Welcome to My Play Based Classroom Blog
Hi there!
I'm Janelle - a play-based early years teacher who is super passionate about creating learning experiences that boost curiosity, creativity, and academic growth.
On this blog, I share practical tips for meeting curriculum benchmarks through a balance of explicit teaching and play, setting up the ideal learning environment and fostering social-emotional development.
So, let’s make play-based teaching work in your preschool, kindergarten, or first-grade classroom!
Jumbled Up Sentences - An Easy Way to Help Beginning Writers
Discover how jumbled up sentences can enhance literacy instruction in kindergarten or grade one classrooms. This evidence-based activity boosts sentence structure and enriches writing skills in a fun and productive way!
Fun Activities and Games with Sight Words for Kindergarten
Discover engaging sight word games and activities for your kindergarten students and build reading fluency. Make learning high-frequency words fun with these tried and tested ideas. Get your free sight word resource and create a playful and effective learning environment for your students.
Should We Teach the Kindergarten First 100 Sight Words?
Discover the latest Science of Reading research on teaching the kindergarten first 100 sight words. Enhance your sight word instruction and download my free sight word lists and tools to boost your students' reading fluency and confidence.
Science of Reading Decoding Strategies with CVC Words
Discover the best reading decoding strategies you need to be using in your classroom according to the Science of Reading research and learn the best practices for teaching CVC words in your classroom.
5 Engaging Read Alouds for the First Day of School
If you are looking for some engaging read alouds for the first day of school, this blog post has 5 wonderful picture books you can read aloud on the first day of kindergarten or preschool. I am sure you will want to add them to your classroom library!
43 Rhyming Activities for Kindergarten
Discover 43 hands-on rhyming activities to help you teach rhyming and word families to your kindergarten and preschool children. These educational rhyming games and hands-on activities are an effective and fun way to teach rhyming words. Perfect for your literacy lessons and centers.
Use a Rhyming Basket to Teach Rhyming Words
Discover how to teach rhyming words with a playful rhyming basket activity. Perfect for kindergarten, this hands-on rhyming basket idea builds rhyming skills for phonological awareness.
5 Picture Books for Your Classroom Maker Space
There are many wonderful children’s books to inspire and provoke creativity in a classroom Maker Space. Discover five of our must-have picture books for your creative learning provocations.
79 Rhyming Books for Kindergarten and Preschool
An illustrated list of early childhood picture books for teaching rhyming words to preschoolers and kindergarten children. There are 79 rhyming word books perfect for read-alouds and developing phonemic awareness.
You will appreciate the focus on Australian authors and storylines depicting cultural diversity and inclusive education themes in this up to date list.
Teaching Sight Words and High Frequency Words
Teaching sight words or high frequency words is still essential for early readers to build fluency and confidence. The Science of Reading isn’t just about decoding! Teachers still need to help their children learn sight words.
How to Teach Phonics with Play Dough
Learn how to teach phonics with play dough in a play-based classroom through sensory play experiences. Enhance literacy and learning with props and phonics playdough mats for engaging and effective teaching.
How to Teach Phonemic Awareness - Tips and Activities
Learn how to teach phonemic awareness effectively and enhance early reading skills. In this blog post you’ll get strategies and activities for isolating, blending, and segmenting phonemes to use with your young students.
Use CVC Sentences to Develop Decoding Fluency in Reading
Discover how CVC sentences can boost decoding fluency and help beginning readers become confident, fluent readers. Learn practical strategies, research insights, and tips for using CVC Flip Sentences in your classroom today!
Teaching Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness
Discover essential strategies for teaching phonological and phonemic awareness in early childhood education. This guide outlines the developmental stages and suggests practical teaching ideas and engaging activities to develop these important early literacy skills in preschool and kindergarten children.
Cozy Classroom Reading Area Ideas Students Will Love
Looking for classroom reading corner ideas? Transform your classroom reading area into a cozy, inviting space your students love and discover my budget-friendly tips and ideas to create a nook that fosters reading and self-regulation too.
