Uncategorized Archives - Whimsy Workshop Teaching

Spelling Switcheroo – Word Building

January 10, 2020 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

Segmenting and blending sounds can be tricky when students are first learning to read. Reinforcing these skills, particularly with hands-on manipulation of letters, can be a great help for reading development.

Segmenting (separating sounds like /d/ /o/ /g/) and blending (combining sounds like /dog/) are core skills for phonological awareness, and necessary for learning to read.

Assessing Spelling Readiness

Are your students ready to blend and segment sounds? There is a general progression for most students: 1) identifying alliteration and rhyming words [Read More…]

New Year’s Resolutions Writing

January 5, 2020 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

Have you ever noticed that after new year’s celebrations, when students come back to school after winter break, they act like they’ve never been in a classroom before? Sometimes it seems like they’ve forgotten everything you’ve taught them in the past months!

Of course they haven’t forgotten, but it’s a good time for a refresher. Take some time to remind and re-establish routines and expectations. Review your class rules and even some of the academic goals you reached together. If [Read More…]

Instagram Archive

December 6, 2019 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

Looking for a clickable link for something spotted on my Instagram account? Click on the images below!

MORE FREE DOWNLOADS

You may also be interested the FREE downloads in the posts listed below!

I hope you find some helpful resources!J

Free Downloads: First Grade Writing

Free Downloads: Simple Art Templates

Math Centers: Free Downloads

Free Directed Drawing Videos: Students Draw Along

Free Letter Sounds Song Posters

Free Educational FUN [Read More…]

Directed Drawing Videos: Cute Santa

June 1, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

WHY DIRECTED DRAWING?

There are many reasons to try directed drawing with your students! Here are a few skills and benefits:

improve skills in following directions and attention to detaila fun way to practice fine motor developmentincreased stamina in focus and attentionincreased self-expression and communicating ideasgrowing skills in drawing and appreciation of artperfect for celebrating seasonal content and decorate the classan easy center activity to switch out each weeka fun activity to do at home! Send the link to parents and ask [Read More…]

Drawing as a Writing Prompt

April 11, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching 10 Comments

Directed Drawing is a fun and engaging way to integrate art and writing.
Here are some ways that I use art in my classroom to encourage more writing!

WRITING COMPLIMENTS
After your whole class directed drawing lessons, invite students to do a “gallery walk” around the room to see other students’ work. Then, leave a post-it note beside each picture and assign secret partners. Students study their partner’s drawing and write a compliment on the post-it note. Students love to return to their [Read More…]

Math: 5 Steps to a Successful Program

January 3, 2017 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching 19 Comments

A look at practical solutions for a primary math program.

Today I’m sharing a list of simple but effective changes I made in my classroom to make my math program more successful. Hopefully they will help you, too!

THE PROBLEM…

Does this sound familiar to you?
I’d finish a math lesson, and then before students went off to work, I’d ask if there were any questions. All the little heads would shake no, and everyone seemed happy and confident skipping off to their desks.

HOWEVER…
Soon [Read More…]

Art Tutorial – Little Gecko

April 28, 2016 by Whimsy Workshop Teaching Leave a Comment

We made these cute little geckos in our classroom during art time, and they turned out so well that I’ve made another simple tutorial to show how easy it is!
You will need green and black paper, glue, scissors, and chalk pastels (similar to soft chalk). You could change the colors to suit what you have available.

If you’d like to see more step-by-step photo tutorials, you can choose from these huge collections of art lessons for elementary classrooms. Each has lots of [Read More…]