paint Brush Scissors Glue Black Marker Black & White Cardstock Mouse Instructions: Paint your child’s hand with blue and light brown paint. (refer to the photo) Make sure they keep their…
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Teaching Names to Young Learners Names are meaningful which is why teaching names to young learners is so important. It’s actually the most important word your child will ever learn. As they grown, their name is the word that they recognize the most and holds emotional meaning to them. Because of this, they are usually more eager and willing to…
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No one told me When I started teaching, no one told me how to find balance. No one told me how to teach from abundance. The goal was to understand the curriculum and teach the children. I soon realized that there were a million missing pieces in what I thought my job was. I did my best, chasing my tail,…
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