Part of my structured literacy approach in the classroom is having students practice tracing letters. To become writers, my students need to learn how to form letters, and that can be hard work! Fine Motor Skills First, to be able to write, I ensure that my students have a lot of fine motor practice. I …
I’m always looking for fun ways to incorporate math or literacy skills into my classroom centers. I also like to use natural items like loose parts in my provocations. So this nature number printable was an easy way to do both! Number Printable I used Canva to create these number printables, and they turned out …
One of the things I love most about working in a kindergarten classroom – coming up with engaging activity ideas to spark my students’ curiosity and extend their learning. Planning and setting up provocations and invitations for learning is my favourite thing to do! For some educators, coming up with ideas can be a little …
I am a huge lover of books in the classroom. I am always searching for new books to add to my kindergarten classroom library that provides my students with windows and mirrors. They can also introduce math or literacy concepts, provoke inquiries or work on oral language skills. Books can be the gateway to so …
A solid understanding of short and long vowel sounds is important in building students’ reading and writing skills. Teaching Phonics Skills Kindergarten students need explicit and systematic instruction in phonics skills. It is one of the fundamental skills students need to be successful readers and writers. As I continue to teach my students letter sounds, …
My students love doing directed drawings every year. They are basically step-by-step directions that students follow to make a picture. I like doing them as whole group kindergarten art activities that students do with me. I do each step of the drawing on our projector, and my students follow along. We do one about every …
I have come up with quick and easy kindergarten literacy activities that use simple letter cards to practise various skills with my students. These cost nothing to make – I just cut up pieces of paper and wrote on them with a Sharpie! I use the activities alongside my structured literacy routine to help reinforce …
There are a few kindergarten questions that I get asked a lot. These mostly come through Instagram DMs or emails. I know that kindergarten can seem overwhelming, and there is so much to learn! I thought it would be easiest to put all the answers to my most frequently asked questions in one place. This …
Students can create their own no-prep sight word books to reinforce reading and writing the words they are learning. Teaching Sight Words This past year, I learned about the Heart Word method for teaching sight words. For students to automatically start reading them, I explicitly teach my students how to read them. This way, they …
Try these fun games and activities for kindergarten phonics practice and reinforce letter-sound knowledge. Importance of Phonics Learning to connect the written symbol (the letter) to its sound is one of the foundational skills that students need to become readers and writers. Phonics needs to be explicitly taught and practiced with students. I use a …
