In the 1800s, the Canadian government felt that Indigenous people were uncivilized.  In an effort to assimilate them into European/Canadian culture, children were taken from their homes and brought to residential boarding schools run by different religious groups.  Many children were harmed by being separated from their families, being forbidden to speak their languages, malnutrition, and abuse of all kinds.  The last residential school closed in 1996.  Today, many Indigenous communities are still suffering from this horrific legacy.  If you are introducing your eleme ..read more

You're probably here to find new activities to add to your symmetry unit, so let's begin! Symmetry Provocation Moment of Truth: I am an old soul.  An old fart.  I'm quite resistant to change so I haven't fully embraced the play and inquiry model.  For now I'm introducing bits and pieces to create more of a balance. My first foray was a symmetry provocation.  Without explicitly defining symmetry, I put out a set of books which they flocked to.  Check out the books below!  The kids quickly picked up the concept and the center became a hit! If it's ..read more

Looking for a way to organize your teaching units?  Today I'm sharing my new storage solution - Sterilite Boxes! Many teachers use binders and that's how I initially stored units.  My issue with binders was dealing with holes punched through my master copies.   The alternative was using lots and lots of page protectors which became quite cumbersome.  Another problem was having my printables (e.g. posters, task cards, sorts) slide out of the binder. So I ditched binders and went to file folders and hanging files for my filing cabinet.   It solved my hole-punch ave ..read more

You are likely aware of the renewed focus on numeracy.  During this past school year, all of our staff meetings and professional development focussed on numeracy - rich tasks, open-ended questions, parallel questions, attitudes to math (Growth Mindset), and so on. Our math blocks increased from 1 period to 2 so I played around with a guided math format for a part of the year.  Naturally a few of my students asked, "Why are we doing so much math?" and "Why do we have to learn this?" And by ask, I mean whined! :(  I definitely needed to change our attitudes towards math! At t ..read more

I recently wrapped up a unit on 2D shapes and thought I'd share some of the fun activities we did as a class. If you work in Ontario you know that the ministry is pushing problem solving and rich tasks in math.  I pulled together some ideas from different sources for 2 weeks of hands-on activities.  Making shapes with Popsicle sticks  My students had to use Popsicle sticks to complete task cards.  We also tried to make some of the shapes with more sides.  The more the sides increased, the trickier it was to create.  Idea from A, Bee, C, Preschool.   ..read more

I'm honoured to link up with fellow educators in Ontario in showcasing some of our resources that support the science and social studies curriculum in Ontario. First I'd like to share my labour of love and best-selling unit...Materials, Objects, and Structures. A lot of work went into this, but seeing that it is currently in over 200 classrooms across Canada makes it totally worth it!  I couldn't find very many engaging and appealing units out there so took the time to pull my own together.   One of my favourite units is Daily and Seasonal Changes so I created a unit called, Fou ..read more

So happy to have finally made it to the first holiday of the school year! Thanksgiving in Canada falls on October 13th. To celebrate the holiday and show our gratitude, a bunch of Canadian TPT sellers are holding a one-day sale this Sunday, October 12th! I'm so very grateful for everyone that has supported my little store on TPT. Everything in my little store will be marked down by 20%. I will be posting a simple post-Thanksgiving writing activity that I threw together for Tuesday morning!  It will be free so look out for it! I have 2 products that have been very popular on TPT this fa ..read more

I have joined up with a number of fellow Canadian bloggers to celebrate Canada Day! For the past month I have been on hiatus as a teacher author on TPT. I really wanted to create a new Canadian freebie but I've been swamped at school. Preaching to the choir, right?! Click on the covers to see the items in my TPT store.  My freebie is my Canadian Money Worksheets Sampler Pack.                 Here are money craftivities with Canadian coins included.           Here are some ..read more

  This is my third year teaching the first grade and I love the curriculum!  However, there are two units that I was very apprehensive about during my first year - Energy and Materials, Objects, and Structures.  Part of my apprehension was the fact that at least 80% of our students are English language learners (ELLs).  Some units they can relate to, like healthy food, rules, responsibilities, and relationships, and community helpers.  They get a lot of exposure to the vocabulary from television if not from discussion at home or in Kindergarten.  These two units ..read more

This post is quite late as we look at healthy eating earlier in the school year.  It's one of my favourite units to teach because I am able to effect change when it comes to eating habits for my students AND their families. I must say, I LOVE chocolate!  It's my weakness...now I want some!  Anyway, just this week I had a student tell me that they don't like chocolate.  I was stunned and asked why.  He responded, "I don't like chocolate because it's not healthy.  I like healthy food like apples."  Preventing childhood obesity, one kid at a time!! During&nb ..read more