TIME SAVING TIPSMovement anchors learning! Each day, the children we work with show us how crucial movement is in their learning process. Thinking and learning are not all in our heads. The body plays an integral part in our intellectual processes. S.M.A.R.T. activities affect the brain in positive and dramatic ways. To assist you in incorporating movement into learning, here is a winter-themed set of slap track/creep track cards. You can use the domino dot version to help instill the instant recognition of a number of objects without having to count them. Or print out the plain set of mittens and add your own curricular content. Perhaps a word family, shapes, numbers, or onset and rime pattern. Download, print, cut in half, and enjoy!
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Is S.M.A.R.T. starting to lose a bit of its excitement? Maybe the load of demands is taking a toll and you need a bit of fun to motivate your S.M.A.R.T. time. Sometimes, a little creative twist is just the thing to keep students interested and engaged. Two of the S.M.A.R.T. programs' most passionate alums know just what to do. Amber and Sara are early childhood professionals from Pulaski, WI, who have been incorporating S.M.A.R.T. activities into the classroom environment for many years. To add a little excitement, they like to sprinkle in some thematic content to a few activities. Amber and Sara use children’s literature to inspire what new and exciting twists can be added to core activities. For example, when reading the classic The Mitten, these two creative educators will have their students walk across a Balance Beam and pick up mittens along the way. The Slap Track will have different colored mittens in the pockets. How about creating a “snowy path” to navigate through? Proprioceptive input is encouraged during a game where students move around like different animals. The student pictured below was flying like a bat.* How fun to encourage moving in new ways!
Looking for activities that can keep your child busy and engaged during winter break?
How about encouraging a screen free zone that can foster creativity, imagination, and play?!
Have fun, keep moving, and enjoy making memories this holiday season. Movement and learning are a powerful combination. Developmentally, movement plays a major role in understanding our bodies. Essentially, our bodies NEED to move in order to learn HOW to be still. This is precisely why S.M.A.R.T. is a part of your work with children. Learning Ladders can beautifully bridge academic content and movement. Are you scrambling to find time to make new Learning Ladders? We hear you. Consider how you might make your whiteboard or Smartboard in your space a quick and effective Learning Ladder.
time saving tipsA visual schedule in early childhood and primary grades provides young students with a clear and structured outline of their daily activities. A sense of routine and time management skills are developed. Visual schedules enhance communication and comprehension, making it easier for students to understand and anticipate what comes next, ultimately reducing anxiety and classroom disruptions. Fewer disruptions saves you some time! Additionally, these schedules can be customized to cater to individual learning styles, ensuring that each student receives the necessary support to thrive academically and socially. If you are like us, you have taken some time to find just the right one to display that fits both the structure and routine of your classroom and fits the space you have for it. Here are several options of cards you can download that will add S.M.A.R.T. to your visual schedule.
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If you already post a daily schedule, can this important time of day be proudly displayed? Head over to our Time Saving Tips section to browse and download a few templates to add S.M.A.R.T. into your visual schedule.
Our three day workshops are packed with information and we don’t expect you to remember it all! When you have a question, need clarification, or simply need help, please reach out like One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher from Hales Corner, WI, Diane Shippell, did. She attended a workshop with us a few years ago. Like many, Diane and her colleagues were excited about S.M.A.R.T. and went back to school prepared to begin implementation right away. Her school now boasts a motor lab and motor hallway. Diane reached out to us with a question regarding material for a vision activity. Tactile Trackers are an activity that aid in developing smooth eye movements. We have received so much feedback from educators that the hallway or just outside the bathrooms have been a very effective place for this activity. In Diane’s school, this activity is in the motor hallway. Diane’s questions centered around where she could get more of these Tactile Trackers. While we do not provide templates for them, we did a little digging and found some options for you. In our chat with Diane, we discovered that her team used mindfulness mats as the mazes to trace in the hallway. Genius! This is a great way to make use of a resource in different ways. Mindfulness mats are used in childcare and classroom settings to help with emotional regulation and breathing techniques. If you have these kinds of mats, why not place them on the wall as a visual pursuit to encourage smooth eye movements? We couldn’t help but get excited at the idea of using the mats as a center activity one week for mindfulness and then having them hung up the next week as Tactile Trackers! Multi-purpose resources definitely feel like they fit into the “work S.M.A.R.T.er, not harder” category. These kinds of mats are available from many sources but to make things easier, here are a few links to some we feel would make great Tactile Trackers.
References: This month has a focus on our Tactile Tracker activity. You know from the S.M.A.R.T. workshop how important developmental movement is in the maturing of our visual system. How can you convey this information to parents, encouraging them to try some fun activities that will add frequency and intensity to visual development? Keep reading…. From the moment children are born, they begin developing strong neural connections with each and every movement and experience. Tummy time, rolling, belly crawling, learning how to pull themselves up to standing, walking, even running all played crucial roles in the development of their eyes. How can we keep this growth going? Vision activities are a really fun way to do this! Here are some suggestions of activities you can do with your child at home that help enhance their visual system.
S.M.A.R.T. SpacesAs you continue to roll out your S.M.A.R.T. course of activities, the Pencil Roll is one of the daily core activities to plan for thoughtfully. This movement requires the most space, so many educators find the area towards the front of the classroom works best. Pictured here is where one kindergarten teacher sets up the Pencil Roll. It is the same space the students sit for morning meetings and/or whole group activities.
Finding the time for one more thing is difficult in a classroom. Jessica from St. Louis Park, MN teaches kindergarten and loves every moment of it. Except for the amount of time planning can take! During the S.M.A.R.T. workshop, we encourage educators to work S.M.A.R.T.er not harder. What does that even mean? The activities in this program parallel many typical school activities, but they are designed to be tweaked just a bit to foster a more concentrated, intense burst of stimulation to the brain. How does Jessica apply that little workshop tip? She incorporates vision activities as a warm-up for small group instruction. Jessica engages her students in a playful activity that encourages them to track with their eyes. She has a few sheets ready for students to trace as their opening activity during small group instruction. She shares that by starting out the school year using this activity very intentionally and closely monitored in small groups, she is able to plan for this to be an independent work center during the later school months.
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AuthorSCheryl Smythe Archives
May 2024
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