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Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Montessori-Inspired Library Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now

I'm a real lover of books and truly believe libraries are treasures. Our new unit has Montessori-inspired activities using free library printables along with a new Montessori-inspired library pack for subscribers to our free newsletter at Living Montessori Now!

This unit is designed to celebrate both school libraries and public libraries ... even home libraries! The timing of our unit goes along with School Library Month, International Children's Book Day, and National Library Week in April!

You'll find many activities for preschoolers through early elementary throughout the year in my previous PreK + K Sharing posts. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities.

At Living Montessori Now, I have a page with lots and lots of free printables.

Montessori Shelves with Library-Themed Activities

Montessori Shelves with Library-Themed Activities

You’ll find Montessori-inspired library-themed themed numbers, letters, and more (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

Go to my Free Library Printables and Montessori-Inspired Library Activities at Living Montessori Now for the free printables and activity ideas you see on the shelf and collage above!

Free Montessori-Inspired Library Pack

Montessori-Inspired Library Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).

More Book Resources

Amazon Affiliate: Bookshelves for Kids

You'll find all my children's book posts at Living Montessori Now here. You'll find all my children's book posts at Bits of Positivity here. I have lots and lots of book-themed posts!

If you'd like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout March and April, see my March Themed Activities for Kids. and my April Themed Activities for Kids.

Be sure to go to my Free Library Printables and Montessori-Inspired Library Activities for lots of free printables and activity ideas.

I hope you have fun at the library!

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 49 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids live).

Monday, November 7, 2016

Hip! Hip! Hooray! Election Day in Pre-K!

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

^^^Parts of this post are reprinted from an earlier post on little illuminations.

Tomorrow is ELECTION DAY here in the U.S.! Politicians will be campaigning, citizens will be voting. The children will have the day off, as most of the schools in our area are voting precincts. By Wednesday, we will know who will lead our country for the next four years. I've already voted, and was proud to take my youngest daughter with me to the polls for her very first time! I want my vote to be counted. I won't tell you who I voted for---that's personal, and quirky as it may be, I don't even share that with my husband or children. It's serious business, much too serious for kids. Or is it? While many of the political issues may be WAY over their heads, many will stand at their parents' side as ballots are cast. Children are curious about what is going on. I think voting (and making our individual voices heard and counted) is one of the MOST important things we can do as American citizens, and it is never too early to help the children understand how important voting is.

Lately, we've had a couple of discussions about politics. We talked about the reason we vote, and how that is our chance as a citizen to let our voice be heard. I relate it to the children's jobs at school, and how different people might do a job differently, using simple terms in a way they might understand. We vote on a variety of things in preschool, so they got the basic idea.

We've set up a voting booth so the children can vote on who they think will win the election. These are pictures from one of our previous election booths in Pre-K.

We converted our puppet theater, using shoe boxes, pictures of the candidates, and index cards with a big sticker for the ballot.

The children will go into the booth, away from where the other waiting children can see, and "cast their ballot".

After voting, they'll even receive a sticker to show they have voted!

When all the ballots are cast, we will count and re-count the votes together, which makes for a fantastic little math lesson.

I can't wait to tally up the children's votes later today and compare them to the actual winner of our Presidential Election. We'll see how accurate their predictions are when the final count is in tomorrow!

There are some great books about the democratic voting process for children. Here are a few of my favorites:

Please get out and VOTE!!!! Your vote counts!

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

Monday, March 7, 2016

Read Across America Week!

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

One of my favorite weeks to teach is "Read Across America Week". We usually spread this out over two weeks, as there are so many great activities that we just can't fit them all into one week.

We invite parents, grandparents, babysitters, school administrators and community members to come in and read.

We plan lots of fun snacks!

We play fun games that go along with some of the fun books we're reading, like balancing beanbags when we read "Ten Apples Up On Top"

and balancing all the items from "The Cat In The Hat".

We made oobleck after reading "Bartholomew and the Oobleck".

We have some really fun themed days to coincide with some of the books we're reading, like hat day to go with "Go, Dog, Go" "500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins"

and Crazy Sock day to go with Fox in Socks.

Wacky Wednesday, things got pretty wacky in our room! The kids (and teachers) dressed as wacky as we could and there were many wacky things going on in our room, including shoes on the walls, chairs in the wrong places, the calendar was upside down, the flag was out of place and our bathrooms were switched!

We took the "Read Across America" oath:
(reprinted from the Read Across America website)

I promise to read

Each day and each night.

I know it's the key

To growing up right.

I'll read to myself,

I'll read to a crowd.

It makes no difference

If silent or loud.

I'll read at my desk,

At home and at school,

On my bean bag or bed,

By the fire or pool.

Each book that I read

Puts smarts in my head,

'Cause brains grow more thoughts

The more they are fed.

So I take this oath

To make reading my way

Of feeding my brain

What it needs every day.

Debra Angstead, Missouri-NEA

and read the "Read Across America" poem:

(reprinted from the Read Across America website)

You're never too old, too wacky, too wild,

To pick up a book and read with a child.

You're never too busy, too cool, or too hot,

To pick up a book and share what you've got.

In schools and communities,

Let's gather around,

Let's pick up a book,

Let's pass it around.

There are kids all around you,

Kids who will need

Someone to hug,

Someone to read.

Come join us March 3rd

Your own special way

And make this America's

Read to Kids Day.

©Anita Merina

We take our reading seriously--it is serious business and serious fun! I hope that every child that moves up and grows on from my room leaves with a love of learning and a love of books! I read a lot at home and my own children are voracious readers. There is nothing like the adventures found in between the pages of a good book!

Read on, America! Read on, World!

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

KINDNESS - Be Kind, Teach Kind - Part II

How to Be Kind, How to Teach Kind

Ms. Brigid here, from Merit School of Music in Chicago. Thank you for joining me!

In a month that celebrates love and friendship, I’d like to revisit last month’s topic – Kindness. As part of my January post, I put out a call for books and activities that helped foster kindness in the Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms, and received many thoughtful suggestions. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

My favorites for use in music class:

Because of You by B.G. Hennessy is a sweet picture book. The text and bright, cheerywatercolor illustrations make easily understood points for younger Early Childhood kiddos. I created a musical chorus that I inserted every few pages. It’s not rocket science, but the kiddos learned and sang the simple chorus easily and with great sincerity.

Because of you, because of you,

You make the world a better place.

Because of you, because of you,

You put a smile upon my face.

Flora and the Penguin by Molly Idle, is a book without words – but nevertheless, it documents perfectly how misunderstandings occur between friends, and the reparations needed for a thoughtless response. I pair the book with a post-reading paper plate skating session to an excerpt of Waldteufel’s The Skater’s Waltz and encourage fancy stuff like twirling, skating backwards, etc.

If you have more time, the next three books are great for small groups: Helen Lester’s All For Me and None For All about the reformation of a greedy overbearing pig: Iza Trapani’s Baa Baa Black Sheep, recommended by friend Anna Stange, about giving and misgivings: and Kadir Nelson’s If You Plant a Seed, the alarming yet beautifully illustrated (eek) picture book drawing the similarity between planting a garden and planting seeds of kindness.

For older kiddos in First or Second Grade, I recommend Trudy Ludwig’s The Invisible Boy. Patrice Barton’s beautiful illustrations perfectly capture the essence of the poignant story about a boy who is overlooked and ignored by his classmates until...well, I’ll let you find out for yourself! From the book jacket: “…this gentle story shows how small acts of kindness can help children feel included and allow them to flourish. Any parent, teacher, or counselor, look for material that sensitively addresses the needs of quieter children will find ‘The Invisible Boy’ a valuable and important resource.’ I agree completely.

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Lewis, is also highly recommended for older kiddos. I shared this with one of my Second Grade teachers, and she read it to her students. They commented that the book embraced the same theme – inclusion - as R.J. Palacio’s book, Wonder, but with a fraction of the pages! There is no resolution, but the protagonist comes to a greater self-realization, and is “…stung by the opportunity that’s been lost. How much better could it have been if she’d just shown …a little kindness and opened her heart to friendship?” (from the book jacket).

SONGS

The Children’s Music Network’s Peace Songbook: Peace Songs for Children yielded a number of wonderful song, among them, Pam Donkin’s Kindness is Everywhere, which my kiddos loved singing.

I Will Be Your Friend, published by Teaching Tolerance, yielded more treasures, among them, Bob Blue’s Courage – which still brings me to tears. It is not a song for Pre-K, or even K, though others may hold another opinion, but definitely a song to hold in your heart. This book is out of print, but may be found quite easily on secondary book markets. It originally came with a CD of the songs in the book – and if you find a copy with a CD, you have truly struck gold.

ERASE MEANNESS SITE

Lastly, I stumbled upon a site called Erase Meanness. The brainchild of Eric Johnson, a 6^th grade teacher in Mishawaka, IN, his original idea has grown into an international movement involving thousands and thousand of students in over 15 countries and six continents - and going strong!

Merit School of Music, Chicago

Call on Merit School of Music! Our onsite school is in the West Loop. We work in the schools throughout the area providing band, orchestra, percussion, choir, early childhood, and general music instruction with project based units including Recorder, Music and Storytelling and Songwriting. We do great work! YoYo Ma is a supporter!

Chicago Families

Please come to Merit’s Storytime sessions. It’s free, fun, and facilitated by singers and storytellers Amy Lowe, Irica Baurer, Janet Janz, & Brigid Finucane. Stories and songs start at 11am, and we end with time for family networking. Storytime is be offered once a month on the 2^nd Monday. The next session is March 14, 2016.

I am continually inspired by the Children’s Music Network (CMN) community, an international group of socially conscious musicians, educators, librarians, families, songwriters and good people, who “celebrate the positive power of music in the lives of children by sharing songs, exchanging ideas, and creating community.” Please visit CMN, and find a gathering in your region.

http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com

@booksinger1

Blog History

Jan. 2016. Kindness – Be Kind, Teach Kind

Dec. 2015. Star Light, Star Bright – Exploring Counter Chants

Nov.2015. Thanksgiving Songs to Be Thankful For

Sept.2015. Starting the Year with a Song – Part II

Aug.2015. Starting the Year With a Song – and CMN

July 2015. Transitions: Unsung Heroes of the Musical Classroom

June 2015. Summer Songs

May 2015. Crescendo II! Chants & Games for Music Foundation

April 2015. Crescendo -And Sites to Sigh For: edWeb & CMN