My Favourite Literacy Videos for Kindergarten


Hi there!

I've been meaning to write this blog post for a long time.  I'm finally getting to it because I think now is the perfect time as I'm sure many parents are looking for easy ways to get some academics into their day during this COVID-19 school closure!

In my Kindergarten classroom we have a literacy carpet time and a math carpet time.  At first I just introduce one song at a time at the beginning of literacy carpet time or I introduce it when I am doing a corresponding lesson (e.g. CVC song before I do a CVC word lesson).  Then I add it to our "Literacy Songs" folder and the special helper of the day gets to choose a video at the beginning of literacy carpet time!

I have separated the songs into categories so it is easier to find songs you may be looking for.  There are many songs out there to teach these concepts.. these are just my favourites!

***Click on the titles of the songs to take you to the video on YouTube!***

ALPHABET SONGS




This one is great simple one for learning the names of the letters!



This one is a good one for learning letter sounds! I love this one because it is more interactive with the actions!



My kids really like this one this year! Since we usually learn the "Do You Know These Letter Sounds?" song first they often add actions themselves when we play this song!



This one is my new favourite!  It has it all... a catchy tune, names the letter and the sound and has fun actions!  The kids LOVE this one too!



This one is a little long for using as a warm up song but great as a brain break! It names each letter/sound and the kids can follow along by making the letter with their body and then doing the actions for each word with the girl on the screen!  This one is a great one for kinaesthetic learners!



This one is another favourite! This one only practices vowels but it is a good and fun one regardless!



I use this one when I teach the reading strategy "Flippy Dolphin" to show students that vowels have 2 sounds!

SIGHT WORD SONGS



This one is a great one for practicing sight words!



The tune is the same as the one above but this one has different words.

OTHER PHONICS SONGS




I use this one when I introduce CVC words!



It's hard to come by good digraph songs.  This Pevan & Sarah one are my favourite!



Unfortunately Pevan & Sarah only have a song for the ch digraph but this one by HeidiSongs is a good one for learning the /sh/ digraph!



Jack Hartman has songs for all of the digraphs and they are all good!



Here is a fun one for the digraph "ph"!



I like these songs by PB school because it is clear, short and easy for the kids to learn and sing along to!



I use this one when we introduce Super E or CVCe words.  This one is a favourite every year!



Although Super E is my favourite song for teaching about CVCe words "The Magic E song" is also a good one!

I hope you find this list of my favourite literacy videos for Kindergarten helpful! Did I miss an amazing one you use in your Kindergarten classroom? Let me know in the comments so I can check it out!

- Yukari
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COVID-19: Freebies for Parents Teaching Kindergarten Aged Children


What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been.  I have been thinking long and hard about what would be the best way for me to support others during this pandemic.  I started working on a home schooling package... but I couldn't find a way to make it comprehensive and play-based while also making it easy for parents to implement during this crisis.

My school board has not given us direction on what they would like us to do at the moment as they are gathering information from both teachers and parents to make whatever they roll out as equitable as possible.

So this is what I landed on.  I know many parents are currently trying to provide some sort of academics during their day if they are home with their children.  I have compiled all of my freebies that are print and go and require no manipulatives or can be done with things that you can likely find around the house.

I hope this helps you and if you know a parent who might benefit from these freebies I hope you share the link with them!

I have separated them into categories so they are easy to find!

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE FREEBIES


Once you click on the links for each freebie, it will take you to google drive. It will look like this:


Click on the download button (where the yellow arrow is pointing) to download the file to your computer!

*A few of the printables are a free download but they are in my Teachers Pay Teachers store so you will need to make an account to access those files.

ALPHABET


1. FIND ALL THE LETTERS


The picture shows wooden letters set up in a bin of black beans with bingo daubbers but if you don't have these materials, you could also write the letters on post it notes and post it around a room/your house.  Have your child go and find the post it notes and bring it back to a table where you have the recording sheet every time they find a letter.  Then have them mark off the letter they found by colouring it in with a crayon or marker!


2. Q-TIP PAINTING ALPHABET


I used paint and q-tips but if you don't have those on hand you can also just have your kids trace with a pencil, crayon, marker etc!


SIGHT WORDS/CVCe


1. SIGHT WORD BOOKLETS FOR "WILL" & "THIS"





2. SIGHT WORD BOOKLET "LOVE"

Same format as the booklets above but here is one for the sight word "love"!






2. "YOUR" MINI BOOK





3. READ & ANSWER


Practice reading the simple sentences and have your kids trace yes or no to answer the questions!


4. CVCe/Super E Mini Reader

We usually learn about Super E or CVCe words during March/April so this one would be a good phonics skill to practice, especially if you child is in SK!

First we usually watch this video to learn about CVCe words:





5. EASTER THEMED FLIP & TRACE SHEETS

I used foam shapes from Dollar Tree but you can just cut out shapes out of construction paper and write the words on the back!  Have your child flip an egg/bunny, say the sight word, find it on the page and trace it.




NUMBERS


1. ROLL TO THE TOP


This is a good one for practicing number formation! If you don't have a dice but have square tissue boxes, you can cover the sides with paper and write the dots on with marker to make your own dice!


2. Q-TIP NUMBER FORMATION


I mentioned this in the alphabet version above but if you don't have paint and q-tips like it is shown in the photo, you can easily do this activity with any type of writing utensil such as pencil, crayon, marker etc!


3. NUMBER & NUMBER WORD FLIP & TRACE

I got these foam cut outs at Dollar Tree but you can just cut shapes out of construction paper and write the number/number words on the back!  Have your kids flip over a tulip or butterfly, say the number or number word, find it on the recording sheet and trace it.




4. NUMBER TRACING/PRINTING

I laminated these to use with dry erase markers but you can just use them with pencil/crayon/markers etc!






5. NUMBER PLAY DOUGH MATS


You can use these with play dough or there is a version with pictures and you can have your kiddos trace the number and colour the pictures!


2D SHAPES


1. STICKER DOT SHAPES


I used sticker dots (they sell them at the Dollar Store!) but you could use any small sticker! Have your kids put the stickers on the dotted line and then trace the shape word.  To bump it up you can talk about how many sides and vertices each shape has!


PATTERNING


1. MAKING PATTERN WITH BINGO DABBERS


This activity is shown with bingo dabbers but it can easily be done with stickers or stamps if that is what you have on hand!


2. PATTERNING WITH STAMPS


Again, you can use stickers or bingo daubbers if you have those on hand instead of stamps!


3. PATTERNING WITH STAMPS #2


Here is another patterning printable you can use with stamps! This one is best with small stamps or stickers.


ADDITION



Just add stickers! Have your child pick some stickers in each box, write the corresponding numbers and add them together to practice addition sentences!


SUBTRACTION


1. SUBTRACTION BOWLING


I used bowling pins from Micheals but you can just use half/quarter filled plastic water bottles and any type of medium sized ball instead! 


FINE MOTOR:


1. SCISSORS PRACTICE

Great practice especially if your kiddos are working on pre-writing skills! I have them printed on coloured construction paper but you can just print on plain white paper if that is all you have!



I hope you find these helpful!

Feel free to email me at apinchofkinder@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram if you have any questions!

I want to finish this post with a few images I found and saved from social media in the past week.  




Although we may feel pressure to "home school" and to try to keep our children doing academic activities every day, I think we all need the reminder that we are all doing the best we can and that is enough.  More than anything keeping them feeling loved and safe during this scary and uncertain time will help them over anything.  I hope these resources help if you are trying to "home school" but also please allow yourself to stop for the day if it is becoming a battle! 

Wishing you health and sanity during this crazy time.

- Yukari
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