MAKING CVC WORDS, BUILDING PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

Children who develop strong phonological awareness skills in their first years of schooling will in turn become better readers and writers as they continue through school.

Phonological awareness covers a range of early literacy skills that are typically mastered between starting kindergarten and finishing grade two. Simply put, phonological awareness is understanding what the sounds (in letters) are and how they work together to make words.

Most children develop phonological awareness skills sequentially. You can find the list of phonological awareness skills in this blog post. While the skills tend to be sequential, it's important to remember that not every skill needs to be mastered before children will develop another of the skills. That and every child is different.

CVC words are an important tool for young children building phonological awareness skills.


MAKING CVC WORDS - A roadmap for when to teach CVC words to help build phonological awareness skills in early childhood | you clever monkey

IDEAS FOR TEACHING 3D SHAPES IN KINDERGARTEN

Hands-on ideas and printables for teaching young children 3D shapes.

Years ago I wrote about the most effective ways to teach shapes and build spatial awareness in the Early Years at school. 

Much of what I wrote then is still true today in schools. Young children need repeated hands-on play with different 3D objects to understand them and they need clear, accurate information from their teachers to avoid the confusion between surface or two dimensional shapes and three-dimensional shapes that exists in many young children. 

This post contains affiliate links.

How To Best Teach 3D Shape in the Early Years | you clever monkey

TROPICAL DECOR TO CALM YOUR CLASSROOM

Help bring some calm to your classroom with this lush TROPICAL COAST classroom decor!

There's just something so calming about adding green to a classroom. The first time I used this tropical decor in class, I was amazed at how tranquil and soothing the space felt.

With several children with special needs in our group this term, it was just what was needed. A perfect backdrop that helped alleviate some of the 'noise' some Early Years classrooms are prone to.

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Labels + Signs Pack | you clever monkey

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Labels + Signs Pack | you clever monkey

I used a mix of tropical themed labels and signs around the classroom to help define the different spaces. 

Solid greens as tray labels for each child then a different design for our literacy centre tubs.

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Labels + Signs Pack | you clever monkey

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Labels + Signs Pack | you clever monkey

Each child has their own desk space to work at but as we're starting to trial elements of flexible learning in class, there are other zones they can choose to use as well.

Being a mix of Reception and First Grade, I've used the desk plates with the alphabet and number line for each child. The smaller name only desk plates we're using as locker labels.

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Desk Plates | you clever monkey

The same colours and tropical designs have been used for our all of our displays and classroom signs. 

Not liking everything looking the same, I've included a few different tropical designs that work to compliment each other.

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Bunting Pack | you clever monkey

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Lettering Pack | you clever monkey

Even our word wall has gotten the tropical treatment!

We'll add new words to this display as the term progresses.

TROPICAL COAST Classroom Word Wall Pack | you clever monkey

All our required classroom posters - alphabet + numbers to 20 are tropical themed as well.

I often use smaller versions of these posters to create backdrops to our learning invitations as you can see with this number sorting task in our math centre.

TROPICAL COAST Number Posters | you clever monkey

I found this drawer unit at Bunnings and created a tropical themed teacher toolbox for all those little bits and pieces. I love that all have one place to call home now!

All my folders for assessments, groups and data collection have also been given a tropical makeover.

TROPICAL COAST Teacher Toolbox Pack | you clever monkey

TROPICAL COAST Binder + Book Cover Pack | you clever monkey

I've also added everyone's birthdays to our classroom calendar along with all our important events for the year.

TROPICAL COAST Simple Calendar | you clever monkey