Living in Michigan, the opportunity to get messy with some good old fashion science fun is often something that we can take advantage of only very early in the school year or very late. But when we have a stretch of sunny, beautiful skies, I want to make sure my students get the chance to see science in action. A Kindergarten Science Day is just the ticket to get them outside and engaged in science. Science on a big scale, with a bunch of kids--especially very young kids--can be daunting, but ... VIEW POST
Science Day Fun
Edit It-Make It Your Own Spring Sight Word Freebie
It's not often these days that you'll find me 'shopping' in the traditional sense. I mean, I'm usually on a mad dash to put exactly what I need in my cart and get out of a store in time to get back home or the hospital. But I just happened to be flying through Walmart last week and these cute little chalkboards were screaming at me to notice them . . . 'Hey, look over here! Wouldn't we make a sweet little sight word center?' Yep. They would! They are thematic for spring, colorful and ... VIEW POST
Tumbling Blocks For Differentiating
When you're planning station activities, whether its Math or ELA focused, keeping it simple can be the difference between your students finding success (and you keeping your sanity) and absolute chaos. Tumbling Blocks (or Jenga if you prefer) is a simple game that offers so much diversity and engagement for your students, that you just HAVE to add it to your station activities. And here's the best part . . . They are super inexpensive and SO incredibly simple to differentiate! Plus your ... VIEW POST
It’s Nerf or Nothing Party Time
One of the hazards of reading a teacher-mom blog is that you sometimes get a few posts that are more mom than teacher. I can't really apologize for it. I mean, first I'm a mom and then a teacher. And besides, so much of what I do in the classroom, is a direct result of being mom to these three little mad men. So today is one of those posts. I just had to share because summer is so close I can taste it (one more week), and who doesn't love a birthday celebration. Now I don't want you to ... VIEW POST
Mad Science Monday: Exploding Chalk Rockets
THE PLAN It's the same thing every summer. "Mom, can we do a science experiment today?" But "today" is everyday in the McGuire house. These boys can NEVER get enough. This summer though, I thought I'd better have a plan. So together, the boys and I have designated one day a week for science experiments. They have already picked out some oldies they want to revisit from past summers, but we are also venturing into some new territory. The best part of all this is that they actually help me ... VIEW POST
Differentiated Kindergarten’s 100 Days Smarter and It’s Time to Start Thinking Green!
There are days when I thought we weren’t going to make it, but we finally did! We are now a 100 Days Smarter for the 2013-2014 school year. Despite many snow days which delayed it from happening (only 8 for my district so far), 100s Day has come and gone. As I like to tell my boys, we are now officially on the slippery downhill slope of the school year. Yippeee! But really, who doesn't love 100s day? All the celebrating and super charged fun are just more reasons to love kindergarten. ... VIEW POST