Mock Presidential Election Activities for Your Classroom!

Get your students involved in the authentic, age-appropriate, civic activities of a Mock Presidential Election!  It is so important to teach democracy and patriotism at an early age and keep America strong!!

Click on the White House for Your Mock Election Activities!

Nothing Like a Field Trip to an APPLE ORCHARD!!

The air is dry and crisp!  The bees are buzzing around the fallen apples.  Squeals of excitement can be heard when children pick their first apple - ever!  The smell of applesauce being made outdoors makes you feel as if you've stepped back in time.  I LOVE APPLE ORCHARDS IN THE FALL!  Who wouldn't!?!  To keep focus and learning alive and well on this field trip, I've created an APPLE ORCHARD FIELD TRIP ACTIVITY WORKBOOK!  I love it, other teachers love it, and chances are, you will too!

Apple Orchard Field Trip Workbook - Use ON or AFTER Your Trip! Click Now!

New Reader's Theaters to Begin Your School Year!!

As you prepare your beginning of the year reading strategies, don't forget about Reader's Theater!  Reader's Theater is a fantastic strategy to increase fluency, create an atmosphere of reading with a purpose, and increase enthusiasm for reading!  Check out my newest Reader's Theater scripts below!

CREATING THE PERFECT READING NOOK!! Some of the GREATS!!!

As I was thinking about the THEME of my classroom this year, I wanted to be sure to hit a HOME RUN with my READING NOOK!  Giving students motivation to pick up and enjoy books is a huge goal of every teacher!  I began researching what other teachers had tried (instead of reinventing the wheel – if you know what I mean!)  I compiled the following pics of some of the GREAT READING NOOKS I found!  They inspired me, and I hope they will inspire you as well!  Have a great school year!

Rub a Dub Dub - Read a Book in the Tub!

Reading at the Beach!

Row Row Row Your Book!

Reading Under the Stars!

Royal Reading Nook!

Read the INSIDE of the Cereal Box!

Grow with a Good Book!

Dive into a GREAT Book!

Rainbow Reading!

Stop on in the Reading Hut!

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!