Letter Flashcard Path

Posted in Letters, Reading by teachingeveryday

Little Sis is learning her letters. We have several packs of alphabet flashcards that people have given us, but going through flashcards is not her (or most kids’) idea of a fun time. I don’t think flashcard memorization is the best way to learn letters. However, I do like flashcards as a quick assessment tool.

I wanted to see which letters she knew, so I laid the flashcards down in a path for her to jump on. We started with them in alphabetical order so she could sing the ABCs. Then I made a new path with the letters out of order. To jump to the next card, she had to say the letter name. If she didn’t know it, I told her and then took the flashcard after she hopped to the next one. We finished with a path of letters that she knew, and a stack in my hand of letters that she needed to work on.

Other ideas to try:

making the path a zig-zag line, circle, or different shape
spreading the letters out to cover a whole level of your house…or even up the stairs!
jumping, hopping, skipping, tiptoeing, walking backwards to the next letter
building the path as you go (the kiddo says a letter and puts it on the floor to step on and builds her own path)

27Feb2014

CANstruction- Learning with Cans

Posted in Art, Colors, Free, Letters, Math, Numbers, Reading by teachingeveryday

Our local food pantry, Harvesters, does a yearly competition where businesses build structures out of cans. Then when the competition is over, all the cans are donated to Harvesters to feed those in need. The designs are on display at the mall for about a month.

We got inspired to make our own CANstruction at home! Can you tell what we made? (ha- unintentionally pun)

Did you guess? It was a giraffe, rainbow, and castle. Constructing with cans was free, fun, and (bonus!) I had an organized pantry when we were all done. It would be a great activity for the kids while you put away groceries. And of course there is all sorts of learning that can be done with cans…

(Common Core Standards appear in italics. They correlate with specific standards in different grade levels. These standards are used in almost every school in the country. Click the Common Core tab above to learn more.)

Colors- Talk about the different colors on the cans, then divide them into groups or make a rainbow.
Size- Compare sizes of cans. Find all the cans that are the same size. What happens when you stack a large can on a small one?
Counting– How many cans in all? Count how many you can stack in a tower.
Addition and Subtraction– How many bean cans plus tuna cans do we have? (first grade- Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction)
Geometry- Talk about 2D vs 3D. Use the word cylinder. Point out the circles on top and bottom of a cylinder. (kindergarten- Identify shapes as two-dimensional or three-dimensional)
Measurement– Measure things around the room with cans. How many cans long is the couch? (first grade- Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object end to end)
Classification- Sort the cans into groups based on color, size, or type of food. (kindergarten- Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each category and sort the categories by count)
Reading– Beginning readers might be able to read some of the labels using the picture as a clue. If they know it is a can of corn, see if they can pick out the word “corn” on the can.
Letters- Try to make letters or even words out of the cans.
Creative building– And the most fun, building!

25Feb2014

Printmaking with Fingerpaint

Posted in Art, Colors, Free, Letters by teachingeveryday

During our recent packing paper fingerpainting extravaganza, we also made prints. There was so much paint from the color mixing that Big Sis started making designs with her finger. I gently pressed white paper over it and… ta da!

Multiple prints can be made from the same design (depending on how much paint you use and how hard you press). We made our design on packing paper, but I’m sure it would also work on tin foil, wax paper, a cookie sheet, or the table itself. It would be fun to experiment with writing letters or numbers and see how they come out backwards! Let me know if you try it and how it works!

24Feb2014

Four Ways to Make Art with Packing Paper

Posted in Art, Colors, Free by teachingeveryday

Packing paper is big, easy to clean up, and free. Perfect material for kid art. Now what can you do with it?

1. Cover the table. Put packing paper over a table (it completely covered our kid table) and let them finger paint all over it. Give them some primary colors and let them mix it by hand to make secondary colors. The best way to learn is by doing, so let them get messy. Not feeling the paint? Give them crayons and markers and let them draw on the table while you make dinner.

2. Hang it on the wall. Tape up the packing paper to a long wall and let them create a mural.

3. Lay it out on the floor. The floor is the perfect place for sitting babies that haven’t mastered walking. Plop them in the middle of the packing paper and let them go to town. Have older kids lay down on the paper and trace around them. Then they can color themselves and design an outfit with paint, markers, or chalk.

4. Take it outside. On a nice day, put packing paper down on the driveway, deck, or sidewalk. Take off those shoes and make paint footprints!

21Feb2014

Egg Carton Ten Frame

Posted in Common Core, Free, Math, Numbers by teachingeveryday

A ten frame is a math tool to help kids visualize numbers and math facts. It is usually drawn with squares on paper, but I thought it would be neat to make it 3D with an egg carton. It is much more fun to drop items in a little hole than place them on a paper, right? Are they even called holes? Okay, I looked it up. Wikipedia says they are called dimples. That’s funny. 🙂

How to make it:

Cut off the lid of an egg carton and two of the dimples. Yep, it is still making me smile .
Number them 1-10. Usually ten frames aren’t numbered, so if this is for an older kid feel free to leave it blank.
Find small objects to count. For a reluctant little mathematician, use food. Snacks will motivate anyone to do math!

Now use it to teach:

one-to-one correspondence– Toddlers might be able to count to ten, but they might not understand what the numbers actually mean. Touching objects as they count teaches one-to-one correspondence. Show them how to pick up an object, say the number, and place it in the egg carton. For more of a challenge, try to pick up objects using a spoon or chopsticks! (kindergarten- When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object)
number recognition- If you number your egg carton, then they will be able to SEE the number as they SAY the number and drop in the item.
addition facts to ten– Using the egg carton, it will be easy to “see” the facts. There are seven items in the egg carton and three empty spaces. See if your child can write the addition fact 7+3=10. (kindergarten- For any number from 1 to 9, find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record the answer with a drawing or equation)
relationship between addition and subtraction- The egg carton is a good visual to show how fact families work. Place six objects in the carton and then write all the facts. Another way to think about 10-6 is to find the number that makes 10 when added to 6. Say “Six plus what equals ten?” and write 6+__=10. (first grade- Understand subtraction as an unknown-addend problem)
place value- Make some more egg carton ten frames to count larger numbers. Each carton is a “ten.” (first grade- Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones)
estimation- Practice guessing how many objects and then checking by counting them in the egg carton.
even and odd– Explain that a number is even if it can be divided into two equal groups. I talked about “even means it is fair” with my students. Kids always have a concept of what is “fair and even” when dividing up goodies. The egg carton is divided into two rows, so it is easy to see if a number is even (split equally and fairly) or odd. This works even better if you are using food in your egg carton and actually split it up between two kids! (second grade- Determine whether a group of objects (up to 20) has an odd or even number of members)

We used our egg carton to do some math with our morning snack (goldfish and blueberries). Little Sis worked on counting and one-to-one correspondence and Big Sis practiced some addition problems.

5Feb2014

Learning with Snow Paint

Posted in Colors, Letters, Numbers, Outside, Shapes by teachingeveryday

We saw snow paint on Pinterest and had to try it out. It is just water with food coloring in a squirt bottle or spray bottle. We found the squirt bottle works best for little hands. Although you have more control with the spray bottle (with jet option).

Some ideas to try with snow paint:

Let the kids see how colors are made by squirting in a couple drops of yellow and red food coloring to make orange
Practice writing numbers or letters
See if they can guess the word you write
Make a pattern of shapes and ask them to do the next one
Practice making different kinds of lines- straight, curvy, dotted, etc.
Take turns making a design and then the other person has to recreate it
Experiment with different body movements. Run while painting. Skip. Hop.
Free draw!

4Feb2014

Art Museum Scavenger Hunt

Posted in Art, Colors, Field Trip, Free, Reading, Shapes by teachingeveryday

What can you on a cold day? Go to a museum! Hopefully you have a free museum in your area. If you don’t, try local galleries, college campuses (especially the art department), or even local art displays in malls. You don’t need to go to a museum for your kids to see some art.

WARNING: Taking toddlers to a museum is not for the faint of heart. I’ve found museum outings work best with babies in carriers, toddlers in strollers, or preschoolers and older kids with good self-control. If they don’t have good self-control….it’s a great opportunity to PRACTICE! On our last outing I took my two-year-old, who was too big for the stroller (in her opinion) but a little too young to understand museum etiquette (in my opinion). But we managed. You can, too. Just go over a few basic museum rules before you get there. No touching or running. Keep it simple. And then leave if they can’t follow the rules. Don’t worry. You’ll be able to stay longer next time.

While my goal with Little Sis (the two-year-old) was just keeping her from licking sculptures, I aimed a little higher with Big Sis (my four-year-old). We made a museum scavenger hunt before we set off on our adventure. Some museums have their own pre-made scavenger hunts for kids and you can also find some online printable worksheets on Pinterest. I liked our DIY version because we could make it up together and tailor it to her age-level. I came up with categories (shapes, colors, materials, feelings), and she brainstormed the ideas. She also colored in the color boxes….

and made a little mistake. Notice the yellow and green boxes. No problem. It was good opportunity to do some problem solving to fix it.

While we walked around the museum, she marked off boxes on her paper. TIP: Use a pencil to mark off boxes since pens/markers aren’t allowed in most museums. The scavenger hunt helped her focus on one piece of art long enough to really look at it. We talked about how we could check off several boxes with one painting.

We chose a few different categories, but you could also focus on only one. Here are some ideas to make your own museum scavenger hunt:

colors
shapes
types of lines
textures
materials
letters
numbers
feelings you get when looking at the artwork
particular works of art that are in the museum (look up names/pictures before you go)
subject of the artwork- people, animals, houses, etc.

And a few ideas for older elementary kids:

painting styles- impressionism, cubism, surrealism, etc.
mediums- paint, pastel, pencil, etc.
artists
time periods
country of origin

30Jan2014

Sheep in a Jeep Activities

Posted in Book Activity, Common Core, Reading by teachingeveryday

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw is an easy read (beginning of first grade reading level). It is also a great read aloud for younger kids with lots of rhyming and funny pictures.

Here are some ideas try when you read it:

Practice sight words– Pick out one word that is repeated throughout the book (sheep, jeep, in) and see if your kiddo can point it out on the page. Then practice putting the word together with letter blocks or writing it.
Rhyming– There are lots of rhymes in this book! After you read, go back and a list of all the rhyming words. See if you can add more rhyming words to add to the list. (kindergarten- Recognize and produce rhyming words)
Making words– Use magnetic letters of blocks to spell out a rhyming word in the story such as sheep. Then take away the “sh” and see if your child can make the word jeep. Ask them to replace the “j” and make the word beep. Making words is a wonderful activity for beginning readers to work on letter sounds and spelling. (kindergarten- Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ)
Long vowel /e/– Talk about /ee/ and /ea/ make the same long e sound. Go on a “word hunt” for /ee/ and /ea/ words in the story and make a chart listing them. (kindergarten- Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings for the five major vowels)
Retell the story– After reading the book, ask your kiddo to retell the story. This is always a good comprehension strategy to teach even with books with few words. (first grade- Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson)
Ask questions– This is another comprehension strategy that works with any book. Ask your child questions about the story. If they can’t remember, ask them to look back in the book to find the answer. Who helped the sheep get their jeep out of the mud? Why did the jeep break? What do the sheep do when the jeep breaks? (second grade- Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text)
Extend the story– What do you think happened next? Who will buy the jeep? What will the sheep drive now? Make up a new story together…maybe even write it down and have your child draw the illustrations!
Act it out– Kids learn best by doing, so acting out the story is another comprehension strategy. If you have a small toy sheep, jeep, and pigs, use those. If not, your kiddo can pretend to drive a jeep (box) and act while you read the book.

20Dec2013

Learning With Dinosaurs

Posted in Common Core, Math, Writing by teachingeveryday

What can you do with all those dinosaur figurines besides, you know, play dinosaurs? I can only take so many “roars” before I’m ready to switch it up. Next time you are forced into prehistoric play, pick one of these ideas to add into your game:

Order the dinosaur toys from smallest to largest
Pick out dinosaurs to be in two groups (whichever dinos you want). Which group has more? (kindergarten- Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies)
Categorize dinosaurs by an attribute and put them into groups. Some examples are meat eaters vs. plant eaters, number of legs, color, or size. (kindergarten- Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each category and sort the categories by count)
Make a graph of your categories. (first grade- Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another)
Do some math problems while playing dinosaurs. There are three dinosaurs at the pond and then two more join them. How many dinosaurs play in the pond together? Or if your preschooler has some bloodlust…. How many dinosaurs are left after a T Rex eats two? (kindergarten- Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem)
Identify the names of your dino figurines by looking them up in a book.

Draw a picture using a dinosaur figurine as the model.
Use the toy dinos to act out a dinosaur book that you have read together. Or maybe use them to act out the Three Little Pigs. Hilarious.
Play “Hide the T Rex.” One person hides the dinosaur while the other close their eyes or face a wall. Give clues if no one can find T Rex.
Measure the length of dinosaur toys (second grade- Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes)
Make a dinosaur “sculpture” by piling up dinos. Estimate how tall it is, then measure to see if you were right. (second grade- Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters)

After you are finished playing dinosaurs, write or draw pictures of what happened. (kindergarten- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened) (first grade- Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure )
Hide small dinosaur figurines in play-dough (or larger ones in a sandbox). Then pretend you are a palentologist and dig them out!
Discuss imprint fossils and then make dinosaur imprints in play-dough.
Paint the dinosaurs’ feet (with washable paint) and make dino tracks on white paper.
Talk about how we don’t really know the colors of the dinosaurs. Then paint them whatever colors you want with washable paint.

18Dec2013

Berenstain Bears: Old Hat New Hat Activities

Posted in Book Activity, Common Core, Reading by teachingeveryday

One of the best things about being a parent is rereading all the books you loved as a kid. Some of your childhood favorites are completely forgotten until you randomly come across them again while looking for books for you own kid. I was so happy when I stumbled on Old Hat New Hat. I LOVED this book. I remember looking at all the different hats and picking out my favorites. I was a big Berenstain Bear fan, but Old Hat New Hat does not feature the Bear family. Instead it is about a bear going to hat store to replace his worn out hat. However, he finds something wrong with all of the new hats. The story is told through very few words so it is a great book for the toddler/preschooler attention span or beginning readers (it’s a first grade reading level).

Here are some ideas try when you read it:

Practice sight words– Pick out one word that is repeated throughout the book (hat, new, too) and see if your kiddo can point them out on the page. Then practice putting the word together with letter blocks.
Opposites– Make a list of all the opposites listed in the book. (kindergarten- Demonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites)
Too, to, two– Talk about the different meanings and spellings of “too” and how it is used in the story.
Retell the story– After reading the book, ask your kiddo to retell the story. It is different from some books because most of the action happens in the pictures, not the words. (first grade- Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson)
Adjectives– Tell them words that describe something are called adjectives. Identify adjectives in the story. Look at one of the hats. What other adjectives could be used to describe it?
Touch scavenger hunt– Stop after reading a page and touch things around the room that match the adjectives in the book (bumpy, scratchy, wrinkly, etc.) This gives kids real-life experience with the words and gets a few wiggles out, too!
Ask questions– After you read, ask your kiddo some questions that relate to the story. Which one was her favorite hat and why? Why do you think the bear chose the old hat? Why do you think the salesman looked mad?
Make a hat– Decorate an old hat with left-over craft supplies like ribbon, felt, or pom poms.
Draw a hat– Draw and color lots of different hats to fit a certain adjective.