As part of an assignment for a course I am taking through
GCU, I was asked to create a blog and post some fantastic teacher
websites. I found the following:
What I love most about this website is
that it has ideas for infant through 8 years old and up. You can search for ideas based on age, so if
you are working with 12 month olds, you can search under infant or under
2. So many websites are dedicated to
Pre-K, but this one has great activities for all children. Some great activities I saw were sensory tubs
for infants and toddlers, and a wonderful interactive family tree using flip up
baby wipe lids. The lids were attached
to some paper on the wall creating a fantastic vertical surface activity for
little ones. This teacher is not afraid
to get dirty and let the children explore the materials freely, which is
refreshing. There is so much information
on this site, you would never run out of ideas!
Hands-on and child-centered…need I say more?
Shelly Lovett is
a Pre-K teacher with over twenty years of experience. Her blog is filled with hands-on activities
that support learning and fine motor development. The concepts are unique, fun and
colorful. Some ideas on her blog that I
have not seen anywhere else include colored pumpkin seeds for art and felt
circles with buttons for buttoning practice.
Shelly tells you how to create and use the different materials as well
as providing a daily free downloadable resource. Today’s resource happens to be valentine
themed letter cards. I will be visiting
this website often. It is inspiring and
makes me excited to create and implement the activities shown.
Mrs. Kelly’s Kindergarten class must
be a fun place to learn. It is obvious
from her blog that her classroom is student-centered. Mrs. Kelly offers ideas for hands on learning
centers that provide differentiation options.
Most of the center materials are teacher-created, inexpensive, colorful
and appealing to children. I have gotten
several ideas from this blog that I have used in my pre-k classroom. Last week, I used the gel-bags in my ABC
Center. I did not have hair-gel on hand,
so I used tempera paint instead. I taped
the bags to the table using masking tape and put magnetic letters at the table
so children had something visual to trace.
Heather’s blog provides a seemingly
endless supply of ideas for the 1st grade community. Heather’s heart for teaching is easily
recognized through her writings. The
ideas on this website are hands-on, colorful and have the students in mind. One hands-on activity I loved was using a die
cut of pumpkins with addition problems written on them and then having the
students use actual pumpkin seeds as manipulative to help them solve t he
problem. Heather has a teachers pay
teachers store, but she also has some fun downloadable freebies. I downloaded a rhyming game. It is colorful and the borders have wild
animals – which is something my students enjoy, so it would make the activity
more enjoyable for them. I know my
students would enjoy the ideas on this website – and many of them can be differentiated,
so I can easily create similar materials for my Pre-K students. Heather’s classroom is most certainly
student-centered and seems like a fun place to learn!
I have to say that there are so many amazing sites, and I certainly will post more as I continue to blog, but these are a few good ones to get you started. Hope you have as much fun exploring these sites as I did!
Written by Lisa Leirer for GCU Course ECH-525
