My Top Ten "Go To" Resources

Every year in August I get lots of questions asking which resources I recommend the most from my TeachersPayTeachers store. So I've compiled them in this blog post! Hope this is helpful to those who are browsing! You can click on the title above each image (e.g. #10: Fill in the Blank: Sight Word Poems for Kindergarten) to go to each resource in my store!

UPDATED 07.28.21: I updated this list with one new resource and I added corresponding digital packs for virtual teachers!


#10: Fill in the Blank: Sight Word Poems for Kindergarten

#9: My Book of Holiday Words Bundle


Here is a close up picture of one of the pages in the Thanksgiving book:

#8: Kindergarten Literacy Assessment Bundle


Here is a close up photo of the alphabet assessment:

#7: Alphabet Intervention Mini Books


I wrote a whole blog post about how I use these over on Kinder Tribe years ago. If you are interested in reading it, click here: http://kindertribe.blogspot.com/2015/10/alphabet-small-group-intervention-tools.html


DIGITAL ALTERNATIVE:


#6: White & Rainbow Teacher Binder


I shared my teacher binder in more detail in this blog post: http://www.apinchofkinder.com/2016/08/monday-made-it-august-15-2016.html if you are interested in taking a look!

There is also a BINDERS highlight on Instagram where you can see how I put together my binders!

#5: Editable Calendars & Newsletters


Here is a photo of our October calendar & newsletter I made using the this resource!

#4: Kindergarten Activities Mega Bundle


Here are some photos of the centres included!




DIGITAL ALTERNATIVES:




#3: Step by Step Kindergarten Writing Bundle


I use these linking charts (included in Step by Step #1) from the first day of school!

#2: Sight Word Mini Books Mega Bundle


Here are some photos of what the "I" booklet looks like:




DIGITAL ALTERNATIVE:

Digital Sight Word Activities (Google Slides) - The YEAR LONG Bundle


#1: Kindergarten Math Centres: The Year Long Bundle


Here's what the lesson plans look like (there are 8 lessons for 2D shapes, the first 5 are shown here).


You can see more pictures from this bundle by going to my "Math Ideas" page and clicking on the subjects that interest you! Click here to visit my "Math Ideas" page.

DIGITAL ALTERNATIVE:



Definitely my biggest labour of love during the 2020-2021 school year! I started creating these based on a request from my friend who was switched to virtual last minute and loved how they turned out. I will definitely be using these in class when I return (the lessons are no prep, just project on a screen or interactive whiteboard!) and you can use many of these activities whole group during a math lesson and then leave out a few as a centre if you have an interactive whiteboard!

I had lots of feedback from virtual teachers this past year saying they were happy with these math units as well :)

I hope this is somewhat helpful! Let me know if you have any questions!

Yukari
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Activities for 2 Year Olds

Hi friends!

Since it's summer I've been sharing activities I have been doing with my toddler over on my Instagram. I'll be adding them here too so that it's easy to find out where I sourced my items and also to share any printables I make along the way!

1. GREEN RICE + BUGS SENSORY BIN


My son (who I refer to as TK) LOVES sensory bins so I do my best to change them out every week. This one was a big hit with him! He loved looking at the bugs with the magnifying glass, transferring the rice and marching the ant along the edge of the bin as we sang "The Ants Go Marching"!

SOURCES:

Magnifying Glass - Dollarama
Wooden Letters - Dollarama
Wooden Numbers - Michaels
Plastic Bugs - https://amzn.to/3hvZPbU
Wooden Scoops - https://amzn.to/30If4b4

2. PASTING 2D SHAPES


Here is an activity I set up for TK to practice identifying shapes and colours and to practice his fine motor skills! I showed him how to spread the liquid glue on the shapes with the q-tip, flip it over and paste it on the paper. It was a bit challenging for him but it was great fine motor practice! We will definitely be trying this one again in a couple of months to see if we can improve on his pasting skills.

3. CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES + KINETIC SAND SENSORY BIN


TK LOVES vehicles and has been especially into excavators recently (we have a lot of construction going on in our neighbourhood so we see them a lot on our walks) so I decided to set up a bin with construction vehicles and kinetic sand! I also added wooden and plastic scoops, plastic shot glasses and added the number 5 because there were 5 vehicles all together (one is missing from the photo).

He loved playing with the vehicles more than the sand but he enjoyed this bin nonetheless! He wasn't a big fan of the texture of kinetic sand at the beginning but he's became more receptive as the week went on.

SOURCES:

Mini Construction Vehicles: https://amzn.to/2ZXZ3OW
Kinetic Sand: https://amzn.to/2WSjXNC
Wooden Scoop: https://amzn.to/30If4b4
Plastic Shot Glass: Dollar Store
Mini Plastic Scoop: Michaels

4. COLOUR MATCHING WITH DOT STICKERS


I saw this activity on @busytoddler and thought we'd give it a try to encourage matching by colour. I took a toilet paper roll (I would have used a paper towel roll but we didn't have any) and drew some coloured dots on it. Then I set it out with the dot stickers and invited TK to match the stickers to the dots on the paper towel roll.

We did this together and he did a pretty good job matching the sticker to the dots on the toilet paper roll. He didn't seem too interested in it though and then I remembered that I saw @learning.for.littles post that she did this activity but on plain paper so I quickly drew some dots on a blank piece of paper and that was so much more engaging for TK! We did this activity a few more times through out the week.

These are the dot stickers I use: https://amzn.to/3hs8xYC

5. CHICKEPEA FOAM + PLASTIC LETTERS


I've been wanting to try bubble foam with TK but have been nervous about trying it since he still puts sensory material in his mouth and near his eyes from time to time.. and then I read about chickpea foam (taste safe!) on @play_at_home_mummy's Instagram page and thought this would be the perfect solution!

To make the chickpea foam you just add the liquid from 1 can of chickpeas and 1/8 tsp cream of tar tar into a blender and blend until the foam forms stiff peaks. That's it! Then just transfer it to your bin and add whatever you want. I added plastic letters a couple of bowls and some mini utensils for TK to scoop, transfer and make alphabet soup with!

This was a HUGE hit with TK. He played with it for almost an hour (mostly independently too!) I will definitely be giving this on another go when I use chickpeas next!

SOURCES:

Plastic Letters: https://amzn.to/32QV1JX
Mini Utensils: https://amzn.to/2CDIuiC

6. DO-A-DOT PICTURES


I saw this idea on @educating.emery and thought we would give it a try since I have dot markers already! I quickly made up some sheets with TK's favourite fruits and vegetables (banana, pumpkin and apple) to give this activity a try.

First we counted the empty dots together. Then hand over hand I showed him how to place the dot marker on the white dots a few times and encouraged him to put his dabs inside the white dots. This was great fine motor practice for him!

If you want to grab the printables I made for this activity you can download it by clicking here or on the image below!


That's it for now! I'll keep coming back to add activities when I can until we go back to school. To be the first to see the activities, make sure you are following me on Instagram!

Yukari

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Distance Learning for Kindergarten: What We're Doing

Hi everyone!


Hope your distance learning is going well!
Many of you have been asking if I could share what I am doing for distance learning so I'm finally sitting down to write a blog post about it!

GENERAL INFO

At our school, our divisions were asked to works as a team and provide the same materials for each grade.  So at my school, we have 8 educators collaborating each week.

We have set up a Google Site (not sharing the link to this, sorry!) with..

HOME - Which has a welcome note to our families and a link to our school technology website (recommending apps and websites by grade).

WEEKLY ACTIVITIES - Where we upload our weekly placemats every Sunday.

READING - Tips on reading with kids at home, including a reading strategies chart and a "Practicing Comprehension Questions at Home" handout.





MATH - A break down of each strand in parent friendly language and suggestions of activities they could do to practice these at home.

WRITING - A short summary on Kindergarten writing encouraging inventive spelling.

SIGHT WORDS - Some suggestions for practicing sight words and the Dolch pre-primer and primer sight word lists.




MUSIC - A link to our music teacher's website
LIBRARY - A link to our librarian's website.
GYM - A link to our gym teacher's website.

The only thing we change each week is we upload the new placemat and corresponding (optional) printables to the "WEEKLY ACTIVITIES" page.  On Sunday nights we send out an email to the parents letting them know that the placemats are up.

The suggestion is that students and parents try as many activities as they want and send at least one picture to us by email.  One of the educators will then respond to the email with some descriptive feedback.

I wasn't sure if this was going to be enough, but our parents have been giving us amazing feedback and have been very grateful for the ease of this format!

WEEKLY COLLABORATION

To make choosing activities together each week as painless as possible, I made a Google Doc and shared it with the rest of the team.  The Google Doc has a table for each section (e.g. Alphabet, Sight Words, Shared Reading etc.) and we go in and add ideas as we see them/think of them.

Then on Thursday nights we have been meeting on Google Meet and we choose activities for that week.  We all look at the google doc before the meeting and have a few ideas in mind for each section so that the process goes as fast as possible!

After our Google Meet, I finalize the placemats and then upload them to our Google Site by Sunday afternoon so it is ready for everyone by Sunday night!

PLACEMAT FOR WEEK 1:

PLACEMAT FOR WEEK 2:




PLACEMAT FOR WEEK 3:

PLACEMAT FOR WEEK 4:





PLACEMAT FOR WEEK 5:







*The "Design a Medical Mask" worksheet was inspired by @jarrett_lerner's printable and is being shared with permission from him!

PLACEMAT FOR WEEK 6:





PLACEMAT FOR WEEK 7:



I'll be adding more weeks when I am able to! Follow me on Instagram or check this post periodically if you are interested in seeing what we are doing!



Hope that was helpful!

- Yukari

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

(Added April 16, 2021):


1. Do you sell the poems in a package? I need more!

I don't a set exactly like the ones that are in these placemats, but I do have sight word poems in my store that are similar! You can find them here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fill-in-the-Blank-Sight-Word-Poems-for-Kindergarten-5914838


2. So these placemats are for asynchronous time. What do you do for synchronous time?

So the only time I was online (March 2020-June 2020) we didn't have the same requirements as now and we only did one Google Meet a week. I have been on a leave since, but have been creating Google Slides for teachers based on requests from current virtual teachers.

The Google Slides I get the most feedback on as being useful for synchronous time are my math slides! There are lesson slides, practice slides and centre slides included so you can do some during your synchronous math block and then assign some for asynchronous work too!

Here is a link to all of my math Google Slides if you are interested in taking a look: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/A-Pinch-Of-Kinder-Yukari-Naka/Category/DIGITAL-Math-485608

I've gotten the most positive feedback on these non-standard measurement slides:


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