Tag: #1stgrade

Bring the Snow Inside – 7 Ways to Incorporate the Blizzard Into Your Classroom

January 27, 2016

Winter Storm Jonas left us here in NYC huddled up for the weekend, baking cookies, snuggling on the couch, and watching Alan Rickman movies in memoriam. But schools were back in session again on Monday, despite sometimes impassible sidewalks and questionably plowed roads in some of the outer-lying neighborhoods. So since the snow is everywhere, … More Bring the Snow Inside – 7 Ways to Incorporate the Blizzard Into Your Classroom

5 Ways to Integrate Food In the Classroom.

January 13, 2016

For 13 years, I taught in the “hard-to-staff” neighborhoods of the Bronx. My students were hungry, traumatized, and VERY under-exposed to language and language-building experiences. How do you have a conversation about adjectives with students whose only real exposure to them is “bad” and “good,” and maybe “hot” and “cold”? But even if your kids … More 5 Ways to Integrate Food In the Classroom.

21 Great Picture Books to Get You Through the Holidays – With Bulletin Board Ideas!

December 12, 2015

Hey ho, hey ho, ’tis the season for generosity and sharing, so here’s a bonus blog post to help you get through those last couple weeks of the holiday season before break. A word of caution: holidays deal inherently with peoples’ religious and family beliefs and traditions, and thus need some sensitive handling. For this … More 21 Great Picture Books to Get You Through the Holidays – With Bulletin Board Ideas!

Food Doesn’t Grow In Grocery Stores: A Harvest Lesson

October 27, 2015

Fall, fall, wonderful fall. The time for field trips to the farm (for us city folk at least) and lots of hard work for kids actually growing up in farm country. But with fewer and fewer kids growing up with access to the growing process, many in the new generation are experiencing a serious disconnect … More Food Doesn’t Grow In Grocery Stores: A Harvest Lesson

A Halloween Sequencing Lesson in Dance.

October 20, 2015

Halloween is nearly upon us! How did that happen?! I’m usually much better prepared – I haven’t even started costume shopping yet! Fortunately this Halloween-themed sequencing lesson takes next to zero ahead-of-time prep. That’s what I love about dance-integrated lessons. You don’t have to cut anything out. For this lesson, I’ve always used Inside a … More A Halloween Sequencing Lesson in Dance.

Seasons, Cycles, and Worms: A Less Obvious Fall Science Unit

October 13, 2015

Fall is my favorite season. Gorgeous temperatures (usually), gorgeous foliage (almost always), crunchy leaves underfoot (I don’t have to rake them), cozy sweaters, the beginning of hot chocolate season, and pumpkin everything! There are a gazillion great fall lesson compilations out there, like here, and here, and here (especially love the one at that last link … More Seasons, Cycles, and Worms: A Less Obvious Fall Science Unit

Turning Columbus Day into Indigenous Peoples Day.

October 6, 2015

Columbus Was Not A Nice Guy In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…. If you grew up anywhere in the US in the last hundred years, chances are good that you learned this little jingle, and can probably call up a few other words associated with Christopher Columbus. Explorer. Voyage. New World. … More Turning Columbus Day into Indigenous Peoples Day.

Arts Integration and that Viral Check Written in “Common Core Math.”

September 30, 2015

Pardon the super-lateness of this post. The baby Would. Not. Nap. So, you may have seen this image making the social media rounds last week: And if you were lucky, you saw one of many excellent rebuttals, like this one, explaining why 1) this check is nonsense and 2) common core math is not nonsense. … More Arts Integration and that Viral Check Written in “Common Core Math.”