literacy
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DIY Metallic Magnet Letters
I use magnet letters for all kinds of activities in my classroom so they are almost always on my shelves. While I find them invaluable, I’m not so fond of the bright colors. I found a way to make my magnet letters a little more aesthetically appealing, and I can’t believe how easy it was. I have three words for you: Metallic Spray Paint. Seriously, why did I not think of this before?! All I did was spray my plastic magnet letters with three coats of chrome spray paint (I let each coat dry before spraying on another coat). The final result is stunning, and my students couldn’t wait to…
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Book Talk Tuesday – Big Pumpkin
It’s Tuesday, so I’m linking up with Mrs. Jump’s Class for Book Talk Tuesday. I know it isn’t quite time for Halloween yet, but I have to share this book with you now so that you have time to track it down and share it with your class for a couple of weeks before Halloween. Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman has been my favorite Halloween book ever since I was introduced to it my first year teaching. It tells the story of a witch who planted a pumpkin seed, which grows a pumpkin so big that she can’t move it by herself. One by one Halloween creatures attempt to move…
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Book Talk Tuesday – Leaf Man
Mrs. Jump’s Class Hi everyone! It’s Tuesday so I’m linking up with Mrs. Jump’s Class for Book Talk Tuesday. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite fall books – luckily I have enough favorites to get me through every week of autumn – but today it’s Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. All of Lois’ books are amazing, her illustrating style is unique and it really speaks to children, and encourages their own creativity. This book in particular contains illustrations that are made out of leaves. This story opens up children’s imaginations to all of the possible places that leaves can fly on the wind. There are a number of activities…
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Book talk Tuesday – We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt
Today I'm linking up with Mrs. Jump's Class for Book talk Tuesday. Every year, this book finds a permanent place on my classroom bookshelf for the entire autumn season. My students love Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger. This book is perfect for preschoolers because it takes a story that they are already familiar with, and gives it an autumn twist. They are easily able to retell the story to themselves or each other after hearing me read it a few times. The pictures are also colorful, attractive and very descriptive. Books like this give young readers confidence in their beginning skills, making reading fun. I also love that it names…
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Preschool Activities for Autumn
From Sweet Green House The weather around here lately has been screaming AUTUMN and I am loving it! Fall is my favorite time of the year (we’ve had this discussion before – boots, sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, need I say more?!), and to celebrate, I wanted to share what’s in my Autumn activity bundle. Be sure to read all of the way through, I added a blog exclusive freebie for you too! The Autumn Math and Literacy Activity Bundle includes the following activities (all are also available separately): My Autumn Vocabulary Cards and Spelling Practice set includes the words acorn, apple, leaf, corn, leaves, pumpkin, tree, orchard, squirrel, and turkey. I…
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Friday Freebie
It’s Friday, which means it’s time for a freebie! This one is a great idea from Courtney Keimer. It’s a sensory alphabet book, each page has an upper and lowercase letter outline, along with a sensory material that begins with that particular letter. Students use glue and the suggested material to fill in each letter outline. I love this because it gives children a concrete example for each letter sound. Instead of drawing a picture, writing a word, or gluing in a magazine clipping, children actually get to handle the object that is associated with the letter sound, giving them a tangible example. I think that this is an awesome…
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Easy Alphabet Match Activity
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A Back to School Book
I know, I know, shame on me for gearing up for back to school already. In my defense I do have an excuse, I will be MIA for the next two weeks, so I want to make sure I get the good posts out before it’s too late! Plus, if I prep for back to school now, I might still be able to steal a week in August for fun summer stuff. The book that I want to share with you today is my absolute favorite back to school book ever. Yes, ever. Llama Llama Misses Mama is about Llama’s first day at school, and all of the feelings that…
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When Sophie gets Angry
I’m linking up with Mrs. Jump’s Class for Deanna’s Let’s Talk About Books linky. I love learning about new books, and I love the opportunity to share my favorites with you! This is also perfect because the book that I want to tell you about today sets the tone for the rest of my posts this week. Last week I told you that I have a hard time choosing my favorite books, there are just too many that are amazing, and perfect for different seasons, themes, lessons, situations – you name it. When Sophie Gets Angry – Really Really Angry is one of my favorite social emotional stories, because it…
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Young Illustrators
As part of our Week of the Young Child festivities we have been celebrating children’s literacy. Each year one of my favorite activities is to have my students illustrate a book that they know very well. This year I choose Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” My students seem to gravitate towards this book, and all of them have reported that they have a copy at home, so I knew it was one they were very familiar with. Our class book turned out great. Here is my class’ illustrated version of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” (I did the cover page, the rest was done by my five year old students).
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Library play
We were supposed to walk to the library this morning as part of our celebration of the Week of the Young Child, but it rained all morning, so I did what every good preschool teacher would do, I improvised. I set up my classroom like a library and made each of my students library cards, and we all spent the morning at Ms. Erin’s School Library. It was hilarious. My kiddos spent the entire morning whispering to each other, just like they would at the real library. They sat on the floor and read with each other – ALL MORNING. I’m going to do this more often! It was really…
