Kindergarten Teacher Sites

Files of Good Information - I took a lot of this information from postings to the KinderKorner Newsgroup - Sue

Annotated Favorite Teaching Resources compiled by Marti Anderson , marti@execpc.com, August, 2002

Primary Teacher’s Nook (from first grade teacher Beverly [Sarah} Froelich)

Lyrics to all the songs on Greg Whitfield’s Alpha Songs CD (note: I haven’t heard the music for these yet, but the lyrics have a lot of kid appeal)

Nick Jr. – Preschool Learning Activities (Blues Clues, Little Bear, Little Bill, Maisy, Franklin, and more)

Teacher Guides for Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Jazz Kids, Barney, Dragonfly TV, Arthur, and others

Kindercourt with Miss Shaynee (from the teacher/director of a private kindergarten program)

Hubbard’s Cupboard (from current stay-at-home mom and former kindergarten teacher Michelle)

Kinder Korner (from Victoria Smith, kindergarten teacher, conference presenter, listserv owner, and teaching kits creator)

The K-Crew (from Kindergarten teachers Bonnie Jackson, Leslie Gaines and Shelley Vaughn)

Patti’s K-1 Electronic Classroom: (from Patti Stewart, studio teacher for the Windows to Reading early literacy programs)

Mrs. Martell’s Magical Classroom (from Kindergarten teacher Mary Kathryn Martell)

Mrs. Buchel’s Kindergarten Class (from Brittany Buchel, Kindergarten teacher)

Highlights Include

Mrs. Baston’s Kindergarten Web Page (from Kindergarten teacher Barbara Baston)

Mrs. Reed’s Class (from teacher Jennifer Reed, who is looping between kindergarten and first grade)

Curriculum Guide divided into four areas: Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies

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Quote on page (sorry, I don’t have an attribution for this quote, but it’s so true):

"Teaching kindergarten is like having a bathtub of corks and trying to hold them all under water at once!"

Early Childhood Thematic Units (from Early Childhood teacher Kathy Van Velzen)

Mrs. Dunkerley’s 1^st grade Website (from 1^st grade teacher Marion Dunkerley)

Searchable Database of Online Activities, Lesson Plans, and Professional Development Resources

First Grade Classroom Chatter (themes, poetry and songs from 1^st grade teacher Melissa Lindsey)

Long live Grandpa Tucker!!! (no, that’s not a section of the site, just an enthusiastic rave from his #1 fan)

January: Penguin Day, Dragon Day, Winnie the Pooh Day, Reading Day, Quilt & Blanket Day

March: National Pig Day, Whatever the Weather, Music Day, Green Eggs & Ham Day, Rainbow Day, Bunches of Bunnies Day

Mrs. Ritter’s First Grade Critters (from 1^st grade parochial school teacher Mrs. Ritter)

Kindergarten Kafe (kindergarten resource newsletter edited by Charlene Woodham Peace)

Thematic teaching ideas in bimonthly newsletter from Aug/Sep 1996 through Aug/Sep 2001

The Alphabet Superhighway (from the University of Delaware’s Educational Studies Department, and sponsored by the United States Department of Education’s Read Write Now Initiative)

Game Room (Categories include: letters, numbers, shapes, dot-to-dot, and sorting)

Art Room (Categories include: Coloring pages, painting fun, and printable games)

Animal Information, Games, Activities, Clip Art, Links, Crafts, and Stories (my favorite section)

Marc Brown and Arthur Photo Gallery (fun pictures of the author with his creation)

“Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” (opening page quote from the Frizz)

Alternative views about ADD (some even stressing the positive, creative, curious traits)

Observation Deck (the place to dream about what education could be like at its very finest)

Funderstanding

Note: Much of this site is advertising Funderstanding’s business of product development, market research, and product testing, but there is a lot of valuable information on this site. They have done their homework on educational research.

Engaging Kids (theories of learning, history of education, educational reform, etc.)

Hundreds of activity pages (games, little books, coloring sheets, dot-to-dots, worksheets, mazes, etc.)

The Attic (archive of old features, including poetry pages, Hypercard stacks, and thematic resources)

Aunt Annie’s Crafts

Once upon a time, all of Aunt Annie’s crafts were free for website visitors, but now most must be ordered via books or CDs. Sample demos are still available for download, however, so teachers and others can sample the goodies before purchasing. The Crafts Exchange portion of her site can now be found at http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/. Take a look!

Featured articles from Early Childhood NEWS (lots of teaching tips and activities)

Activities & Curriculum (a new theme each month with new activities added weekly)

Ask Our Expert (Expert of the week, plus archives of previous questions and answers)

Theme resources include related books; web sites; songs & poems; recipes; and activities

Note: My favorite of those I’ve ordered thus far is the Kindergarten Keepsake Book, which helps with assessing children’s skill levels at the beginning and end of the year.

Classroom Tour (Lots to go with my Chicka Chicka Boom Boom theme, including directions for making the tree)

Mrs. Lambright’s Kindergarten Class (from Kindergarten teacher Carol Lambright)

Artrageous Thinking (activities designed to help students “think like an artist”)

Art Sparkers (“ideas that excite the synaptic nerves in your brain and stir the imagination”)

Science Fair Central (probably the most useful area of the site for teachers of young children)

Berit’s Best Sites for Children

Approximately 300 teacher-submitted lesson plans, assorted first by grade level & then by subject

Each theme cluster includes books, experiments, activities, songs, games, and other resources

The K-3 Reading Rug

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Rosie’s Rhubarb Review (annotated links to recommended sites in twelve categories)

Many of the recommended sites are just as fun and useful for teachers as they are for kids

The Electronic Zoo

Note: Many of the Shape Books and other resources are available only with paid membership

Mrs. Dominguez’s Class Page (from looping Kindergarten-1^st grade teacher Rhonda Dominguez)

Activities related to a variety of themes & reinforcing many academic & preacademic concepts

Resources for parents raising spirited, high-need, strong-willed, active alert or difficult children

Think Quest Internet Challenge Library

A Kid’s Heart

The Sunshine Room (online activities and printables for practicing preacademic skills)

Mojo’s Musical Mouseum

Muppet Song Lyrics

Songs for Scouts

Dreamhouse Nursery Songs

Kid Songs

Campfire Sing-Alongs

Mrs. Montgomery’s Pre-K and Kindergarten Corner

Five Senses Unit

Final lesson on how all the senses work together to help us learn about our world

Road to Reading

Handwriting Practice Print

Handwriting for Kids – Manuscript

Templates for practicing writing many common letters, numbers, words, and sentences.

School-Home Links: Kindergarten Activities

Kindercritters

Mrs. Magee’s Kindergarten Page

McCracken Lesson Plans and Poetry

The Teacher’s Parking Lot: Fonts for Teachers

Gayle’s Preschool Rainbow: Activity Central

More themes in Rainbow Resource Room (the members only portion of the site - $20 yearly membership)

Child’s Play Family Daycare

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

Picture Picture Factory Tours (shows how a variety of things are made, plus activities)

Activity Guide (lots of activities for teachers and parents to do with children)

Developed by four elementary school teachers in Kansas to encourage inclusive classrooms

300 celebration ideas contributed by teachers, media specialists, principals and others

Children’s Book Author Illustrator Joan Holub

Midge Frazel: Professional Development Workshops and Resources for Educators, Administrators, Media Specialists, and Public Librarians

Teaching, Learning, and the Web – table outlining a workshop for educators on teaching with the Web

Internet Resources for Elementary Educators – table of Internet resources for elementary school teachers

Please note: I have only recently discovered this resource, and I can already tell it has a wealth of material that will keep me exploring for days, perhaps weeks, perhaps months, perhaps more. I just don’t have time to do it right now. Thus, this outline of the highlights is regrettably cursory. My apologies.

National PTA

Children and the Curriculum: The Kindergarten Program

Jill Puich’s Ideas for Balanced Literacy Centers

Enjoying Literacy (the Balanced Literacy resource page of second grade teacher Susan Stein)

Note: Even though much of the site is links to other sites, it would be a great place to begin organizing a classroom’s balanced literacy program, as the assortment of resources linked to is well organized, very thorough – and, of course, balanced.

Good Green Fun: Children’s Music and Forest Ecology

· do environmental education activities with your classroom, family, or friends

· look for answers to questions about the plants, animals, ecosystems, and indigenous people sung about in Good Green Fun!

· surf the Web with links that can tell you more about these beautiful rainforest ecosystems

Songs and other resources on both the tropical rainforest and the temperate rainforest

Rainforest Links Lessons and Projects

Links to visual and audio files to allow the viewer to “visit” the rainforest

Informational resource links on rainforests and the plants and animals that live there

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement

Transcripts of presentations from the IRA (International Reading Association) from 1999-2002

Mad Sci Network

SCORE Science

Kindergarten and First Grade Express (by teacher Michelina Thornton, who is looping between Kindergarten and 1^st grade)

Audience Participation Stories

Foodtales

An amazing (or is it amusing?) quantity of food-related trivia, lore, and literature

Graphic Garden

Sites for Teachers

Exploratorium

Sing Along With Me

Creative Teaching Press Downloadable Activities Area

EdUniverse Lesson Plans

Educate the Children

Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators

Content Rich Site List (unfortunately, only a few of these fit the needs of teachers of young children)

PE Central

A to Z Themes

More than 200 different units

Mrs. E’s Kindergarten

Mrs. Beggs’ Teachers Corner

Themes Page

There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays Presents Back to School

Pro Teacher (Web directory for teachers)

Works for Me Tips Library (from the NEA – teachers sharing ideas with teachers)

I Love Teaching

Librarians’ Index to the Internet

Teacher Tools – by Teachers, for Teachers

3 apples – excellent content; “must visit” links; sites you’ll want to return to again & again

Free Board Games

Note: Although these games are designed for an older audience, we can adapt them for our needs

Mathematical Games

Games Kids Play

The Home School Hutt

Teacher Features

Theater Education

The Drama Teacher’s Resource Room

Laura Candler’s File Cabinet

Note: The other drawers of her file cabinet also have excellent resources, but the ones listed have more that are appropriate for teachers of young children.

Theme Site	Parent ABC Handbook	Classroom Signs
Center Management	Color Songs	Classroom Setup and Beginning Ideas
Kid Writing	KinderArt	Literacy Center Forum and Units
Poems	Nursery Rhymes - Rhyme a Week	Discovery Bottles
Literacy Centers	Responsive Classroom	Units and Ideas
Word Walls	Units, Ideas, Resources	Literacy Centers
Center Management	Lots of Literacy Centers	Center Philosophy
Independent Activities Kids Can Do At Their Desks	Learning Center Links	All Kinds of Centers and Cheap Things to Buy (by my favorite Kindergarten Guru)
Reading Games	More Learning Center Ideas and Beginning Reading Games	Thematic Units and Literacy Centers
Classroom Tour and Pictures of Ideas	I Am Special Unit	September Themes
Environmental Print Activities

ABC Chart	All About Me	Orientation Bags
The Value of Centers and Play	The Kissing Hand	Sample Aide Guidelines (that don't work for BASD)

Mrs. Sirois’ Farm	Special Educational Needs Resource Center	Rhyme a Week
Enchanted Learning	Speech and Language Development	Authors
Mrs. Newman's Kindergarten	Kid's Books and Activities	BBC Early Literacy
PBS Kids - Between the Loins	Teachers.Net - Four Blocks and Building Blocks	Dr. Jean - Songs and Rhymes (Sue has all the CD's and Materials)
Kindergarten Connection	Kinderthemes	Various Themes
Book Thematic Units	Crayola	Mrs. Henriksen’s Poetry Page (thematic poems)
ABC123 Kindergarten	Themes and Ideas from Primary Special Education	Mrs. Solley’s Sunsational K-Class
Learning Leap - Lots of resources!	Class Book Ideas	Mrs. Williamson’s Kindergarten Page
KinderHive

Alphabet Games and Worksheets	Alphabet Jobs
Alphabet Recognition Poems	Back To School
Homework Calendars	Math and the Calendar
Mrs. Alphabet's Family	Name Activities
Online Sample Portfolio	Word Walls