Ten Little Snowmen Finger Play

Ten Little Snowmen

Tune: Six Little Ducks
10 Little Snowmen on a hill,
freezing cold and standing still.
The sun came out with its warm rays and one little snowman melted away.

Continue…
1 Little Snowmen on a hill,
freezing cold and standing still.
The sun came out with its warm rays and the last little snowman melted away.

 

Shared Reading

 

 

 

Shared Reading

 

This is a great video demonstrating what shared reading is and how to do it as a teacher or even a parent.  Shared reading is a great way to get your children excited about reading and it works on their reading skills.  Every classroom should use shared reading at least twice a week.  



Number Recognition Activity

Number Recognition Activity

 

Here is a great game that students can play to practice their number recognition skills.  The theme of this game is always a fun one and I encourage the students to sing the song "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" when they are doing this activity.  The students count the number of monkeys on the bed and then put a paper clip on the correct number that goes along with the number of monkeys.  The use of the clothes pins also works on strengthening their hand muscles for writing skills.  This printable game can be found on the website Making Learning Fun.  Here is the link to the game:  http://www.makinglearningfun.com/images/Activities/MonkMonkeysOnBedCount.pdf

Fine Motor Activity

Fine Motor Activity

Activities to work on fine motor skills.  This is an activity that I had put together for my art center.  I pre-drew designs on smaller pieces of card stock and left out colored hard corn and glue for the students to use.  The items the students are gluing could be modified to fit the theme or season.  The students them use the glue bottle to trace the design with the glue and then one by one place the corn onto the glue.  This activity works the fine motor skills the students will need when learning to write.  Here is a picture of the supplies needed.

Listening Blocks

This is an awesome toy/game/activity that I came across when I was doing lab hours for a class in a Montessori classroom.  The idea of the activity is that the students listen to the noise created inside the listening tubes that are red and then try to match the blue tubes to the same matching sound they make.  This is a great first activity for students in phonics.  It makes the child listen for small differences in the sounds and they practice their listen skills for learning letter sounds.  The students all loved this game and I would definitely have this in a non Montessori classroom.  GREAT Activity.

Reading Journals

 

Reading Journals

 

 

Reading Journals are a create way to get children reading and writing.  To start out a journal with younger children have the first posts be pictures they draw.  Each time they draw in their journal it should have a theme, such as, my favorite thing to do with a friend is.... and then have the child draw a picture of what that is.  After a week have the children walk around the room and try to draw some of the objects or things that they see.  Once the children feel comfortable with that and they are starting to write have them write letters, number, or their name on a page.  Graduate to looking for letters and numbers around the room, then actual words around the room, etc.  This activity should be part of their daily routine and will foster their growth of reading and writing.  Each child should have their own journal and only be checked for doing the lesson, not if it is correct or not.  Here is an example of a journal from a Kindergarten classroom.

 





Classroom Turkey

 

Our Classroom Turkey

 

 



Great Classroom project to encourage thankfulness and working together for any class.  Each child picks out a piece of colored construction paper and cuts out a large feather shape, a stencil can be used.  Then each student must think of something they are thankful for.  They teacher or student writes out the message and then the child draws a picture depicting the message.  

Once everyone's is completed the students add their feather to the classes turkey to make a large turkey.  The students share with the class what they are thankful for before it is placed on the turkey.  This turkey should be displayed in the hallway for everyone to see.





 

The Word Wall

The Word Wall

 

 

The benefits and use of a word wall in the classroom.

 

- support the teaching of key words and subject-specific terminology.

- promote independence in reading and writing by building vocabulary.

- provide visual clues and reference for language learners.

- help students remember connections between words and concepts

Word Walls are so important to a new reader.  Try using 2 in your classroom.  Have one for the teacher to add to and then have one at students level that they can add to, they can bring words from home too.