Do you teach your little learners Sign Language? I put together a Free ASL Alphabet Poster to help reinforce the hand signs.

This ASL Alphabet Poster is perfect to display in your writing center. You could also use it as part of a personal writing office, or to add to your student’s folder so they can refer to it when needed. 

Free ASL Alphabet Poster

This is a small version of the same pictures used in my ASL Alphabet Posters to be displayed in the classroom.

Click the green box below to download the ASL Alphabet Poster from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

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I also have another version of the alphabet posters without the sign language. You can find that one here. for free too.

I hope this will be a helpful resource for your little learners!

See you next time!

jenette

The post Free ASL Alphabet Poster appeared first on Primary Playground.

Raise your hand if you love cookies! I sure do, they’re my favorite! Have you ever had a cookie-themed day with your students? Today I’m sharing some Cookie Taste Test Activities you can do to bring in the science and writing for the day.

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Taste Testing and the 5 Senses – Science, Writing and Math

The first activity is we’re going to describe cookies. Grab a pack of chocolate chip cookies from the store and give one to each student. Depending on your class I made 2 different printables for this activity.

The first is they can draw and or write in the boxes to describe their cookie when tasting it. Or you can bring in the 5 senses on option 2 and have them describe their cookie using the 5 senses, writing in their answer in a sentence.

Cookie Taste Test

And our second cookie tasting activity also has 2 options.

Option 1

We’re bringing math into this one! The first option is to find out what type of cookie is the class’s favorite. This one is a great option if you can’t actually have food in the classroom.

The cookie options are chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, and oatmeal cookies. You’ll have each of the students ask their classmates which cookie is their favorite.

Depending on their answer they will fill in the matching box on the graph using the correct color. In the end, they can total up the columns and write in the numbers to determine which cookie is the class favorite!

Option 2

And the second option is to pick up 3 bags of cookies from the store. You’ll want to grab a sandwich cookie, an animal cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Start by giving each student one of each of the cookies and decide which one they like the best.

Next, you’ll have each of the students ask their classmates which cookie is their favorite. Depending on their answer they will fill in the matching box on the graph using the correct color. In the end, they can total up the columns and write in the numbers to determine which cookie is the class favorite!

Lots of great learning going on in these activities with a yummy twist!

Click the green box below to download all of these fun activities altogether.

If you’re looking for some more great cookie ideas to make it a whole cookie-themed day, we have gathered a bunch of fun ideas here.

Do you have any other fun ideas you would add? I hope you have a fantastic time with your students learning, creating special memories, and eating cookies!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Cookie Taste Test Activities appeared first on Primary Playground.

Writing a letter to Santa is always a favorite! Today I’m sharing a fun Free Printable Letter To Santa template that will make it a breeze for your kiddos to write their letter to Santa this year.

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This template can be used both in the classroom or at home. It would be a fun addition to your writing center this month. You can add some fun markers for them to use or give them a candy cane pen to use as we did. It just makes it a little bit more special while writing their all-important letter to Santa.

Last year during a Parent’s Night Out our PTSA hosted, we even used these letters as part of our Polar Express theme and it was a huge hit.

The letter is in a simple format to help the kiddos write their letter to Santa. There is a spot for their name, age, and boxes to mark for how their behavior has been this year. It then gives a spot for the student to write in what they would like for Christmas. Next, there is a spot for them to write about something they’re going to do. It could be something like being helpful to others to leaving out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

If you are using this as part of your writing center in the classroom, having envelopes and a special mailbox for them to put it in makes it that much more magical! I found out mailbox at TJMax a couple of years ago but have seen a few others out there too since then. HobbyLobby would be another great option to try. Amazon has a bunch of cute ones, but they are quite pricey.

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable Letter To Santa.

I hope your students have a magical time writing their letters to Santa!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Letter To Santa appeared first on Primary Playground.

Today I just wanted to share a Free Printable Alphabet Poster that I put together.

This alphabet poster is perfect to display in your writing center, as part of a personal writing office, or to add to your student’s folder so they can refer to it when needed. 

This is a small version of the same pictures used in my Alphabet Posters to be displayed in the classroom.

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable Alphabet Poster from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

I hope this will be a helpful resource for your little learners!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Alphabet Poster appeared first on Primary Playground.

During this time that we are all staying home, I still wanted to my family to be able to connect. Of course, we use FaceTime but I also wanted to have a way for my kids to keep writing. So here we have a Free printable Pen Pal Letter.

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There are so many possibilities with this pen pal letter template. If your parents agree, set up 2 classmates and have them write back and forth to each other. Another great possibility is to have them write to their cousins, aunts uncles, or grandparents. Let the kids pick out a new box of crayons or some fun pens or pencils to get them excited about writing too!

I’ve made the pen pal letter very easy. They can simply draw a picture of whatever they’d like and mark how they are feeling today. They can then write a sentence about what they have been up to this week. And finally, write about a favorite thing. It can be food, an animal, a game, etc.

Click the green button below to download the Free Printable Pen Pal Letter.

What other things are you doing to help your kids stay connected to friends and family?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Pen Pal Letter appeared first on Primary Playground.

Learning about spiders is such a fun activity for October. If you’re not allowed to actually celebrate Halloween in your school, this is a fun alternative that can still be tied into the season.

Most kids love learning about spiders. This Spider Writing Craft is a fun way for them to show some of the fun facts they have learned about spiders during the unit.

Supplies you’ll need per student

A long piece of black construction paper

Some spider webbing – a small bit goes a long way

A plastic spider

Spider Facts printable -you can download below.

Other supplies you’ll need

Glue sticks, school glue, white chalk

To make the Spider Writing Craft

The first step is to have your students write their spider facts on the printable. After they’re done writing, have them glue the paper to the bottom portion of the long black construction paper using a glue stick.

Next, have the students draw a large spider web or two if they’d like using white chalk at the top portion of the construction paper. Give them a small amount of spider webbing and have them keep pulling it apart to make another layer on top of the web they drew.

Have them use a very small amount of school glue to glue down the edges of the spider web to the construction paper. When it’s secure, have them add in their plastic spider into the web.

They look adorable displayed in the classroom for October or in your hallway.

If you are looking for some more spider activities these spider counting mats are a favorite!

And these spider activities include math, literacy and science activities.

You can download the spider facts printable for the craft below.

Do you have any fun activtivities you like to do in your classroom in October?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Spider Writing Craft appeared first on Primary Playground.

A few years ago, I’d walked into a friend’s classroom in the morning, and she had classical music playing as the students walked in each morning. It had such a calming effect on the students and helped them settle in quickly for the day. I thought I need to use music more! I’m sharing the best Pandora stations for primary classrooms that I’ve found.

First, I do not pay for Pandora. It is $5.50 a month if you’d like to subscribe. It would be ad-free for you and you do have the benefit of skipping as many songs as you’d like and replaying different songs.

To keep it friendly for the classroom without paying, you can do two things to help. First, you can turn off and remove explicit content from your Pandora account. Below is a Youtube video to show you how to do that.

Second, is you can add an ad blocker to your computer by going to the web store and choosing a free ad blocker. It makes it so you can listen to Pandora without any ads in the classroom.

Music can be used in so many ways throughout your day. Have music playing as your class comes in, maybe after lunch as they come in from recess to relax for a few minutes and reset for the afternoon. How about some instrumental music during writing time during morning work or math boxes and more upbeat songs during clean up or getting ready to go home time?

Now to the good part!

the best pandora stations for primary classrooms

The Piano Guys – this is a family favorite that we listen to at home as well, a lot of current songs that are played using the piano, cello and violin.

Instrumentals for Studying –  instrumental music only so the voices won’t distract the students

Disney (Children’s) – a lot of popular Disney songs the kids know and love

The Mozart Effect –  a mix of nice instrumental music

Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star (Children’s) Radio – an rockin’ instrumental/lullaby station with songs from artists like Billy Idol, The Beatles and Avalon

Soundscape – instrumental music with a mix our environmental sounds – think a classical piece with rain falling in the background

Jack Johnson (Childrens) Radio – a lot of your traditional Jack Johnson music with other encouraging songs mixed in from other similar artists

Greg and Steve Radio – a mix of traditional kids songs

Kids Bop – “kid-friendly” versions of hit singles re-recorded by session musicians

Beats For Studying – similar to the Piano Guys stations, a lot of instrumental, piano, and violins

Classical Goes Pop – a lot of fun, upbeat, current instrumental music like Lindsey Stirling

Vitamin String Quartet –  well known popular rock, pop and country songs instrumental style

I hope you were able to find a new station or two to try out in your class! Do you have any other favorites you’d add to the list?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post The Best Pandora Stations For Primary Classrooms appeared first on Primary Playground.

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Need a fun Halloween Writing Center Idea? Come check out how we used some fun eye stickers I found at Michaels to get the students excited to write!

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I was at Michael’s a few weeks ago and spotted these cute eye stickers and just couldn’t pass them up. How perfect are they for adding to your writing center for Halloween?!

These eye stickers on Amazon would be a great option too if these stickers are no longer available at Michael’s.

I let the students choose up to 3 sets of eyes for their page. The possibilities of what the students can write are just endless. They can draw a picture first using their eyes, and then write a story or a few sentences about their drawing.

I’m sharing with you the writing page so you can easily add this to your writing center too! I think it’s one of the kid’s favorites so far!

Click the green box below to download the writing page.

Do you have any other ideas on how to use these cute eyes in the classroom?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Halloween Writing Center Idea appeared first on Primary Playground.