Art Matters– Exploring the work of Henri Matisse with young learners.
Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope that everyone's year is off to a fantastic start and that you are starting to find your groove.…
Developing a Growth Mindset in young learners
Hello everyone! We just finished our first week in the 2017-2018 school year and I have got to tell you, we had the most…
2017-2018 Kindergarten Classroom Reveal
Hello friends! I hope that you are doing well and that you are enjoying this "back to school season." I can't believe it but this year…
STEM!
Hello friends! The last two weeks my friend and I have been running a STEM camp for 5-10 year olds at my school.…
Exploring Coding With Kindergarteners (with and without technology)
As I began planning for this year, I realized that introducing my students to coding was a 21st century skill that I needed to teach.…
Engaging Activities When Studying The Moon
If you caught my last blog post (you can read it here), you know that a few weeks ago we transformed our classroom…
A journey into space!
At the very beginning of the school year, I showed my students a video taken from the International Space Station. Oftentimes, teachers will ask…
Crayola inspired PBL in kindergarten! (Goodbye Dandelion!)
Have y'all heard that Crayola is retiring a crayon from their box of 24 crayons? When I heard this news, I thought that this…
The beginning of a plant inquiry
Hello friends! I hope that this post finds you well. We are currently in the middle of a giant plant inquiry. This year, I…
Our Butterfly Inquiry
For the past two weeks we have been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly in our kindergarten classroom. It all started…
Engaging hands-on activities to help you gear up for spring!
I know that it is not officially spring yet, but it certainly feels like it here in Austin, TX. I currently have my…
A Montessori Monday Post- Nouns and Verbs
I was asked by several people to start a weekly series on Montessori materials/lessons/activities that I use in my classroom. As an aside,…
“Follow The Child” — A Simple Valentine’s Day Activity
This past week my students have been non-stop talking about Valentine's Day. To be honest, I wasn't planning on doing anything big for…
A Reggio-inspired inquiry on Lunar New Year and Chinese culture
This past week we celebrated the Lunar New Year in my classroom and explored Chinese culture and traditions. It was such a fun-filled…
Studying the human body with kindergarteners
This year, my students were very interested in learning about the ways their bodies worked. We spent about three weeks learning about our five…
Polar Express Day 2016
This past Friday was our annual Polar Express Day. This is by far one of my favorite traditions. This year it ended up…
Learning in December with the help of the Gingerbread Man
December is here and my kindergarten students are excited, energized, and loving our newest theme. They came in on December 1st to find our dramatic…
Wampanoag activities for your Thanksgiving unit
One of my favorite things to do is to watch documentaries. I like them even more when they are documentaries about chefs and…
STEM activities in November
I love that STEM education is getting so much attention these days. Incorporating STEM activities in your classroom helps your students develop problem…
Exploring Owls With Kindergarteners
Hello Friends! We just finished a really fun week of learning all about owls. My students this year are very intrigued by birds.…
Exploring shapes with kindergarteners
I have found that when teaching kindergarten, at many times throughout the year I loop back around to concepts to help my students dig…
Learning About Our Community
Helping young students understand how they relate to the world they live in is a common Social Studies standard. It also helps students…
The first part of our kindergarten bird inquiry
The other day, one of my students brought in two bird nests that her family had found on their property. She proudly shared…
Kindergarten Activities To Go Along With “The Little Red Hen”
This past Friday marked our 9th day of school and I am happy to say, we are having an absolute blast. This particular…
Classroom Reveal 2016-2017
Hello everyone! I hope that you had a fabulous week! For those of you who already have a few days of the school…
Tutorial: How to dye beans for your sensory table
Hello everyone! This morning I was dying beans for my new group of kindergarteners and thought I would write a quick tutorial on…
Getting Ready For A New Year
Hello everyone! I hope that you are enjoying your last few days of summer. For us here in Texas, the first day of…
Beginning Of The Year Literacy Centers And Activities
The beginning of kindergarten is such a fun time. Ok, honestly, if I wrote this post at the end of May when our…
5 Tried And True Morning Meeting Activities (for kindergarteners)
I absolutely love using a morning meeting to begin our day. In the book it says, "morning meetings help to create a climate…
Student-led inquiries: Project work with young learners
I love the summer because it allows me the time to reflect on the year that just finished and read a ton of…
Engaging lessons on tide pools
This week we began a new unit on tide pools. As some of my students have never visited the ocean, the first day we…
Following my students’ interests to DINOSAURS
We have had an absolute BLAST studying dinosaurs these last two weeks. My students are SO into them and I am ashamed to…
It’s SPRING! Take this science activity outside!
I don't know about where you live, but here in Texas, we are experiencing a BEAUTIFUL spring!! Each day we are finding new…
Hands-on activities when studying storms
In Science, our objective this past week was, "students will observe, describe, and illustrate objects in the sky such as the clouds and Sun."…
Turning a picture book into a play to review the sequence of events
The last few weeks we have really been working on retelling the sequence of events in a story. We have done this a…
A new take on whole group math
A few weeks ago, I was able to attend the kindergarten SDE conference in Austin, TX. I had the privilege to listen to…
Using a rainy day to inspire writing
In Texas, we don't often get a rainy day that we can enjoy. However, last week, we got to enjoy not one, but…
Exploring rocks and minerals with young learners (part two)
(As this post is fairly long, I have broken it up into multiple pages, as a quick reference, at the bottom of each…
Part One: A Student-Led Inquiry About Rocks And Geodes
About a month ago, while we were on the playground, our students became fascinated with collecting rocks. Day by day, students would run up…
American Symbols
Part of our Social Studies standards require that we teach our kindergarten students about American symbols and famous presidents. This is not one…
A Kindergarten Unit On China
A few of our Social Studies standards in Texas require us to teach students to understand different cultures and traditions. (11) Culture. The student understands similarities…
Using Provocations In Your Kindergarten Classroom
I have been using a lot of Reggio-inspired practices this year in my classroom and am so very happy with the results that…
A Kindergarten Unit on Castles
The past three weeks we have been learning all about Medieval Times in our kindergarten classroom. My students had shown a huge interest…
Exploring Sound With Kindergarteners
We just finished a unit exploring light and sound. If you would like to read about the light inquiry, you can do so here. Today,…
Exploring Capacity With Kindergarteners
Capacity: the maximum amount something can contain. In order to teach my students this term, I purchased four new sensory tubs from Amazon.com.…
Adding PLAY To Your Guided Reading Groups
As a teacher we want our students to LOVE to read. We want our students to devour good books and to become amazing little readers.…
Simple activities to make your Arctic unit come to life!
I love teaching because every year, every month, and every day I get to learn something new. I get to see the joy…
Polar Express Day 2015
First of all, Merry, Merry Christmas from all of mine (minus those who were sick with strep throat this past week) to all of…
A few of our favorite things
Two years ago I switched grades from first to kindergarten. I was excited to make the change since I had previously taught kindergarten for…
Hands-on Ways To Practice Patterns In December
One of the math skills that we are currently working on in my classroom is reviewing patterns. We have already mastered repeating patterns…
Following My Students’ Interests… To Africa
My students are obsessed with endangered animals. I honestly have never seen a group of kids so INTO a topic. While learning about…
Making Magic Potions
For our Friday experiment last week, my students entered our classroom to find, silver platters set out with intriguing science tools. They "oooohhhed…
Using pumpkins to teach math
The week before Halloween, my school enjoys "Spirit Week." Every day has its own theme and the kids (and teachers!) come dressed accordingly.…
Fun In October
We have been having a BLAST with our October activities. With Halloween just around the corner, here are a few fun things you…
Our Latest STEM/STEAM Activity
Many studies have found that current graduates are lacking the essential skills they need to problem solve. For this reason, there has been…
Activities During Our Forest Inquiry
We currently are knee-deep in our forest inquiry. Throughout the week, my students came up with some great wonders! Here are a few things…
Letting go and watching them soar
We are currently on our 22nd day of school. For the past few weeks, we have been hard at work learning routines, procedures,…
Kindergarten: where young scientists are born
This week we began the journey on a four - six week inquiry. I'm excited and my students are even more excited. Basically,…
Community Helper Fun!
This past week my class learned ALL about community helpers. Each day we studied a particular helper and did activities that went along with…
Exploratory Centers– A Case For Play
Every afternoon, I set aside 30-45 minutes for my students to explore items, activities, and experiences in my classroom. I'm sure many of…
Whole Group Math Mini Lesson Fun!
This week we have been working on learning the numbers 1-6. I wanted these lessons to be as hands-on and interactive as possible.…
Setting the Tone The First Week of School
I don't know about you, but I am starting to feel the pressure of heading back to school. This upcoming week I am…
Integrating Science Into Your Day–Finding The Time
People often ask me, "How do you fit everything in?!?" I understand why. It is so very hard to fit everything you want…
Fostering Independence At Centers
It's no surprise that small group instruction is essential when trying to meet the needs of all of the learners in your classroom. However,…
Developing Independent Kindergarteners- Part 1
Let me begin this post with two words: Independent Kindergarteners Two words that often are not put together in August. In fact, now, in June,…
How to: Guided Math
Each year, at the close of the school year, I like to reflect back on things that worked in the previous year. This…
Oceans, Islands, and Waves OH MY!
This week we are learning all about the Ocean and BOY OH BOY are we having a blast!! I am so glad that…
What have we been up to?
The last few weeks have been SUPER hectic. You know how it goes. However, I just HAVE to share some of the FUN…
Math In May
Can you believe it is already May?! Where has the time gone?? At one point today I stopped to take in the quiet…
Plant and Earth Day Activities
If you read my last blog post, I promised to tell y'all about the rest of our Earth Day and plant unit activities.…
Earth Day Activities
This past week we have been gearing up for Earth Day. We have been learning all about plants and our world. To make…
Morning Activities for 4 and 5 year olds
I am very thankful to teach in a school that understands that young learners need time to explore and engage in tasks. Every…
Hands-on lessons for young students about rocks!
The past week we have continued our study on the Earth. This week we focused on the "land." Throughout the week, my students…
Peter Rabbit helps with teen numbers!
If you are anything like me, there are certain picture books that stand out as your absolute favorite childhood stories. I distinctly remember…
Gearing up for Earth Day!
The past two weeks, my class has been gearing up for Earth Day. We have been having a blast each afternoon as we learn…
St. Patrick’s Day Fun!
This week we have had so much fun learning about St. Patrick's Day! My students have LOVED all of our activities to fit…
Cause and Effect
Cause and effect is not always the easiest concept for students to grasp. However, I was determined this year to make it tangible…
Exploring 100
Children are naturally inquisitive. As they grow, they, without prompting, seek out learning. As many of my friends who have toddlers would attest…
Making Geography Come To Life
I am very lucky to work at a school that promotes exploration in the classroom. As some of you may remember, we began…
Hands On Activities For Young Learners
I don't think I've ever mentioned this on my blog; however, when I was in college, I was blessed to have an absolutely…
Coming Up This Week: Learning about the Pilgrims!
This week is a short week for us. However, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try to cram as much as…
Hello, November!
I simply CAN'T believe that it is November already. Where oh where has the time gone? I find myself having to warm up…
Wrapping up October, in comes November
Can you believe that it is already November? I certainly can't! Last week we were fully immersed in all things PUMPKIN! We had so…
Centers with a Montessori flair
After I graduated college, my first teaching job was at a Montessori school. The school was very quaint and took children aged 2.9-6.2…
3rd Annual Camping Day!
It has become a tradition at my school that every year, around this time, I host a camping day for the first graders.…
Exploring Plants
Last week was our testing week and I am very glad to say that it is over! My students did fantastic but by…
A glimpse into our day!
I thought it might be fun to show you a glimpse into a 'normal' day in our first grade classroom. As many of…
Having fun in the winter! {Freebie!!}
Weather in Texas is so crazy. One day this week it was 29* when I woke up. The next day, my students were…
Winter is Here!!
Winter has definitely hit my classroom. While we are NOT experiencing all the snow and cold that y'all are having, we did get…
We’ve got spirit, yes, we do! (and owl pellet dissections!)
This past week we celebrated "Spirt Week" at my school. Each day students were able to come to school out of uniform. (which…
A week of spiders {How do you fit it all in?}
This past week we went CRAZY for spiders. My students LOVED every.single.minute of each day and they came out stronger readers, writers and…
Creepy, Crawly Spiders!
Well spider week in my classroom is off to a HUGE hit! I had a few parents email me saying that their child…
October Mapped Out and Spiders! {and your chance to win!}
Can you believe that it is almost October? CRAZY, right?! Goodbye apples, and hello October themes! On Friday I mapped out my month…
More Apples and Johnny Appleseed Day!
Oh wow! What a whirlwind this week has been. My students have amazed me this week. They have worked so hard and have…
How to make applesauce in your classroom {recipe included}
On Friday my class made homemade applesauce in class. It is truly one of my favorite activities that I do every year. I…
Apple Juice! {classroom style!}
On Tuesday, in one of my guided reading groups, my students and I were working our way through an "apple" reader. In the…
Apple Weeks start TOMORROW!! {plus TONS of Freebies!!!}
Hooray, hooray!! Our Apple Weeks start tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited!! I have TONS of fun things planned for us and…
We Love Weather!
The other day one of my students raised her hand and asked, "Miss Smith, are we going to study weather next week?" I said,…
Visual Plans and Freebies!
Before I get into my visual plans, I have to tell y'all about my latest obsession. Here in Texas unfortunately it is still…
Weather Galore!
This week we started our first "science theme" of the school year. I start my year with weather because it echoes both my…
