Primary Playground
Do you teach about different holiday traditions around the world? I love giving a glimpse of how other people celebrate the holidays in different countries. This week, we’re reading Lucia Morning in Sweden, by Ewa Rydaker. The book tells the story of Santa Lucia through the eyes of three children in modern-day Sweden. It describes their giddy activities, brought to… Read More
I love teaching the students about how different people celebrate the holidays this time of year. It’s so important for the students to know that everyone is different and has special traditions just like their own family. For our literacy snack this week, we’re reading, Is It Hanukkah Yet? by Chris Barash. “From snow on the ground to making applesauce and… Read More
Have you seen the new Grinch movie yet? It’s so cute! We had our Scholastic Book Fair a couple of weeks ago and I saw this new Grinch book and knew it would be a huge hit with the kids right now! So for this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re reading, I’m The Grinch by Dennis Shealy. This is not… Read More
With Thanksgiving quicking approaching, we just have to read a story about a turkey! For this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re reading, How To Catch A Turkey, by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton. It’s a cute book about a turkey that doesn’t realize he’s about to be in the Thanksgiving school play and decides to run away. The whole school… Read More
November is a great time to teach about community, working together and being thankful. For this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re reading Stone Soup, by Jon J Muth. “Three strangers, hungry and tired, pass through a war-torn village. Embittered and suspicious from the war, the people hide their food and close their windows tight. That is until the clever strangers… Read More
Everyone likes chocolate chip cookies right?! I made these free printable cookie counting puzzles to go along with one of our favorite books If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. Have you seen the animated show they’ve created on Amazon? It’s been a huge hit with my kids and they’re up to 3 seasons now! I’m always looking for new… Read More
Kids love learning about owls! There are so many things we can learn about from them and so many fun ways to teach about them. For this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re reading, “Little Owl’s Night“, by Divya Srinivasan. “It’s evening in the forest and Little Owl wakes up from his day-long sleep to watch his friends enjoying the night…. Read More
Halloween is quickly approaching so I wanted to make sure to incorporate a not so scary mummy book into our literacy snack rotation. For this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re reading “Where’s My Mummy?”, by Carolyn Crimi. “Little Baby Mummy wants just one more game of hide-and-shriek with Big Mama Mummy before bedtime. The night is deep and dark, full… Read More
I love doing a lot of fun pumpkin activities this time of year! Incorporating it into science, math, and reading makes it so much fun for the students. For this weeks literacy snack idea, we are reading, The Biggest Pumpkin Ever, by Steven Kroll. “Desmond the field mouse wants to carve the biggest jack-o’-lantern in the neighborhood with his pumpkin…. Read More
We’re breaking into our fall books today for our literacy snack this week. We’re are reading, Because of an Acorn, by Lola M. Schaefer and Adam Schaefer. Because of an acorn, a tree grows, a bird nests, a seed becomes a flower. This is a perfect book to illustrate the vital connections between the layers of the ecosystem. The book… Read More
It’s officially Fall and I’m so excited to dive into our fun activities during this time of year. This week for our Literacy Snack Idea, we’re reading, A Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle. “Early one morning a little spider spins her web on a fence post. One by one, the animals of the nearby farm try to distract her,… Read More
We’ve been learning about fables and fairytales so for this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re reading, The True Story Of The 3 Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka. In this fractured fairytale, it gives The Big Bad Wolf’s perspective of what really happened. After learning the normal story of the Three Little Pigs this week, this story just makes the students laugh…. Read More
For this week’s literacy snack idea, we’re talking about pets! Everyone likes to share about what type of pet or pets they have at their home or what pet they wish they could have. This week, we’re reading, Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet, by Kelly DiPucchio which is a perfect story to go with our pets theme. “Gilbert has almost… Read More
I’m still obsessed with our apple theme so we’re sticking with it again this week for our literacy snack. This week, we’re reading, The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall. In this book, two young sisters follow the progress of their apple tree through the seasons, from a bare tree in the winter, through the pink blossoms of the spring,… Read More
This time of year is all about introducing the alphabet! For our literacy snack idea this week, we are reading our favorite alphabet book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr. “In this lively alphabet rhyme, all the letters of the alphabet race each other up the coconut tree. Will there be enough room? Oh, no – Chicka Chicka… Read More
Every year I can’t wait to dive into all of our fun apple activities! So I’m getting a jump start on them this week by incorporating math into our literacy snack this week! This week’s book we are reading is, Ten Apples Up On Top!, by Dr. Seuss. “Three friends balance counting and fun in this silly book. When a lion,… Read More
I love being able to come up with new activities to go with books. Since it’s the beginning of the year and we’re learning our numbers, I thought it would be perfect to make a free printable apple counting activity to go along with Dr. Seuss’ book, Ten Apples Up On Top! It fits perfectly with our apple unit at this… Read More
This week we’re focusing on sharing kindness. It is such an important thing to practice in the classroom and there are a ton of fantastic and fun ways to do that! For this weeks literacy snack idea, we’re reading, The Jelly Donut Difference, by Maria Dismonday. “Leah and Dexter are brother and sister. They don’t always get along. In fact,… Read More
It’s back to school time and I’m excited to start sharing my weekly literacy snacks with you again! This weeks literacy snack idea is a book all about having courage to be who you are. We are reading, Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun, by Maria Dismondy. “How can Ralph be so mean? Lucy is one of a kind and… Read More
I LOVE using the book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom when teaching letters. I couldn’t resist wanting to turn it into a fun literacy center, so I’m sharing a free printable alphabet tree center today. It’s a fun way that the kids will be able to correlate the story with the letter activity they are working on. free printable alphabet tree… Read More
Do you use callbacks or attention grabbers in your class? What are some of your favorites?
Here's a list of 25 different ones for you!
primaryplayground.net/25-class-callbacks-attention-grabbers/
These are some great plans to help kids learn how to embrace diversity with this Friendship themed PreK Activity Calendar, part of the On My Way to K with PBS KIDS Toolkit. Download it here: wucf.org/community/race-matters and wucf.org/preschool
Fantastic list of books if you're looking for add some more diverse books to your library.
Broadening the Story: 60 Picture Books Starring Black Mighty Girls
www.amightygirl.com
A Mighty Girl's favorite stories for young children starring black Mighty Girls.OLD WEST BINGO: "My students enjoyed playing during their Kindergarten Roundup."
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Old-West-Western-Bingo-4666755
Today's read-aloud is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. In this lively alphabet book, all the letters of the alphabet race each other up the coconut tree. Will there be enough room? Oh, no – Chicka Chicka Boom! Boom!”
Check out our snack idea and printable to go along with the book here:
primaryplayground.net/literacy-snack-idea-alphabet-tree-free-printable/
