Blog - Page 2 of 4 - I Dream of First Grade

Bring Winter Magic to Your Classroom with the Hot Cocoa Stand & Ice Skating Rink Dramatic Play Set!

December 30, 2024

The holidays are over and here in New Jersey it is cold! It’s the perfect time to bring a touch of winter magic into your classroom! Dramatic play is a powerful tool in early education, fostering creativity, communication, and problem-solving skills. A hot cocoa stand and an ice skating rink are two fun and engaging dramatic play spaces that not only get children in the winter spirit but also support key developmental skills.

How to Set Up a Daycare Dramatic Play Area for the Holidays

November 18, 2024

Dramatic Play is such an important part of early childhood. Your daycare dramatic play can be transformed into a festive wonderland during the holiday season! A holiday-themed play area not only encourages creativity and social skills, it also introduces children to cultural traditions in a fun and engaging way. Here’s

Veterans Day in the Classroom: Engaging Literacy Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

November 2, 2024

Veterans Day is a wonderful opportunity to introduce preschool and kindergarten students to the importance of honoring those who have served. With age-appropriate activities, you can help your students understand the concept of bravery and service while building literacy skills. This brand new Veterans Day literacy resource is simple to

Understanding The Difference Between Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

April 2, 2024

When it comes to teaching students how to read, two terms often come up in discussions: phonological awareness and phonemic awareness. While they may sound similar, they actually refer to different but closely related concepts in the world of literacy development.

Easy and Fun Ways to Teach Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle to Students

March 7, 2024

Create a game where students sort everyday items into categories of reduce, reuse, or recycle. Use pictures or actual items to make it interactive. This helps reinforce their understanding of each concept and encourages critical thinking as they decide which category each item belongs to. Every Spring, the Dollar Tree has mini garbage cans that look like recycling bins. Grab them and save them for a sorting game with mini brands!

Unlocking Literacy: A Simple Guide to the Simple View of Reading Theory

March 4, 2024

As a professor, my favorite courses to teach are in the area of literacy,reading and writing development. I share the Simple View of Reading with my students to show the importance of both teaching decoding and language comprehension development. As literacy champions, you play a crucial role in shaping young minds and fostering a love for reading. This post will dive into a theory that can guide your approach to teaching reading effectively – the Simple View of Reading.

The Perfect Combination: Enhancing Clothes Study in Preschool with Laundromat and Clothing Store Dramatic Play Sets

December 15, 2023

Are you looking for a fun and educational way to enhance the clothes study in your preschool classroom? Look no further than the perfect combination of a laundromat and clothing store dramatic play sets! This engaging and hands-on activity will not only spark children’s imagination but also teach them important life skills.

Mastering Phonemic Awareness: The Key to Reading Success

December 5, 2023

Are you looking for the key to unlock reading success for your child? Look no further than mastering phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds (or phonemes) in spoken words. It is a crucial skill for early readers as it forms the foundation for decoding and spelling words.

Teaching the Alphabet- 5 Things You Need to Know!

November 23, 2023

When I began teaching many years ago, I realized I was feeling unprepared to teach reading. I decided to pursue my master’s degree in reading for this very reason. I had some pretty amazing professors who were ahead of their time. They were already teaching the science of reading, in

Using Sentence Scrambles to Teach Sentence Structure and Writing!

November 1, 2023

Sentence scrambles or scrambled sentences are a fun and engaging activity for young students. There are many benefits to using them to teach both sentence structure and sentence writing. Sentence scrambles are a low-prep activity