Literacy

Professional Development

Celebrating Family Traditions: Needs and Wants Activities, Plus Technology

In today’s digital age, teaching children about needs and wants while navigating the ever-expanding world of technology has proven difficult. As educators, we know that helping our little learners understand the difference between needs and wants is a crucial life skill. Even more, with kids being surrounded by smartphones, tablets, and smart gadgets at home […]

4 April Fools’ Day Activities For Kinder and First Grade With a Freebie

When it comes to April Fools’ Day, teachers either love it or hate it! I liked to do some April Fools’ Day activities and jokes to help keep students engaged because I knew it was on their minds. I’ve turned all the tables backward and put broccoli on wrapped lollipop sticks as little pranks on […]

Holidays Around the World: Activities for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas

When it comes to teaching all about holidays around the world in December, it can be tough to make sure you teach them effectively and with accuracy. From researching each holiday to finding age-appropriate activities to sourcing great read alouds, there’s a ton to do for each holiday. It’s just overwhelming. Well, not anymore, friend! […]

19 Books to Celebrate and Teach Christmas Around the World

Every December, my students and I would create an amazing staycation in our classroom by learning about Christmas around the world. We would do traditional crafts, learn songs, and even try different foods. One of my favorite ways to introduce this topic is through books about Christmas around the world traditions. The holiday season not […]

7 Fun Presidents’ Day Activities for Kids

The third Monday of February marks Presidents’ Day. I always have good intentions to celebrate and teach my students about this national holiday, but if I’m not careful, it can slip by! Planning my Presidents’ Day activities and lesson plans ahead of time makes such a big difference! When I’m thoughtful and intentional, I can […]

New Year’s Activities for Kids in the Classroom

Oh, a fresh start! While I truly believe there is nothing magical about a new year, it’s hard to deny that there is something about a fresh start and turning the page to a new year. Adults and kids both enjoy a fresh start, right? The fresh start is a great time to look at […]

Must-Do Class Election Activities {+ FREEBIE}

I think I could go without saying how important and what a privilege it is that we all have a voice through voting. As classroom teachers, you teach your little ones about being a good citizen and about confidently and gracefully sharing your opinion. During this election season, I think all teachers are diving in […]

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 […]

Christmas Around the World: Gone Digital

How does teaching Christmas around the world make you feel? Does it make you overwhelmed with the thought of researching a bunch of different countries’ cultures and traditions? I know I was always so busy this time of year that it was hard to teach these things in a meaningful way. I wanted to come […]

The Best Holiday Resources for Primary Teachers

This time of year can be hectic. Between the celebrations, grades due, and sugared-up students, I know it can be hard to write lesson plans and include meaningful activities. So I wanted to put together an ultimate list of holiday resources that are perfect for kindergarten, first, and second grade to make lesson planning as […]

Black History Month Activities

Are you looking for resources to start teaching about Black history all year? I have some great read alouds and simple engaging activities for your students as you talk about how beautiful the Black race and African culture is! Get started in your kindergarten and first grade classroom with these black history activities.

February is Black History Month and a wonderful time to celebrate the amazing contributions African Americans have made to history. I love that we have a specific month to celebrate the Black race.  As a parent of a black little girl, we talk about race often.  Even if we don’t bring it up, it comes […]

Celebrating Family Traditions in the Classroom

Celebrating families and family traditions in the classroom is incredibly valuable for our students. Use these ideas to celebrate families in your kindergarten and first grade classroom.

This time of year is perfect for celebrating family traditions in the classroom! Celebrating family traditions is a fantastic way to make sure all students get to share about their families. It’s also a great way to show how families are alike and different, all at the same time. When our students get a peek […]

3 Favorite Lesson Hooks

Hooks for lessons are important! Be creative with them and check out these 3 simple, free, lesson hooks!

Hooking students at the beginning of a lesson can be a make or break moment.   It’s the time that you truly create buy in for the topic you are teaching. I would do my best every day to make the hook of my lesson engaging and to truly capture the attention of every child. Here […]

Favorite Thanksgiving and Turkey Activities for Little Learners

Fall is definitely here and that means it’s time to hit the ground running with more fun thematic lessons. No matter where you are in your curriculum, learning about relevant topics will always increase your classroom engagement. In the fall, I like to fill our lessons with Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and turkey activities! There are […]

5 Fire Prevention Week Activities for the K-2 Classroom

Did you know that October 4-10 is National Fire Prevention Week? It would always creep up on me, and I would have to rush to find something to squeeze it in.  As a child, I remember this week being a total blast at school!  The firetruck would come and the firefighters would do a demonstration. […]

Groundhog Day Fun!

Groundhog Day is an exciting time for little learners! Teach them about why we celebrate this day, what a groundhog is, and the history behind the holiday!

This year Groundhog Day is on a Monday.  As a classroom teacher, I always loved Groundhog Day during the week.  It’s just a fun little day to talk about traditions with the kiddos!  The excitement is just grand for them. This year I created a little Groundhog Day unit to learn about the holiday! You can make […]

Presidents’ Day in Kindergarten

Presidents' Day Activities for Kindergarten and First Grade--LOVE the timeline activity!

President’s Day lines up PERFECTLY with our curriculum.  It’s not every day that a holiday is included in our standards.  We spent some time on both Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.   Here is a peek at our Presidents’ Day activities! We started off with reading several non-fiction books throughout the week about Abraham Lincoln […]

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