reading
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What I’m Loving at the Scholastic Book Fair
I spent yesterday morning helping with the Scholastic Book Fair at my daughter’s school. I don’t know what it is about a book fair, but Scholastic has really cornered the market on getting kids excited about buying books. I have fond memories of LOVING the book fair as a kid, and the students that I helped this week had that same enthusiasm. If I’m being honest, I was still a little giddy about getting my hands on some new books. I found some amazing new offerings that would be wonderful additions to any classroom library. I’m linking my favorites below – and I’m not being compensated in any way for…
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Valentine’s Language Center
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Introducing CVC Words in Preschool – Resources
There are SO MANY different activities that you can do with CVC words – just do a quick Pinterest search, it’s a little overwhelming! After trying a ton of these in the classroom, I realized that I really needed some activities that could be used any time of year, and that were easy to store. Here are the resources I’ve created and use regularly for practicing CVC words: CVC Ring Books – These are the best because the pieces are all self-contained, and they’re really easy for children to use independently. The large colored strip has the word family ending, and the smaller white boxes have a variety of letters…
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Teaching CVC Words in Preschool
Earlier this week I shared my thoughts on reading instruction and it’s place in the preschool classroom. One of the strategies that I’m a huge fan of is introducing CVC words. So let’s go back to basics for a minute and explore what CVC words actually are. These are words that follow a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern (hence the CVC abbreviation). These words fall into “word families” with words in the same family ending with the same vowel and consonant. For example, the -at family includes the words bat, cat, hat, and rat. CVC word families are generally introduced by consonant sound, with short a words first. Before children are ready for…
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Should Learning to Read Happen in Preschool?
Most early childhood educators would agree that learning about language is a lifelong process – we begin hearing and decoding words at birth, and continuous growth happens from that moment! But when you specifically ask if preschoolers should be taught to read, you’ll get a wide variety of different answers. The truth is that preschoolers are already learning to read – whether we intentionally introduce activities that support this or not – they notice letters, the ways that these are oriented on the page, how combining them creates words, and that letters can be strung together and used to share information. These are foundational pieces for sure! My answer to…
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St. Patrick’s Day Writing Center
I’m so ready to share my St. Patrick’s Day language materials with you! The focus of this center is storytelling, and the items that I have available for the holiday really support that. So let’s dive in! Leprechaun Dress Up – Who wouldn’t want to be a leprechaun?! Chasing rainbows and searching for gold sounds like an amazing adventure, and children can use these materials to act that out. I’ve got tutus, bow ties, feather boas, fun glasses, and headbands. I’ve also included top hats, blazers and vests, and messenger bags in the past. Shamrock Cupcake Letter Match – These cupcakes are just the cutest, and sometimes that’s all it…
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Valentine’s Language Center
Valentine’s Day has a special place in my heart (see what I did there). January can be a long, dreary month and having something fun to look forward to can really change the mood. If you’re like me – looking forward to a holiday that’s all about warmth and love – and you’re planning what this will look like in your classroom, then I have some materials that might be just what you need! Here’s my Valentine writing center: I want children to get excited about using these materials, and I do that by making them inviting – adding decorations, related textiles, and touches that create a homey and comforting…
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What I’m Loving at the Scholastic Book Fair
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Books for Thanksgiving
I am one of those people who refuses to put up Christmas decorations or listen to Christmas music until Thanksgiving is over, so this week I want to share some last minute Thanksgiving ideas – Starting next we’ll dive into the winter holidays, I promise! Here are some of my favorite Thanksgiving books – all links are affiliates – happy reading! Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks Turkey Trouble Thankful Thanksgiving Rules The Thankful Book I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie
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Reading Slumber Party
The day after a holiday can be ROUGH – when that particular holiday involves a ton of sugar and falls in the middle of the week, it’s brutal. Sometimes these are the days when you just have to throw the lesson plan out the window. One of my favorite activities for these kinds of days is a reading slumber party. This is not meant to be a planned activity, it is a special excuse to take it easy and snuggle for the afternoon. I’ve always done reading slumber parties after nap time – but you can surprise your students any time of the day. I love to pretend that the…
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Books about monsters
Monsters are an interesting subject to explore with preschoolers because the children are fascinated by them, and they have so many different thoughts and opinions about the subject. They may be aware that monsters are not real, yet they are still terrified of them. Some children may enjoy being scared, while others would rather not even think about it. Monsters belong to the realm of make believe that preschoolers are still attempting to understand. Here are some of my favorite monster books for the classroom – these can be fun for the Halloween season as an alternative to ghosts and vampires. All links are affiliates. Go Away, Big Green Monster!…
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Books about the Beach
I feel like summer themed books don’t always get the attention that they deserve because there are so many things to do in the summer besides read. There are a ton of beach books that will add new elements to your discussions about the beach. Here are a few of my favorites (all links are Amazon affiliates): At the Beach Good Night Beach Beach House A Day at the Beach Check these out and be sure to take some time examining the pictures, which might help you add to your list of dramatic play props to add to your own beach play!
