Tuesday Teaching Tips
Whether you’re looking for a new poem, a helpful classroom management tip, or a fun activity, come join us on Facebook and check out our Tuesday Teaching Tips! Every Tuesday we’ll share a new tip - something quick and easy that you can use right away. We’ll highlight seasonal books, share songs and rhymes and anything else you can think of! Most of all, we’d love to hear from you! Have a great idea? A favorite poem? A great tip? Come learn new things and share your great advice! So, grab a friend and head on over to 
. Our past Teaching Tips are available here.
Calendar Cut Outs Make Practicing Numbers as Easy as 1, 2, 3!
Looking for a way to make math time more interactive? Grab some old calendar numbers and have your students work in teams to put them in order. Not only is this activity easy to prepare, it’s also easy to make it fit whatever your theme is, since the numbers are available to go with so many different ones. Of course, when they’re done sequencing them, you could have your students record their work (ie, write the numbers from 1-30), or practice a different skill and count out the right number of counters (beans, buttons, etc.)...
read moreDear Mr. President
Did you know you can write the president? Even better – you’ll get a response! You can choose to send a traditional letter or email the President. This is a great way to add a present day touch to your President’s Day studies and incorporate writing into your social studies lessons. If you’re looking for a math lesson, these patriotic patterns will add some sparkle. Looking for some books to support your teaching? Welcome Books are a great series of non-fiction books with wonderful photographs and simple text...
read moreValentine’s Day “Stained Glass”
This simple art activity works great hung in front of the window – where the sunlight streaming through adds a rosy glow that’s perfect for this time of year! To prepare them – simply trace or draw a heart shape onto construction paper. (The hearts in the picture are on 12″x18″ construction paper since the bottom half was being used for a February calendar). To create a template to trace, simply print out a clip art heart the size you’d like it to be onto tag board. Cut it out and you’re ready...
read moreKiss Boredom Good bye and Say Hello to Hands-on Math Graphing
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, here’s a cute activity that’s guaranteed to have your students excited about graphing! Kissables are available in snack sized bags, making this a super easy hands-on math activity to prepare for, too. Just make enough copies of the recording sheet for your kids, and hand each of them a bag of candy. (Ziploc bags make it easy for them to take their candy home). Students who have more experience with graphing may be able to count out the number of candies of each color and...
read moreHundredth Day of School Scavenger Hunt
The year is flying by and the Hundredth Day of school is almost here! There are so many great ways to celebrate this milestone. Get your students up and actively practicing number recognition (all the way to 100!) with a scavenger hunt. To get ready, simply write the numbers from 1-100 on some color coding labels. (You can use any other little stickers or even tape that you have around, but these stickers are super easy to remove and the colors add a nice twist. If you write the numbers out on the stickers as they are on the paper,...
read moreWintery Trees Weave Math Into Art
Here’s a quick and easy way to weave some math practice into an art activity. You’ll need a sheet of 9×12″ blue construction paper and three squares per student out of plain white copy paper (of course, construction paper will work, too, but it’s not necessary). You can vary the sizes depending on how big you’d like the trees to turn out, but the ones pictured were 5″, 4″ and 3″. That’s IT! You’ve now finished prepping this activity! Have your kids cut the squares in...
read moreWinter Books to Warm Up Your Shelves
From classics to funny, we’re sure your students will warm to these winter themed books as much as we have! (As always, any purchase made after clicking through an Amazon link on CKA’s website benefits CKA without costing you anything additional. Thank you so much for your support!) The Snowman, Raymond Briggs – This wordless classic is deceptively simple looking. Following along the rather complex story requires plenty of thought though and is sure to provoke an interesting conversation with your students. A...
read moreAll That Glitters is (Fake) Snow – An Easy Way to Add Sparkle to a Winter Art Activity
Add some sparkle to any winter art activity with a little fake snow. Simply have the kids dot white glue wherever they would like the snow to stick. Then sprinkle it over the top and shake off the excess. Super easy and fun! For more wintery lesson plans, check out Let it Snow! A Quick and Easy Winter Art Activity and Snowy Sight Words. For more information on how to make the patterns pictured, check out #4 from our 5 Easy Hands-on Ways to Make...
read moreGet Organized with Highlighters
New Year’s resolutions include getting better organized! We know ours do! Here’s a little tip we hope will help. Use yellow highlighter to mark blackline masters with your name – that way if they get left behind in the staff room people know to return them to you. The highlighter won’t show up when you copy them. Have a great organizational tip? Please share! What resolutions are you making for the new...
read moreSnowy Sight Words
The end of the year is almost here! With all the excitement of the holidays, it can be very challenging to keep a classroom of little folks calm this time of year. Here is sight words activity that is super quick and easy to prepare. Dabbing all those dots seems a little hypnotic, making this a soothing activity for frazzled students – and teachers! The prep is almost embarrassingly simple. Take blue 9×12 construction paper and cut it in half. On each piece of paper, write a sight word in white chalk. Give the kids a...
read moreOur 30th Annual Conference
Thank you all for making our 30th Annual California Kindergarten Conference such a success! We were so glad to be able to celebrate with so many of you! This year's conference sold out, so make sure you keep an eye out here and on our Facebook page and we'll keep you posted on next year's!
ART Really Teaches
