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Featured, literacy, reading, writing

April National Poetry Month Writing Unit

Writing workshop is one of the things I miss most about teaching third grade, and April’s National Poetry month was always one of my favorite writing units. As a class we learned about 17 different poetry styles, one each day. Then at the end of the unit each student published an individual poetry anthology, as well as their best piece in our larger class book. At the beginning of the unit, students often considered poetry boring and were convinced that all poems had to rhyme or be about love. By the end of the unit, students looked forward to learning new styles of poetry each day while writing their own unique creations. Here’s a look at the simple steps I took to make our unit such a success year after year.

craft, early learning, freebies, holiday

Hello, Spring Craft Freebie

I have a quick and easy spring craft for you today! Carter absolutely loves “co co” time when he gets to color. We have a craft bin full of crayons, stickers, watercolors, chalk, playdough, etc. that he will often get it from the closet himself. Most of the time I just let him free play, but we also do structured activities for each season and holiday. I’ve noticed such improvement in his following directions skills, which are so important to develop at this age. When he saw me bring out the ink pads and printables yesterday, he immediately started making blank handprints on the paper. Then he tried to put his foot up on the kitchen island to leave his footprints too. He takes after his momma, for sure.

craft, early learning, Featured, freebies, holiday, Valentine's Day

Valentine Footprint Craft for Early Learners

Hi, friends! As I posted before in “Where Am I When I’m Not Here” I am in full-blown mom life. My son Carter will turn TWO next month, and I pretty much can’t believe how quickly the time has gone by. My days are full of toddler antics and I find myself drawn more and more to early learning because of it. When I resigned from my third grade position before having Carter, I pictured myself going back. During my year off, we decided to go on and start a family. But the teacher in me can’t rest! So Carter and I spend our days doing lots of crafts and early learning activities.