There are many different ways to approach teaching a child about their world, but developmentally, it makes sense to start with their little circle and move out from there. When kids are young, they are looking at the world through the lens of ME - what I like, what I want, what I have, etc. This is the time to focus on helping them to know what is going on around them with family, friends, neighbors, and themselves. Here are some fun activities that help them with learning about these things. All About Me ActivitiesThese activities help kids to focus on their unique identity, interests, and experiences. They encourage them to explore and share information about themselves, including their name, family, hobbies, and favorite things. 1. Name Identity And Recognition - Create personalized name tags using their names and decorative materials like stickers, markers, or colorful paper. - Play name games that involve saying and spelling names 2, Family And Home - Create a family tree collage using photos or drawings of family members. Discuss family roles and relationships. - Draw pictures of their homes, including details like the color, number of windows, and any special features. 3. Hobbies - Create personalized "All About Me" books where they can write or draw about their favorite things, hobbies, and interests. 4. Favorite Things Or Preferences- Create a class chart or graph where they can share their favorite foods, colors, animals, etc. Discuss similarities and differences among classmates. 5. Celebrating Similarities And Differences - Provide magazines, newspapers, and art supplies for them to create collages showcasing diversity in appearance, interests, and abilities. Some Family Resources To Go FurtherLearning more about family backgrounds and cultures is an area that can be pursued when the children have an understanding of what makes them special or unique. Here are two resources that can help to develop these ideas more. Heritage Project Discovering Our Roots and Flat Family Project. Neighborhoods And CommunitiesDepending on where children live, their neighborhood and surrounding communities can be very different from other neighborhoods and communities. It's important to be able to recognize different types of communities and also identify which community is most like theirs. The three main types of communities most people are familiar with are urban, suburban, and rural. Here is a booklet that helps to explain some of the features that distinguish the different kinds of communities. Once children are familiar with the different types of communities, they will be able to look around the area where they live and start to identify different characteristics that will determine which kind of community they live in. Neighborhood And Community Activities1. Start with neighborhood walks. Ask questions that can help to determine noticeable characteristics. What kind of businesses and industries are there? What kind of housing is most common? Are there any landmarks? How much traffic is there? and so on. 2. Take note of some of the community helpers in the area. Who do they see regularly in their neighborhood? What type of community service do they provide? Learn more about their neighbors and community helpers. Perhaps bring in some community members to share what they do. 3. Learn more about the different businesses, services and landmarks or points of interest in their community. How many schools are there? Is there a library? How close is the hospital? What different services are there? Consider taking field trips to the various places such as the fire hall, police station, library, or grocery store to learn first hand how the different members of these places help the community. Provinces, States, And TerritoriesProvinces, states, and territories are larger areas of land that make up countries. Although they are considered as individual sections, they have a variety of different communities and characteristics, not just across the country, but also within each province, state, or territory. There are many different kinds of activities that can be done based on the areas being studied. Here are a few ideas. 1. Check out how the various areas are similar or different when it comes to climate zones and weather. Keep track of weather patterns by following the weather reports for the region and the country. How are they the same or different? Note: The wide range of climate changes across the larger regions and country may be surprising since children often expect the weather to be the same all around them. 2. Do activities that explore the geography of the country. What are the major cities, landmarks, types of landforms, etc. How do these things impact living in these areas? 3. Choose a couple of areas that are different from each other and research them. Here are some types of questions to ask: How do they vary in services and industries provided? What is the climate like there? What kinds of activities and landmarks are they know for? How is living the same or different? Some Projects To TryOver the years areas change. It's important for children to understand that life now is very different from what it was like many years ago. Here is a research project that can help them to understand how their community has changed in the past 100 or so years. When studying about different provinces, states, or territories, doing research is a great way for children to get a better understanding of where they live. Here is a research project the focuses on learning about the industries and services of a province, state, or territory. It has different ways to share what has been learned so that children can choose the format that best helps them to share their knowledge. The WorldContinue to help kids expand their knowledge of how big our world is. The world encompasses countries, oceans, and continents. Do activities that help them to see the vastness of where we live. Here are some ideas. 1. Look at globes and maps and see where the different countries are located. 2. Build puzzles and talk about the different continents and the countries that make them up. 3. Do activities that involve labeling the oceans and continents. 4. Choose some countries and do research activities on them with small groups. Have the groups share their findings with the rest of the class. This way several different countries can be explored and it will enrich the knowledge and understanding of cultures and diversity in the world. Enjoy sharing these activities with your students. Next time I will share ideas about teaching mapping and creating communities. Related PostsMoney is a necessary commodity in our lives, but it's a difficult concept for many children to understand. Because we are living in a plastic world, children don't always get to see and handle real money anymore. This makes it even more difficult for them to understand how to handle it and use it correctly. It is up to us as teachers to help them understand the importance of money and how to count it, earn it, pay for things with it, and make change when needed. This can be a daunting task unless we use concrete examples and situations. Recognizing Coins And Their ValuesRecognizing coins and understanding their values is one of the first things that needs to be taught. There are many different resources available for doing this, but it's important to make sure that kids get to actually see and handle the coins or play money that looks like the coins as they practice identifying them and stating their values. In Canada, we use the terms penny, nickel, dime, and quarter for the smaller values. It's amazing how many kids don't know which are which. I get questions like, "Is that the beaver, or the sailboat?" They examine the coins looking for clues as to how much each is worth. I suspect it is the same with kids in The United States. They may have different symbols on the coins, but the confusion still happens. Resources for identifying and counting moneyHere are some resources I created to help kids identify different coins and bills, recognize their values, and count money. There are Canadian and American versions as well as Boom cards versions for those wanting digital resources. It's important to make sure that these resources are used with many different hands on opportunities to manipulate the money and look at it closely so that the connection can be made to the abstract examples of images and questions. Resources for applying the skillsApplying the skills of counting, earning, and spending money is a necessary part of learning to handle money. I have created some resources to practice doing this. Note: Café Élisa is in French. Learning about debit cards and moneyBecause we live in a world of plastic currency, it's important to make sure children understand that money is still exchanging hands and there must be money available in order to use the debit card. I created this unit to help kids better understand this and to provide opportunities for them to earn money and keep track of what was going in and out of their bank accounts. Other money mattersCredit cards are another type of spending that adults use, but I didn't address this specifically with my students. It's a much bigger deal to explain debt and should be dealt with, but I feel it's best done in detail as kids get older. Taxes are another part of money skills that needs to be addressed. This will require separate instruction to better understand how to calculate it and allow for an extra cost when calculating what money is needed to purchase things. There's nothing worse than getting to the checkout and discovering you are short of money because of the added taxes. Kids need to be exposed to this in teaching about money so that they aren't disappointed when they go to buy something and don't have enough money. I have not specifically addressed this in any of my resources, but it's a necessary element to at least mention to younger children when teaching about spending money. Even in a mostly electronic economy, it's important to be able to handle actual money for situations where cash is needed. Hopefully some of these resources will help with preparing your students for the monetary world out there. Check out some of my money bundles for more resources and extra savings. Related PostsDo your students know much about money and how to count it, earn it, or use it for spending? Can they make change? Do they realize that they have to have money in the bank in order to use a bank card? All of these actions are necessary if they are to be able to handle money responsibly in life. I recently worked with some students in grades 4 and 5 who had great difficulty with identifying coins, counting money, and making change. It was important to start at the beginning and work through different skills one at a time to help them understand how money worked. A few years ago, there was a Young Entrepreneurs event at our school. The grade 6 classes created items for sale and they learned all about creating a budget, purchasing materials, determining prices to earn a profit, and how to work with money. When I saw this in action, I decided to try a modified event with my grade 3 class. We created items for sale and we did a Spring Fundraiser for a special field trip. This took a lot of preparation, but it was a huge success. Check out more here. In order to make sure my students understood how money worked and how to handle it, we worked together and created this unit. I created the main outline and framework, and then added touches and refined it as we worked through the different lessons. I was amazed at how much they learned and how well they were able to work with money as a result. Part of the process included understanding how to handle money in a variety of situations. I created a bunch of scenarios for counting money, making change, earning money, spending money, and saving money. This led to the creation of Kid Themed Money Word Problems. I have used these task cards a few times since and every time they have helped kids to make connections that help them understand how money works. If you are looking for ways to help your students better understand how money works and how to use it effectively, check out these two resources. They work! Next time I will share some other ideas and resources for working with money. Related PostsPicture the excitement on your students' faces when they learn that they are going to study the solar system. Watch the awe in their eyes as they learn about the colossal power of the Sun, the magnitude of the galaxy, the rocky planets and the gas giants, and all the other cosmic bodies in the solar system. Teaching about the solar system provides students with the opportunity to satisfy some of their curiosity and learn more about the awesome galaxy they are a part of. As they journey through the solar system, they'll use their imaginations, ask lots of questions, and maybe even build models. They'll learn about the planets' names, sizes, and distances from the Sun. They'll explore why some planets are hot and others are cold, and they'll discover what makes Earth so special and unique. Depending on the age of the children, the study will be different in scope and depth. For young kids, it's important to introduce the solar system in a way that is engaging, understandable, and sparks their curiosity about space. Here are some suggestions for teaching primary children about the solar system. These are broad topics and can be approached in many different ways. Using hands on activities and visuals will help make things more understandable and engaging. What is the solar system?Basic information: The Solar System is a vast galaxy made up of the Sun, eight planets, numerous moons, asteroids, comets, and other celestial objects. Each of these entities possesses unique characteristics and features that offer valuable insights into the workings of the universe. Teaching tip: Introduce the solar system with engaging lessons that include interactive activities and multimedia resources to spark curiosity and lay the groundwork for deeper exploration. The sunBasic information: The sun is a giant ball of fire, keeping us warm and giving us light. It's a star too, but it's a lot closer to us than all the other stars we see twinkling in the night sky. Teaching tip: Teach children that the Sun is a star, and it's the center of our solar system. Explain that the Sun provides light and heat to all the planets. It provides energy, has solar flares and sunspots and helps sustain life on Earth. All the planets revolve around the sun. Use visuals that show the sunspots and flares, and how the orbits of the planets are ordered. The planetsBasic information: There are eight planets in our solar system. Each one is unique and special. There are two different groups of planets: the rocky planets and the gas planets. The rocky planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These planets are like big balls of rock. They are the inner planets in the solar system and the closest to the sun. The gas planets are often referred to as gas giants because they are so big. They contain various gases in their atmospheres. They are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune Some of them have colorful rings around them. They are also the outer planets and further away from the sun. Teaching tip: Introduce the eight planets orbiting the Sun, categorizing them into rocky (inner) and gas giants (outer) planets. Explore each planet's unique characteristics, including size, composition, atmosphere, and surface features. Teach students to recognize the planets by their names and order from the Sun. Help them understand the relative sizes of the planets and their distances from the Sun. Use simple comparisons, such as "Earth is bigger than Mars but smaller than Jupiter" and "Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun." Orbits and moonsBasic information: Orbits are paths that the planets take when revolving around the sun. The gravitational pull of the sun keeps the planets orbiting the Sun in elliptical paths rather than flying off into space. Moons are natural satellites orbiting some planets. They have diverse sizes, shapes, and orbits, Teaching tip: Explain that planets orbit, or revolve around, the Sun in paths called orbits. Teach children that the time it takes for a planet to complete one orbit is called a year. Introduce the concept of moons as natural satellites that orbit planets. Point out that some planets have many moons, like Jupiter, while others have none, like Venus. Look at models of the solar system and the orbits that the various planets take. How does day and night work?Basic information: It takes 24 hours for Earth to rotate completely. As it rotates, different areas are facing the sun. These areas have light and the other areas have darkness. We call the light "day" and the darkness "night". Teaching tip: Discuss the concept of day and night on Earth and how it's caused by the rotation, or spinning, of the Earth on its axis. Help children understand that it takes about 24 hours for the Earth to make one complete rotation. Using a flashlight and a globe can provide a good visual of how day and night happen. Why do we have seasons on Earth?Basic information: As Earth revolves around the sun, it has different seasons because of the tilt of its axis. When the tilt causes areas of Earth to be facing the sun for longer periods of time it is summer and when it causes the area to be facing away from the sun for longer periods of time, it is winter. Spring and fall happen as the different areas change position from facing to the sun to facing away from the sun and vice versa. Teaching tip: Teach children about the changing seasons on Earth and how they're caused by the tilt of Earth's axis as it orbits the Sun. Use simple visuals, such as diagrams, illustrations, or videos to demonstrate this concept. Next time I will give some specific activities to further develop the topics above. These will help engage the children with hands on activities to provide better understanding of the concepts. In the meantime, here is a resource that may help with some basic information about the planets and also provide some fun activities to try. The benefits of studying the solar system extend far beyond the confines of our classrooms. As teachers, we can cultivate essential skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and scientific inquiry. We can also foster a deep appreciation for the natural world and inspire future generations of scientists, engineers, and space explorers. Related PostsSpring is fast approaching and that means flowers poking up out of the earth, trees blossoming, grass getting green and lush again and kids wanting to get outside to play. This is the perfect time to start thinking about new science units that focus on life cycles, planting things, and watching baby animals as they start their lives and grow. Planting seeds is a great way to help kids understand how we get a variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. This is the perfect season to start seedlings in the classroom as well. This has always been a great activity for my students. There are many different ways to plant the seeds and watch them grow. Check out this post to see some examples. Taking the seedlings and planting them outside in the late spring is an event worth celebrating. If you have garden plots at the school, it is a fun way to keep monitoring and tending to them as they grow. Kids get so excited when the first fruits appear. I still have kids reminding me of the beans and tomatoes they grew when they were in my class. Beans, radishes, lettuce, and other plants tend to grow fairly quickly. Other plants take longer and will require more patience as kids wait to harvest them. This is a great time to talk about how not everything progresses at the same rate. If you are looking at planting other types of fruit or vegetables, check out my plant life cycles bundle. It includes apples, carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, and beans. Watching baby chicks hatch, releasing salmon fry, observing the metamorphosis of butterflies from caterpillar to butterfly, or the transformation of a tadpole to a frog are awe inspiring sights for kids and they get so excited during these events. Choosing an animal to observe from it's start through to adulthood is a great hands on unit that helps kids understand how life cycles work. Check out my animal life cycles bundle for resources that may help if you are interested in studying about chickens, frogs, salmon, honey bees, or butterflies. Check out this life cycle template freebie that helps with identifying the different stages of growth for plants or animals. Deciding on what plant life cycles or animal life cycles you will study will depend on the interests of your students and the availability of resources and time. Whatever life cycles you choose to investigate, enjoy the moments and the excitement and wonder as your students learn. Related PostsWord work activities are key to developing strong language skills and fluent readers. Working with word families is an effective way to solidify connecting groups of letters with meaning and it is fun for kids to do. Here are some more word work activities that you might want to try. 6 Word Work Activities1. Word Family SortProvide students with a set of word cards representing various word families (e.g., -at, -an, -it). Have them sort the words into the corresponding word family categories. Differentiation: For struggling students use visual aids like pictures alongside words to reinforce word family connections. For advanced students introduce less common word families or challenge them to generate new words within a given word family. 2. Word Family Flip BooksCreate flip books with word family endings (e.g., -at, -an) and a variety of beginning letters. Students can flip the pages to create new words within the same word family. Differentiation: For struggling students provide word starters with visual cues and scaffold the activity by focusing on one word family at a time. For advanced students include more complex word families and encourage them to create sentences using the words they generate 3. Word Family Word HuntsGive students a list of word families to focus on. Have them search through books or texts to find words that belong to each word family and write them down. Differentiation: For struggling students provide a list of words to search for within the text and offer support with decoding if needed. For advanced students encourage them to identify additional words that belong to each word family beyond those provided on the list. 4. Word ListsUsing digraphs, blends, or other letter combinations, change the vowel and add a consonant at the beginning to make a list of words that fit the ending. For example: _and, _end, _ind, _ond, _und Differentiation: For struggling students provide some letter tiles to create the words so they can sound them out. For advanced students encourage them to add more letters to the beginning and notice suffixes such as with the word handful. 5. Real vs Nonsense Words ActivitiesProvide letter tiles and word endings and create words with them. Decide if the words are real or nonsense words. This could be combined with the word list activity above. Note: If the students can't explain what the word is, they may need to put it in the nonsense category. As they develop a bigger vocabulary, some of the words may be identified as real words. Differentiation: For struggling students try to get them to tell you why the word is real. Use pictures if needed. For advanced students have them check out words in a dictionary if they are unsure. 6. Real Words vs Nonsense Words Using DiceUse a set of dice with short vowel word family endings and some dice with single consonants and create word lists. Record the words as real words or nonsense words. Check the images below to see how you can create your own dice. Differentiation: For struggling students ask them to tell you what they words are and how they know they are real words, if possible. For advanced students, add in some blends or digraphs instead of single consonants. Add in some other more complex word endings as well. These word work activities provide engaging ways for students to practice word families and distinguish between real and nonsense words, supporting their phonemic awareness and phonics skills development. By using the differentiation ideas, adjustments can be made to suit the needs of individual learners, ensuring that all students receive appropriate support and challenge. Related PostsLearning to read can be tricky as children learn in many different ways. Adding in a variety of skills and activities will help to engage them as they learn. Phonemic awareness and phonics are both important components of reading. Finding the combination of both that works for your students will make a difference to their successfulness in reading and writing. Here are 5 phonemic awareness activities and 5 phonics activities to consider as you plan for your lessons. I have also included some differentiations for those that need extra support and those who are more advanced. Phonemic Awareness Activities1. Picture/Sound SortUsing a variety of pictures or objects, have students sort them by beginning, middle, or end sounds. (Choose only one of these skills at a time.) This activity will help them listen for specific sounds in the words. Differentiation: For struggling students provide fewer words or objects. For advanced students provide more challenging sounds or blends. Maybe even have them sort for more categories. 2. Rhyming Words RecognitionPresent students with pairs of words and ask them to identify if they rhyme or not. For example, "cat" and "bat" rhyme, while "cat" and "dog" do not. Differentiation: For struggling students use word pairs with clear rhyming patterns and provide visual cues like pictures to support understanding. For advanced students include words with less common rhyming patterns or words with multiple syllables. 3. Sound SegmentingSay a word aloud and have students identify the individual sounds within the word. For example, say "sun" and ask students to identify the /s/, /u/, and /n/ sounds. Differentiation: For struggling students use words with only 2 or 3 phonemes and have them tap out the sounds. I like to use the arm so they can visualize the different sounds. For advanced students use longer words or words with consonant blends. 4. Odd One OutGive students 3 words and have them identify which one doesn't rhyme with the others. Differentiation: For struggling students choose word sets with clear rhyming patterns and provide visual support if needed with pictures. For advanced students use words with subtle differences. 5. Sound SubstitutionSay a word and ask students to substitute one sound to make a new word. Example: cat/ change c to h/ hat. Diferentiation: For struggling students begin with simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words and provide visual aids like letter cards. For advanced students introduce words with consonant blends or digraphs and encourage them to generate multiple new words by substituting different phonemes. Phonics Activities1. Word BuildingHave a selection of letter tiles available as well as a word bank of words that focus on specific phonetic patterns or word families. Choose words from the word bank and use the letters to build the words. Differentiation: For struggling students provide a smaller set of letters and offer word banks with simpler words. For advanced students increase the complexity by introducing longer words or words with more challenging phonetic patterns. 2. Word SortsGive students a collection of words and have them sort the words into categories based on specific phonetic patterns (e.g., short vowels vs. long vowels, words with different digraphs). Differentiation: For struggling students use word sets with clear differences in phonetic patterns and provide visual cues like color-coding for sorting. For advanced students include words with irregular spelling patterns or words with multiple syllables. 3. Decodable TextProvide students with decodable texts that contain words they have learned phonetic patterns for. Have them practice reading the text aloud, focusing on decoding unfamiliar words using phonics skills. Differentiation: For struggling students choose texts with simpler vocabulary and provide additional support during reading, such as using finger tracking or a glossary for unfamiliar words. For advance students select texts with more complex sentences and vocabulary, and encourage them to identify phonetic patterns in words independently. 4. Word Building RelayBuild a Word Relay is an activity where students take turns adding a letter or changing a letter in a word to create new words. For example, start with "cat" and add a letter to make "coat," then change the letter c to g to make goat and so on. Differentiation: For struggling students begin with shorter words and provide visual support with letter cards. For advanced students increase the word length and challenge them to build words with specific phonetic patterns. 5. Phonics Board GamesCreate board games where students move pieces along a path by correctly reading words containing specific phonetic patterns. You could also include challenge cards that require students to apply phonics rules in different contexts. Differentiation: For struggling students simplify the game board and provide more frequent opportunities for reinforcement of phonetic patterns. For advanced students introduce additional challenges such as reading words with irregular spelling patterns or applying phonics rules to multisyllabic words. These phonics board games work great for practicing alphabet sounds and different phonetic patterns. Check them out here. If you want to try out some letter sounds, grab this free sampler below. These activities provide a range of opportunities for students to practice both phonemic awareness and phonics skills, with differentiation strategies to support learners at different levels of proficiency. Related PostsIn primary classrooms, helping kids figure out reading and writing early on is super important. That's where phonemic awareness and phonics come in. Phonemic awareness is all about understanding and playing around with the sounds of language, while phonics is about connecting those sounds to letters. When we mix fun activities that cover both, we create a lively learning space that suits all kinds of learners. Learning to read is a process. Some kids get it quickly, and others need lots of extra practice to make sense of the letters and words in front of them. In a single primary classroom, it is possible to find some kids who don't know their letter sounds and others who are reading at an upper intermediate level. How do you differentiate and help make sure that all of these children get what they need in order to be successful and engaged? That is the big challenge for most primary teachers. In today's classrooms, it is also important to make sure that the mental well being of the students is considered as well. This is an enormous task and requires a lot of preparation, creativity, and successful execution of lessons and ideas. Here are some ideas and possible stepping stones or activities that might help. Making sure that everyone has a handle on their letter sounds and how letters are combined is important and it can be made into a fun activity that can be done as a class. Those that are more advanced can work with a center activity that has more advanced letter combinations while those who are still working with phonemic awareness can do some activities with the teacher as a warmup for the day. For example: The advanced kids could be working with digraphs or blends, prefixes and suffixes, or even with vocabulary development or a dictionary activity. The kids needing more help could be working with word families, segmenting words and isolating sounds, doing cvc word activities, or maybe even letter sounds, if necessary. Guided reading activities and centers help to manage several different activities at the same time and they also help to keep everyone engaged. Check out my post on how to set up and run guided reading groups if this is new to you. Of course, you will need a good selection of materials and activities on hand in order to provide variety and appropriate materials for each of the different groups. Choosing activities for specific themes can also be a good motivator. For instance, during the winter, kids are excited to see the snow and they love to do activities that are related to it. Here are a couple of bundles that I just created of some my winter literacy materials that have that in mind. Click on the images to check them out. You can also get a free sample from my short and long vowels activities here. If you are looking for a variety of winter reading material for different levels, here are a few that I have used successfully in the past. I created some study guides to go along with them. Owl At Home Emma's Magic Winter The Kids In Ms Coleman's Class Snow War Stone Fox Reading is also necessary in other subject areas. Kids need to be able to understand directions for math and science, and read informational text for research projects and social studies. These are just a few of the areas where they may need to read. Again, adding some creativity and themed activities will help them to engage even when the language may be a bit difficult. If you want some fun activities to do with math and science, you can check out my recent blog posts for winter geometry and winter measurement. By blending phonemic awareness and phonics activities and tailoring them to different needs, we're making sure every student gets the support they need to become confident readers and writers. It's all about fostering that love of learning from the get-go! Next time I will share some specific activities that will help with differentiating and engaging kids as you incorporate phonemic awareness and phonics activities in the classroom. Related PostsAre you finding it more challenging to teach your kids language skills these last couple of years? Have you noticed larger ranges of abilities in your classrooms? How are you coping with this? I recently had a conversation with a teacher friend who has just retired from teaching Kindergarten and Reading Recovery. She still does some subbing and she has a Grade 2 class once a week this term, but she is no longer teaching full-time. We were discussing how different it is to teach in today's classroom with the amount of differentiation needed and with the number of kids who have trouble self-regulating. Different approaches are needed in order to reach as many kids as possible. Can we reach all of them successfully? Our hope is yes, but it may be difficult. It will require using every tool in our toolkit to do so. Unfortunately, not all teachers have a lot of tools to work with, especially those who are just starting out. This is a time when collaboration and colleague support is very important. With time and experience, more tools are added to the toolkit and there are more options to try out. Experienced teachers can share ideas and techniques that have worked well for them, and newer teachers can share new program ideas with the experienced teachers. Piloting new ideas and programs will give everyone a chance to see how they work and then add new tools to their toolbox. Sometimes fresh ideas can enhance what already works. It requires an open mind and lifelong learning to find out what tools will work best for you and your teaching style. Some older methods may not work well anymore and they may need updating. New is not always the best, either. With time, methods and teaching ideas have come and gone and sometimes resurfaced again. We refer to it as the pendulum swinging. If you've been teaching long enough you will have already experienced some of this. Don't be afraid to try out some ideas that have worked in the past. The saying "Don't throw out the baby with the bath water" applies here. Over the years programs and methods have come and gone. I learned long ago that there were some ideas that could be kept from these resources and repurposed in a way that works with teaching now. You may say that my style became eclectic during my teaching career. It's important to use the tools that work well for you. Don't try to fit everything in just because it's there. You will end up overwhelmed and finding that nothing works well. Teachers have different personalities and styles of teaching. You need to find what is right for you. Take some risks and try some new things, but don't try to be someone you are not. Kids need to see the real you and feel like they can connect with that person. Kids learn at different speeds and in different ways. The more ways you can share ideas and concepts with them, the more likely you are to reach them all. Don't give up on those who take longer to grasp ideas, but find ways to keep the others learning without holding them back. Easier said than done, especially now that the ranges in classrooms is even bigger. Extra support from others is gratefully received and really needed. I still volunteer at my former school, so I see this range in the classrooms and I see how exhausted teachers are getting trying to differentiate for the various levels. I know of a few other retired teacher friends who help out in classrooms or with tutoring as well. We may have retired from full time teaching, but we still enjoying working with kids. Volunteering helps us stay connected and helps other teachers to better meet the needs of their students. I currently work with kids that are in late primary who are still struggling with basic phonic skills and I also work with a group of grade 1 students that can read at a late grade 2 level already. Early on, the grade 2/3 teachers asked me to take small groups of kids to work on basic phonics activities. This also included some phonemic activities as some of them still struggle with letter/sound recognition. I also did some leveled reading with others to see if they were able to read and comprehend simple text. The grade 1 teacher was feeling like a small group of kids were being held back because of the needs of the rest of the class, so instead of giving me students that need help with phonemic skills, she asked me to take them and do more enrichment type activities with them. In the intermediate grades, several students were struggling with basic fact skills and number sense. I began working with them as well. I will share more about this another time. Another benefit of using retired teachers, is they often have some resources or ideas that they can use so the teacher doesn't have to do lots of extra prep work. Because I create my own resources, I have access to many different activities that can be used to supplement what is happening in the classroom. I also still have resources that I purchased over the years that come in handy in these small group situations. Not everyone has their own little stash of resources on hand, so teachers may need to provide materials for them. Keeping a kit of resources for situations like this may take some time, but it will be there for using over and over again in the future. Here is a sampler kit that might be helpful as a start. Winter resource for your toolboxI just put together a bundle of language activities that focus on some word work, word families, digraphs, and parts of speech. I am currently creating another bundle that will be more focused on phonics and phonemic awareness. It will be out soon. If you are interested in checking out the different resources for my winter word work bundle, click the image below and you will be able to check out the previews for the various resources. I hope you find what you need for your toolkit and that you have a successful year with your students.
Remember: You are unique and you need to be true to yourself. Let the best you shine through. The holidays are over and it is time to jump back into academics. This sometimes takes some time as the structure and routines are reestablished. Getting settled after the Christmas break may require not only activities to make kids comfortable and help them get regrounded and back into routines, but also some activities that inspire and excite them as they get back to academics. January and February are full of different celebrations that can be the focus of activities as academics are reintroduced. Here are a few ideas and resources that might be fun to try. Goal settingFor January, goal setting is a great idea. It can be a way to make a fresh start and provide a focus for upcoming months. These goals can also be used as a focal point for upcoming student led conferences in the spring. Here are some templates that might be helpful. It is important to make sure that children understand that they have accomplished many things as well. They need to focus on what they can do well and then choose things that they wish to improve. These stars and wishes could be personal, academic, or general. It is up to the kids to identify what their strengths are, but they may need some guidance at the beginning. Perhaps they could ask others what they think. We can be our worst critics and we may not see what others see, so having others share what they notice could be helpful and empowering. Here is a template to fill out and keep as a reminder. Grab a free copy now. Ringing in the New YearMany families celebrated on New Year's Eve. Some of your students may have been able to join in as well. They may have had fun activities to do and noise makers or fireworks may have been part of the celebration as well. Others may not have had this experience. Why not have a class celebration to start off the New Year. Try creating photo booth images and a bulletin board display. Many stores are clearing out New Years items so you may be able to get some hats, blowers, and maybe even glasses to add to the fun. Here are some templates that could work as frames for the photo booth pictures. They include frames without the year so they can be used for future years if you are not ready to use them this year. Groundhog DayFebruary 2nd kids wait to find out if the groundhog has predicted an early spring or another 6 weeks of winter. Here are some math and language activities as well as a couple of mazes that might be fun to try. Other Winter CelebrationsChinese New Year, Hundreds Day, and Valentine's Days are 3 other winter celebrations that kids love to celebrate. Here are some activities for those special days. No matter the celebration, hands on fun activities can help to engage kids in their learning. They can be used as a jumping off point before introducing new concepts, or they can be the theme for writing or research. It's up to your creativity and needs as you plan your lessons. Here's to having fun and learning as the New Year begins. Related Posts |
About Me Charlene Sequeira
I am a wife, mother of 4, grandmother of 9, and a retired primary and music teacher. I love working with kids and continue to volunteer at school and teach ukulele. Categories
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