Teaching File- Lindsay Smith
T e a c h i n g F i l e
By: Lindsay Smith
F a m i l y E n g a g e m e n t
#1 🎨Message In a Backpack
This values of open-ended, child-led art experiences and how these moments can grow and extend beyond the classroom. It highlights that when families are invited into their child’s creative process and most importantly without pressure to produce a perfect end product. Its all about the process as they become more confident in supporting their child’s development. This kind of home engagement fosters meaningful interactions, encourages children to express themselves freely, and builds a bridge between school learning and family life at home. Engaging families through art not only nurtures a child's imagination but also strengthens relationships, creating a shared space for growth, joy, and exploration. In early childhood education, this partnership is crucial.
💜What?
These backpacks are a home-to-school bridge packed with simple, inspiring materials to support creativity at home.
Each backpack could include:
-
Crayons, markers, glue sticks
-
A small sketchpad or journal
-
Mixed media materials (construction paper, fabric scraps, recycled items)
-
open-ended prompts
-
A note encouraging families to create with their child
🧠 Benefits
-
Builds confidence and creativity (especially when there's no ‘right way’ to do it!)
-
Encourages language development as children describe what they made
-
Fosters emotional connection between the child and family members
-
Supports fine motor development through cutting, gluing, and drawing
🏫 In the Classroom
Children return their backpacks and share their creations during morning meeting or a specifc time. This helps build classroom community and celebrates each child's learning experience and a peice of their home life.
#2 :📓Two-Way Communication Journals
💜What?
Each journal entry could include:
-
Teacher's Note: Highlights of the child's recent activities, achievements, or areas needing support.
-
Family's Response: Insights from home, questions, or observations.
-
Shared Goals: Collaborative objectives or strategies to support the child's growth.
🧠 The Benefits
-
Builds Trust: Regular, open exchanges creates mutual respect and understanding.
-
Aligning strategies between home and school provides a cohesive and consistent support system for the child.
-
Empowers Families: Encourages active participation and validates their role in their education
-
Teachers gain valuable insights into the child's life outside school, allowing for more personalized and individualized teaching approaches.
🏫 In the Classroom
Incorporate insights from the journals into classroom activities and discussions. For example, if a family notes a child's newfound interest in a particular subject, integrate related materials or projects.
Set Clear Expectations: Introduce the journal to families, explaining its purpose and how to use it.
-
Be Consistent: Decide on a regular schedule for entries to maintain engagement.
-
Encourage Open ended communication: Emphasize that all observations and questions are welcome.
Accommodate different communication styles and languages.
#3 : 📦All About me Box
Every student brings a unique story with them to school, a story shaped by their family, culture, traditions, and lived experiences. An “All About Me” Box is a fun but powerful way to celebrate each child’s identity while building a classroom community in respect, connection, and curiosity. I remember doing this when i was in elementary school and I still have my box! When families take the time to create the box with their child, it becomes more than just a school project, it becomes a shared moment. As they pick what to put in their box, they can think deeply about what makes them them, what they love, where they come from, and whats important to them. Families are there to help guide them, helping children connect to their lives beyond the classroom and express who they are in a way that feels personal and meaningful. Each box is completely unique. Whether it's filled with pictures, drawings, or notes, the box becomes a little window into that child’s world something they can feel proud of and when its is brought into the classroom, it reminds everyone that being different is always something to celebrate.
💜What?
It’s a small box that each child fills at home with a little help from their family. Inside, they add items, photos, or drawings that tell the story of who they are. When they bring their box to school, they get to share it with the class. It’s a great way for families to connect with the classroom and for classmates to learn about each other.
Each box could include:
-
Photos of their favorite people or things
-
A small item that’s important to them (a toy, a book, a shell from the beach)
-
A drawing or note about their favorite food, activity, or family tradition
-
Something that represents their culture or language
🧠 The Benefits
-
They feel proud of who they are and where they come from
-
They build confidence speaking and sharing in front of others
-
They develop empathy and understanding for their classmates
-
They see that family and classroom life are connected
🏫 In the Classroom
Send home a introduction letter and a list of ideas to get families started
-
Offer a few weeks to complete the project at home
-
Set up a wall in classroom for family photos etc.
-
Have a special time during morning meeting or circle time for each child to share their box
-
Allow classmates to ask questions and make connections
#4 : 📚Take Home Literacy Bags
When kids have the chance to read and explore stories at home, they start to see reading not just as a school task, but as something fun they get to share with their family. Take Home Literacy Bags are a simple way to invite families to create special moments of connection around books, spark conversations, and support early literacy in a fun, low-pressure way. When families read, talk, and imagine together, children develop stronger language skills, a love for storytelling, and the confidence to express themselves. they’re not just for practicing letters or sounds, but for connecting. When families are part of that process, they see how much their presence and voice matter in their child’s learning journey.
💜What?
Each bag could include:
-
1–2 picture books related to the theme
-
prompts or conversation starters
-
A simple craft or game based on the story
-
A response sheet or drawing journal
-
A list of songs or poems tied to the theme
🧠 The Benefits
-
Builds vocabulary and comprehension
-
Fosters meaningful conversations
-
Creates positive feelings around books
-
Encourages family involvement in literacy
-
Connects classroom learning to home life
🏫 In the Classroom
Rotate bags so each child has a turn with different books/themes
-
Encourage families to read in their home language
-
Keep it flexible so every family can engage in their own way
-
Make time to let children share what they enjoyed
#5 :📖Guest Family Read Aloud
When families are invited into the classroom as guest readers, it sends a message that their presence matters. Read alouds are already fun and important parts of the day in early childhood classrooms but when the story is read by someone’s parent, caregiver, or grandparent, it becomes even more meaningful. It turns into a shared memory, something children carry with them. I still remember how special it felt when my mom came in to read to my class, it made me feel seen, proud, and excited to share a piece of me with my friends. It reminded me then, and reminds me now, that learning is personal. Every voice brings something valuable to the classroom, and read alouds are a way to honor that.
💜 What?
This is a simple, flexible opportunity for families to join the class and read a story. It can be a favorite book from home, a story in another language, or a book tied to a holiday, tradition, or family value. These moments help model different voices, new perspectives, and learn that books can come from many places.
Could include:
-
Choosing a favorite children’s book (or borrow one from the classroom!)
-
Read a story that connects to their culture, language, or tradition
-
Bring in a prop, stuffed animal, or visual to help tell the story
🧠 The Benefits
Builds classroom community and belonging
-
Shows children that families and teachers are partners
-
Encourages a love of reading from multiple role models
-
Gives children a sense of pride when it’s their family's turn
-
Highlights the diversity of voices and stories in the class
🏫 In the Classroom
Send out a simple invite or sign-up form for families to choose a day to visit
-
Offer flexible options: mornings, end-of-day, or even a prerecorded video
-
Have extra books available in case a family doesn't have access or just needs help choosing
-
Create a Family Reader Wall to display photos or thank-you notes after each visit
W e b s i t e s
#1 📚 NAEYC- National Association for the Education of young Children
🔍 What?
NAEYC is a leading organization in early childhood education that has research-based resources, professional standards, articles, position statements, and tools to support both educators and their families which alone helps bridge that gap of school and home life. and strengthens strong school-family partnerships. It focuses on promoting high-quality early learning for all children from birth to 8.
🎯 Purpose
To connect educators, families, and policymakers with trusted resources that support developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), inclusive teaching, and high-quality learning environments. NAEYC also provides professional development, accreditation tools, and guidance for best practices in early learning.
🌱 Relevance to Early Childhood Education:
NAEYC has really helpful in understanding the why we teach the way we do in early childhood. From learning about play-based learning to how to build strong relationships with families, NAEYC breaks down big ideas in ways that are both practical and meaningful. Their resources make it easier to connect these big ideas to what actually happens in the classroom. I love that they focus not just on academics, but also on supporting the whole child socially, emotionally, and developmentally.
👩🏫 Intended Audience:
This site is designed for early childhood educators (both new and experienced), student teachers, and families. It’s especially useful for college students like us.
#2 🎒 Reading Rockets
🔍 What?
Reading Rockets is a website all about helping young children become strong, confident readers. It’s full of resources like videos, booklists, reading strategies, and articles that are backed by research. What I love about it is how it supports both teachers and families. It encourages everyone to work together to help kids build literacy skills in ways that are fun and meaningful.
🎯 Purpose
The purpose of Reading Rockets is to give educators and families practical, research-based tools to support young readers and especially those who may be struggling. It’s not just about teaching kids to read, but about helping them develop a long lasting love for reading and feel successful as they grow.
🌱 Relevance to Early Childhood Education
It offers so many simple, actionable ideas for supporting early literacy. It covers everything from phonemic awareness to how to create a rich literacy environment in the classroom. The resources are easy to understand and easy to share with families too, which helps build that strong home school connection.
👩🏫 Intended Audience
This site is perfect for early childhood teachers, reading specialists, student teachers, and families. Anyone who’s supporting a young reader either in the classroom or at home anyone can find something useful.
#3 🎨 PBS Kids for Parents
PBS KIDS for Parents is a relatable, family-friendly website filled with activities, games, videos, articles, and printables that support young children’s learning through everyday experiences. The content is connected to the PBS KIDS shows many children already know and love, which helps make learning feel fun and familiar. Whether it’s a craft, a story, or a simple conversation starter, everything is designed to spark curiosity and connection between children and their caregivers.
🎯 Purpose
The site is designed to help families and educators guide children’s development in areas like literacy, social-emotional skills, science, and more. It also has resources for navigating important life topics such as friendship, kindness, resilience, and even big feelings all through approachable, easily accessible and engaging ways.
🌱 Relevance to Early Childhood Education
this site is a great reminder that learning doesn’t just happen at school but in everyday moments, too. PBS KIDS for Parents makes it easy to support that idea by offering fun, low-pressure activities that reinforce what we’re teaching in the classroom. I could definitely see myself using this site to find fun literacy extensions, share take-home resources with families, or even get ideas for classroom centers. It’s also a great way to build strong school-family partnerships by showing parent how they can support learning at home in simple, meaningful ways.
👩🏫 Intended Audience
This site is mainly aimed towards families of young children, but it’s just as useful for early childhood educators, student teachers, and anyone working with PreK through early elementary kids. It’s especially great for sharing with families who want to stay involved but might need easy, accessible ways to do it.
#4 🎓 Edutopia- Early Learning
Edutopia is an educational website created by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, and it’s all about sharing real, research backed ideas that work in classrooms. The Early Learning section focuses on topics specific to early childhood and the early elementary years, giving tips, articles, and videos written by educators, for educators. What’s great is that it bridges big ideas like equity, social emotional learning, and inquiry-based learning with strategies you can actually try.
🎯 Purpose
The purpose of Edutopia is to teachers supporting teachers by sharing strategies that are grounded in research and backed by real classroom experience. It focuses on the whole child, and often includes tools for classroom management, student voice, inclusive practices, and how to create a learning environment where kids feel safe and engaged.
🌱 Relevance to Early Childhood Education
I love how Edutopia helps me think more deeply about what kind of educator I want to be. It’s helped me understand how to build a strong classroom culture and how to support children’s social-emotional needs. The articles are short, clear, and written in a way that’s really easy to relate to and understand even before you have your own classroom. When i do in the future its a great website to go back to as well!
👩🏫 Intended Audience
Read to Them is a nonprofit organization that focuses on creating shared reading experiences between schools and families through programs like “One School, One Book.” Their Family Resources page is filled with tools to help families engage in reading together at home. From discussion questions to reading calendars etc, the site makes it easy for caregivers to stay connected to what their child is reading at school making reading so accessible.
🎯 Purpose
The goal of this site is to build strong literacy habits and family engagement through shared reading. It encourages schools to bring families into the literacy journey not just by sending books home, but by giving families the tools they need to really participate and enjoy the experience.
🌱 Relevance to Early Childhood Education
I love how this site emphasizes the idea that reading is something we do together. It supports the belief that families play a powerful role in their child’s literacy development. I could see myself using this resource during a classroom wide book study or sending home the tools with families like the take home literacy bags to help guide them through a story and even aligning them with what we are doing in the classroom. The materials are simple, accessible, and take the pressure off families they’re meant to start conversations, curiosity, and connection around books.
👩🏫 Intended Audience
This site is perfect for early childhood educators and families looking to get more involved in their child’s reading journey. It’s especially goof for schools running shared reading programs or looking for ways to support literacy at home.
S o n g s, F i n g e r p l a y s, P o e m s
#1 🎶 “Open, Shut Them”
🎵 Words
"Open, shut them, open, shut them,
Give a little clap, clap, clap.
Open, shut them, open, shut them,
Lay them in your lap, lap, lap."
🌈 Theme or Concept
Fine motor skills, self-regulation, following directions, and transitions.
🎯 Purpose & When to Use It
This is great for helping young children settle down and focus. I used it when I taught Pre-K for three years in a daycare setting during transitions stopping after "lap, lap, lap" especially when they sat down for lunch to get them to have a calm body and get everyone’s attention in a fun way. The motions help fine motor coordination, and the rhythm engaging, they loved it. I love how simple it can be or longer and more interactive.
#2 🎶 “Party Freeze Dance Song”
"Let’s play the Party Freeze game!
Now remember, when I say Freeze – FREEZE!!
And when I say dance – DANCE!
Dancing, dancing all around
Dancing, dancing, dancing
Dancing any way you please
But STOP when I say FREEZE!"
[Continues with hopping, skipping, twirling, etc.]
Gross motor development, listening skills, self-regulation, and following directions.
This energetic song is perfect for movement breaks, indoor recess, or transitions. It encourages children to follow directions, helping their listening and self-control skills. The different actions (dancing, hopping, skipping) promote physical activity and coordination. I love how this song combines fun with essential developmental skills. This is another one i loved using when i was teaching in daycare during brain breaks or indoor recess and it was a favorite. It's a great way to get kids moving and practicing self-regulation.
#3 🎶 “AT Word Family Jazz”
Bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, vat..."
This song introduces students to the "AT" word family, helping them recognize and read common rhyming words. It's perfect for phonics lessons, literacy centers, or as a fun transition activity. Its repetitive and catchy which helps make it sticky and makes learning engaging. This song combines music with phonics instruction, making it easier for first graders to grasp the concept of word families. it's a resource I would revisit throughout the year to reinforce reading skills as well as use this channel for other videos to introduce the different word families.
#4 🎶 “The Power of Yet”
You tried to sing but you didn't know the whole song
You tried to cook, but the food, it didn't taste right
You tried to dunk, but you didn't get enough height
You didn't do it right now
But keep trying, you'll learn how
You just didn't get it yet
But you'll get it soon I bet
That's the power of yet ....."
Growth mindset, perseverance, embracing challenges, confidence
This song is ideal for introducing or reinforcing the concept of a growth mindset in the classroom. It can be used during morning meetings, as a tool before starting a new challenging task or for a task that maybe the class has been struggling with. It helps students understand that struggling with a task doesn't mean failure it just means they haven't mastered it yet. this song communicates a powerful message in an accessible and engaging way for young students. this song into the classroom can foster a positive learning environment where students feel encouraged to keep trying and never give up.
#5 🎭 "Emotions" Poem by Kia West
that’s when students start identifying and interpreting figurative language in texts. This poem explores a range of feelings using metaphors and kid-friendly language to make sense of complex feelings like comparing happiness to sunshine and sadness to clouds. It encourages students to identify and accept all emotions without judgment. This is a great poem to use during morning meeting, SEL lessons, when students start identifying and interpreting figurative language in texts, or as part of a reading comprehension activity. It supports third graders in naming their emotions and talking about how they express or manage them. It can also lead to valuable class discussions or creative writing prompts. By third grade, students are developing more self-awareness and empathy. This poem meets them right where they are. it gives them language to understand themselves and others better. It’s a reminder that feelings are normal and that we all have them.
L i t e r a t u r e S e l e c t i o n s
These are five books I own as an adult that I fell in love with in elementary school, stories that stuck with me through the years and still make me smile. Whether it was the characters, the lessons, or just the way they made me feel ill never forget them. I cant wait to use them in my future classroom.
#1 "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"
✏️ Author
Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault
APA Citation
Martin, B., Jr., & Archambault, J. (1989). Chicka chicka boom boom. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
The letters of the alphabet climb up a coconut tree until the whole alphabet comes crashing down. The rhythm makes it a fun read aloud, and the colorful pictures grab kids’ attention right away. It’s one of those books that gets stuck in your head and helps students start connecting with letters.
After reading, the class can create a large alphabet tree using cut out letters and construction paper. This activity can start as a whole class project and then be extended throughout the year. Each time a new letter is introduced, students can add it to the tree. It’s a fun, hands-on way to reinforce letter recognition and get them excited about learning the alphabet!
#2 💟 "The Kissing Hand"
✏️ Author
Audrey Penn
APA Citation
Penn, A. (1993). The kissing hand. Tanglewood Press.
💙Grade
Kindergarden
👫Theme/Concepts
Separation anxiety, love, emotional security, family connection, transitions
📚 Description
A young raccoon named Chester is nervous about starting school and being away from his mom. His mom tells him about a special family tradition, a kiss in the palm of his hand and tells him its a way for him to carry her love with him throughout the day so that she will always be with him.
💫Why It Fits
This book supports children who may be feeling anxious about being away from home, while also helping them name and understand the anxiety and emotions that come with taking the big step of starting school.
🍎 Classroom Integration
This is perfect for Kindergarden because for most kids its their first time in a school setting and they most likely can relate, and have similar feelings. After reading, you can have your students trace their hands and decorate them with a heart in the center. They can take their "kissing hand" home or keep it in their cubby as a reminder. It also opens up a great class conversation about feelings.
#3 "Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon"
✏️ Author
APA Citation
Lovell, P. (2001). Stand tall, Molly Lou Melon. G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Molly Lou Melon, who’s small, has a squeaky voice, and buck teeth and has a grandmother who taught her to be proud of who she is. When Molly Lou moves to a new school and meets a bully, she stays true to herself and stands up to the bully and her confidence wins everyone over.
First grade is the perfect time to build self-esteem and talk about what it means to be kind and confident. Molly Lou is a strong character who shows kids that it’s okay to be different and that standing tall (even when it’s hard) can make a big difference.
#4 "The Giving Tree"
✏️ Author
Shel Silverstein
APA Citation
Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. Harper & Row.
💙Grade
The Giving Tree tells the story of a boy and a tree who are in a friendship. As the boy grows up, he keeps coming back to the tree for help first for fun, then for things like money, a house, and a boat. The tree gives everything it can to make the boy happy, even when there’s not much left to give. It’s a simple, sweet story that gets kids thinking about giving, love, and appreciating the people and things that care for us.
This book works really well for second grade because it opens up meaningful conversations about kindness, giving, and feelings. It’s short and easy to follow, but has big ideas that students can connect with.
After reading, students can create a classroom Giving Tree by adding leaves with kind things they've done or ways they help others. This book can also encourage and open discussion about giving, gratitude, and how to care for people who care for you!
#5 "Oh, the Places You’ll Go!"
✏️ Author
Dr. Seuss
APA Citation
Seuss, Dr. (1990). Oh, the places you’ll go!. Random House.
After reading, students can create dream boards showing places they want to go/ things they wanna do and be both real and imagined. They could also write letters to their future selves. This book is also perfect for a read aloud at the end of year to celebrate how much they have grown and possibilities of whats to come next!
Comments
Post a Comment