Compound Word Valentine Activity

This post is a throwback to one of the first blog posts I wrote almost 6 years ago (yikes!). In it I described how to make a fun compound word activity with broken hearts.

Making activities is always fun, but let's be honest, most of us teachers just don't have time to make all the cute Pinterest activities out there. That's why I finally created this game and listed it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Compound Word Matching Activity

As both a SPED and Reg-Ed teacher, I have such a variety of ability levels in my classroom, so I always love to include easy options for differentiation in my activities. This game is no exception. There are a few options for this game. It is versatile enough that it can be an independent word work or literacy station for learners who are ready for it, a small group or guided activity for those who need a little scaffolding, or even a large group activity to get everyone in on the action.

For lower level learners, give them both the broken pieces and the whole "answer" hearts. They can work on their print awareness by matching the printed words.
For higher level learners, omit the whole "answer" hearts and give them only the broken hearts, so they have to use more higher order thinking skills, instead of just matching.

For whole group play, distribute all of the broken heart pieces and have students find their partner. This could be done without the whole hearts, or by having the whole hearts on display at the front of the room; partners have to go stand by their whole heart when they have found each other.

Grab this game here, and leave me a comment to let me know how you use it in your classroom!

Fun Thanksgiving Activities!

Can you believe Thanksgiving is just two weeks away?! Where is this school year going?

I just wanted to quickly share with you a couple of fun Thanksgiving resources. They are both no-prep, which makes them perfect for using as a culminating activity after a class Thanksgiving party.

The first one is a Thanksgiving Colors Emergent Reader, from my new line of seasonal color books. Students will color in a seasonal item for each of 11 basic colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black, gray, and white. They will also trace the color word, giving them practice spelling. Click here to get this resource!

The second resource is a Thanksgiving word match book with the same sight words and sentence pattern on each page, to assist in learning to read. Students build fine motor skills as they cut out pictures to match to the words. Get this resource here!

I hope you and your students enjoy these activities! Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Encouraging Mindfulness in Early Childhood

Last year, I had some rough behaviors in my room. I mean, rough. As the year went on, I became frustrated and exhausted, but I also discovered one important commonality: these kiddos who kept acting out had all experienced trauma.

I don't just mean what my therapist husband calls "Little t trauma", I'm talking about "Big T Trauma". Stuff little kids should never have to worry about.

Kids don't know how to appropriately process and respond to that kind of stuff (and if we're honest, many of us as adults don't know how, either!), so they react. They lash out, they act up, they do anything they can to try to gain some kind of control over their little worlds, and to make sense of their lives.

Unfortunately, there is not a thing we as teachers can do to change situations in these kids' lives outside of school. We are completely powerless in that area. BUT, what we can do, is give them tools to process what they are going through. After the year I had last year, I spent all summer researching. How to calm irate children, how to stop outbursts and misbehavior. What I found is not at all surprising: there is no easy fix. The important thing is to give kids strategies, to teach them how to respond instead of react.

One word that kept coming up in my reading was mindfulness. Eagerly, I searched and searched for articles explaining how to teach mindfulness in early childhood, but I kept coming up empty. The problem is, mindfulness is something that must be learned, but it isn't something you can really teach. It's something that must be done intentionally and with practice. I realized that I must teach my kids strategies, help them learn to feel and identify their emotions, and give them time and space to process and respond to things happening around them.

I made some big changes in my room this year. First, I set up a mindfulness corner.

This space is reserved only for kids who need some space to calm down and regroup. It is NOT a time-out area; kids can choose to go there if they feel sad or angry, or even if they feel too excited and wound up. At first, it was an area of great interest, and all of my kids would ask to go in there to read or play. They quickly came to understand, though, that's not what the space is for, and now they only use it if they need it. In the mindfulness corner are some calm down cards, with choices for students to help them relax. There are also posters to help them identify their feelings.

We have also been starting every day with meditation. One of my awesome paras spent a year teaching in Thailand, and told me how all students there meditate at the beginning of every day. I loved the idea, so now that's how we start our mornings. The kids are used to it now, and it gives us a positive start to our day. Just 4 minutes of sitting quietly, listening to calming music. We more than regain that 4 minutes the rest of the day, as the students are then ready to learn!

We have been practicing different breathing techniques, such as the Balloon and Drain from Conscious Discipline. One of my favorite things has been Daniel Goleman's suggestion to use Breathing Buddies. Breathing Buddies are stuffed animals that help students focus on their breathing. They lie on their backs with the stuffed animals on their tummies, and watch as their breaths make the animals go up and down.

The kids love using Breathing Buddies!

All in all, we are off to a much calmer, smoother start this year. I think starting our day with meditation helps establish that the classroom is a calm place to be. Giving kids practice identifying emotions and the space to process those emotions, as well as strategies on how to respond, gives them a sense of control over their lives, and with it, some peace and a renewed focus for learning!

Reminder Wristbands for Every Occasion

Does anyone else have trouble with parents missing out on important information because they forget to check the daily folder? I can't be the only one!

I know how busy parents are; after all, I have kids of my own. I completely get it! So anything I can do to help parents out, I will. I've started using wristbands to give parents reminders. I had found some cute ones online to use, but they had curved edges to make them shaped like a watch--adorable, but I don't have time to cut out 40 of those for all of my students! So I decided to make my own, which you can find here. With several on a page, they don't use up a lot of paper, and they have straight edges so they can quickly be cut apart using a paper cutter. Less time spent on this kind of stuff = more time teaching.

Kids love wearing these wristbands! I had one student last year who wore his for 2 days, because he didn't want to take it off. They are a good visual tool for parents, especially when printed on neon paper (which of course I didn't have on hand when I was taking pictures). A bright wristband on your kid's arm catches your eye much better than a paper in a folder.
(Note: Of course, I still use the daily folder system for paperwork, behavior, and homework; this is just an extra aid.)

I offer wristbands for 16 occasions, in one convenient bundle:

Tomorrow is Picture Day
School Fundraiser is Starting
Fundraiser Money is Due
Send Field Trip Money
Send Lunch Money
Picture Money is Due
Sign and Return Paperwork
Sign and Return Permission Slip
Test Tomorrow
Parent Teacher Conferences
Field Day Tomorrow
Field Trip Tomorrow
Early Release Tomorrow
Return Library Books
Please Check Folder
Class Party Tomorrow

Here's to keeping on top of all the "little stuff" and improving communication with parents!

Easy Goal Tracking and Differentiation

I teach two half-day classes, which include kids who have special needs and kids who are at risk. I'm the SPED teacher as well as the IEP manager for my SPED kiddos, and also the Reg. Ed. teacher for my at risk kids, some of whom have delays that just haven't been identified yet. That's 40 students ranging vastly in ability levels that I have to plan for and teach. (Check out this post for information on how I keep everything organized for two separate classes!)

It's a tall order! It's up to me to make sure each student has learning opportunities tailored to meet his or her needs. Of course, I have wonderful paras who help me a ton; I would be lost without them. Shout out to all of the amazing paraprofessionals out there! You are an invaluable asset to our schools and our students.

Even with 3 adults in the room, it can be a struggle to keep up with exactly where each student is at, especially since, at this age, it can all change so quickly! Over the past several years, I've developed some systems that have helped me tremendously.

Click here to get this resource from my TPT store!

For my SPED kids, my Editable IEP Data Tracking Sheet has been a lifesaver! It's super easy to use; just type in each kiddo's goals and print. Put a plus sign if they meet the goal as written, a check mark if they can meet it with some help or prompting, or a minus sign if they aren't yet able to meet it. There is a spot for comments if you need to elaborate, but most of it can be done in a few minutes. At progress report time, just tally up the plus marks to get your percentage, and you're done!

While these sheets are very helpful to keep in a binder and work well for me to use, sometimes I need my paras to collect data, or I need a fast and easy way to collect data on the go--maybe out at recess or during an assembly. For those situations, these Goal Data Collection Cards are perfect.

Color coded for my AM and PM groups, as explained in this post.

They are the same basic idea as the IEP Data Tracking Sheet, but in card form. Each card only has one goal on them. I can put all of my students' literacy goals on one binder ring and put it with the literacy station one of my paras is doing, or put all of my kids' social goals on another binder ring and take it out to recess. Easy peasy. The great thing about these particular cards is that I use them for more than just IEP goals. I use them for progress reports and goal setting for all of my students.

Speaking of goal setting for all of my students, these skills checklists are super handy! I keep them on a binder ring for each table group. At the beginning of the year, I mark what each kiddo can do in 15 separate areas. This gives me a good baseline. As the year goes on, I add the goal cards mentioned above as needed for each kiddo. Then, as I plan small group instruction and work with each group, I just grab their checklists and can quickly and easily see how to differentiate for each kid.

It takes a little time to set up, but implementation is truly simple, and I feel confident that I have a much better idea of where each of my students is at, so that I am better able to meet their needs.

Any other tips on keeping goals and data organized for your students? Drop them in the comments!

Five Fall Activities for Early Childhood

It's mid-September, so that means it's time to break out the fall activities!

I have five activities for you today that are perfect for Early Childhood. The first 3 are sensory activities. We all know that kids love exploring the world for themselves, instead of just hearing about it. My sensory booklet series will give students a chance to record their observations in an age-appropriate way, using pictures to describe their findings. Guide students through sensory experiences with fall items! Simply cut and staple the pages together to create booklets for students to record what they see, smell, hear, feel, and taste (when appropriate) as they explore apples, pumpkins, and fall leaves.

 Apple Sensory Activity

Pumpkin Sensory Activity

 Fall Leaves Sensory Activity

The next activity is the popular Pumpkin Investigation Activity. Unlike most common versions, mine has been tweaked to make it appropriate for Early Childhood--using cubes to measure, and without counting hundreds of seeds.  

This last activity is just for fun, although it does provide great fine motor practice! These darling Autumn Hats require zero prep--not even a sentence strip! Just print and have students color and cut. All you have to do is staple or tape them to fit on students' heads. It makes a wonderful culminating activity after some fall sensory experiences; students can use various colors to match what they saw in their observations.

What are some tried and true fall activities your students love?

Keeping Organized with Two Half Day Classes

Since I teach Pre-K, I teach two half day classes of three-, four-, and five-year-olds. That means 40 little people in my room each day, and I have to keep track of their progress, goals, communications with parents...and all of their stuff. Pre-K kids aren't the greatest at keeping track of their stuff. While I don't have a remedy for all the kid stuff, I do have a pretty good system in place that has helped a LOT with organizing the rest of it.

My secret? Color coding. The morning class is red, and the afternoon class is blue.

I color code everything.

I mean, everything. Take home folders.

Student skills checklists and goal sheets.

The times on my daily schedule. (Forgive the sloppy, uneven cutting. I was in a hurry that day; it will be fixed soon!)

Classroom jobs. While I can't sell this exact job chart due to copyright reasons, find similar ones here in my Teacher Pay Teachers store!

Data notebooks used with our Leader in Me program.

Even student files. Yes, I bought red and blue file folders just for this purpose! I may be a little obsessed, but it seriously helps me stay sane.

Group seating chart. I LOVE this system! The names are attached with Velcro so it is quick and easy to change, and a quick glance across the room can tell me who is supposed to be where.

Clip system for recognizing students who are using the 7 Habits of Leader in Me. Morning kids have red clips, afternoon kids have blue.

There's more, but you get the idea. This system works so well for me, and really helps me and my paras stay on the same page. Other teachers with half day classes, I would love to hear tips on how you keep everything organized!

Age Appropriate Pre-K Homework

Summer is flying by, as usual. While I haven't been getting much blogging done, I have been keeping busy! Between teaching online, prepping activities for next year, adding lots of resources to my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and, of course, spending time with my family, there hasn't been much down time.

One of the resources I have been working on is a year-long age appropriate homework system for Pre-K! I am really excited to share this resource with you! I spent all last school year developing it and testing it out with my students. It got the stamp of approval from parents and from other teachers and paras, so I hope it will be useful to some of you, too.

Teaching Pre-K has its unique challenges. I want my students to be and feel a part of the school community, which is not always easy considering they only attend for half a day. (Speaking of that, watch for a post about organizing a classroom for two half-day classes coming in September! UPDATE: Click here to read about how I stay organized!) Another challenge is that Pre-K is not always taken seriously as "real school". It's considered to be more like daycare. One of the things that irks me is when people say we're not doing real work, we're just playing. First of all, play is developmentally appropriate, and so important! Children learn so much through play! Secondly, while we do spend a fair amount of time in structured play, we do a lot more than just play in Pre-K.

I created this homework system to help address these two issues. My building has a school-wide homework policy, so I wanted my students to be a part of that--and thus, more a part of the school community as a whole. After all, my job is to prepare these kiddos for kindergarten. Getting them in the habit of doing homework will help establish a strong foundation for their future schooling. Also, assigning homework helps parents to see that we are doing a lot more than "babysitting" their children, and encourages them to get invested in their child's education.

However, the challenge came in creating assignments that are age-appropriate. It would be easy to just list a ton of homework assignments, but would they really benefit the students? The activities I assigned in this system cover a host of skills, from literacy and math to self-help and motor skills. While many of the activities repeat from month to month (such as reading), others change and grow throughout the school year. They are specifically designed to address kindergarten readiness skills.
The best part, though, because I believe so firmly in the importance of play, is that lots of the activities include an aspect of play! Some of the assignments include "play pretend" or "go to the park", because I want parents to know the importance of these types of activities.

Another benefit of this system is that it is incredibly quick and easy for teachers to implement and for parents and students to use. That was important to me. I didn't want homework taking up 30 minutes to an hour every night. That in and of itself is not developmentally appropriate at this age. I also didn't want homework becoming one more overwhelming thing for families to take on, so I kept it very simple.

Get the homework calendar for August FREE by visiting my TPT store and downloading the preview!

There is a calendar with a list of assignments for each month (August 2017 - June 2018. At the end of the school year, it will be updated for the 2018-2019 school year). Parents are requested to complete 3 items with their child each week, and to simply write the number of the assignment on the date they completed it. They can do assignments more than once. There is a lot of room for flexibility! For certain parents, I tell them how to adapt the activities for their child. For example, if their child is already counting past 10, I encourage them to count beyond that. If they are not yet able to count at all, I recommend they count to 5. I give my parents a lot of liberty to do what is best for their child.

To check out this homework system, go visit Apples to Applique on Teachers Pay Teachers. Download the preview on Teachers Pay Teachers to get August's homework calendar free!

I would love to hear how you handle homework in your early childhood classroom!

Favorite Props and Reward Systems for Teaching Online

*Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links, at no cost to you! This helps support my little blog.*

As I mentioned in a recent post, I have started teaching online with VIPKID. It has been a lot of fun so far, and a great way to earn some extra cash without ever leaving my house.


Since you are teaching over a computer screen, you have to approach things a little differently. The kids respond well to props, puppets, toys--anything to make the lesson more exciting.

I just got these finger puppets and I LOVE them. I like that they have animals and people. Better yet, the people are a family, and family words (grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, etc.) are used in several lessons. They don't take up much storage space, are easy to use over a webcam, and are fun for kids.




Some of my other favorite props are these magnetic letters from Lakeshore. Like most things from Lakeshore, they are not cheap, but they are all lower case, which is hard to find, and they have enough of each letter that I can set up several activities in advance. They help a lot with explaining the "point and read" slides to Level 2 kiddos.

My favorite purchase so far is, hands-down, this puppet by The Puppet Company! He is so funny and cute, and has been a hit with the kids. He's perfect for my Level 1 babies.


These basic vocabulary cards are on my wishlist to buy soon. There are so many cards that I'm sure they could be used across multiple lessons.

I also recently made this reward system. VIPKID has some sample reward systems that you can use or draw on a whiteboard, but I wanted to come up with something different. I wanted it to be fun, colorful, easy to use, and reusable.

I teach most of my classes back to back, with only a couple of minutes between, so I needed something that didn't take a lot of time to "reset" for each student. I made this ice cream cone system with my embroidery machine and added some Velcro, so it's quick and easy to add or take away scoops.

I also have some fun printable reward systems available in my TPT store! With 12 options from flower gardens to superheros, you're sure to find something that clicks with each student. Check it out here!

UPDATE: I have added a set 12 MORE printable reward systems to my TPT store!  Options range from a pizza party to a circus, and so much more! Check it out here!

UPDATE: I have also just added some seasonal and holiday printable reward systems in my TPT store! 12 fun new designs to take you through the year!

I know I sound like one of "those people", but VIPKID has been the best side job ever! They are a great company to work for. If you're interested in becoming a VIPKID teacher yourself, shoot me an email! I'd be happy to answer any questions. As long as you have a bachelor's degree (in anything!) and experience teaching kids in some capacity (Sunday school, summer camp, etc.) you are eligible to apply. If you're ready to take the plunge and meet some adorable students while making some extra cash, sign up here using my referral link and type in this code in the referral box: 02YUUI.