Character Studies

As we nurture emergent readers and writers we take time explore the craft of the author and illustrator, and the role of each in telling a story. During this three week Character Study, children had the opportunity to connect deeply with a variety of characters. We focused on making meaningful Continue Reading →

Playing at the Farm: A SHARED Creation Experience for Students AND Teachers – #InnovatingPlay

ï»żï»ż Cross Posted from innovatingplay.world Written By Christine Pinto and Jessica Twomey Our kids got to EXPLORE, PLAY, and CREATE at the farm and guess what
.SO DID WE!!! It started out with us (Jessica and Christine) recalling connections and discoveries with the kids from their previous experiences at the garden. We moved into Continue Reading →

Play Through Exploration: A Shared Garden Experience – #InnovatingPlay

Cross Posted from innovatingplay.world Written By Christine Pinto and Jessica Twomey Making Connections Our New Jersey and California kids share the weather with each other every day. Connecting with the same topic of the weather each day has been an ongoing connection for them since November. On Valentine’s Day, a spontaneous, yet Continue Reading →

Hidden Picture Activity

One of the first spreadsheet activities I expose my kids to is Pixel Art. Alice Keeler is the creator of the template: alicekeeler.com/pixelart. The spreadsheet is conditionally formatted to change color according to the single digit number that is typed into a cell. To add some addition and subtraction practice to this activity the Continue Reading →

Storyboard That with a Focus on Sequence Writing

Storyboard That has been the PERFECT creating tool to support the type of writing my kindergartners are currently focusing on. Basically, the web tool allows kids to click and drag scenes, characters, props, and more onto a storyboard. The kids can customize their characters to resemble themselves or however they’d like! Continue Reading →

Oompa-Loompa Breakout EDU

In January, I started reading a chapter a day from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my class. While I read, the kids would draw mental images of each chapter and then share with their classmates. Upon finishing the book, the kids watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Those kiddos really enjoyed Continue Reading →

Our Many Colored Feelings: Collaborative Slides

In honor of remembering Dr. Seuss on his birthday, we read his book My Many Colored Days. In a round about way, Dr. Seuss connects feelings to colored days in the story. I extended Dr. Seuss’ ideas a bit and introduced more feeling names to my Littles. The kids drew out what the facial expressions Continue Reading →

Getting to Know Our Buddies Template

Building relationships and making connections with other peers is important for students of all ages! My kindergartners recently buddied up Meghan Curry’s fifth grade kids. The Littles and Bigs used a Google Slides presentation to record their first interactions and capture their first memories of being buddies. Getting to Know Our Buddies Continue Reading →