Here she is . . .Jennifer from First Grade Blue Skies!

Well, here it is! I promised you a guest post from an amazing blogger . . .and here she is! 

 Jennifer from First Grade Blue Skies!

 Thanks bunches Jennifer! XO 

I really appreciate you being a part of our celebration for reaching 300 followers (okay 299 to be exact) but close enough, don't ya think?

I am so honored to be a guest host for Lory

to honor her reaching 300 followers!

I am Jennifer from 

I thought I would take this opportunity to discuss labeling.  I get a lot of great feedback from teachers concerning my labeling packs, my husband calls me the 'labeling queen'...lol  

But I want folks outside early childhood teaching to know that there is a reason why I (and so many other teachers) use labeling in our classrooms. 

In the past, I have had people ask why I do labeling... 

is it on our "curriculum" or part of our "standards"?

Labeling is definitely something that is important for early learners, it adds connections to words- that the word has a meaning, it is something concrete (a noun usually). Young kids need practice making those connections between print and their world, it also leads to being able to independently fill in graphic organizers, identifying and describing parts of things later- most anything that encourages writing, speaking, reading in a station is valuable for young children.  Most early childhood teachers have and use labels all around their room, it is just part of our classrooms to label the "door", the "desk", the "computer", etc. 

 I don't know that labeling is a "standard" itself, anymore than 'playing with dice' is...but it is a valuable tool that teachers can use to get their students to practice skills that are standards.  We are generally talking about early childhood when it comes to labeling, kids who are focusing on print rich environments are not always capable to doing a ton of things independently without a lot of practice in stations...labeling is fun to them, something they can be successful with, and it gets them involved in a thematic unit.  While they are working together to complete one, they are having to sound out words (generally decodable) and then write them for the correct part. 

Here is a little freebie....click here or on the picture to get your copy =)  

Labeling is fun to include in seasonal and thematic units, as well as in your writing station.  I don't exactly teach "labeling" in my classroom...it is just a tool to make connections and to get my kids reading, writing, and interacting. 

(and they love it, too!)

I hope you enjoyed this little talk and share about why I do labeling in my classroom =)

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