Veterans Day Freebies

Veterans Day is an important holiday to teach to young children.  I feel that it is necessary to teach my kinders about those who have served in the past and who are currently serving our country.

I created an emergent reader text especially for my kinders.  This reader includes a basic understanding of Veterans Day.  This emergent reader text is a fun and informative way to help your emerging readers track print and learn about Veterans Day.  Color words and sight words are used in this reader. All pages, images and text are black and white to save on ink. I have also included page numbers are on each page.

I also created this free vocabulary diagram to teach important words such as "honor" and "serve".  I also plan on using this in my classroom on Tuesday.  Just click on the picture below to link to the free download.

Please use these freebies to celebrate Veterans Day with your students.



Endless Possibilities,
Stephanie

Stop, SWAP, and Roll!

I'm excited to be teaming up with Kristen's from Kristen's Kindergarten for the Stop, Swap, and Roll hosted by Melissa over at Jungle Learners!  We are swapping products, trying them out and sharing them with you (with a chance to win!). 

I am happy I chose to check out her Beginning, Middle, and Ending sound packet to use with some of my first grade students who need a little more reinforcement with segmenting and hearing sound in words.  You can check out the packet by clicking HERE or on the picture below.

First up were beginning and ending sound cards.  Students pick a card, sound it out and then record the answer on the recording sheet.  I love how the cards are colorful without being overly ink draining!

Next up with a vowel sort.  Each vowel letter has a "header" and students sort the cards with that vowel sound under the vowel it belongs to.  Each picture is easy to segment and sound out so that students can record the words on the recording sheet hat is provided.

You can win this great product by entering the rafflecopter below!  Don't forget to head on over to Jungle Learners to see all of the Swaps and enter to win amazing products at each stop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nonfiction Fun

There is nothing more exciting than teaching nonfiction units to kindergarten and first grade students.  There are so many different units that can be instructed this time of year.  Some of my favorites are bats, spiders, owls, apples, pumpkins, and bones... just to name a few.

Teaching kindergarten students about owls is probably my favorite nonfiction unit to teach about.  I just LOVE their little faces when I tell them about regurgitation and owl pellets!!

I walked through our primary building and took some pictures of some nonfiction activities and lessons going on.  It was very clear that all of our teachers are on the same topics and have the same enjoyment of teaching nonfiction units.

There are so many great teaching points with nonfiction units that tap into higher levels of thinking.  Venn Diagrams are very popular when comparing apples to pumpkins and bats to owls.
 
I also noticed when I was walking around the school looking for nonfiction work that several teachers work on vivid vocabulary by using a Frayer model.

Teaching sequencing with pictures is another strategy to help students remember, especially with a fun project like this one from Stephany's Pumpkin Unit.

An anchor chart with (have, can, are) is definitely a must when teaching about bats.  Stephany's Bat Unit is an excellent resource to use when teaching about Bats.

I always use Kim Adsit's Nonfiction Chart that is in her Post-It Note Anchor Chart Pack.

I use this chart for nearly all nonfiction topics.  It is an excellent resources and is simple for my kinders to understand.

Here are some other pictures in our primary building.

 

I hope I sparked your interest and enthusiasm.  I know I am getting ready to get my lesson plans ready for pumpkin week!!

Endless Possibilities,

Stephanie