BUILD A WORD - HANDS-ON WORD WORK

Use these Build A Word mats in your literacy centers to help children master their spelling.

Learning to spell and read takes lots of work. 

One of the many skills young children need to master to learn how to spell words correctly is the ability to identify individual sounds and then to be able to blend them together to form a word.

Being able to do this correctly is a phonological awareness skill most children are taught from kindergarten. Generally, most children are able to do this confidently and accurately by the end of grade two.

To help practice this skill, I've added these Build A Word mats to our literacy centre rotations.

CHRISTMAS TREE STEM CHALLENGE FOR CLASS

 Recreate this Christmas STEM challenge in your classroom this festive holiday season with materials you might already have at school!

Looking for a simple to prep STEM challenge for the countdown to Christmas? 

You'll love this Christmas tree building challenge then!

It's perfect for small groups encouraging them to work together and communicate clearly to problem solve and then implement their strategy as a team.

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50+ TREMENDOUS CHRISTMAS TREE CRAFTS + ACTIVITIES

This collection of more than 50 different delightful Christmas tree activities and crafts is sure to fill your holidays with joy.

When I was little, my most favourite thing about the holiday season was putting up our Christmas tree.

It was nothing grand. It was small, made of a metal frame with branches wrapped in plastic tinsel that you folded down to form the tree. It stood wobbly in a handmade base my mum had made years ago. With not much extra money to spend on anything growing up, we had that same tree from before I can remember to after I left home.

As a teenager, it somehow fell to me to put up the Christmas decorations. Looking back now I'm not sure if it was by want or need, but Christmas represented a magic that was often missing from my childhood.

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TEACHING CVCe WORDS

Plenty of printable activities to add to literacy rotations to help 

teach CVCe words - those tricky to spell words with a final silent 'e'.

Many young children will fly along with their spelling until they reach those tricky long vowel sound word - the ones with a final silent 'e' then they can stumble.

Often they will be able to read them before they can spell them correctly.

So how do we help our children learn these harder to spell words?

Slowly and with plenty of visual support is the key. That and lots of practice reading and spelling words that have a final silent 'e'.

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15 OF THE BEST BOOKS FOR TEACHING FRACTIONS

Fifteen different picture books you will want in your classroom library when teaching fractions in the Early Years.

When starting any new topic in class, I always consider what books I'll be using to help teach the concepts to my children. 

Fractions are no different and there are some fantastic books about fractions making them a perfect addition to any teaching fractions unit.