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Play Dough World

C. Alcantara — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 09:51:58 +0000

The Yellow Rooms did an in-depth study of play dough. I had no idea there were so many angles to play dough and that so many concepts could be covered with this simplistic topic.

Who knew the world of play dough was so broad?

Learning math skills through play dough.

Dramatic Play props with Play Dough.

Learning about volcanic eruptions through play dough!

Find the present

smart board ideas — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 05:49:17 +0000

This is a fun, game for the last week of school. Students can each click on a present and the present will disappear in a creative way. Under one of the presents is a surprise! Also there is a musical note at the top of the page that when clicked will play a christmas song.

Click below on Find the Present.

Find the Present

Happy SMARTboarding,

The Night Before Christmas Story

smart board ideas — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:31:37 +0000

Here is a short comprehension activity to accompany the book The Night Before Christmas. Read the story to your students and then go through the SMART notebook slides and ask them some simple questions. They can answer by clicking the picture with the correct answer and it will make a cheering sound if they are right. I like to read the story everyday and do this activity everyday for a week.

Click below on Night Before Christmas

Night Before Christmas

Happy SMARTboarding,

Elf Tic Tac Toe

smart board ideas — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 23:34:36 +0000

Being the last week of school before the holidays it is always great to have some activities on hand that are fun for the kids and easy to implement. Today I am posting a website that has Elf Tic Tac Toe. This could be great for students to play and fun!

Click below on Elf Tic Tac Toe.

Elf Tic Tac TOE

Happy SMARTboarding,

The Explanation

insanityofmotherhood — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:23:07 +0000

A conversation between a mother and a little boy.

Mother and little boy are in car driving home from school.

“Sweetie. Why is it so hard for you to sit still during circle time at school?”- Mother

“It’s not my fault, Momma.” – Little Boy

“What do you mean?” – Mother

“My body tells me I have to move. If I don’t listen to my body it may stop working. So that’s why I keep moving.” – Little Boy

“That makes sense. Good explanation.” – Mother

Christmas Music

smart board ideas — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 17:56:15 +0000

Today I have come across a christmas music website that I thought would be a fun activity for students in the next two weeks. Students have to squish the reindeers noses and follow the numbers to play We wish you a Merry Christmas, Jingle bells or Deck the Halls. Could also be used as a Cause and Effect Activity.

Click Below on Christmas Music.

Christmas Music

Happy SMARTboarding,

Christmas Cause and Effect Website

smart board ideas — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 20:24:12 +0000

Have a look at this Christmas cause and effect website. A fun, simple activity which totally pertains to the students in our classes.

Click on Christmas Cause and Effect

Christmas Cause and Effect

Happy SMARTboarding,

Volunteering with Barrio Planta Project

In Nica Now — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 03:13:45 +0000

Volunteering my time and making a difference in the lives of local children has been on my “Nicaragua To Do List” since arriving here twelve months ago.

Recently I joined forces with Elizabeth Renner of Barrio Planta Project and had the opportunity to do just that. For a month I worked along side Liz as an assistant teacher with the preschool program at Barrio Planta Project (BPP).

Liz has designed a curriculum that focuses on basic English including ABCs, primary numbers, the days of the week, greetings and more.

The children who participate in this free program range in age from three to seven. For most these classes are a supplement to their regular school program.

On Tuesdays we would walk a few blocks to the library and read books together.

- San Juan del Sur Biblioteca

- Story time with their stuffies

And on Thursdays we enjoyed playing in the park.

- Everybody loves EJ!

When we weren’t at the library or playing in park we were dancing, making crafts, reading books, playing games or singing songs.

The kids always enjoyed playing with sidewalk chalk. And they had tons of fun playing memory games on my iPAD.

Just like any typical preschool program in Canada or the United States we had circle time and enjoyed cookies and juice at snack time.

As I helped the kids with their English they taught me a few new Spanish words and phrases including en la fila (in a line), cuidado (be careful) and orinando (the direct translation is “I’m peeing”, but this phrase actually means “I need to use the bathroom”).

When I walked through the classroom doors for the first time (and every time there after) Liz always made me feel welcome. The fifteen to twenty students that attend classes twice per week adore their “Profa Liz”. She really is great at what she does and it was a pleasure to work with her.

Thank you Liz (and BPP) for allowing me the opportunity to make a difference.

This was my first volunteer experience in Nicaragua, but it definitely won’t be my last. I look forward to working with you all again when classes resume in February.

To learn more about this non-profit organization and how you can make a difference click here.

Hannukah Puzzles

smart board ideas — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:02:35 +0000

Today I came across online puzzles for hannukah. The one featured here is a dreidel but they have a number of different ones. A great fun, educational activity for our students who celebrate Hannukah.

Click below on Hannukah Puzzles.

Hannukah Puzzles

Happy SMARTboarding,

Holiday Circle Time Activity

smart board ideas — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:09:33 +0000

I have created a Christmas advent calendar. Students will press on the day of the month so today they would click on 4. It will link to a youtube video of a christmas song.

Click below on Christmas Advent

Christmas Advent

Happy SMARTboarding,

Sorting Fruit

smart board ideas — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 01:38:41 +0000

WOW what a great activity this is! Definitely check out the Fruit Sorting Activity I came across. Students can sort fruit by whether it is a fruit or not, its colour or whether it has a peel. I wish I had found this activity last month during the nutrition study. Better late then never. Also sorting is a great activity and concept.

Click below

Fruit Sorting

Happy SMARTboarding,

Christmas Cause and Effect

smart board ideas — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 20:52:42 +0000

Here is a fun cause and effect activity for students who celebrate christmas. All of the pictures move when touched as well as have an audio effect.

Click below on Christmas Cause and Effect,

Christmas Cause and Effect

Happy SMARTboarding,

Light the Hannukiah

smart board ideas — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 17:13:49 +0000

Happy Weekend!

I have created a simple activity for our students who celebrate Chanukah. In this activity students can light the Hannukiah but dragging the candles over onto the sticks. As well if you click on the wording at the top then it will show a cartoon video of someone lighting the Hannukiah.

Click below on Light the Hannukiah.

Light the Hannukiah

Happy Holidays and Happy SMARTboarding,

Decorate the Holiday Tree

smart board ideas — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:17:47 +0000

As the holiday season is approaching I thought it would be fun to add some cute holiday activities. Today I have included an activity where students can Decorate the Holiday Tree. If you click on Title at the top it will link to a video of someone decorating a christmas tree. Then students can drag the ornaments onto the tree. All of the ornaments are on infinite clone.

Click below on Holiday Tree.

Holiday Tree

Happy Holidays and Happy SMARTboarding,

December Calendar

smart board ideas — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 22:01:57 +0000

As November comes to a close and December begins it is time to switch our calendars. Today I am uploading a December Holiday Calendar. It celebrates Christmas, Hannukah, and Diwali. December, the days of the week and the year are all on clone so students can move them down to fill in the TODAY is section.

Click below on December Calendar.

December Calendar

Happy SMARTboarding,

December Attendance

smart board ideas — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:12:15 +0000

Here is a fun December attendance for students to use. The students move the hats onto the matching snowman. All you need to do is change the names to your students name.

Click below on December Attendance

December Attendance

Happy SMARTboarding,

Matching

smart board ideas — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:18:34 +0000

Today I am posting an activity which I created for one student who was able to match objects based on one attribute. This activity has objects to match which are based on two attributes.

Click below on Double Match.

Double Match

Happy SMARTboarding,

Humpty Dumpty

smart board ideas — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:51:23 +0000

This is a video of the rhyme Humpty Dumpy put out by the TES website, which is a great website with a ton of activities.

Click below on Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty

Happy SMARTboarding,

Moving to the Beat

C. Alcantara — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 12:36:56 +0000

A developmentally appropriate classroom uses music to teach. It uses music intentionally, and does not permit music to ever be just background noise. In our classes we use it to transition between activities, recover the children’s attention if they get distracted or antsy, and we use it to teach concepts.

Take for example teaching the days of the week. Simply reciting the seven days for young children to remember can take a very, very long time. But play this song even without the video and many learn the seven days of the week almost at once!

Music and its effect on a child’s development begin in the womb with the mother’s heart serving as their first experience with rhythm. During pregnancy when a mother’s heartbeat becomes more rapid, there is a physical and emotional effect on the baby. When it slows down, the effect reverses. Babies connect the changes in rhythm to their bodies or environment – their first music lesson ever, at the age of 0.

image from telegaph.co.uk

Given their exposure to the fundamentals of music in the womb is one reason why everything done in song is so readily appreciated by young children. At Toddlers and Teachers, we highly encourage the development of musical intelligence. Studies have shown that by developing this in young children, there is a positive effect in their math and language skills.

To learn more about our Make Mine Music classes, click here.

Letter B

smart board ideas — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 04:57:30 +0000

The alphabet is a fundamental part of learning to read for students. This notebook file contains activities for letter shape recognition, letter identification, letter- sound identification. This week we focused on the letter B. Make sure to click on the letters and some are linked to videos.

Click below on B.

Happy SMARTboarding,

Online Egg timer

smart board ideas — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:06:16 +0000

This is an amazing timer that can be put up on the smartboard and be so beneficial for our students.

Check it out- I promise you will think it is great. It would be beneficial for any classroom.

Click below on egg timer.

Egg Timer

Happy SMARTboarding,

Fruit Graph

smart board ideas — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:57:36 +0000

A great November theme is healthy eating or fruits and vegetables. For this theme I have created a graph where students can show their favourite fruit. The boys and girls at the bottom of the page are infinite cloners. So I have the students (depending on if they are a boy or girl) move the picture into the box above their favourite fruit.

Click below on Fruit Graph.Fruit Graph

Happy SMARTboarding,

Jessica Ennis

carrieherbert — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:58:43 +0000

Jessica Ennis – our wonderful British Olympic heptathlon medal winner who was the toast of the town last summer has revealed that she was bullied at school. Jessica I am so sorry: as the founder and Chief Executive of the Red Balloon Learner Centre, a school I set up sixteen years ago for severely bullied children who are missing education because of the traumas they have endured at the hands of their peers, I know what it must have felt like at the time.

Being called names, ostracised and feeling awful about yourself saps your energy, stops you from making friends, from learning, from having ordinary friendships and having fun like all kids growing up should have.

We have children at Red Balloon who are so shattered by what has happened to them that they want to die – they would rather die than go back into school! How can we allow children to feel this way?

And what a star you are to have come through all that, what a role model for other kids, especially girls, to have succeeded so well – you are an inspiration! Thank you and well done!

I wonder what those two ‘big girls’ are thinking now – the ones who did the bullying? I wonder if they are asking “How did she do that?” – “How did she become such a star?” Or actually are they thinking anything at all?

I wonder if they know who they are?

Well – yes it is you two – all grown up now at twenty-six. Do you know you made Jessica’s life miserable at school? Did you know she hated the names you called her and the way she was left out? Probably not – many many people who bully are too tied up in their own lives and misery and lack of self-confidence to realise their behaviour is having a negative impact on another person. They suffer from envy and fear and have often been bullied themselves.

How do we get people to be a little more self reflective – how do we get people to think about their own behaviour? How do we get people to change? If there was a little more personal and social education in schools; more Circle Time where students could talk about how they want their class/tutor/group/school to be with each other, if there was more restorative justice as opposed to punishments and sanctions, if there was more of a community feel in schools and the students were taught better about talking responsibility for their own behaviour perhaps things would get better and there would be better communication at all levels

Oh well, Jessica, I take my hat off to you: not because you won a gold medal or because you endured the years of bullying. But because you have had the nerve and the steel to speak out about it opening and honestly.

Thank you for your contribution in helping us deal with bullying in schools.

Andre "Zoom" Anderson - Circle Time

RGD — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:15:36 +0000

Mr Andre Anderson has decided to take up ‘Weapons of Mass Creativity’ FULL-TIME. He no longer works at Live Magazine as Art Director and is currently pursuing his dream so keep updated! Here’s something you can take part in!

Daily Schedule

smart board ideas — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:26:31 +0000

Here is a daily schedule that works great in classrooms like ours. At the beginning of the day teachers with their students can set the schedule up by pulling the pictures down into the boxes to show the activities which are happening that day. Then as we finish an activity students can come up and put the activity in the recycling box. I received this idea from a colleague and love it. I have put some activity pictures up as well as there are some more on the second page but feel free to add your own pictures too.

Click below on “Daily Schedule”

Daily Schedule

Happy SMARTboarding,,