Gentle Cloud Wallpaper

Teacher friends, many of you have been back at school this week and working extremely hard. I wanted to make something for you to add a tiny bit of cheer to your weekend. 

Gentle Clouds is my new screen wallpaper and I hope it brings a smile to your face when your add it to your screens.

Simply download the images from google drive from the links below. Store them on your camera roll and choose them for your screen saver and/or wallpaper!

Here is the Gentle Cloud Computer Wallpaper
and 

Here is the Gentle Cloud Phone Wallpaper

{These are for your personal use only and cannot be redistributed or shared}

Thank you so much for visiting us here on the blog. Have a beautiful, safe and happy weekend.

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wallpaper

Classroom Positivity

Are you looking for some practical ways to help make your kindergarten (K-3) classroom bright and happy?

Our easy-print cute posters are bright and colorful and feature positive, motivational messages that little learners understand. 

So many teachers have told us that they love seeing the smiles on peoples faces as they walk into their classroom! They also say:

• the cute posters complement any classroom decor
• they make the classroom welcoming
• the kids love coloring the matching pages

Today we wanted to give you a quick peek at Set 1:

The posters included are:

• Be happy (hippo)
• Stand tall, wear a crown, be sweet on the inside (pineapple)
• Keep on moving (school bus)
• Be the reason someone smiles today (frog)
• Be a rainbow in someone's cloud (rainbow)
• You matter (apple)
• Be the change (butterfly)
• Have a fancactus day (cactus)
• It's owl good (owl)
• Courage doesn't have to roar (lion
• Have a happy day (sun)
• Tiny seeds grow big ideas (flower)

Please note, my illustrations are whimsical and the animals are playful colors, not true to real animals.

The included blackline version can be used to conserve ink toner in your printer - just print on bright colored paper.

They also make for lovely coloring pages and painting projects. Students will love seeing their work up on display and helping to create the classroom decor.

If you have limited display space, try printing the posters '2 to a page' to make smaller posters. 

The posters can be used to open a discussion, building classroom community.

• talk about the message, unpack its meaning and contextualize it for your cohort of students
• ask students to give examples of how the positive message can be 'seen' in the classroom or school - how can their actions and words demonstrate this practically 
• draw pictures to reflect aspects of the message
• ask students to think of books you have read in class that reflect the message or where a character has behaved accordingly
• read books that value students identity, diversity and help make everyone in the class feel included 

Over in our TPT store, you can also find a free sample! Here is a You are fantastic! fox themed classroom poster and coloring page. 

Brainstorm all the 'fantastic' things about individual students in your class and list them on a big chart. 

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Classroom Decor

Number of the Day

Move over word-of-the-day we have some fun number work to do!

Create a Number of the Day routine for your class to make regular number sense work seamless and consistent in your program.

Create a little number wall or area in your K-2 classroom to display your chosen collection of focus cards.

Working together as a class through the cards each day will encourage students confidence in exploring numbers.

We've designed them to be printed and laminated for use with dry erase markers or with sticky-notes but you can also project them onto an electronic board and work through them digitally.

Student work pages are included so your learners can work along with you as you go through the word of the day.

Poster pages included for you to choose from and create your focus area, are:

• 2 header options - with cute kids or without
• write the number in words
• show the number in place value blocks
• show the number in ten frames (several options included 10, 50, 120)
• write the numbers before and after
• show the number in tally marks
• write the number in an addition sentence
• write the number in a subtraction sentence
• write the number in a multiplication sentence
• write the number in a division sentence
• show the number in a 'greater than' comparison
• show the number in a 'less than' comparison
• 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, 10 less
• determine if the number is odd or even
• double the number, halve the number
• round the number to the nearest ...
• place value chart (2 to 4 digit numbers)

As well as recording all the information about your focus number, you may like to:

• sing counting songs
• say counting rhymes
• clap count up to the focus number
• draw pictures that represent the number and create a class book
• count out groups of materials to show this number
• locate this number on your class number line
• look through books and find this number represented 
• discuss what students already know about this number

If a number every day is too much, we have included Number of the Week page options too! We know that learning about numbers in the early years is so critically important but think our resources will also help you create a beautiful classroom learning environment too! 

You can find this versatile pack over in our TpT store.

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Numbers

Social Distancing Greetings for the Classroom

Build classroom community while maintaining social distancing guidelines with our fun, happy posters pack. Easy to prep and premium print quality means your display will be gorgeous in minutes!

Each of our 10 greetings is provided in 3 formats for display :

• page sized poster
• pennant banner
• circle (2 to a page)

Included are 10 ideas for socially distant greetings:

• smile
• wave
• elbow bump
• foot bump
• hand on heart
• namaste
• jazz hands
• air fist bump
• speak
• thumbs up

Display ideas:

• select a few of the greetings appropriate for your class and just print those
• add the posters to a bulletin board or display area in your classroom that needs some pop
• show the posters on a digital slide (MS Powerpoint version included
• create a classroom pennant banner
• make pick-a-sticks with the circles (attach circle to popsicle stick and place in container)
• use the 'all on one page' poster version for a fast space-saving display

Hop over to find this resource in our TpT store - an editable version is included so you can type in your favorite font or change the names!

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Classroom Decor, Posters

Tiger Finger Play

I wrote a new action finger play for your little learners today! It has a tiger theme and will help them move into a quiet settled position for learning on the carpet / mat.

This finger play encourages:

• listening to the teacher
• joining in with the class community
• learning a rhyme
• listening
• fine motor coordination / finger actions
• sequencing words and actions
• expected behavior - sit with class, focus on teacher, cease play, join group focus, attend to learning
• an integration of words, action and meaning
• language development
• fun and engagement

Printable Tiger Finger Play

• at the bottom of this post you can find links to download the printable finger play poster
• we've provided it in color and blackline
• point to the words and engage your students in a reading activity too
• let your students have a copy of the blackline version, so they can follow along with the words at home and practice their reading

Step by step actions:

• every time the finger rhyme says tiger, tiger, lace your fingers gently together
• tell students these are the stripes on both sides of the tiger's body 

• Sit with me = place hands on top of one another, flat, and motion down

• Sip your tea = pretend to sip tea, one hand is the saucer, the other is lifting a cup up to sip

• Don't you roar = wave finger from side to side

• On the floor = same action as for sit down

• No more play = roll hands around one another

• Learn today = folded arms

We hope you and your students love this new finger play and it helps you engage your students in a practical literacy experience while also encouraging positive classroom behavior. 

We added a one page tiger face craft to our Premium Coloring Club library today to accompany this finger play. 

There are also some lovely links to explore between expected behavior, tigers, the finger play and the children's picture book: The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr. You may like to review this book and see if it can be incorporated into the class literature studies at your school. 

We can see how the tiger would provide for deep discussions about the actions of characters in stories. His behavior is in stark contrast to the setting and other characters. It might help you springboard into a discussion on how routines, expectations and rules at school help us all feel comfortable and safe to learn. 

Find the text here: Google Drive: Tiger Action Rhyme Finger Play

Available in our store is a printable pack of creative and literacy support activities too! Find it ready to go HERE

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Finger Play

Addition Strategy - Finding 20

A useful strategy in addition is being able to find a ten or twenty. Being flexible with numbers comes with practice and we've found providing a visual component to help students develop this confidence very helpful.

Our Make Twenty and Make Ten cards are perfect to begin encouraging students to develop this bridging strategy. Students will look for combinations that easily make a ten or twenty to find the overall total more fluently.

To get ready:

• print and laminate the cards
• provide dry erase markers
• ask students to look carefully at the visual number towers
• ask students what they notice about the number towers - perhaps they can make matching ones with real equipment

To complete the activity:

• students may notice in the example above, that the 14 and 6 build a 2o - if not, point it out to them
• remind students that by quickly counting the 20, all they need to do is add the third tower to find the overall total - 28
• ask students to link the 2 parts that make 20 with their dry erase marker too

Variation:

• more capable students make like to record directly to the worksheet without marking the actual activity/task card

Plenty of practice

• students need to learn this strategy, then apply it to other mathematical tasks
• loads of practice with activities like this one will help students integrate this strategy into their mathematical problem solving

Find this printable resource in our store in 2 version:

Find the Ten

Find the Twenty

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Addition

Rules for the Classroom

Classroom rules can make children feel safe and contribute to a respectful learning community. A well managed learning space helps give students predictability and eventually ownership over their learning. When they know clearly what is expected of them, they can settle in and get busy learning.

 

We have 6 rules that are perfect for your classroom or learning space:

1. listen
2. be nice
3. try hard
4. be safe
5. share
6. care

They are concise and practical. They encompass with simplicity, a vast array of expectations for the classroom. Just about everything will fit within one of our six 'simple' rules. For example, if you have an expectation that students walk in the room (not run), this will fit with the 'be safe' rule.

In our printable resource pack, you can edit the text to create rules of your own too!

We've provided 3 options for you to display:

1. large page sized class rules posters (see photos above)
2. a all-on-one page poster
3. half page size class rule cards - create a vertical display (see below)

You can find these poster printables in our pack over at TpT along with a student workbook. Ask your students to draw and write how they demonstrate the each of the rules after you've talked to them about your expectations.

Please note that the big stick kid classroom accents in these photos come from this pack over at TpT. 

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Back to School, Kindergarten

Bears for Back to School

I found a new bear book that is perfect for back to school recently and shared it today on Instagram. Along with the book-share I quickly brainstormed ways it could be expanded upon in a day, or even a week in your classroom or homeschool.

I'd love to share them with you here on the blog too! Firstly the book is called Never Take a Bear to School by Mark Sperring and Illustrated by Britta Teckentrup. 

Some features I loved:

• it's the perfect length for new kindergarteners, who love a good tale but are only new to sitting and listening at length
• it is a rhyming text, but maintains a good story structure
• it is funny
• it gently explores the feelings of being new at school
• it provides for a springboard into discussing some serious issues of school
• the end, which explains that some special things have to stay at home, gently reminds students that they have embarked on a new journey, their school life,  in a new place with new expectations

Here are some of my randomly brainstormed ideas for activities and learning experiences that could follow from this reading.

Book Chat

• analyze the cover before reading - make predictions
• talk about how the illustrator has used color 
• list the ways a bear was unsuitable for school (persuasive text)
• list the school experiences (bell rings, hanging art work, listening to a story) - make personal connections

Literacy

• brainstorm the names of other animals that start with 'b'
• write some 'b' words
• talk about words that rhyme with bear
• talk about pets at school and ask students to give a short opinion on pets at school 'I think pets should be at school because...."
• make a class book and ask students to illustrate their page - Never take a ... to school
• talking/language activity - tell a partner about your pet, tell a partner about an animal you would like to bring to school
• bear finger play - language, expression, listening

Play with words

• use title structure and create a list of alternatives: Never (verb) a (noun) to/at school.
• Never ride a bike to school. 
• Never bounce a ball to school. 
• Never sail a boat to school. 

Math

• research the size of grizzly bears - mark it on the ground to see the area
• fill the area with objects and talk about space
• make a list of things bigger and smaller than this grizzly bear
• play counting and number games with teddy counters
• Bear Bingo

Rules and School

• talk about why we have rules
• talk about home, school and classroom rules
• talk about safety at school
• compare and contrast home and school - how are they different, similar
• discuss what we take to school
• discuss what 'belongings' are
• discuss how we care for belongings and school belongings
• talk about safely using equipment and belongings at school

Bears

• discuss what students already know about bears
• research bears - what questions do the students have
• describe the bear in the book using senses 
• paw prints (on front cover) - explore print making 
• talk about why the author has chosen a bear for the story character 

Creative

• move like a bear
• sing 'Going on a Bear Hunt' with actions
• paint a picture of a bear
• cut and paste a craft bear
• make a 'no bears at school' poster
• create a bear from objects like Lego, blocks or recyclable materials

I hope you love this book too and can think of more wonderful ways to incorporate it into your class program. 

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bear, Books

Lovely Bulletin Board Letters

Add a beautiful message to welcome your students to their learning space with our printable bulletin board letters. This 'Lovely Letters' set includes 11 different color options

To make a classroom message simply:

• write down the message so you know the letters you need
• use the 'quick print guide' in the pdf file to match a letter to a page number
• write down the page numbers next to your list of letters
• open the file that corresponds to your color selection/s and print the pages you need from your list
• cut the letters (and laminate - optional)
• display in your classroom - we use bluetac velcro and tape are also useful

We have included:

• uppercase letters
• lowercase letters
• numbers
• basic punctuation
• all characters in blue, brown, blackline, gray, green, orange, pink, purple, red, teal and yellow

Think about creative ways to use them:

• a message on a whiteboard like the one above - You are loved!
• a door display - Welcome to our lovely class.
• an alphabet line
• play dough letter mats
• print at 50% for smaller displays

You can find this mega pack of letters over in our TpT store! We hope you love making your classroom bright, happy, fun and positive. 

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Bulletin Board

Classroom Labels

Use our printable classroom labels to help orgninize your resources for math! We have used bright, happy labels from our fruit collection to sort math center packs into addition, subtraction, multiplcation and division.

To sort the activities we:

• printed and laminated a selection of games from our math packs
• stored them in flat, clear 'compact wallets' with a cover page showing the contents
• sorted them into addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
• assembled book boxes from Elizabeth Richards
• typed the labels in the editable Fruit Labels file 
• used our favorite Pond Kinder font
• laminated, cut and blue-tacked the labels onto the boxes

These labels have so many uses in the classroom:

• labelling equipment and storage
• math and reading group folder boxes
• creating door displays
• desk tags
• name displays
• book covers
• rewards and motivational accents

Fruit labels for the classroom

We have a huge and growing range of labels and accents. You can take a peek over on our website:

• classroom decor labels
• display label accents

We love that our labels are functional, will help you get organized and will also contribute to the happiness in your learning space!

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Classroom Labels, Organization, Reading Groups

A bright happy classroom

Are you setting up a space for your kindergarten or first grade learners? We just adore bright and happy classrooms, playrooms and learning environments.

It is important to think about:

• clear, uncluttered visuals
• a balance of practical, educational and decorative
• thinking about alignment - I've always found posters in clear lines and rows easier for students to access and more calming on the eyes
• having important information at student eye level 
• following safety guidelines set out by your school
• age appropriateness - what may engage you in your chic-living-space at home can be yawn-tastic boring and uninspiring for little ones (I'm yet to meet a kid thrilled with palm fronds)

My personal preference, and what I have found works best for my learning spaces is:

• soft but bright colors
• clear uncluttered pictures and shapes
• posters aligned in rows and colums with a consistent edge border
• un-laminated posters and visual where possible
• some key staples that stay up all year - alphabet, number line, motivational sayings
• spaces for seasonal and weekly changeable content

In the classroom learning space above we have featured:

• Bright Number Line
• Cute Classroom Clipart Kids + Mouse
• Sky/Grass/Soil Letter Handwriting Charts
• 2D Shape Posters
• Ten Frame Kids
• Alphabet Posters
• Animal Reading Strategy Posters

We hope you are inspired to make a bright happy learning space for your little ones. Remember to:

• utilize bright paper and your students' artwork
• ask families to donate soft cushions and extras
• shop yard sales and thrift stores
• old furniture safely painted can add pops of color
• drab, plain classrooms can come alive with inexpensive pops of color from simple items like hanging-honeycomb-balls from the party section at the dollar store
• use beautifully illustrated picture books for added decoration and engagement 

Alphabet Posters

An absolute essential in any early years learning space is an alphabet display or frieze. Create one that is bright, happy and engaging with our editable printable posters. 

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Classroom Decor, Classroom Theme

Voice Level Posters

Help your students understand appropriate noise levels in the classroom with our voice level buddies. You can team the posters up with fun little soft toys or use the posters independently.

Discuss each level with your kiddos separately and role play a few examples. Talk with your students about what activities would be most appropriate for each level. 

You will introduce a

• dragon voice (confident clear strong voice)
• raccoon voice (busy working chat for learning)
• mouse voice (quiet and focused for independent work)

This strategy focuses on what students can do and helps them visualize what they are able to do. It also integrates with a learning focus - for example the raccoon level encourages cooperation and working together.

Includes:

• 3 level posters
• 1 all-in-one poster
• student worksheet

When you want to encourage a particular level in your classroom, take a buddy out from your basket and place him at the front of the room, or hold him in your hands. Your students will soon get to know the expectations.

Mouse Voice

• A small, quiet voice.
• Do careful work!
• Focus on your own work.

Raccoon Voice

• A busy working voice.
• Forage for knowledge!
• Talk and work together. 

Dragon Voice

• A big, bold, brave voice.
• Be heard!
• Talk one at a time.

Find these printable posters in our TpT store for FREE

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Classroom Management