Using Jenga in the Classroom A few years ago, I saw another teacher use colored Jenga blocks in a whole-group activity. The students were doing a math activity and each color represented a step in the process. This class was an higher grade level, so it got me to thinking about how I could adapt this for my kindergarten class!… Read More
Rhyming is an essential skill for students to learn but it can still be super purposeful and fun to teach! There are great songs, books and of course activities and games that can help you teach the idea of rhyming to your students! What is Rhyming? Rhyming is defined as “(a word/syllable/ or line) having or ending with an identical… Read More
Welcome back to the last and final post of our Science of Reading Summer Book Study, Shifting the Balance with Mr.Greg (from Kindergarten Smorgasboard) and me, Abbie! This week is Shift 6 and is Reconsidering Texts from Beginning Readers. And just in case you have missed out on the previous shifts, here they are. Shift 1: Rethinking How Reading Comprehension Begins Shift 2: Recommitting to… Read More
Hello! It’s week 4 of our Science of Reading Summer Book Study, Shifting the Balance with Mr.Greg (from Kindergarten Smorgasboard) and me, Abbie! This week is about Revising High-Frequency Word Instruction and is quickly becoming another hot topic in early literacy circles. Sight Words vs. High Frequency Words Over the years I have spent in Kindergarten and early childhood education, I have used the… Read More
Welcome back to our Science of Reading Summer Book Study, Shifting the Balance with Mr.Greg (from Kindergarten Smorgasboard) and me! This is week 3 and we are talking about reimagining the way we teach phonics. Phonics: A Hot Topic in Education A few years ago, the school that I was teaching Kindergarten at had a meeting to discuss phonics. Being in early… Read More
Is there a difference between phonics, phonological awareness and phonemic awareness? Plain and simply…yes. Phonological Awareness is the big umbrella of helping students to notice and/or manipulate sounds in speech. Phonemic Awareness is specific work in articulating and manipulating individual sounds in words and focuses more with auditory skills. And finally, Phonics is helping students to learn the relationship between… Read More
Hello and welcome to week 1 of our Annual Summer Book Study! If you are new here, welcome! 🙂 But if you have been a follower for a few years, then you probably know that Mr. Greg from Kindergarten Smorgasboard and I have done a joint book study each summer. We both like to grow our teacher brains and keep… Read More
Spare time doesn’t usually come in buckets and buckets around here but when I do have spare time there are a few things I enjoy doing most: spending time with my family, wandering around Target or the dollar store searching for finds for my classroom (like this one) or browsing pinterest for teacher hacks. I LOVE Teacher  Hacks. They are like little… Read More
Another excellent activity for a Dental Health Unit. You can incorporate CVC word practice into your dental health unit easily with this printable set. User Suggestion: Cut the picture cards out and laminate. These can be reused. Dental Teeth Themed CVC picture cards and recording sheets would be perfectly used in: Work StationSensory Bin or Table Included In This Printable… Read More
Are you planning a Dental Health unit? This is a fun, interactive literacy activity that would be perfect to include for your literacy center during Dental Health Week. How It Works: Students can read a poem, hunt for the missing words, and fill them in. This is the perfect way to include balanced literacy, writing and poetry into your dental… Read More