EASTER IS HERE!

 Easter is HERE! Don't know about your classroom, but during Easter week, my classroom is in full-on madness mode. The primary Easter egg hunt is one of the most anticipated events at the school. This also makes it a perfect time for Easter-themed learning materials. 

How To Catch Easter Bunny Lesson Plan and Boom Cards™ Game

We will count, divide, and multiply eggs, without any complaints. After all, how can one keep track of all the chocolate treats?

Our weekly read is, "How to Catch Easter Bunny". The lesson comes with 2 sets of Boom Cards™ Games. Easter Boom Cards™ Game filled with math fun, skip counting, directionality, number sense, patterns, sentence making, and antonyms.

Spring Is Here Boom Cards™ Game includes patterns, sorting, sequencing, and calendar reading. A lot of good practice aligns with standards that students are mastering and teachers need to be teaching.

A lot of fun to be had. Never enough time! 

Mrs. Lena, M.Ed. 

 

 

BEST Spring Lessons Activities Games and Resources

March and April are perfect for teaching all about the science of spring, the water cycle, animal adaptations, reading comprehension and so much more. 

 

The first yearly Spring read is "Worm Weather by Jean Taft Lesson and Spring Boom Cards™". Little ones are always and forever surprised by all the things that come out of the ground during the spring thaw, from snowdrop flowers to worms. With "Worm Weather" we learned about the role and importance of worms on the quality of our soil and food production. We learn about seasons and identify different ways we dress for each of our sporting activities. This is followed by rhyming, story sequencing, and ordinal numbers activity.

With, "Carl and the Meaning of Life" we expand on our knowledge of worms, their role in the food chain, interdependence of species, reading comprehension, and cause and effect. 

Of course, it would not be spring reading time without "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" who eats through everything and teaches us about healthy eating, sequence, days of the week, and the butterfly life cycle. 

 

TO PURCHASE The Very Hungry Caterpillar Lesson Plan go HERE.

As we inch up to Earth Day, we celebrate by reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss Earth Day Lesson Planwho stand for the trees. We learn about the importance of trees, their role in our everyday lives, oxygen production, and the environment. 

Currently, the most popular writing center activity is Scrambled Sentences. Students love this hands-on cutting, writing, and reading center in which they practice their reading skills, sight words, writing, and grammar conventions. 

 
Hope that you are infusing fun into your instruction every day!
Mrs. Lena, M.Ed.

Free Eric Carle Lesson Plans To Start Your School Year Off Right

In many ways, primary teachers have the most intense job in education. Not only are they teaching little humans how to hold pencils, write letters and socialize, but they also have an enormous task of filling in the day with engaging fun activities. The responsibilities of primary teachers are so great that staying organized and positive is a must if one is to develop as an educator and stay in the profession.

Over this school year, I will be giving away FREE Primary Resources each month to the Newsletter Subscribers. Whether you are a teacher or a parent, feel free to Opt-In to my newsletter HERE and receive FREEBIES in your inbox every month! 

 

We are starting the first month of school with two Eric Carle FREEBIES.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Lonely Firefly. The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been a children's classic for many years.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a treasure when it comes to teaching patterns, days of the week, colors, sequencing, sorting matching, addition, rhyming, and animal life cycle. This FREEBIE has been designed and approved by pre-schoolers. 

 

The Very Lonely Firefly is another favorite of all, students, teachers, and parents. This text is loved by kindergartners, and it is perfect for reader's theatre. Each student gets a line in the text and the repeated readings build fluency and reading confidence. By the end of this lesson activity, your students will recite The Very Lonely Firefly by heart. It's magic :). The best part, everyone will willingly take their part and join the fun. 

SEND THE FREEBIES MY WAY!  

Back to School Resources Primary Grades Read Alouds

Most teachers are due in the classroom next week. We are having a few days before the students arrive to set up, have team meetings and do some planning. Still, the most important tasks consist of planning our first week of school. 

 

We only get one first week. Making it engaging and structured is super important. What our students learn during that first week really stays with them for the rest of the year. From class rules to the dismissal procedure. It all needs to be thought out for it will literally decide if your classroom will be in complete chaos or in organized chaos :). Be the boss of your own chaos. 

 

Get To Know Your Students

Read-Alouds during the first week of school are a MUST. Through the story, we will establish rapport with our new students. We will learn about their lives and they will start getting comfortable to speak up in class and share their experiences and knowledge. 

 

Books for Primary Grades

Some of the best K-2 Back to School Read-Alouds Are:

Butterflies on the First Day of School Lesson is perrrrfect! We all have butterflies on the first day of school. It's a great way to describe anxiety and to gain insight into effective ways to deal with unsettling feelings. 

 

Our Class Is A Family Lesson Plan has become a Back-to-School Classic. Every class is a family. Perfect for establishing a sense of belonging and community.

 

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Lesson Plan is great for teaching storytelling, creative writing, and connecting with your students through imagination. 

 

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Lesson is ideal for teaching classroom procedures and rules. Lilly is fancy and enthusiastic about her new purse, sunglasses and coins. She brings her accessories to school and gets herself in a quite frustrating situation when Mr. Slinger tries to minimize the disruption. If you are a primary grades teacher, you will want to allow your students to bring their show and share at a agreed-upon time and place. In my classroom, 'show and share' is always on Friday at the end of the day. It's always the time we all look forward to.

 

 Just Ask Be Different Be Brave Be You Back-to-School lesson is perfect for promoting a culture of acceptance and tolerance in your classroom. 

 

 And I have saved the best for last... If I Built a School Lesson has been one of my Bestsellers. Teachers have enjoyed sharing this read-aloud with students and having them create a plan of their own school. You can learn a lot about what students like and dislike from interactive activities like 'If I Built a School'... it would be... most likely way more amazing that what we have for them right now.

Have a Great Year! 

Mrs. Lena, M.Ed. 

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Favorite Thanksgiving Picture Books

 Halloween picture books were perfect for teaching the life cycle of plants and pumpkins, as well as, the difference between fruits and vegetables. 

Thanksgiving picture books are ideal for covering social studies standards (geography, native American studies, American history) language arts, and of course, mathematics, while immersed in the storytelling and inching toward Christmas. 

 

 

Best Thanksgiving Reads and Why Kids Like Them:

 

1. Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne is a must-read and always the number one on the Thanksgiving reading list. Jack and Annie are our all-time favorite characters, and if you are a primary grades teacher, surely you have read the whole series of Magic Tree House multiple times. 

 

The best element of the Magic Tree House is the immersion in storytelling. Thanksgiving on Thursday is filled with history, new vocabulary, tradition, and the ability to compare our Thanksgiving practices today to the First Thanksgiving.

2. Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey is the Teacher's Pick on Amazon. On the night before Thanksgiving, a group of schoolchildren visits Farmer Mack Nuggett's farm. All is fun and games until the kids realize what's awaiting the turkeys. One doesn't have to be a vegetarian to understand children's love and concern for animals. All ends well as the kids take it upon themselves to save the turkeys. Super Read!!! 

 

 

3. "A Turkey for Thanksgiving" by Eve Bunting is an all-time Thanksgiving picture book classic in which everyone is looking for Turkey. 

 

The story is quite a suspense as the reader and Turkey try to figure out if Mr. and Mrs. Moose are searching for Turkey to have it for a meal or invite it to dinner. Turkey's behavior is priceless and hilarious! 

 

 

4. "How to Catch A Turkey" is perhaps the best out of the How to Catch Series. A turkey is loose in the school and stirs up chaos before it accepts its fate of being a school mascot. Written for primary-grade students, this text is great for teaching and practicing rhyme, story sequence, cause and effect, inferencing, and perspective. 

 

 

Halloween Best Read Activities Lesson Plans and Freebies

The fall season is the best time of the year for elementary students. The weather has finally cooled down, playing outside doesn't get better, and school is fun! Of course, Halloween is one of the best party days at any school, and the treats, oh the excitement. 

Teaching during holidays is awesome if you have a great selection of seasonal resources that cover needed standards. While there are a lot of books about fall and Halloween, many are fluffy and don't provide the needed content.
Here is the compilation of well-researched, kid-approved, standard-covering resources that will ensure learning, engagement, and fun!

Gustavo the Shy Ghost by Drago is one of the recent Halloween Read Alouds. This wonderful story celebrates Halloween and teaches kids about emotional awareness, ways to make friends, and problem-solving. Gustavo the Shy Ghost is loved by boys and girls. This lesson plan includes a variety of language arts and math activities from grammar, cause and effect, sequence, story elements, and character analysis to geometric shapes, coloring, and more.

Halloween Tree is also one of the newer Halloween picture books and has become one of the most frequently read-aloud picture books. This resource is perfect for teaching different perspectives, changes that take place throughout the story, and uses of trees, especially when it comes to children's imagination. Finally, what makes a good tree? To any child who gets to spend time playing outside, a good tree is a tree that can be climbed. The Halloween Tree lesson plan is perfect for teaching reading comprehension, problem-solving and reasoning skills.

Stumpkin by Cummins is a nod to all the city kids. Everyone who grew up walking city streets knows of the pumpkin displays on city storefronts. Well, Stumpkin is the only pumpkin without a stump, which brings a lot of anxiety about where it's going to end up in the Halloween festivities. In the end, Stumpkin plays a special role and finds its place. This story ensures kids that everything has its purpose, and the lesson covers science, language arts, and math standards. From learning about pumpkin parts, and the pumpkin life cycle, to reading comprehension skills, new vocabulary,  number sense, and patterns. 

Have Fun Reading!

Mrs. Lena, M.Ed.

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Kelp Forest of California

 

Kelp Forest California NGSS Unit

Kelp forests are often called "ocean rain-forests". Covering large parts of world shorelines, kelp forests in North America are mostly located along the Pacific Coast of the Canadian and American coast.

As homes to thousands of marine species and sources of a wide range of commercial use, Kelp Forests are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. Due to their unique ecosystem, kelp forests are perfect for teaching and exploring the interdependent relationship of species and organisms in an ecosystem.
As the starfish die-off event eliminated the top predator of sea urchins, it allowed for unchecked grazing of California kelp forest. 

 

In the past eight years, the Northern California kelp forest has been reduced by 90%.
The lack of sea otters, the keystone species of the kelp forest in Northern California further complicates the hope of the kelp forest recovery. 

Kelp Forest Unit is great for teaching interdependence of the species and organisms in an ecosystem, as well as, the important role of predators in maintaining a balanced ecosystem. 

NGSS 3-LS4-3 Habitats and Organisms Survival and 

3-LS4-4 Environmental Change Solution 

• What is Kelp?
• Parts of Kelp
• Kelp Forest Reading
• World Kelp Forest Habitats
• Ecological balance and the Kelp forest decline
• Kelp forest and climate change
• Kelp forest keystone species
• Kelp forest food web
• Post lesson short answers and multiple choice questions
• Post lesson reflections
• Kelp plant parts activity

 

Kelp Forest Unit

Have Fun Reading!

Mrs. Lena, M.Ed.

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