Valuable Resources for Kindergarten Teachers
1. Second Steps
Second Steps is a curriculum used to increase students' socio-emotional awareness and skills. All of the lessons are incredibly user-friendly (virtually prep-free!) and fun for students. The kindergarten curriculum includes puppets and fun characters that are age-appropriate and provides relatable scenarios for students.
2. CC Pensieve
The CC Pensieve is a great management tool for CAFE and Daily Five. This online tool allows you to keep track of all of your guided reading groups and when you have met with each student. You can also document which specific skills you worked on with specific students and their goals for the next session. The CC Pensieve helps keep teachers organized with their Daily 5 planning which allows you to execute it in a way that is much more productive for students.
3. GoNoodle
In the past, I have always used GoNoodle to provide an opportunity for fun brain breaks. Although I continue to utilize videos that are fast paced, I have discovered this year that GoNoodle also provides many videos that are calming and help to promote social-emotional awareness for my students. These "calm-down" videos have been an essential part of my classroom this year and serve as great tools for transitions or coming back into the room.