Easy, hands-on positional words activities for your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten classroom. Make learning prepositions fun!
This Back to School Math and Literacy Packet is perfect for the beginning months of August and September. The worksheets are themed with apples and back to school graphics while providing an introduction to basic skills covered in the first two months of school. ➩This packet has been updated to include more content and two different options for printing. Now you can print a single page or two per page. This can save ink and paper! Included in this packet: ✻ Counting worksheets- dab or color, matching, cut and paste, and tracing the answers. ✻ Number sense ✻ Number sequence ✻ Color by number ✻ Patterns ✻ Roll and Trace A-F: uppercase and lowercase ✻ Trace A-Z: uppercase and lowercase. (Use sheet protectors and let students trace with dry erase markers for extended use!) ✻ Color by letter ✻ Concepts of Print Cards- Used in teaching- Laminate or print on cardstock for durability. ✻ Sort letter/number (concepts of print review) ✻ Rhyme ✻ Letter match: uppercase and lowercase ✻ Letter Sounds A-Z ✻ Name writing practice worksheets ✻ Daily sign-in strips: Cut out strips to let students sign their name daily and place in attendance box or board. ✻ All About Me worksheet ✻ My phone number practice ✻ First Day Self Portrait ✻ All About Me mini-book For a detailed view of all worksheets in this packet please see the preview file. It is my sincere hope that you will enjoy using this packet with your class. Don't forget to leave feedback! TPT will give you credits for leaving feedback that you can use towards your next purchase. Click the star to follow me for product updates, new releases, and freebies! :) Related Products • Monthly Math & Literacy Mega Bundle • September Pre-k Math and Literacy • October Pre-K Math & Literacy • November Pre-K Math & Literacy • ABC Worksheets: Differentiated 3 Ways • Basic Skills Assessment
Simple paper bag lung project for kids helps explain how do lungs work for kids with an easy human body project for kids of all ages.
Learn how do hands work with this fun, hands-on human body project for kids. In this working model children will learn about muscles!
Learn how energy is transfered from one object to another in this newton's cradle experiment which will amaze kids of all ages!
Simple paper bag lung project for kids helps explain how do lungs work for kids with an easy human body project for kids of all ages.
Two Points: This is MY method, and not necessarily right for you, your teaching or care philosophy, your set-up, or your students. Curriculum participation by my students is VOLUNTARY. I invite them to participate, but if they choose not to, then that is fine. I usually offer them a choice of a few of the activities and let them decide where we start and where we go. An engaged child learns, a dis-engaged child rebels. The 3-year rotating curriculum is theme based. Some times we stick to the plan, but usually I observe what they are interested in learning about, what they are asking questions about, and suggest up to three different themes they can choose from for us to study. I make my own 3-year rotating curriculum for many reasons: Packaged curriculum is often only one year. Since I teach for 3 years, this would be redundant. Most packaged curriculum focuses on skills my students master early. My 2s count to 20, know 11 colors, know most of their phonics, uppercase and lowercase letters, 10 shapes and some of their numbers and I still have 3 years of curriculum to teach them. They often are worksheet intensive. My students usually are cognitively advanced from their fine motor skills. I have 4 year olds that still can't write well. If I had relied on worksheets for the last 2 years, there is no way they would have the skill sets they have. Worksheets are also not considered Developmentally Appropriate Practice [DAP] for children under the age of 8. We use them here for writing practice starting at age 4. [Yes, worksheet-intensive public schools are not using DAP for kindy through 3rd grade!] They can be expensive. If you are purchasing worksheets, why would you spend even $1 a week/$52 a year when you can purchase a 400 page Scholastic preschool workbook from Sam's Club for $8 that covers probably more material, is most likely aligned with the public school expectations, and is colorful. Colored copies are NOT affordable to make from packaged curriculum. Most [ALL!] preschool learning should be interactive. Pinterest is a better source for ideas. My students change every time I do a theme. I have to be able to tweak it to the interests and capabilities of those currently in my care. Plus, I'll find more interesting activities on Pinterest, have an idea for a new game, etc. It's a constant evolution to keep my curriculum relevant to our current group, situation and resources. However, curriculum planning and creation is very time consuming. Even with older curriculum I spend several hours going over it prior to teaching - updating, creating new materials, purchasing and setting new classroom decorations. While I have had my 3 year curriculum, this year I found myself wanting a more specific schedule to focus on specific skill sets for this particular group of children. Most of these skills can be incorporated into our themed curriculum, or they take 5 minute sessions to pop into our day. I have two groups, the younger preschoolers are 2-3 years old and the older ones are 4-5 years old, all at the same developmental and skill set level within their group. This makes it easier, as I can tailor everything to just 2 groups. If I were to have additional levels of children, then it would be tailored to each level. Children here are taught at their developmental level, not age. Asychronastic development is normal, so I may be teaching a child at various levels depending upon the subject matter. For the younger preschoolers, I came up with this structure. For the older pre-k students, I came up with this one. For instance, both of them have Measurement & Comparison on Friday for Reasoning. However, for the younger students, this would be a more/less, longer/shorter, big/little, etc. activity, while the older students would be measuring with rulers, yardsticks, tape measures, measuring cups, unit blocks, foot steps or themed units, and graphing the measurements to compare. Same skill set, differentiated at vastly different levels. Even this needs conditional tweaking. All the pre-k's know how to spell their last names now, so that is no longer a relevant skill activity for music and will be changed out. In another post I'll get into the curriculum components and the importance of each. For instance, how counting on Friday teaches 1-to-1 correspondence and creating method processes for counting groups of objects. CLICK PICTURES TO VIEW LARGER I use this MS Word template, available for FREE on TPT, for curriculum planning. Often, the daily skill sets above are either already incorporated, or can easily be incorporated, into the theme planning. For an example of a completed curriculum unit, check out our Owls Theme. Each monthly theme is broken down into 4 sub-themes. For instance: SPACE Astronauts & Rockets The Universe Our Solar System Aliens & Robots We also have a musical component, often classical, and an art component, often a master, and Spanish vocabulary component that we incorporate. This planning form may not include all games, file folder games, manipulatives, room-set up, etc. that I utilize. For those of you trained in curriculum creation, I do NOT do a full curriculum development for each activity. With having these children usually from infant to school-age, I keep an internal evaluation of progression and plan out only weekly learning objectives. Since I am creating the activities for my personal use, I do not need to create written procedures and evaluations. My curriculum is stored currently in file folders in a large office bookcase unit. I would like to get it into boxes so that I could have EVERY theme-related item, including dress-up, room set-up, manipulatives, etc. together for an easy pull. File boxes will most likely be the easiest, but they do take up a lot of space. In each file some of the things I probably have: Completed planning sheets All the books I own for that theme Flannel board Sentence and word walls File folder games Samples of previous crafts DVDs CDs Coloring pages Mini-book(s) Build-a-[theme item] game Curriculum creation is one of my great joys. I love the research and compilation, the creativity and excitement of bringing something fun and educational to my students. Learning is rarely linear. Children take developmental leaps, sometimes in odd directions. As a teacher, it is important that I keep each one challenged without pushing or inhibiting their growth, and that takes constant evaluation and a good eye for when those leaps happen so that we can move on to a higher level of instruction. When we do an activity, I constantly question if they WANT to do another round, another activity, and I usually cut them off while they are still engaged. I want them wanting more, and they will usually ask if they can continue. One of the most important desires and abilities I can instill in them is that of self-directed learning. So as they choose to go off with their rulers after we've spent several minutes doing a measuring activity, conferring between themselves as to procedures and what to measure next, I step back and let them. They know I am here as a resource, rather than an intrusive director. It is my job to ensure that when I invite my students to learn, they glow with excitement and anticipation of a fun, interactive, playful time. The results, so far, have been astounding. A few of my complete curriculum units are available through my TPT store. Apples Dental Ice Cream Penguins Rainbows St. Patrick's Day Valentine's Follow Connie -'s board Classroom on Pinterest. Tags: preschool, child care, pre-k, curriculum, development, teaching, education, homeschooling, homeschool, home, school, preschool curriculum development, planning
DIY Song Cubes to help children learn music "old favorites" and practice finding and keeping the beat; for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten.
I love doing plant experiments and sprouting seeds with young children in the spring. Not only do they get excited to see how plants grow but planting seeds also teaches them patience and how to wait for gratification which is very important in this fast-paced, instant gratification world in which we now live. In this […]
Try these 7 fun magnet experiments with your Pre-K and Preschool children! This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Magnet Sorting Mat Children use a
The first week of pre-k.. what exactly do I teach?! Rules & procedures... rules & procedures... let me repeat.. rules & procedures! From learning how to put a marker top back on... to learning how to sit and listen to read aloud... starting the year off teaching rules & procedures will build a strong foundation for a successful year! The first week of pre-k is a not just a mere beginning; it is the start of a little one's first journey into the world of learning (alongside other little human beings)! It's a fun time with teachers, parents, and caregivers come together to create an exciting environment that fosters growth, curiosity, and meaningful connections! It's also a time to get to know our new friends and build a classroom community! But in order to do that, students must learn the class rules, how to handle materials, how to sit & listen, how to line up, where things are, bathroom procedures, how to clean up, fire drill procedures, etc. You are not going to start off teaching scissor skills OR those cute math board games with all the tiny pieces to go with it! There will be PLENTY of time for those things later on! Right now, your focus is on introducing rules & procedures and then practice, practice, practice those rules & procedures! You can still have FUN while teaching these things! It makes me think of Mary Poppins when she says "annnd SNAP, the job's a game!" Introduce how to use glue bottles with the picture book, Too Much Glue, and then it with an easy craft. Teaching clean up procedures for centers or snack? Sing a clean up song.. sing it every day.. three times a day if you have to! Children learn best through repetition taught in engaging ways! Here are some rules & procedures you will want to teach in your first two weeks of pre-k: Morning arrival - Where do they hang their backpack? What do they do next? Circle time - Where do they sit? What does good carpet behavior look like? Center time - Do they stay in the same center or is it free choice? How do they clean up? What happens when they misbehave? What is not okay? School supplies - How to they share? How to use them? Where do the supplies go? School tour - Where is our room? Where is the principal's office? Where is the library? Lunch - How long do they sit? What if they have to go to the bathroom? How do they clean up? Fire drills - What will happen? Where do we go? Line up procedures - How to not run to the line. How to keep hands to themselves. How to walk quietly. The list goes on and on... but you don't have to do it one day or all in one week! I wouldn't introduce ALL the school supplies in one circle time either. One morning, show a glue stick, model how to take the cap off and on, pass around the glue stick, have students practice an easy glueing task. Pretend you are a 4 year old and you have never seen a glue stick in your life. How would you teach that procedure? Here's a handy list of must-reads for the first week of pre-K! Another day, read the tale of friendship, The Crayon Box that Talked." Talk about what makes us unique, introduce crayons and sharing, model coloring, and let students color a 1st Day of Pre-K journal page or coloring page. Introduce a little each day for two weeks and you will have confident little pre-k kiddos ready for more in depth learning! Here are a few resources to help you out! Below, is a sample schedule and of course you would adjust it to however your own school schedule allows: 8:00 - 8:30 am: Arrival and Greeting 8:30 - 9:00 am: Circle Time & Bathroom Breaks 9:00 - 9:30 am: Name Recognition Activity 9:30 - 10:00 am: Snack 10:00 - 10:30 am: Morning Recess 10:30 - 11:00 am: Learning Centers & Art 11:00 - 12:00 pm: Lunch & Cleanup 12:00 - 12:30 pm: Story & Bathroom Breaks 12:30 - 1:00 pm - Afternoon Recess 1:00 - 2:00 pm - Naptime 2:00 - 2:30 pm - Snack & Dismissal Helpful Tips: Morning arrival - This is usually when parents drop off and sign in. Or sometimes you might be in a setting where you have to go pick up your students from cars, daycares, etc. Smile & greet each kiddo! When entering the room, instruct them how to hang up their own backpack in their cubby and where to go next. In the past, I always had students get their own daily folders out and put them in a tub. Set out a couple of baskets of manipulatives and a basket of books on different tables. I would not have learning centers open or exposed. Circle time - Begin with a few warm up music & movement songs. This gets the wiggles out! Read a picture book such as "The Kissing Hand" and pass around a racoon to hug. It might seem silly, but this is actually teaching children how to sit for a period of time, how to follow directions, and how to pass an item to another! You can also read books about characters following the rules & books that have an "All About Me" theme. Bathroom procedures - During circle time, is a good time to tell each child to go to the bathroom. (Hopefullly you have the luxury of having a bathroom in your room, if not.. make sure you schedule lots of potty breaks throughout the day!) You will have to teach how to use the soap, how much soap, how many paper towels, what to do with the paper towels, etc. Name games - We don't need to teach letter formation or how to grip a pencil just yet! Not in the first few days. Right now we are focusing on learning each other's names and identifying our own names. A fun name game is that old familiar favorite... Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?! Put each child's photo and name on a construction paper cookie and put all the cookies in a cookie jar or basket. Repeat the rhyme and pull out a cookie at the end of the rhyme. You can do a few names each day! Or create a classroom book with a child's photo on each page. Flip through and read it together! Recess - Remember, some of those kiddos have never slid down a slide or swung the monkey bars. Walk around the playground in line, point out the equipment, model the equipment, and then let them play. They WILL make mistakes & forget the rules. It's your job to keep a watchful eye & give reminders. Learning centers - Have two or three centers open each day. Model the centers and go over what's in each center and how to use it. Practice with blocks and pretend the first few days. You can have other centers empty or I always faced the cabinets toward the walls. You can do free choice or assign centers, that's up to you. Allow extra clean up time at the beginning of the year. Centers is usually when I pulled kids to the art table in groups of four to do an easy activity. Your pre-k aide can do art time or they can watch over play in the centers. The laughter and discoveries about to be had will be the building blocks for the wonderful journey ahead! Remember to keep your schedule flexible and make room for modifications. Laugh, smile, dance, and enjoy this time and they will to!
Learn how the ear works with a FUN human body experiments for kids project. Create an ear model with common materials that will AMAZE kids!
Take the classic volcano science experiment for kids to whole new level with this Look INSIDE a volcano project for kids ! EASY to make!
Spring is definitely my favorite time of year to teach Science! There are just so many hands-on concepts that are so interesting to the students. Plants, of course, is always so interesting because they are something the kids can see all around them and they all have some kind of experience with. First up, here are some of our centers we have going on during our study of plants. This first one is the same green mat as the one below, just with different sorting objects. This is our Spring Sensory Tub. So far, it contains flowers, pots, rubber bugs, and bug cards that the students can match with the rubber bugs. This seed matching center is one of my favorite Science centers. Each large card contains an empty seed packet and some seeds. The students find the small card with the same seeds and matches it to the large card. One of the student's favorite activities was going on a nature hunt and then using what they found to create their own nature collages. And of course, no study on plants would be complete without planting our own beans! We planted pinto and lima. (The clear cups make it easy to see how the roots grow!) Want to completely amaze your Kinders?! Just change white carnations into colored carnations with food coloring and water! At the end of our unit on plants, I split the students into five groups and they made posters to present to the class about what they learned. Watching them work together and figure it all out on their own is always my favorite part of group projects. I wrote the title for each group on a piece of paper, but the students did all the planning, writing and drawing on their own. "How to Plant a Seed" "Plant Needs" "What We Know About Plants" "Types of Plants" "Parts of a Plant" Update: I have created a Living & Nonliving Mini Unit to continue our study of living and nonliving things. You can see it on Teachers Pay Teachers, here. Or you can read about it on my newest blog post, here.
Introduce kids to binary code by teaching them to code their names - in jewelry!
Make a rainbow paper craft that changes colors as the paper is tipped back and forth in sunlight! Create gorgeous rainbow patterns and designs while teaching children the basics of thin film interference. Add this rainbow paper experiment to your list of simple experiments for kids and creative art and STEAM projects!
Kids are going to be amazed at how this “train” moves using...
I love using interactive lapbooks in the classroom. They are fun to create, engaging and can be used throughout the year to review skills taught. I finally completely my Lapbook Bundle and I am happy to share the lapbooks included with you. Whether you think your learners will enjoy creating all of the lapbooks, if you
These human body for kids activities allow children to learn about the heart, muscles, lungs, 5 senses, bones organs, cells, and so much more!
The topic for today’s activity was Light and Shadows. We did some fun and educational Light and Shadow experiment to learn about shadows.
In order to be strong readers, kids need strong phonological awareness skills, which includes Phonemic Awareness. Click through to read more!
WOW your kids with a super EASY air pressure science experiment for kids! This simple rising water experiment uses a burning candle in water!
Looking for an easy science activity? Today I'm excited to share this sink or float free printable. It's fun one that is great for all ages. It can be a quick activity or if you're looking for something to keep them busy this summer, you can add lots of items to "test". There are 2 versions you can download and print for free. One has some suggested items to try out and one is blank. For the blank one you can have the kids gather a bunch of items they want to test out and write them down themselves. For little ones that can't write yet, have them draw the object.
Determine the Left and Right directional position in this printable worksheet.
So we are back to another fun filled school term. After the nice 3 week long break, we dove headfirst into another exciting science unit. ...
I just finished our Spring set of Math Word Problems (Color, Cut and Paste)! You can download an addition and subtraction FREEBIE from this pack by
Discover how to make invisible pictures just like in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! This fun literacy based art project also builds writing skills as students paint “invisible” crayon resist pictures and write about what Alexander’s teacher would say now that she can see them!
Make a ping pong ball float with EASY Bernoulli principle experiment demonstrating how airplanes fly. FUN physics science experiment!
Make learning all about MAGNETS fun and hands on in your classroom! Use a small table or a small bookshelf to create an engaging science center full of hands on materials for students to explore and investigate using the included printables, vocabulary cards, book, anchor charts, and discovery pages (science journal pages)! Included is a read aloud book for circle time, anchor charts, and a suggested book list. There is even a half page note you can send home to families, so they can continue the learning at home and strengthen the home school connection. Bundle and SAVE! Get this product along with ALL of my other little learner science units in the Little Learners Science BUNDLE! What’s included: Labels for Organization Teacher Instruction Strategies Magnet Science Center Setup and Supplies Magnet Vocabulary Cards (two options: word and photograph or word, definition, and photograph) Is it Magnetic? Sort, Chart, and worksheet Magnetic Sensory Bottles - Which Magnet is the Strongest? Investigation Mats and worksheet Magnetic Robots STEM Challenge and Student Blueprint Pages Attract or Repel – Move the Car Experiment All About Magnets Read Aloud Magnets Science Journal Pages (three options) and Covers Magnets Discovery Pages (three options) Home School Connection Note Home Check out MORE science units! ► Being a Scientist ► All About My 5 Senses ► All About Apples ► All About Leaves and Trees ► All About Pumpkins ► All About Plants ► All About Butterflies ► All About Insects ► All About My Pet Fish ► All About My Body & Teeth ► All About Rocks ► All About Shells ► All About Trash and Recycling ► All About Space, Sun, and Moon ► All About Ice & Snow ► All About Weather ► All About Colors & Color Mixing ► All About Building ► All About Magnets ► All About Ramps ► All About Force and Motion (a study of balls) Click the green star to follow me to receive 50% off all new products for the first 24 hours a new product is posted! Visit my store Pocket of Preschool Let’s Connect! → Pocket of Preschool Website → Facebook →Facebook Group → Pinterest → Instagram → Newsletter Sign up for my newsletter and you will receive a HUGE family theme writing center filled with word cards, writing paper, write the room, a teacher page with tons of ideas on how to use it the classroom, and real photos of it in action in a classroom for FREE! Pocket of Preschool ® Terms of Use Pocket of Preschool™️. By purchasing and/or downloading this electronic file, you agree to the following terms. For personal use/single classroom use only. No part of this document may be distributed, posted on the internet, placed on a school server or shared drive, copied, edited, or resold. ALL contents of this document are under copyright protection including all content, text, fonts, and graphics, Thank you for respecting my hard word as well as the hard work of the artists whose work helped create this product.
This resource breaks down preschool pre-writing skills that are need to be developed before handwriting is successful.
Kids will have fun while learning where do I Live with this printable activity perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.
Fun and easy science activity making a rain cloud in a jar. All the you need is an empty jar, shaving foam and food colouring.
Help your child practice recognizing left from right with this summer items left and right position worksheet.
Become a detective with printable Crack the Code Worksheet pages for working on beginning sounds and a CVC Word Activities with kindergarten & first graders
My kiddos love this game and BEG to play it again and again. The beauty of it, well.. it's also a great informal assessment! I use this with my Junior Kindergarten (ages 4 and 5) up through first grade. This is based on a similar one in Gameplan. The song and graphics are my own and so I am not stepping on Jeff and Randy's toes by sharing it with you but will give them all the credit for the game!! :)
Fun With Firsties
This simple science experiment is a great way to demonstrate a process called transpiration. All you need is celery, food coloring and water!
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Figuring out how to balance objects is something that fascinates children. Whether it is trying to balancing the same type of objects on either side of a
Go on a nature walk, gather some lovely leaves, and make some chalk resist leaf rubbings with this low-prep STEAM experiment!
Give your visual learners a special treat. Teach the biology of skin layers with a delicious cake!
We are exploring magnets here in kindergarten! We sorted objects between magnetic and not magnetic. I wanted the kids to be able to glue down their sort to display in the hallway. You could use tape or regular glue, but in the interest of time I opted for a glue gun. This SUPER cool temp glue gun (you have to buy special glue sticks but they are not expensive) eliminates the worry over burns! But like I said, tape works too. We have some magnet sorting in our science station
Eye learning activities and free printables for kids.
Hands-on STEM fun with paper plate roller coasters! Elementary students will love designing paper plate STEM roller coaster to learn about energy physics.
Try these Amazing Eye Science Experiments for Kids of all ages to explore vision with a fun and memorable for kids. EASY project!
Here's a list of fun activities you can do with preschool and kindergarten using rhythm sticks!
