Circle Time
Good Morning Song
Good Afternoon Song
Days of the Week
Jolly Phonics Songs
Months of the Year
Counting & Skip Counting
Story Time: 3 Little Pigs
Leprechaun Hunt
Monday ZOOM - Circle Time
Lesson Plans
Life's Little Equations
My Own Special Place
I believe that an integral part of teaching students is to provide them with or create acitivities that challenge them to think in ways they haven't before. For this lesson, I used the book Life's Little Equations written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal to provide students with a rich example in order to set high expectations. The students were then asked to create their own life equations using mathimatical concepts in order to communicate an idea or messgae.
Allowing my students to use their imagination has been one of the best strategies in order to facilitate learning. To start this activity I read My Garden by Kevin Henkes to show students that if we can create something in our minds then we can express it with words. We all need a special place where we can go if we aren't feeling our best. So my students used a brainstorming sheet I created and then wrote feedback for each of them using a "What if...?" question. Using the feedback, which they were very excited about, they wrote a story about the magical place where anything is possible. They were asked to use descriptive language in order to paint a picture of their special place in the readers mind.
Community Bags
In order to get to know my students each personally and to give them the opportunity to get to know about who I am in and outside of school. I gave each student a paper bag which had the following poem on the front:
I look
I search
I hope to see
Something that appeals to me
Something unique – or maybe not
Buttons, milk caps, straws – the lot
A blue-green shape just caught my eye
I don’t think I can pass it by
Whatever it is, it makes me glad
And so I’ll put it in my bag
​
Every student had the chance to fill their paper bags with as many things as they could fit, the only criteria was that the objects needed to present something about who they are. In order to establish a sense of community straight away, I would love to do this within the first week.
Best Part About Me
We first read the "Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald and then each student identifies one part of themselves that they feel is extra special. This "best part" is photographed and then the children write a piece describing why they selected their best part.
Book of Advice
I believe children can change the world with their wisdom and I asked my students to write a book of advice after being inspired by Kid President.
Spring & New Life
I was inspired by a spring project I came across on a blog entitled That Artist Women by Gail Martel. When I started to tackle to project I had no idea what I was getting myselft into. However, I was very fortunate because my mentor teacher had volunteers come in her classroom constantly throughout the week. As a result, I was able to create twenty-two paper maché eggs with cardboard birds inside. This project would not have been at all possible without all the adult help. In order to make it doable in a classroom on my own I would have had to break the project into many more parts and stages. However, I have truly learned about the importance of planning ahead in order to reach out and get parents or even my own friends and family to volunteer. Having more volunteers really enhances student learning.
Self Portraits
A self-portrait is an intimate, bold declaration of identity. In a self-portrait the child offers themselves as both subject and artist. When we look at their self-portrait, we see a child as they see themselves. The story of self-portrait work is a tender story to tell.
If I Were 100 Years Old
What would it be like to turn 100 years old? What wisdom would we have and what would we like to teach the younger version of ourself?
Inuit Inquiry Project & Lesson Series
We spent nearly three months studying Inuit culture. We began our inquiry with an expert guest who brought in Inuit artifacts for the children to explore. But the end of the inquiry each student wrote their own Inuit folktale with Inuit inspired artwork.