One of our social studies objectives is for the kids to understand the passage of time, and how this is reflected through life events. We usually accomplish this both through daily calendar activities and investigations of timelines. One thing that has made a huge impact in terms of helping my students understand timelines is our [...]

3D Objects and Drawing
One of our current math objectives is for kids to be able to recognize and name common 3D objects, and for them to be able to relate them to everyday objects. My kids are getting pretty good at this after a variety of activities. I want to share about what we did today. About once [...]

Co-Create Anchor Charts
We had some discussion in my school recently about anchor charts, and whether they should be teacher created or student created. I confess, I shy away from completely student created charts. I think it is hard for young children to come up with one picture or symbol, and then consistently remember what it means. If we [...]

New Poetry Unit and a HUGE Sale!
I am so excited to share some great news! First, Teachers Pay Teachers is having a huge sale on May 7 and May 8, 2013 in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. Many sellers are throwing sales, myself included. My entire store will be 20% off, and if you use the TPT promotion code, TAD13, you [...]

Nonfiction Excitement!
We just kicked off our last reading unit of the year – nonfiction/informational text. Of course, we have been reading and exploring informational text all year in a variety of ways. However, this unit is our in depth focus, and I LOVE IT!! Well, my kids love it, and that makes us all love it. [...]

Retelling Made Easy
Retelling is one of those things I did not used to enjoy spending much time on. However, this year I began using my Sulzby texts (books we have read together MANY times) and my mentor texts to teach retelling, and it has been amazing! One of the things I disliked about teaching retelling was trying [...]

Poetry Fun With Word Clouds
We are in the middle of one of my favorite reading units in kindergarten – poetry! This unit was actually removed from our mandatory curriculum, but I still spend a few weeks on it with my kids because I love it so much! (And so do they.) We have been discussing and exploring how poems [...]

Kidblog!
This year I learned about one of the most fantastic technology resources I have used in ages – Kidblog! Kidblog.org is a secure blogging service designed specifically for teachers and students. It allows teachers to create a classroom network of student blogs. Students can write their own blogs, read their classmates’ blogs, and write and [...]

Teaching Kids to “Zoom In” on Small Moments
We are working on our “small moments” writing unit right now. We have done some extensive work with writing personal narratives (stories about our own lives.) At this time of year the focus is on getting kids to “zoom in” on really interesting moments in their lives, and then share rich details about those moments. [...]

Alternative Clip Charts – Flipping Management on its Head
Grab My Button!











