In 1995 Betty Hart and Todd Risley conducted a study which revealed a language gap that exists between families of different incomes, and shed light on a disparity of parent/child interactions that follow children through their lifetime. It seems the greatest gift that parents can give their children is free and readily available: quality and substantive interaction.
Read MoreToday I took a city tour of a major US city. While all of the tourists were taking in the city sites, I couldn't help looking at the city with teacher eyes: those eyes teachers use every day as they lovingly work for the equality of instruction. I reflected on several books that I have been reading and of what I know as a teacher about the affects of systemic poverty on education. I know that I can't single handedly fix the 30 million word gap that faces our nation, but I will do everything in my power to help the students I teach have a fair and equal shot at public education.
Read MoreIt is the end of the school year and yes, everyone is exhausted and ready for a break. But before you head off for your summer plans, remember to stop for a second -- look around -- and celebrate the learning you brought into your student's lives.
Read MoreSo you've come to the end of the school year and you're feeling a bit frazzled? Want some tips to help you finish the year strong with energy and enthusiasm? Well, here are two methods I like to use:
Read MoreThe end of the school year is filled with documentation, testing, and data. My days are like yours, filled with assessment, celebrations, and sadly anxiety and disappointment of missing that green score. I know the data is important, but I love to cast that aside for a few days and celebrate each and every child's individual growth.
Read MoreThe 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
Read MoreI love ending the year with a celebration! A great way to celebrate in preschool or kindergarten is a formal graduation, classroom program, or celebration. I have participated in all three ending events and I have found no matter the format, songs are the essential component of the festivities. The links below contain some of my favorite end of the year must-do's and of course posters and links to our songs suggestions.
Read MoreI love spring! It is the perfect time to try something new! If you have been thinking about trying ESGI, and just haven't made the plunge, the time is now! Here's the deal --- hold on to your hat! Now is the perfect time to organize that data in your classroom, inform (and impress) your administration and parents, and save time-time-time!
Read MoreIt is always great to have that teacher friend next door who will share great ideas. This idea comes from Lyndsey's friend Lynnell Fox. An adorable, super-simple bunny hat!
Starting at the corners, cut out two bunny ear shapes, stopping at about the middle of the construction paper leaving about 2 inches between the cuts. Don't cut the ears off completely, leave them attached at the end and make a slight fold line.
Read MoreAllow students the opportunity to be budding artists by painting flowers.
Learning to draw means learning to see! Painting flowers is a fantastic way to all students opportunity to create by looking at, thinking about, and discovering that nature is made of a vast amount of shapes, colors, and textures.
I begin by showing my students examples of great artists like Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gough. It is very powerful to show their work of art side-by-side to the real object; in this case a flower.
Read MoreYou know what I see when I look at this photo of a classroom from the 1960s? I see a growth mindset classroom! All the tools are there: painting, sensory, blocks, puzzles, dramatic play, art, and smiling faces. As a teacher for nearly 3 decades I know that children learn best through natural curiosity, discovery, a rich environment, through trial and error, through playing and cooperating with others, through failing and succeeding, and through play.
Read MoreOkay! I admit it, March is one of my favorite months. It is the month when the world begins to come back to life after a deep winter slumber; buds begin to appear one-by-one, and the sun begins to spread its warmth. The month is filled with so many great opportunities for thematic fun.
Here are a few of our products that will bring Spring fun and learning into your classroom.
You might want to check out our original song and free poster March Into March here.
Read MoreI have been working on teaching my Kindergarteners the following Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.2
With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.3
With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
I always try to teach Curriculum Standards in ways that promote, not only the content, but important skills such as creativity, collaboration, and communication. I also want to teach my students in meaningful, integrated ways that encourage investigation. So in order to teach these standards I have set up a few stations that can teach story elements through play.
Read MoreI was raised on a dairy farm where my dad was employed as the hired hand. My family didn't have a lot of extra money, and I certainly didn't have but one or two store-bought toys. There was one thing, however, I had a lot of and that was opportunities for discovery, play and access to plenty of books through the community Bookmobile.
Read MoreI love this little readers, and my students love them too! We offer 127 readers as guided reading sets, 50 guided readers, one included in each thematic unit, and 12 readers, one in each kindergarten homework packet!
Read MoreAs someone who thrives on integrated instruction, I've never really been able to find a satisfactory way to integrate my instruction on Valentine's Day. Then I was contacted by GIANTmicrobes asking me if I would like to use some of their heart themed plushies in my instruction. Wow! What a light bulb moment! What if instead of focusing on love and candy on Valentines Day, I focused on the human heart and it's amazing functions using this cute guy?
Read MoreHere are my son and I testing out the lesson. Who will win the Penguin Race? A penguin on his belly? The "skeleton racer" skateboard? Or, a penguin on a skeleton board? My son made some interesting observations while we were racing penguins. For example, he tried to reduce the incline of the ramp but immediately realized that the ramps became too weak at the midpoint and needed added support. We also tried adding tin foil to the ramps to make them look like snowy hills, but he quickly told me that we needed to take it off because "It's slowing the penguins down because it's too bumpy." I'm so excited to take this experiment into the classroom and see what my students come up with!
Read MoreWater can be studied at almost any time of the year. Water lessons easily fit into ocean, winter, weather, and spring units. Learning about evaporation, the states of matter, water tension, water flow, sink or float, etc. gives students opportunities to experiment and use scientific process skills.
Read MoreWinter, is my favorite season inside of the classroom (But not outside for sure)! There are so many fun winter things to do that are engaging, bring cross-curricular learning opportunities, and simply put -- winter fun! Last week, as part of our Winter Thematic Learning, making crystals was a major focus.
Read MoreI have just discovered the most wonderful recource that has been helping my students attend more to print. Bookbuilderonline.com (made by Pioneer Valley Books)! My students have moved beyond the skill of tracking print and are ready to start attending to text features.
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