Story Retelling Braclet

Here is a simple and fun way to reinforce comprehension - a story retelling bracelet. The child slides one bead over at a time beginning with red to help retell the story he/she just listened to or read on her own.

Story Retelling Bracelet

Taken from Growing Book by Book

Materials for 1 bracelet: 

string or plastic lacing and 6 stringing beads (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple)

Directions:

1.  Measure a piece of string for the correct size to fit on the child’s wrist.

2.  String the beads  by placing the colors in this order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

3.  Tie the string ends together with a knot.

The retelling bracelet is ready to wear and use.

Rainbow Retelling Stem Prompts:

Red- Ready to hear a retelling of the story? The characters in the story are…

Orange- On to where this story took place…

Yellow- You have to hear the problem in the story…

Green- Get ready for a few more details…

Blue- Better start bringing it to a close and telling you how the problem was solved…

Purple- Picking my favorite party is easy, it was when…

Chocolate Playdough

Want a fun Valentines treat for your students. Make chocolate playdough and use it in your centers. They will LOVE you for it! And it smells DIVINE!!

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

½ cup dark cocoa powder

½ cup salt

1 Tbsp cream of tartar

1 Tbsp cooking oil

1 cup water

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients, except cream of tartar. Mix well

2. Add water, cooking oil and cream of tartar.

3. Stir over medium-low heat. Continue stirring until mixture takes the consistency of dough.

4. Remove and place on dry surface.

5. Knead well until dough is smooth and consistent.

YUMMY!

Fifty Nifty Centers

I LOVE Dr. Jean! Her ideas are so practical. I ran across these center ideas from 2011. They are easy to make and fun for the kids. The activities address the following content areas - reading, math, science, and small motor.

Fifty Nifty Centers

Taken from Dr. Jean

Taken from Dr. Jean

Turkey Clothespin Activities

Okay, so I know Thanksgiving is a week away and you probably do not have time to make or think about another Thanksgiving activity, so put this easy activity in your November file for next year. This activity can be used for a math or ELA center as well as for fine motor development.  

Go to this website for the math printable. Turkey Clothespin Counting

Taken from Childcareland

I can envision an addition and subtraction activity (using dice to indicate the number of clothespins and placing the answer in the middle) or a making words activity (clothespins have individual letters and students place letters to make words - sw/ing or c/at).