Teach Your Students/Children about Memorial Day!

For many kids today, the real meaning behind Memorial Day is lost. They know that they get a three day weekend, and they also know that school is about over when this holiday rolls around. However, Memorial Day is a lot more than just a day off from school and kids need to be taught about this day and the meaning behind it. Finding ways to teach kids about the significant of Memorial Day and how important it is to honor those who have protected the freedom of this country is important. The Reader’s Theater below is a great way to teach young ones all about Memorial Day in a Fun, clever manner!!  Check it out!!

Click this pic for this Reader's Theater!

It's FIELD TRIP Time!!

It’s FIELD TRIP time!  I LOVE field trips!  One of our favorites is a trip to a local grocery store.   This trip is an extension to our class study of the Five Senses.  We use this FABULOUS Reader’s Theater (seen below) called THE GROCERY STORE AND MY FIVE SENSES!  We use it to set our focus for the field trip.  I also use the GROCERY STORE/SUPER MARKET FIELD TRIP WORKBOOK (also seen below) while we are actually on the field trip to keep my students focused on learning while they are there.  Check out these great tools and let the JOY of learning begin!!

Unifix Alphabet Cubes!

I LOVE my connecting Unifix Alphabet Cubes, and so do my students! Children can "build" words by connecting cubes. Lower-case letters are printed on one side of each cube, with the upper-case letters printed on the opposite side. Set children loose with these and let them discover how many words they can construct.

For more ideas, learning centers, and printables for teaching the alphabet, take a peek at my ABC Books Thematic Unit! 

Using Magnetic Letters!

Using Magnetic letters with a favorite book!  When given opportunities to explore magnetic letters along with a favorite book spelling can happen spontaneously!  CHOICE can equal LEARNING with MEANING and PURPOSE!!

Inspired Creative Writing!

The past several weeks my classroom has been invaded by ALIENS!!  No need to call Men in Black!  These aliens inspired a great deal of creativity and writing!  When writing creatively, I have my students use invented spelling.  They say the word s-l-o-w-l-y and write down the sounds they hear.  This is a great technique for teaching phonics in a relevant and authentic manner.

 

Click Here to Get this Alien Thematic Unit!

Alien Visit!

I invited an Official Classroom Alien to Visit!!  WHAT!?!?!!  See pictures below for ideas!  That’s right!  Convince your student’s that an alien wants to come to school to learn!  He could be your class mascot for the entire year!  Be sure to share the alien introductory letter (see below) with your class!  The writing, stories, imagination, discussions, and conversations this alien will inspire is amazing and well worth it!   

Alien Invasion!

Click Pic to Get the Alien Thematic Unit!

To kick off my Alien Thematic Unit I collected as many alien toys as I could to bring into my classroom.  Many of these pictured came from thrift stores.  My class even collected quarters, bid, and bought a class alien from Ebay!  (We bought a ROBOT for our classroom last month the same way!!)  What fantastic math lessons can come from that!!  The class was given time for free play to explore these aliens.  They also collected and changed out the batteries for these aliens.  Parents donated some of the aliens and batteries, too!