Moving Up! Educators
Schools – elementary schools, preschools, child care programs, nursery schools, private schools, charter schools - all have an important role to play in helping children who are moving up! from one early grade to the next. Communication with families, other professionals and the community will help each child get off to the best start in his new grade. Together we can make a difference!
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BoardMath®
Media in the Classroom
Kindergarten
Administrators
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Diverse Learners
Pre-Kindergarten
First Grade
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Early Math
Transitional Kindergarten
Second Grade
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The Early Ed Alignment Puzzle
Definition of alignment
noun
So what does it mean when we look at aligning curriculum resources for birth through kindergarten? Take a look at this handy CDE guide, The Alignment of the California Preschool Learning Foundations with Key Early Education Resources. This comprehensive document strives to match up the following resources to place them in the correct or appropriate relative positions – a useful endeavor when we try to understand how the puzzle pieces fit together:
noun
- arrangement in a straight line, or in correct or appropriate relative positions: the tiles had slipped out of alignment
- a position of agreement or alliance: a firm famous for its liberal alignment
So what does it mean when we look at aligning curriculum resources for birth through kindergarten? Take a look at this handy CDE guide, The Alignment of the California Preschool Learning Foundations with Key Early Education Resources. This comprehensive document strives to match up the following resources to place them in the correct or appropriate relative positions – a useful endeavor when we try to understand how the puzzle pieces fit together:
- California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations,
- California Content Standards,
- The Common Core State Standards
- Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework
Get Outside and Learn!
Are you interested in enriching your curriculum in an effective, fun, and low-cost way? Do you want to see your students become healthier, more relaxed, more focused and ready for deeper learning? The answer is simple! Get your students outside for some natural learning in the natural world. The Children and Nature Network can help! Check out this site for lots of great ideas, research, strategies and activities to incorporate more nature into your day. Click here to take a look at the Natural Teacher Network’s (NTN) eGuide – a handy resource for teachers Pre-K through High School - including 10 Reasons To Take Your Students Outside and much, much more!
The Outdoor Classroom Project is another essential resource for teachers who want to bring the learning outside. This excellent website has a lot of pictures, ideas and resources to help early educators combine indoor and outdoor curriculum. Want to learn more? Watch this seven minute video (below) and see what the outdoor classroom concept is all about!
The Outdoor Classroom Project is another essential resource for teachers who want to bring the learning outside. This excellent website has a lot of pictures, ideas and resources to help early educators combine indoor and outdoor curriculum. Want to learn more? Watch this seven minute video (below) and see what the outdoor classroom concept is all about!
Connecting Teachers
Looking to connect with other teachers? Want to get some fresh ideas for your grade level? Interested in reviewing some lesson plan ideas? Here are some websites that can help!
A to Z Teacher Stuff
A site devoted to all stuff teacher! Here is what they say, “A to Z Teacher Stuff is a teacher-created site designed to help teachers find online resources more quickly and easily. Find lesson plans, thematic units, teacher tips, discussion forums for teachers, downloadable teaching materials & eBooks, printable worksheets and blacklines, emergent reader books, themes, and more.”
Edutopia – What Works in Education
Another excellent resource, this site funded by the George Lucas Educational Foundation offers a wealth of information including grade level content, blogs, core strategies, videos, community groups and examples of schools that work. Visit today!
Pinterest
This interesting site permits members to access virtual bulletin boards. You can search by topic or grade level to see some innovative pictures – a fun way to get some new ideas.
ProTeacher
A community of elementary and middle school teachers and other professionals working in grades PreK-8. This free-to-sign-up site features teacher forums by grade level and resources for a wide variety of topics such as teaching practices, classroom management, child development, shared leadership, reading and language arts, humanities, social studies, mathematics and science and technology. Check it out!
TeachHUB
TeachHUB provides K-12 teachers with free lesson plans, education articles, teaching tips, recommendations and professional development resources.
Teachers.Net
This is a huge, busy site that hosts 4500+ free lesson plans, searchable teacher job listings, 150+ social networking forums, teacher articles, educational resources, and a lot, lot more.
The Teacher’s Corner.net
This site is free and does not require a membership. You can access a broad range of content, including lesson plans, online collaboration projects for students, bulletin board patterns, daily writing prompts, pen pal service, teacher forums and much more.
A to Z Teacher Stuff
A site devoted to all stuff teacher! Here is what they say, “A to Z Teacher Stuff is a teacher-created site designed to help teachers find online resources more quickly and easily. Find lesson plans, thematic units, teacher tips, discussion forums for teachers, downloadable teaching materials & eBooks, printable worksheets and blacklines, emergent reader books, themes, and more.”
Edutopia – What Works in Education
Another excellent resource, this site funded by the George Lucas Educational Foundation offers a wealth of information including grade level content, blogs, core strategies, videos, community groups and examples of schools that work. Visit today!
This interesting site permits members to access virtual bulletin boards. You can search by topic or grade level to see some innovative pictures – a fun way to get some new ideas.
ProTeacher
A community of elementary and middle school teachers and other professionals working in grades PreK-8. This free-to-sign-up site features teacher forums by grade level and resources for a wide variety of topics such as teaching practices, classroom management, child development, shared leadership, reading and language arts, humanities, social studies, mathematics and science and technology. Check it out!
TeachHUB
TeachHUB provides K-12 teachers with free lesson plans, education articles, teaching tips, recommendations and professional development resources.
Teachers.Net
This is a huge, busy site that hosts 4500+ free lesson plans, searchable teacher job listings, 150+ social networking forums, teacher articles, educational resources, and a lot, lot more.
The Teacher’s Corner.net
This site is free and does not require a membership. You can access a broad range of content, including lesson plans, online collaboration projects for students, bulletin board patterns, daily writing prompts, pen pal service, teacher forums and much more.
CPAA in the CDCS
Children‘s Progress Academic Assessment – CPAA – has been a component of individual assessment in many of MUSD’s primary classrooms for a number of years. Guess what? This year marks the first complete school year that we will be also using the CPAA Pre-K component in the Rose and Sunnyhills Child Development Centers! We are very excited to be implementing this child-friendly assessment tool. We anticipate that CPAA use will help us to further explore early math and reading acquisition, to refine our understanding of each child’s current knowledge and to enhance our lesson planning and curriculum.
We are pleased to partner with our Elementary School teachers who currently use CPAA and we look forward to our rising Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten students entering the 2013-2014 school year with enhanced general computer skills and specific CPAA experience – helping ease their moving up! transitions.
We are pleased to partner with our Elementary School teachers who currently use CPAA and we look forward to our rising Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten students entering the 2013-2014 school year with enhanced general computer skills and specific CPAA experience – helping ease their moving up! transitions.
Healthy Habits Here We Come!
Are you hungry for some nutrition resources for the children in your class? Want some help teaching about healthy habits and quality food choices? The UCCE (University of California Cooperative Extension – Santa Clara County) can help! Visit their website here and learn more about their programs for teachers just like you! Their classroom support for teachers covers grades Pre-K through twelfth and includes: “research-based, fun, easy-to-use nutrition, gardening, and physical activity curriculum, nutrition lessons linked to Content Standards for California Public Schools, teacher training, and UCCE staff to assist in delivery of lessons in the classroom.”
Hands-on Education Starts at RAFT
Our local Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT) is a treasure trove of resources for teachers. Educators may join RAFT for a small annual membership fee and then receive access to a whole host of products and services such as: shopping for materials at the warehouse, using the green room prep-equipment, attending workshops and receiving curriculum support. Visit the RAFT homepage to learn more about the unique RAFT model - businesses donate materials and teachers reap the benefits. You never know what you will find at RAFT!
Not only does RAFT offer tons of hands-on materials at very, very reasonable prices in their warehouse but they also have so much online. Want to shop for ready-made kits, access online idea sheets, read some useful tips or catch up on a math blog? RAFT has it all! Here are some links below to get you started…
Educational Kits ~ each kit comes with materials for the hands-on project, curriculum topics list, number of students served, recommended grade level and idea sheet. Some of the kits even feature an online video giving you ideas and suggestions on how to use the kit.
Kit Supplies ~ order your replacement items or make a unique kit of your own.
RAFT Blogs ~ find out what the RAFT staff is thinking about... examples of blog subjects include:
Integrated Learning - An Education Elixir?
RAFT and Common Core, and
Third Grade Ventures in Project Based Reports
Not only does RAFT offer tons of hands-on materials at very, very reasonable prices in their warehouse but they also have so much online. Want to shop for ready-made kits, access online idea sheets, read some useful tips or catch up on a math blog? RAFT has it all! Here are some links below to get you started…
Educational Kits ~ each kit comes with materials for the hands-on project, curriculum topics list, number of students served, recommended grade level and idea sheet. Some of the kits even feature an online video giving you ideas and suggestions on how to use the kit.
Kit Supplies ~ order your replacement items or make a unique kit of your own.
RAFT Blogs ~ find out what the RAFT staff is thinking about... examples of blog subjects include:
Integrated Learning - An Education Elixir?
RAFT and Common Core, and
Third Grade Ventures in Project Based Reports
Labeling for a Print Rich Environment
Inquiring minds want to know - what is a Print Rich Environment, anyway?! According to the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill California Treasures Reading Program, Glossary of Common Terms, the definition of a print rich environment is “an environment in which students are provided many opportunities to interact with print and an abundance and variety of printed materials are available and accessible. Students have many opportunities to read and be read to. In such an environment reading and writing are modeled by the teacher and used for a wide variety of authentic everyday purposes.”
One time-consuming, but important component of a print rich environment is tagging the common, everyday classroom items with written labels indicating the name of the object. The more the children in the class can see the written word being associated with the concrete object, the more reinforced the connection becomes between print and the real world. In addition to which, if the cubbies and cabinets are labeled with the word and the picture of the item which belongs there – it makes clean up a snap! A place for everything, everything in its place…
One time-consuming, but important component of a print rich environment is tagging the common, everyday classroom items with written labels indicating the name of the object. The more the children in the class can see the written word being associated with the concrete object, the more reinforced the connection becomes between print and the real world. In addition to which, if the cubbies and cabinets are labeled with the word and the picture of the item which belongs there – it makes clean up a snap! A place for everything, everything in its place…
