This post offers practical tips and resources for setting up and using a sound wall effectively in your kindergarten or early elementary classroom. Learn how sound walls support phoneme-grapheme correspondence, enhance reading and spelling skills, and organize sounds by articulation. Discover space-saving options, lesson ideas, and the importance of professional development to maximize your sound wall’s impact.
Fun, editable name activities for preschool & kindergarten! These engaging ideas will help your students learn to recognize, spell, and write their names. Perfect for name writing practice, back-to-school centers, and helping students recognize their names.
Discover the “Our Class is a Family” student-created bulletin board based on Shannon Olsen’s book. This free resource helps create a warm, welcoming classroom environment where students see themselves as part of a supportive family. Perfect for building a positive community from the start of the school year.
Start the school year by building strong relationships with your students! Discover free resources, including editable welcome letter templates, fun get-to-know-you questions, and engaging movement activities. Perfect for both in-person and virtual classrooms, these tools help create a supportive and engaging learning environment from day one.
A small, thoughtful gift can go a long way in easing first-day jitters and making students feel welcome! In this post, I’m sharing some of my favorite back-to-school student gift ideas—perfect for Open House, Meet the Teacher Night, or the first day of school. These simple treats paired with printable gift tags help create a warm classroom environment right from the start.
A list of favorite back to school read alouds for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade! Sharing books is one of my favorite ways to ease back-to-school nerves and build classroom community. These tried-and-true read alouds are perfect for the first few weeks of school—and they help spark a love of reading from day one!
Discover how to set up a fun, fall-themed escape room for kindergarten and first-grade students! This blog post shares step-by-step tips for creating an engaging escape room experience that builds teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Learn how to craft a captivating scenario, incorporate academic clues, and adapt the escape room for different classroom settings. Perfect for any elementary classroom!
Discover how to use, manage, and organize centers in your kindergarten classroom with practical tips, classroom-tested routines, and free printable center labels!
Apple season and Johnny Appleseed’s birthday (Sept. 26th) are the perfect time to bring engaging, differentiated learning into your classroom! These hands-on apple-themed math and literacy centers are easy to prep, fun for little learners, and designed to meet your students right where they are—no matter their level.
Starting a new school year can feel exciting—and a little overwhelming—for both students and teachers. In this post, I’m sharing my favorite back-to-school ideas to help you welcome students with confidence, ease first-day jitters, and build meaningful classroom connections from day one. You’ll find time-saving tips, calm-down strategies, and simple ways to prepare families with Meet the Teacher letters and more.
Young learners need to move—but that doesn’t mean losing instructional time! In this post, I’m sharing how I combine brain breaks with purposeful, standards-based learning activities to build focus, boost retention, and make lessons more fun.
Create a welcoming classroom with this editable dog-themed classroom decor and first week of school activity pack. Includes name tags, bulletin boards, classroom jobs, welcome letters, and back to school activities to help you stay organized and save prep time.