Literacy

Professional Development

9 Back-to-School Freebies for Kinder and First Grade

When you think of the back-to-school season, you probably think of decorating your classroom, labeling everything with students’ names, participating in professional development, contacting parents, and prepping for Meet the Teacher Night. There is so much to do! To help make this school year a bit easier, I put together a list of my favorite […]

6 Dental Health Activities to Support Learning [+ a FREEBIE]

I can still remember learning about teeth and dentists through our dental health activities back when I was in elementary school. Can you? I remember seeing a huge model of a mouth and taking turns brushing its teeth. I can also picture the dentist who came to talk to us in first grade. And I’m […]

7 Must-Try Arctic Animals Activities for Kinder and First Grade

When January rolls around, students are often in a post-holiday wild phase. Or they may even be in a post-holiday blues mood. Either way, we need to regroup as a class community and kick off the new year with some exciting and engaging activities. One unit kindergarten and first grade teachers often start with in […]

5 of the Best Pumpkin Activities for Kindergarten and First Grade

When it comes to fall in the classroom, what do you think of? Besides a pumpkin spice latte to start the day, I immediately think of pumpkin activities and investigations. When you use pumpkins in the classroom, you can easily integrate reading, writing, math, and science. Who knew one vegetable could provide so many learning […]

6 Fun Activities to Try For Your Next Apple Investigation Unit

One classroom favorite topic to cover across the board is apples! For teachers and students alike, learning about apples and an apple investigation is a fall favorite. Who knew one fruit could bring fun and help students master important science concepts? If you’re gearing up and trying to plan apple investigations, you’ve come to the […]

Virtual Weather Activities: Ideas, Tips, & Free Downloads

One of my favorite science topics to teach is weather. My little learners always loved it, too! Weather is all around us, and students already have some background knowledge of how it affects them. When it comes to teaching weather while distance learning, it can feel overwhelming to reinvent the wheel. Today, I’m sharing some […]

6 Useful Tips for Teaching Science While Distance Learning

When it comes to teaching science while distance learning, how do you feel? If you aren’t feeling confident, don’t worry! First of all, know that you are not alone. Secondly, I’ve got you covered. No matter what science is looking like for you, I have some ideas on how to get it in while distance […]

5 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day During Distance Learning

One of the holidays we usually celebrate in the classroom is Earth Day. Even though teachers and students are all distance learning right now, we can still find ways to teach students about Earth Day and how to care for our earth. I came up with some activities that would be easy to implement while […]

How to Use Loom Recording for Online Teaching

Step-by-step tutorial to use Loom for online teaching. Many teachers near and far are using Zoom to meet with their students face-to-face. Even my own daughter had a meeting this week and seeing a class full of 6 and 7-year-olds get together was the cutest thing! Their excitement to see each other was so genuine! […]

How to Use Zoom for Online Teaching

Step-by-step tutorial to use Zoom for online teaching. Have you found yourself in a sea of technology overwhelm as you are trying to figure out how to deliver online teaching? Are you being asked to implement distance learning with your young students? With all that is changing so quickly, we all feel overwhelmed by how […]

5 Ideas for Excellent Life Cycle Activities

There are a ton of great life cycle activities online, Pinterest, and in your curriculum, but how do you decide which ones to do? Which activities will help teach and reach all of the students in your class? I don’t know about you, but when I first started teaching, I was drawn to the super […]

How to Easily Integrate Science and Literacy to Make the Most of Your Day

Do you struggle to fit science in every day? Or does your school district’s curriculum not have enough content to make planning for science easy? I have been there friends! If you don’t integrate science into other subjects, it can difficult to figure out how to help students master their science standards in a short […]

Everything You Need to Teach All About the Weather

One of my favorite science topics to teach is the weather unit. Because weather is all around us, it’s fun and easily observable for our young scientists. But, here’s the problem I used to run in to: there are so many different directions you can take when it comes to teaching all about weather, not […]

How to Teach Force and Motion {6 Useful Activities}

How do you feel about teaching force and motion? It was always a favorite of mine to implement. I loved leading students through a variety of force and motion activities that they loved and engaged them. But, at one point I stopped to wonder if what I was doing was just fun or actually taught […]

7 Effective Ways to Teach My Five Senses

Teaching all about the five senses is always one of my favorite science topics. Plus, five senses activities are always so hands-on and fun to implement. Because it’s usually taught at the beginning of the year, I love seeing how my budding scientists learn how to use science tools, implement their interactive science notebooks, and […]

5 Awesome Activities to Help You Teach Being a Scientist

One of the things I love about the beginning of the year is kicking off my science block. I love helping students learning things like “What is a scientist?”, the tools they will use throughout the year, and how to complete a science experiment. It’s so fun to watch them learn, test, and explore. But, […]

Simplify the End of Year and Explore the Ocean

Explore the ocean with these all about the ocean lesson plan ideas! The end of the school year is near, and EVERYONE can feel it. Students are bouncing off the walls in anticipation for summer break, and teachers are so tired they’re hitting the sack at 8 p.m. How can you keep learning meaningful when […]

Writing About Science in the Primary Classroom

Integrating science and writing is simple! Read more about why and how you can do this in this helpful blog post about writing about science!

Writing about science can seem difficult, especially in primary grades. However, we know it is so important! With our kindergarten, first grade, and second grade learners, it’s critical that we help set the foundation of learning for them to be successful in writing about science. One way to do that is to make sure students […]

Which type of professional development interests you?