Using Goal Setting in Elementary School

Growth happens when we set goals related to things we want to accomplish and work hard to accomplish them. But it actually takes a little learning to know how to set goals effectively so that they are reasonable for your skill level and time frame.

Even elementary school students can use goals to improve skills and behavior, and What I Have Learned Teaching has a great post with printables that’s all about goal setting in elementary school.

She talks through using SMART goals, offering suggestions of improvements the kids can make and how to accomplish those things and using a whole-class goal to keep the kids motivated.

This is a nice refresher on goal-setting for all of us and can work with your individual kids at home as well as in a classroom setting.

[Photo: What I Have Learned Teaching.]

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

Have you read?

Leave a Reply