Pumpkins are arguably the most iconic symbol of the Fall season. Even better, pumpkins are widely available in stores and homes. They are awesome when used in decor, recipes and halloween carving fun. This makes them a perfect object to incorporate into our lessons. Continue reading below for 5 fun pumpkin lessons for kids! 1. Scientific Procedure First things first, if you have an untouched pumpkin, then you have the perfect object for a scientific investigation. Students can be introduced to the idea of a hypothesis in which they can take guesses as to what is inside the pumpkin. For example: “I think the pumpkin will have seeds inside of it, because most things that grow fromContinue reading
Category: Teaching Ideas & Inspiration
Free Book Study – Zaid and the Gigantic Cloud
When kids love a story (especially one with a moral, diverse characters and plenty of great language) I like to make it a focus of study. In that spirit, I created a free book study resource of Zaid and the Gigantic Cloud. The book study is meant to reinforce effective reading strategies such as: – Predictions – Mental Images – Inference – Making Connections – Summarizing – Identifying Story Elements The package includes 8 worksheets, with each one reinforcing a different reading strategy. This is a perfect way to get kids to make more meaning out of their texts and engage with stories. Give it a try and leave a comment telling me what youContinue reading
How To Get The Best Star Themed Classroom
A star themed classroom is probably one of the most common themes out there. For me though, that doesn’t make it less special. I get it: stars are empowering, grand and inspirational. It’s a wonderful analogy to give to our students and can be used in lots of creative ways. Check out my ways to get the best star themed classroom. Work It Into Your Classroom Management Stars are a super easy theme to work into your classroom management methods. They are a great way to track progress, and reward students for their effort. It naturally provides such a warm tone to any classroom management strategies as it leans easily towards positive reinforcement.Continue reading
Name Spelling Practice – Getting Kindergarten Ready!
My daughter will be starting kindergarten this September, and I’ve been thinking of ways to get her ready for this huge milestone. One thing I’d really like to help her with is spelling her name. Even if she can’t write it out herself, I want to get her familiar with the spelling and letter-sounds involved. It’s a great way to get kids feeling responsible for their classwork, identifying their belongings and is a nice transition towards writing. Here are my 5 favorite name spelling practice ideas! Playdoh Practice My daughter is a bit obsessed with playdoh and finds any excuse to use it. I have a hunch that most kids would jump at a chanceContinue reading
4 Ways To Make Ramadan Educational
The month of Ramadan is approaching, and Muslims around the world are gearing up to celebrate it. If you don’t yet know, Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims, who are encouraged to fast during daylight hours, give in charity and be God-conscious. There are a lot of lessons to be learned during this month, and we can use it to educate our children. Take a look below for 4 ways to make Ramadan educational. 1. Teach Goal Setting Ramadan is a great time to teach our kids about goal setting, which will help promote a growth mindset. I absolutely love Little Wings Gallery’s “Ramadan Goals” printable. It’s great when kids see their goals in a visual format.Continue reading
Adorable Mother’s Day Coupon Booklet
I’ve got an adorable little activity for your students to work on this Mother’s Day! It’s a super cute coupon booklet. Students will get to create and design coupons to give to their moms. This is a great way to encourage kids to think about the ways they can show appreciation to their mothers, and will promote some actual at-home action for Mother’s Day. The package contains both a colored and black and white version of the booklet pages for your choosing. Your students will have so much fun coming up with coupon ideas! Check it out below: Black & White Version This is the black and white version colored in, filled out and ready toContinue reading
Story Retell Activities
This week (May 1st-May 7th) is Children’s Book Week! As an adult, I’m a tad bit obsessed with children’s books, which I know sounds weird. However, read the right ones and you’ll realize how amazing they can be. They hold important messages in sweet little packages, and are a key to our children’s future success and learning. So, how do we equip our young readers with the right strategies to enjoy and comprehend the books intended for them? One way is through story retelling or summarizing. Retelling a story is an important reading strategy and measure of comprehension. It lays the foundation for students to be able to summarize effectively, discuss important concepts and overallContinue reading
Fun Water Bottle Crafts
Earth Day is this week! Let’s teach our kids about how to turn what looks like trash, into something valuable again. Now, I usually don’t have plastic water bottles in my home because of their environmental impact. However, if we ever receive them from restaurants or after a long trip, I keep them and use them in any crafty way I can. Take a look at 3 fun water bottle crafts my daughter and I have done: Bottle Bangles What you’ll need: an empty water bottle an exacto knife or scissors yarn, ribbon or loose fabric tape any decorations 🙂 My daughter absolutely loved the bangles we created. In fact she wore them all day!Continue reading
Fun Egg Carton Crafts
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I love repurposing our recyclables into new and creative crafts. I want my daughter to see how things can fulfill more then one purpose, to understand that not all should be wasted and to see the creative possibilities in the otherwise mundane. In honor of Earth Day here are our best egg carton craft ideas: 1. Sp-egg-tacles What you’ll need: Empty egg carton Scissors A single hole-puncher Pipe-cleaners Markers or stickers This was such an adorable craft! My daughter walked around the house almost all day wearing her little glasses. She put them on, and immediately became different characters! All you need to do is cut outContinue reading
Fun Plant Posters & Seed Journal
Anyone else willing Spring to come on in full force? I know I am, and you’re students probably are too! Help the cause with these fun plant posters and seed journal, which are also perfect for Earth Day (coming up on Apr 22nd). The Posters Your students are going to love these quirky posters! They print beautifully on regular 8×11 paper, and are the perfect addition to your classroom walls or bulletin board. They show the progression of a plant from budding to blooming. Check it out: The Seed Journal In addition to the adorable posters, your students can use this plant pot cut-out and lined sheets to create a little seed journal. Here are the steps toContinue reading