As a classroom teacher I feel just as much responsibility for my students learning during the summer months as I do during the school year. I want them to have a balanced summer filled with fun and learning support at home so they can begin the next school year right where they left off in my classroom. Unfortunately, research shows that ...

The three lucky winners of the Jack Hartmann gift certificates are as follows: 1st place winner of a $50 gift certificate: Hope D. 2nd place winner of a $30 gift certificate: Sue H. 3rd place winner of a $15 gift certificate: K.R. All winners have been notified via e-mail and will have seven days to claim their gift certificates. The ...

There’s nothing a teacher dreads more than being absent and having to prepare for a substitute. In addition to the preparations you have to make in advance, often while you’re sick, there’s always the fear that your students will go bonkers in your absence. I’m sure this has never happened to you, when you’re absent your little cherubs sit ...

If you are looking for an activity that will engage your students and keep them on task then look no further. The secret is to use pictures of the students; they love to look at pictures of themselves and their friends. This activity can be done several different ways to allow for differentiation. In the picture above you can see the ...

I first heard about Jack Hartmann’s music from a colleague about nine years ago, all it took was one song and I was hooked. I started with the Rhymin’ to Read nursery rhyme CD then worked my way up to Hip Hop Alphabop, the rest is history! While most early childhood teachers are familiar with his music, we’re not all familiar with Jack himself ...

Race to the Top is a fun game that can be adapted for many different skills and levels. You can use these types of games to practice letter recognition, sight words, or even numbers. In the picture above you can see the Spring Alphabet Race to the Top game, in the picture below you can see the sight word version of the game. To prepare ...

The winner of Karen’s Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus packet is Karen B! The winner was selected using an on-line random number generator. Thank you to everybody who entered, we had 228 entries. Stay tuned for another contest that is going to knock your socks off! '); //-->

I recently wrote about my Fire Drill Failure but today I’m going to focus on Fire Drill Fixes. Every year there’s always one teacher frantically trying to get his or her students to behave or during a fire drill. Then there’s the entire class that was caught off guard and is crying hysterically. The bottom line is that fire drills can be ...

Have you ever had a fire drill failure? Fire drills in any early childhood classroom are so chaotic it’s difficult not to fail. Getting the kids out of the building at lightning speed is next to impossible, especially in the beginning of the year when all they want to do is cry or wander aimlessly into the street. Have you ever tried to get ...

This Valentine themed activity for practicing sight words is super simple yet still tons of fun for little ones. You will need one magnetic cookie tray or other magnetic surface per child, paper Valentine hearts, tape, sight word cards, and magnetic letters. You could also have the students match upper to lowercase letters on the trays. The ...