Life in a pond is filled with some of the most fascinating characters you can find. Consequently it makes for a great thematic unit!. Frogs, duck, turtles, alligators, butterflies, dragonflies, and other pond life are among some of my favorite creatures to study, because they are not only fascinating, but pretty cute!
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Two of my favorite thematic units are the Jungle and the Zoo. These two units are such great companions! I begin with the study of the jungle and then move into study of zoo animals.
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My mom told me that she wanted to name me Kathy, but she went with Kathleen because I was due on St. Patrick’s day. I also took a DNA test that told me I’m 4.9% Irish, so I guess there is nothing to do but embrace this lighthearted holiday, which is based on a patron Saint in Ireland that died in 461. Wow! That is a long time for a celebration to survive. The community where I currently live has a giant St. Patrick’s Day parade, started by a an Irish settler in the community four decades ago. His goal was to give opportunity for everyone to act like a kid again, which is something I do every day!
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I love bringing fairy and folk tales into my classroom, I could focus on these tales all year long and still not run out of fun, rigorous, and purposeful material for my students!
These great tales are a fabulous way to study positive and negative character traits, other cultures, learn effective decision making, how to handle conflict, and natural consequences. It’s no wonder that these tales have been told for centuries!
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Look no further for some great Christmas and Winter Thematic units for your kindergarten, preschool, Pre-k, T-K or 1st grade classroom. All of these units are cross-curricular, strategically linked to the common core standards, and scripted for easy use.
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The only thing more important to a child beside themselves and their families are the communities in which they reside. This week we have been studying our community as part of our Social Studies curriculum.
To begin the unit, I introduced my students to Google Earth. It is fabulous! I
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Whether your 100th Day is long past or yet to come, counting to 100 has relevance in your classroom. According to the Math Common Core Standards, kindergartners should be able to count to 100 by ones and by tens. While a few students begin the year counting to 100, most kindergarten kids need to count and count and count some more to achieve that goal.
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One of my favorite thematic units is Ocean; after all the ocean is amazing! Did you know there are over 1 million different types of species that live in the sea, and the ocean covers more that 70% of our planet earth?
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One of my favorite activities to do during January is Arctic Animals. The science content is great, the books are great, and face it, the animals are adorable!
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I have loved reading this Russian tale to children since I held my own babies on my lap 30 years ago. This story is timeless! The many versions of this story make it a great book to compare and contrast, look for key details, do close readings, and even make a class play!
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