collaboration in kindergarten

Hey friends! You know a published author now! Now you can prove it! My book “Early Childhood Learning Stations 101” by Andrea Chouhan is now available at TpT!!!!!!!! Below is the full description of this 211 page book:

What makes this book special?

1-It contains tons of full color photographs of Learning Stations for Math, Literacy, Social Studies, Science, Dramatic Play and Poetry.
2- Every learning station in this book is aligned with Kindergarten standards (Common Core State Standards and either TX and/or AL Social Studies and Science Standards).
3-I also explain how to rotate between learning stations, and even free choice stations.

Kid and teacher tested!

If you have wondered how to incorporate Stations or Centers, that are academic based into your classroom, then this is the book you need. All of the activities are kid-tested and teacher approved…..and they are FUN!

Will this help my students and my teaching?

This is a great book for veteran or first year teachers and all of those in between! This is like a Pinterest board for learning stations, in a book! However, it is a major time saver, as all the information of “how? what? and why?” are listed in the book and all in one place!

Will I need anything else?

While these stations promote manipulative materials (cheap ones!), you will not find any worksheets in this book. However, I do have some of the printable stations at my TpT store, that can simply be laminated and ready to go! Also, “Early Childhood Learning Stations 101” goes great with my “Kindergarten Lesson Plans – Common Core Aligned” and “Special Education Modified Kindergarten Lesson Plans – Common Core Aligned.” These are also available in my TpT store. Within these lesson plans, I reference many of these stations. This book provides the visual of those stations! My lesson plans are available by the month, or yearly bundle.

Note from ME!

Thank you for taking the time to read the details of this book and for following my blog. It is the compilation of my 10+ years of teaching and it took much time and dedication! I am sure you will love this book and I look forward to hearing what you think! Have a wonderful school year! –Andrea Chouhan

Here is the TpT book link: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Early-Childhood-Learning-Stations-101-211-pg-book-1329176

The paperback version can be purchased at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1491222417/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

Have you seen Sid the Science kid, yet? The first time I saw my six year old watch this show on PBS, I saw how involved she became. The characters are interactive and when I watch the show, I learn something new about Science. It is amazing to see these students in the classroom and home setting. In the classroom, the teacher shows the children the steps of the scientific method: “Observe! Compare! Contrast! Describe!” Scientific journals are also used in Sid’s classroom. I get some great teaching ideas from Sid. I am grateful that PBS has created such a wonderful learning experience for our youngest scientists!

The best part of this show is that you can show students each episode, from your computer-at school! I project it onto the screen in my classroom and then my students take part in many of the activities afterwards. For teacher resources, you can visit this link: http://www.pbs.org/parents/sid/ Also, I discovered a blog, where a mom and her boys, test out experiments from various episodes. How amazing! Here is that link: http://www.pbs.org/parents/sid/blogs/parents/

These are some of the topics that Sid teaches:

Exploring habitats
Little creatures in a forest
Sid and his mom talk about air pollution
Force, inertia and elasticity
Friction, light, and shadows
Ways to make less trash
Internet Safety
Recycling

There are even games that go along with each topic. I just played the weather game. I had fun spinning the weather wheel and then dressing up the character with appropriate clothing! You can even sing 1-2 minute video song clips about his Science topics. What I like the most is that this program and interactive website meets children where they are at. It encourages critical thinking by asking higher level questions, like why? and how? Sid models collaboration as he engages in problem solving discussions. The children are engaged as they learn from Sid! Most of the games on this site can be played on the interactive whiteboard as well.

Sid has an “Investigations” clip video where a real class makes applesauce. Our class viewed the short clip from http://www.pbskids.org and watched how the students figured out the best way to use heat to make applesauce. We then decided that we needed ingredients and a recipe. So, for shared writing, I wrote what they children shared!

Then, I had each student then cut up about ten apples. They did it with plastic knives and has so much fun! They then added them to the crock pot along with sugar, water and cinnamon. We cooked it from 10am to 2:30pm on high heat. At 2:00, I let them each stir and mash the cooking apples. Then when the applesauce was ready, I scooped it into a cup, gave them each a fork-and they enjoyed. Every single student enjoyed eating it! I can’t wait to do it again next year!