Not everyone approves of using pirates in the classroom, but you can’t deny that many students find them appealing and even exciting. There was a time when the line between pirate and explorer was fairly fine (Sir Francis Drake springs to mind), and there certainly is a long literary tradition… Continue reading
For kindergarten, science is about exploration, observation, and wonderful surprises. Get outdoors and try some great summer science experiences with your kids! Many of these will be suited to preK and elementary as well. Have each child find a flat object with a clear shape. Lay the objects on… Continue reading
Spiders make a fascinating subject of study for preschool and kindergarten students. Young students should know some spider rhymes: The eensy weensy spider went up the water spout Down came the rain and washed the spider out Up came the sun and dried up all the rain And the… Continue reading
Elephants lend themselves to lots of classroom themes: circus, jungle, zoo,the letter E… Enjoy some elephantine fun in your classroom. Make elephant handprints by having kids dip their hands into gray paint and then, with fingers spread, press their hands onto paper. Turn the handprint over when it dries and… Continue reading
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in your classroom! Hold the margaritas, obviously, but otherwise it’s fiesta time! The first thing is to be sure not to call May 5 “Mexican Independence Day.” Mexico has an Independence Day in September. Cinco de Mayo is a day to celebrate the victory of a… Continue reading
Just for fun (and early math practice), a spaceship counting worksheet for your class. We have different numbers of items, some all alike and some mixtures, and different arrangements, so there’s a little bit of challenge even though the numbers are small. Click to download the pdf file. count-spaceships Continue reading
Eve Bunting’s book The Valentine Bears is a fun readaloud for young students, with lots of good teaching points. In the story, Mr. and Mrs. Bear have never celebrated Valentines Day before, since they are always hibernating at this time of year. This year, though, Mrs. Bear has planned… Continue reading
