Saturday, February 25, 2012

Inspiration from the Blogosphere

Each week I gain lots of insights and ideas from the blogs I read. Here are some ideas that inspired me this week.

Clutter-Free Classroom: Legos in the Classroom - I love blocks and building. Legos are one of my favorite tools. (I'm talking about myself here...not the kids.) My kids love them, too. This post has a great collection of ideas for using Legos. I really like the pattern cards to follow.

Play Counts: The Power of One Word - This post highlights using a mystery word. And grows from there. Finding letters of the word...thinking of ways to incorporate that word's meaning into what the kids are doing...listening to the kids and building on what they ask—lots of great stuff in this post.

Irresistible Ideas for Play-Based Learning: Shell Sorting in a Shadow Box - Repurposing items is one of my favorite things. This post shows that a shadow box can become a great sorting tool - or just a tool for play.

Zella Said Purple: For the Love of Dirt - Jeanne cheers for the opportunity to get dirty with...well, dirt. The joys and discoveries of handling dirt can only be found in the midst of messy play.

My Hullabaloo: Pattern Block Writing - Matt has captured something really great here - kids can make "permanent" the pattern/design they created and can write about it. I'm definitely going to steal this idea.

What has inspired you this week?