Welcome to Paula's Primary Classroom! This blog is where I share ideas for teaching and learning with families, friends and other early childhood educators. Please don't use the photos or text of this blog without permission, but please do use any ideas you find useful. Thank you for stopping by!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

FREE Christmas Sentence Picture Match


If you've visited my blog recently, then you probably already know that I am making a transition from preschool teacher to full time curriculum development.  It's a huge change, in so many ways!  I have so enjoyed working with children for the last 21 years, but I'm also enjoying working at my own pace without kiddos right now.  

This is one of my latest creations, and I'm making it a freebie, to say thank you to all the teachers out there.

You'll need to go to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to download it, and of course directions are included.  There are 12 Christmas themed sentences and pictures for you to laminate and cut apart, directions, a poster of Christmas vocabulary, and a cut and paste page for students to do as a follow up.  The sentences are heavy on Dolch nouns, preprimer and primer words, so this is perfect for emergent readers.


 If you enjoy this, would you please leave feedback on Teachers Pay Teachers?  After you download the file, scroll down to the rating scale and let me know what you think.  I hope you and your students enjoy!

May whatever holidays you celebrate be filled with love, light and family!
Paula


Friday, November 21, 2014

Thanksgiving or Christmas?

I could have titled this post "Out of the mouths of babes" again, because I'm going to start with a kid quote from one of my own children.

It was Christmas day, and the family was all gathered.  Presents were long since opened, and delicious smells were coming from the kitchen.  My barely 4 year old son asked me, "What are we eating for Christmas?"  I started listing the dishes, "Turkey, stuffing, green beans, potatoes... all the things we ate at Thanksgiving."  "Not leftovers AGAIN!" he moaned.

I think sometimes our youngest children have trouble remembering which holiday is which, and what symbols represent each one.  Pumpkins are a bit ambiguous, good for both Halloween and Thanksgiving, and a roast turkey dinner gets served up more than once at this time of year also.  Families gather for many holidays - so what exactly are the differences?

I've created a new activity for preschool and kindergarten kiddos, aimed at helping them figure all this out, and here it is :

Here's the finished Venn Diagram, with symbols sorted out by holiday.  I hope this helps the kiddos figure it all out! 
 

Want to add a literature component to this activity?  Try reading  Over and Over by Charlotte Zolotow.  It's a beautiful book about a young child experiencing the celebrations of a year, trying to sort them all out, just as my son did way back when.

What ever holidays you celebrate, I hope they are filled with family, love and joy!
                                                                                                                           - Paula