Teach Young Learners About Fall

The weather has been really hot this week, so it is kind of strange to be thinking about fall, but it is just around the corner. With fall on my mind, I just want to say that I think that it is important for children to learn about the different seasons, plus it is fun, so I definitely include the seasons during each part of the year. 

Fall is a great time of the year and usually the first season that we teach students about. This is logical of course since it is normally the first full season of our school year. Some might think, "What is there to know or teach about fall?" It is a season, that is it, but this is not true. There are plenty of things that our students need to learn or at least think about. These include the changes in weather (cooler), clothing (sweaters, light jackets), nature (leaves, plants die, fall fruits, temperatures around the world), and also fall holidays. 

There are many fun ways to teach about fall. Using the fall theme during this time of the year, both in classroom decorations and your curriculum keeps students thinking about fall throughout the season.

There are a lot of fall books that you can read in the classroom. These books may focus specifically on fall in which they talk about the temperature and the colors of the leaves, but there are many others that go along with a fall theme (apples, Halloween, pumpkins, bats, spiders, owls, Thanksgiving, etc.). 

There are a lot of good books, but one of my favorite fall books is “The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything.” It is a Halloween book. If you don’t already have it, I recommend adding it to your collection. My students always enjoy chanting along as I read it. You can also find a song version on YouTube, which I like to use after I have read the book.

The Little Old Women Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything - Song

It is easy to make the fall theme part of your classroom with practice pages and games. This is a time in which students are able to learn more about fall or just have more time to think about it. You do want to be sure to teach the word “autumn” so that students learn that this is another word for fall.

Here are some resources that you might be interested in using with your fall unit.

Fall Poem Freebie - Fall is Here!

Fall Themed Activities

It is Time for Fall Reader

Fall Matching Game

Fall Double Digit Addition and Subtraction

Fall Ten Frames

Activity days are a really fun way to teach students about fall. You can team up with one or two other teachers to make this a special event for all. Each teacher can be responsible for three or four different activities. This may include reading, art, math, science, and writing activities. You can usually recruit some parent helpers that are willing to take part in this Fall Activity Day.

Having detailed directions for each center activity is helpful, especially if you are recruiting parents that don’t normally help in the classroom. I’ve shared an example of my math center activities. You can get a PDF copy if you are interested. 

PDF Math Centers

Art is always a fun activity for students, and there are plenty of art ideas that you can find on Pinterest. Here are a few easy ones that I like.

Fall Tree – I like to have students draw their tree trunk and color it rather than paint it. This makes it easier for students to simply add the leaves without smearing the paint colors. After students have finished drawing the tree trunk they can add the leaves using fall colors. The leaves can be added using cut-up sponge pieces, Q-tips, and/or cotton swabs.

Scarecrow Directed Drawing – Most students really enjoy directed drawing. Some students are a little intimidated by it, but after telling them that we are just having fun, they usually feel more comfortable and are willing to give it a shot. Provide extra paper for those who are not happy with their first attempt. Model slowly, step by step, how to draw the scarecrow. Then have students color their pictures and add any other fall thoughts they have. Once students are done with their scarecrow you can have them write about it.

Parts of an Apple - As part of my fall unit I teach about apples, so this art project is perfect. You can have students do this project solely as a "tear art" project where they tear apart paper to make their apples. But, I actually like to provide students with precut rectangles and have them cut the corners of the red pieces of paper. I have them cut the yellow paper strip into smaller rectangles. Then I have them tear apart pieces of paper for the core and the stem. After students have drawn on the seeds and completed their apples, we write the name of the apple parts together. 

You can read more on my Apple Art Blog Post.

Apple Art Blog Post

YouTube is another resource that is very helpful. I’ve already mentioned one of my favorite stories, but there are many other videos that you can find. I have found videos about apples, pumpkins, bats, owls, past/present, Thanksgiving, and more. It is too bad that YouTube no longer lets you make playlists for kids' videos. Fortunately, I was able to save some before the change occurred. Even though you can't do this, you can save them as a “liked” video. You can also save your favorite videos to a Pinterest board. It may take a little more effort to access them, but at least it reminds you of videos that you want to use again. 

Here are a couple of “Unscramble the Word” fall videos that you might be interested in.

Unscramble the Fall Words

Unscramble the Halloween Words

I hope that I have given you some new ideas for teaching fall. Thematic learning provides a unique and special experience for students, so making fall one of those units is definitely a wonderful way to teach young learners. 

 

Using Poems to Teach Reading

We know that students learn to read through both a systematic approach to phonics and the learning of sight words. Providing students with this practice is a big part of what we do as teachers. 

Using poems in the classroom is one thing that you can do to provide students with some extra practice and help build strong readers. As students practice the poems they gain knowledge of the words. These words become sight words that students remember. They also work to apply their phonics skills as appropriate. Students gain confidence as they experience success in reading the poems on their own.  

I’ve mentioned using poems in a few of my other blog posts, but that is because using poems is a reading strategy that I feel strongly about. I like to share the strategy that I use for poems because I don't think it is a commonly used strategy and I definitely think that this strategy is worth the time.

There are many different types of poems. You can use poems for different seasons, holidays, famous people, or anything else that you can think of. When I choose a poem, I look for a poem that is grade appropriate and that has a picture that can be colored. The picture is an important part of how I use the poems. My focus is not really on what the picture is, but that it has a picture that can be colored a little at a time. 

When I teach a new poem I provide students with their own copy and then project it on a screen so that we can go through the poem together. I like to read the poem together at least two or three times. The first time we read it through just for fun. The second time that we read it we focus on keywords, new vocabulary, and talk about the poem. Then we might read it through a third time again for fun, but also with a better understanding.

The next thing I do is have students partner read the poem. You can have students work with just one partner or switch partners. Pairing a struggling reader with a more proficient reader is a good idea. You could also pair two struggling readers, but you would probably need to be the one to provide the needed support. 

After students have read with a partner I like to have students practice reading the poem on their own. They read the poem all of the way through and then they color one section of the picture. They read the poem again and then color another section of the picture. Students continue rereading the poem and coloring different parts of the picture. This can be modified for struggling readers by having them focus on part of the poem rather than the whole poem. They read the part that they are working on and then color a section of the picture. Students will usually let you know when they are ready to move on to another section of the poem, or you can make that decision.

All of this does not need to be done in one day. You can break it up and do as much as time permits. It is helpful for students to have a poem folder. This way they know where the poem is and they can pull it out when you want them to work on it. 

A poem folder is great for students to use during independent reading time or during a cooldown period. Students are already familiar with the poems and able to practice read with  success.

You might also want to consider having a poem folder with the poems that students have practiced as part of your reading center. I have found that students tend to choose reading material that they are comfortable with and often choose to partner read these poems during this time. 

I'm sure you already have a collection of poems, but maybe this blog post has given you an idea for using them in a different way. If you are looking for a quick resource to add to your collection of poems, you might want to check out my "Poems for the School Year" packet. It is a collection of poems that I have found helpful.

Poems for the School Year

Using poems is a great way to help students learn to read. They continue to build their sight word knowledge and practice using their phonics to decode words that they don’t know. The repetitive practice provides support for all readers and helps to build strong and confident readers.

Teaching Good Citizenship

Teaching good citizenship in the classroom is important for building a strong classroom community. We want students to understand that every member of the community, which are all of the students in the classroom and even those outside of the classroom, follows rules that help the community to function as a team. 

Teaching citizenship in the classroom usually happens at the beginning of the school year. Teachers explain to students basic classroom rules and expectations. Teachers know the importance of doing this right away, but we know that it is not a one-time thing. Teaching citizenship is done daily as we model and reinforce acceptable behavior. This is done more informally and more indirectly than at the beginning of the school year. But, it is sometimes necessary to go back and review classroom rules and expectations more directly, such as after a long holiday break. 

How do we teach good citizenship? Well, there are many ideas and resources for teaching good citizenship, but it is easiest to start with what students already know. Begin with the idea that we work to be good citizens every day in our day-to-day life. We follow a set of rules that allows us to respect and interact with each other. We follow rules that keep us safe and we follow rules that keep us out of trouble. There are rules set up by our government and rules that we follow in our homes. We also have values such as honesty, compassion, respectfulness, fairness, loyalty, tolerance, etc. These are things that are part of being a good citizen. 

Once students are reminded that we work to be good citizens every day it is easy to build the understanding that we need to be good citizens in the classroom as well. You can use books and videos that talk about following rules and being good citizens, which is always a great way for students to get a better understanding and see examples of good citizens. Along with the books, videos, and discussions you definitely want to begin introducing your classroom rules and expectations.

Find fun ways to teach students citizenship. You can role-play and model what good and bad citizenship looks like. Have students brainstorm ideas and provide examples. You can have them partner share, draw pictures, and write a word. One fun activity is what I call "Strike a Pose." Write some words on slips of paper or index cards. Put them in a bag or a container. Draw a card and then have students strike a pose. For example, the "respectful" card is drawn. Students strike a pose to show what that looks like. I would probably take a bow in front of someone. There is no right or wrong pose. It is just an idea for thinking about keywords. You could even preview the words and talk about what pose would work well before playing this game. 

Matching games with pictures or words is another fun activity. There are matching games that can be purchased, but you can easily make your own matching games. Again, you could write words on index cards (two of each word) and have students match them. You could also find pictures online, or take pictures. Remember, you want two of each. 

There are a couple other resources that I like to use. The first one kind of goes along with the drawing and writing idea that I talked about earlier. It is a resource that focuses on the different character traits of a good citizen. Each page provides a definition of the character trait and then provides a space for students to draw a picture and write a couple of sentences about the trait. 

Character Traits for Good Citizenship

I also like to use a booklet that helps students learn about the character traits of a good citizen. It is an 11 page booklet that works well as a small group reader. 

Good Citizen Book

It doesn't really matter how you decide to teach good citizenship or what resources you choose to use, the key is to keep the idea of building a strong community in mind. Remind students to think about who the people in their community are; how they expect these people to act; and what their role/responsibility as part of this community is. Believe me, setting the ideas of community and being good citizens in place will help to ensure a great school year.   

Making Learning Fun in the Classroom

When you watch tv and see the old one-room classrooms, like on Little House on the Prairie, you can definitely see that things have changed over time. The changes that have taken place over the last 30 years, starting with Brain-Based Learning and then moving into technology have given us permission and encouragement to make learning more fun and engaging. I absolutely love this. It doesn’t only make learning easier, it makes teaching easier as well. 

Teachers sometimes shy away from this type of interactive learning because they are afraid that student behavior will be contrary to the behavior they expect from their students, which is students sitting quietly in their seats and being on task. While good classroom management is key, teachers should know that students can be on task and learn as they talk and interact with others, sometimes even more so. 

Think about how you learn. Which way do you enjoy learning? Which ways do you learn best? I know for me, I learn in two ways. One is to sit and study on my own as I read, take notes, and repeat. The whole time I am kicking and screaming. The other way is a hands-on approach in which I am learning while I am doing, not even paying attention to the fact that I am learning.

Now, think about activities that you do in your classroom. Which ones not only encourage student learning but are actively engaging as well. You are probably doing more of these activities than you realize, which is great. For those teachers who aren’t doing much of this kind of teaching, or for those who are looking for some new ideas, I’ll share some ways that I like to incorporate fun and engaging activities in the classroom.

Games - Games are definitely on the top of my list of favorite activities. They are fun, interactive, engaging, and provide support as students practice and learn skills. Students can play a game over and over until they have mastered the skill. Besides being fun, games also make the teacher’s job easier. Rather than thinking of a new activity, teachers can reuse a game until students tire of it or until it is no longer needed. 

Center Activities – As a general rule, centers or small group activities have that interactive component structure, so this really doesn’t take much thought. Games, of course, are a common activity for centers, which is perfect. But, the main idea is to provide students with hands-on activities that allow them to think, talk, manipulate objects, test their ideas, and learn. I’ve already mentioned games, but there are also manipulatives, reusable practice pages, reading strips, retell puppet sticks, investigation activities, writing (salt, shaving cream, playdough, etc.), and thematic centers. I love thematic centers. An example would be an ocean center with a small creature (fish, turtle, crab), shells, books, cards, puzzles, writing clipboards, etc.

Computers/iPads - When I first began teaching, computers in the classroom were a new thing. Even then, they were just used for basic learning programs, if at all. I used computers as much as possible and made them part of my center rotations. I was able to do more with them as our school got Chrome books and iPads. Using technology in the classroom really took off at that point. Students are now definitely able to do more and become more engaged with assignments and interactive activities as technology has continued to improve. The plus side is that they enjoy this way of learning. 

Hands-on/STEM - Anything that allows students a hands-on approach to learning is awesome. Most of us learn by doing, so it makes sense that by allowing students to handle and manipulate objects they will develop a better understanding of how things work. 

They can practice spelling by using clay to form letters, writing letters in shaving cream or salt, and using letter cards to spell out a word help students to build a mental picture of the word. 

STEM activities are a great way to get students thinking, designing, and creating while using math, reading, writing, and science skills. It is a lot more fun for students to explore and try things as they learn. Their natural abilities and intuition come to the forefront as they complete the STEM activities.

27 STEM Activities - MEGA Bundle

Partner Share - I know that partner shares are not a unique idea, so I’m sure that this is something you are already doing, but there are a couple ways to change this activity up. Rather than just having your students turn to a partner and share their thoughts or share an answer, you can get them up and moving. 

Stop the Music and Share – Stop the Music is so fun, but students will get a bit silly, so you definitely have to set some ground rules (stay on task, no running, different partners, etc.) Before you start this activity you will want to have something for students to share such as question cards, clipboards with written information/words/pictures, books, etc., or the teacher can just ask a question each round and then the students share the answer. 

For this activity, it is helpful to have a good CD. I have found Kids Bop to be a good choice. Once students are set up with the information they are going to share you can start the music. Students move around the classroom having fun, but once the music stops they stop and find a partner. Then they share whatever it is that you want them to share. Super fun!

Partner cards are another great way to have students share. Students are given a card and then asked to get up and find their partner, which is the person with the matching card. They sit together somewhere in the classroom and then work on a given assignment (a simple task, answer questions, partner activity, etc.). This limits the number of people that they are interacting with, but it also allows for students to work with different people.

Outer Space Partner Up Cards

Music - Using kid songs in the classroom is a great way for students to practice their reading. Karaoke-style videos or songbooks work well. As students listen to the songs and follow along, they begin to learn the words, soon they are reading the words on their own. This is really a sight word way of teaching reading, but it definitely strengthens students' confidence and some learners do better with this way of learning. 

Learning to Read with Kids' Songs

Yes/No Cards - There is nothing I hated more during my own education than having to sit and wait as a teacher called on students to answer questions. There was also the worry that I would be called on and not know the answer. Yes and No cards or paddles are a nice way to get all students involved while making it fun with them having really very little concern of being embarrassed by their answer.

Ok, so you are probably thinking that students are still going to be embarrassed if they get the wrong answer, but two things happen, either no one is paying attention to how others are responding or they will notice how others have responded and they change their answer. Either way, they learn and are engaged as students indicate whether a statement is correct or not, you could also use true or false cards.

Readers Theater - If you have never used a Readers Theater script in your classroom I recommend you give it a try. There are scripts for all different levels of readers and they are super fun as students build their reading skills they can be a little silly and change their voices as they get into character. 

Story retelling sticks work in much the same way. Students can use pre-made story sticks (pictures of characters/parts of the story) to retell the beginning, middle, and end of the story to build comprehension skills.

There are many different ways to make learning fun and engage students. These are just some of my favorites. I hope that you find these ideas helpful, or maybe they just serve as a reminder. I know that students definitely benefit from this type of learning, so I hope that you make it part of your daily routine, or more of your daily routine, if you aren’t already doing this. 

Teaching Labor Day in the Classroom

For many people, Labor Day marks the beginning of a new school year. For others, it is just a nice three day weekend. Labor Day is kind of a strange holiday. It doesn’t mark a special day or specific person in history like other holidays do, yet it is one that remains a special one to many of us. 

Labor Day has been a holiday in America since the late 19th century. It is celebrated on the first Monday in September, which marks the end of summer. Many of us spend one last weekend of outdoor activities with family and friends. Others simply enjoy a long relaxing weekend.

Labor Day falls at rather an inconvenient teaching time of the year. Teachers are busy helping students get settled in and become familiar with the classroom and classroom routines. It is easy to let this holiday pass without much acknowledgment of it because it falls just before kids go back to school, or soon after. But, it is kind of disappointing for students to miss out on learning about this holiday. This doesn't need to be the case though. Teachers can easily include Labor Day into their day as students begin the school year. 

Adding anything extra to the curriculum isn’t easy, but squeezing in Labor Day works well. Students begin to feel comfortable in the classroom and with their peers as they talk about what they did on Labor Day weekend or over the summer; what jobs their parents have; and what they would like to be when they grow up. You can also use the Labor Day theme during normal work time. Here are some examples of how you can do this. 

Reading Passage and Comprehension Page

Use a reading passage that can be read whole class, or in small groups. Read the passage together and discuss it. You can have students highlight keywords, or write notes. Then have them answer comprehension questions, referring back to the passage as needed. 

Use this reading to model your expectations of how students are to work and behave during future reading in class. In other words, use this time to reinforce classroom management.

Activity Pages

Use activity pages such as a word search, vocabulary match, or an interview page to keep students thinking about Labor Day for a while. These pages work well as independent seat work, partner activities, or as part of a homework packet. You could also have students talk about what they want to be when they grow up. They can make a poster, or you could provide them with a printable page.

Allowing students to work together to complete these activities is a good opportunity for you to model how you want students to interact and be on task while working with others. 

Labor Day Poem

Using poems is a great way to help build reading fluency. I do this by having students read a poem and then color one piece of the picture on the page. Read the poem together whole class. Then have students read the poem again with a partner. Finally, have them read it on their own and color in part of the picture every time they read it. Struggling readers can focus on a small portion of the poem rather than the whole poem, moving on as they become ready.

The poem is another opportunity that allows you time to model and reinforce good classroom behavior. The goal for teaching Labor Day is, of course, not classroom management. I’m simply trying to show how you can use the theme to teach the curriculum and model classroom expectations at the same time.

My main emphasis is that teaching Labor Day is something that can be done. It is often not even a thought until after it has passed, but It is important for students to learn about holidays in general, with Labor Day being no exception. 

Hopefully, you can easily find some resources that you will enjoy using to teach Labor Day. I have a couple of resources that you might be interested in. You can view them on my Teachers Pay Teachers page. Either way, I hope that you will find a way to add this holiday to your already busy schedule. Don't think of it as a chore, enjoy it. Holidays are fun! Good luck!

Labor Day Activity Pack

Hooray, It's Labor Day PowerPoint w/Audio

You can also view this for free on Youtube.

Hooray, It's Labor Day - YouTube

5 Tips for Supporting Beginning Readers

 

When children are young their parents begin to expose them to reading by sitting with them and reading to them. As children reach school age, or sometimes a little earlier, they are introduced to phonics and sight words. We know that all of this is important for teaching children to read, but sometimes it isn’t enough. Children sometimes need more exposure and practice time with the text. There are 5 tips that I would like to share with you, some of which I am sure you are already doing, but they are tips that I have used to help children learn to read and support struggling readers. 

Tip #1 - Use Repetitive Books  

Using repetitive books in the classroom is so much fun. I like using books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear; The Little Red Hen; The Gingerbread Man; and The Little Old Lady that Wasn’t Afraid of Anything. There are a lot more, but these are the ones that come to mind. Students enjoy listening to these types of stories, and as you read they easily catch on to the repetitive frames. While you are reading you will soon find that they are chanting the frame. This is nice, but the cool part is that later they will take that book and start reading, or pretend reading, using what they have learned. It doesn’t really matter if they aren’t actually reading all of the words. It is a way for them to build their confidence and get excited about reading. They also become more open to reading along with someone in order to focus more closely on the words they don’t know.

 

Tip #2 - Use Read Along Resources - Videos/Karaoke Songs

Another really fun way to teach reading is to use read-along videos or kids' karaoke videos. I put together a songbook with the lyrics that go with some kid karaoke songs that I found on YouTube. I like to give students a copy of the book and then have them use it as I play a few of the videos. Playing the videos during a Brain Break or as a cooldown after lunch is a perfect time for this. Students follow along in the book or, of course, they can just see the words displayed on the video.

The thing that makes the songbook such a great idea is that during free reading time students often choose their songbooks in which they are successfully able to read because they have been practicing the songs with the video.

There are a lot of kids' song videos on YouTube, but there are also read-along videos. It is nice to use these videos because usually, students are already familiar with the stories, plus they are short. Students learn the stories quickly and are soon able to read along on their own.

Learning to Read with Kids Songs

Tip #3 - Use Poems - Read and Color

I enjoy using poetry in the classroom, especially with units of study. Every student gets a copy of the poem, which usually has a black and white picture that can be colored. First, we read the poem together and then students partner read. After students have gone through the poem several times, the next step is to have them read the poem on their own. 

Once students have read through the poem, I have them color one part of the picture. They reread the poem and continue coloring in different parts of the picture each time. For struggling readers, I just have them focus on a small section of the poem. I find that they usually work hard to learn the whole poem. I like to have students keep the poems in a folder so that they are able to take the poems out and read them during independent reading time. 

Fall Poem Freebie

Tip #4 - Book Bags - Easy/Appropriate Level
The key to becoming a reader is, of course, practice. I’ve already mentioned a few ways for students to practice reading, but book bags are another great idea. This works really well if you know your students’ reading levels. This allows you to provide them with books at their level to put in their book bags. Students do well with having familiar books in their bags that they can take home each night and practice reading. As they master each book, the book can be traded out for another one.

One reason for taking book bags home is that some students don't have books in their homes. I know that teachers spend way too much money on their classrooms, but having books for students to take home has always been one of my top priorities. One of the best places to find used books is in the bookstore at your local library. 

Book Bag Rules

Tip #5 - Partner Share - Read a Poem, Book, Sentence, Etc. with a Partner

I probably don’t need to say much about this tip, because I’m sure you already know the benefits of students working with a partner, but I don’t want the importance of partner sharing in reading to be overlooked. I think in the past, or maybe even still, this has been referred to as buddy reading. Although buddy reading is often done with a young reader and an older reader. The idea of a partner share is that it pairs readers that are closer to the same level, but having one partner with a little more reading experience is helpful. 

Partner shares don’t need to be micromanaged. Often, they are not even planned. Find time in the schedule to allow students to read with a partner. This can be done during free reading time, which is nice, but it can also be done as part of your lesson. I’ve already mentioned doing this with the poems where after reading the poem as a whole class, students practice reading the poem with a partner. This helps to keep them accountable and together students can work on words that they may struggle with.

Partner share does not need to be made complicated. It could be as easy as providing a strip of paper, or a card for students to read together.

If you are doing some of the other things in your classroom such as repetitive reading, book bags, and song books then you will find that partner share becomes something that students will begin to do on their own.

As I mentioned, you don’t want to micromanage, but there are benefits to sometimes pairing up students. One reason might be to break up students that don’t stay on task when they work together. Another might be to help students become more social and allow them time to work with someone that they might not normally work with. The last reason I will mention, which I have mentioned earlier, is to provide support to struggling readers. There are two ways to do this. You could pair a stronger reader with one that needs support, or you could pair two struggling readers together. With two struggling readers the teacher can provide the needed support as appropriate. 

There are many ways to support reading in the classroom, but I have shared some of my favorite tips. The key for me is to make reading fun, but the goal is to set students up for success. In doing this you will help to foster their love of reading.