Dr. Jean is a star among PreK - 2 grade teachers!!! In fact, Dr. Jean is well known around the US for her exciting workshops and wonderful CD's. I was lucky enough to see her in April 2005 when she came to Pittsburgh to share her enthusiasm for teaching reading with many Pittsburgh teachers! After reading many "sparkling" online post from teachers who have seen Dr. Jean, I had high expectations going into the workshop and Dr. Jean went above my expectations. Her workshop is fun, creative, entertaining, & chalk full of awesome ideas you can start using in your classroom after returning from a workshop!!!

Administrators need to send their teachers to see Dr. Jean. She will recharge those teacher batteries with her research based activities that make learning fun. I have seen tons of workshops by a variety of presenters and this was my all time favorite workshop. I am pretty sure that the majority at the workshop attendees felt the same... I kept hearing the buzz... She is so awesome! What a great idea!! I can't wait to try that in my classroom!!!

I was lucky enough to chat with Dr Jean for a few minutes (During breaks she is pretty much swamped with teachers trying to chat with her or buy her CD's - like I said, she is a star!). Our talk just verified to me that she is such a great person and very willing to share ideas she has found with the wonderful world of creative teachers!!! She encouraged me to take pictures of the things I saw and share them with the visitors of Teaching Heart! The pictures I took are below. I tried my best to write some notes about each picture. I didn't want to forget anything, so I tried to get this page done the night after the workshop. Thanks to the Starbucks Grande Cafe Mocha, I was able to type away. Please excuse any errors. Look for *** to find free printables I created to match some of her ideas. Also, you may have to wait a bit for ALL the pictures to load. Grab a coffee while you wait and get ready to be inspired!!!

Be sure to check out the links at the end of this page to other sites with great pictures and information on Dr. Jean and her workshops.

Updated - November 2005

This is a car mat. Dr. Jean wrote sight words on labels and then stuck the words on the mat. The student could drive match box cars on the mat. When the student comes to a word, they read the word.

My son got one of these mats in a Matchbox Car Set.

Guess what I did when I got home? Took the mat and wrote lowercase letters on it. He can now drive the car around the mat and say the sounds as he drives his car. When we get tired of the sounds, I can just put numbers on the mat. Also, I made stop sign shaped stickers. So, the car has to stop at the sign and then complete the task.

**Here are some stop signs you can program with your own words, numbers, or sounds. Just type in the space provided. I would print these on sticker paper.

One of our favorite songs by Dr. Jean is, "Who Let the Letters Out?" Sung to the sound WHO LET THE DOGS OUT. Anyway, here is a little extension to that song... Get a dog dish and place magnetic letters on it. Get a plush dog and glue a round magnet to his nose. The dog fishes for the sounds. This would be such a cute center.

**Click here to view a center sheet I created to go along with this.

If you like this idea, check out:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2003/11_november/11_2003a.html

Who doesn't love the story, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom? Here is something you can make to use with the story. Take a tin can and some green and brown felt. Cut the felt to look like palm leaves and coconuts. Students can place magnetic letters on the trunk of the tree.

Learn more about this can at:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/10_Oct_2004/10_2004c.html

Need more ideas to match this story? Follow the link:
http://www.teachingheart.net/chickaboom.html

Dr. Jean shared a playdoh book at her conference. The children use playdoh to work the pages. I shared the idea with my friend, Amy Trax, and she created two books to match the idea. Here are a few pages from her books.

You can make your own playdoh book. Be sure to laminate the book.

I created this book after the workshop, for my son.

The student would read the words and then place the correct picture in the square. I used velcro for this.

***You can print my printable for this by clicking here.

I created this book after the workshop, for my son.

***The directions and printable can be used by clicking here.

Here is a cookie flip game. Program cookies with words on one side and a picture of the word on the other side. You can do student names at the start of the year. The student must read the word on the cookie and then flip it with a spatula.

This idea would work with math facts too. The problem on one side and the answer on the other.

Learn more about this activity at:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/07_08July_Aug/08_2004a.html

**I have created some cookie graphics you can program to use with this activity. Click here to download.

Here is a cute little game that you draw on a shower curtain. The student takes a fly swatter and reads a word and then swats the fly. I also thought you could place this on the floor and have your students take turns throwing a bean bag on a bug. The student would read the word the bean bag landed on.

Here is the same idea done on a file folder. This would allow each student to have one at their desk. Dr. Jean had tiny fly swatters for each student. I am guessing these tiny swatters could be made with a tongue press stick and a small piece of woven plastic. You could call out a word and have your students swat the word you call out. Have them keep the swatter on the word while you do a quick look around the room.

***Here is a printable I created to match this.
Bug Printable

Here is a little Old Lady Vest. The Little Old Lady can swallow all sorts of things. Once you have a vest, your students will want one...

A Little Old Lady Your students can make. All you need is a ziploc baggie. Your students create legs, arms, and a head to attach to the lady.

Above is one I created using a child's apron found at Michael's Craft store. The printables come from KizClub. Click here for the link to the printable. I printed, laminated, and then hot glued the lady to the apron. I would suggest you make a few of these and have your students retell the story using the vests. They will love this activity. Also you could have the lady swallow letters and say the sound as she swallows the letters.

I thought this was a cute idea. Get some gloves at the dollar store and cut off the fingers. You can program each finger with a sound from the alphabet. The student can now make words on their fingers. LOVE IT!!! You could even do some word building activities with this.

Dr. Jean has some great cheers. You can download the cheers off her website.
Here is the link to her printable cheers (they are free to print):
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/06_june/06_2004a.html

These printable cheers fit right into small Cheerios boxes!

Want to make pom poms to use with the cheers? Follow the link to Dr. Jean's site to learn how:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/02_february/02_2004e.html

Check out this pointer!! Purchase a glove, stuff the glove, and tie it to a stick.

Dr. Jean shared her printable letter vests with us. Follow the link below to her site:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2005/02_Feb/index.html
You may print the letters here to use with the given activities.

Here is the Hello Book. To learn more about this book visit:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/07_08July_Aug/07_2004d.html

Dr. Jean also talked about her Alphardy Book on her site that is free to print. Follow the link to print the book:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2005/03_Mar/pg04.html

Make your own clipboards. Use cardboard cut in 9X12 pieces. Use a butterfly clip to clip your paper on. Each student can have their own clipboard.

Use it for:
read around the room
survey
lunch count
Interactive Writing
& so much more!

Envelope Book - Write a word or sentence on the front of the envelope. Insert a picture on the inside. Staple several of these together.

Isn't this a neat idea? Each student brings in a box of their favorite cereal to create this class book!!!

Rime Time Word Family Book. This book goes along with the Rime Time song found at: http://drjean.org/html/cds_f/sing_lyrics1.html

Make sign language plates. Pass them out. Sing the song, "I've got the Alphabet in my Mouth" found at:
http://drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2005/02_Feb/pg03.html
When the student hears their letter, they stand up with it.

The second pictire is a sensory sign. The hand is cut-out in felt. You could use sand paper, cotton, silk, or other sensory materials to create these.

See the signs for each letter at:
http://where.com/scott.net/asl/abc.html

Free Coloring Pages To Print
http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/asl/

Cut a square in the fly swatter to use with a letter chart during circle time. Say to the class. "I am thinking of the sound that starts the word tell. Can you show me the letter I am thinking of?" A student comes up and places the fly swatter on the T.

I used this fly swatter idea with my Everyday Math 100's chart for counting by 5's, skip counting, and more math activities using the 100's chart.

Two cute class books. In the Cracker Jack box book, students can write about the prize they would like to find in the box. For the animal cookie box, Dr. Jean suggested that this would be a good book for after a field trip to the zoo!!!

Visit Dr. Jean's website to learn more about these books:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/03_march/03_2004a.html

Zipper Books:
Dr. Jean used pencil pouches to make these.

You can read more about this book at:
http://drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/03_march/03_2004c.html

Here is a little class book using the poem found on:
http://drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2001/11_2001.html
Have each student in your class illustrate a line from the book:

Enviromental Print I Can Sing & Read Book

Dr. Jean mentioned Hubbard's Cupboard at the workshop. Here is the link to the enviromental print found on this site:
http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/i_can_read_.html

Dr. Jean gets creative with paper bags. Just look what you can do!

See more ideas for paper bags:
Pom Poms - http://drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2004/02_february/02_2004e.html

Oreo - Pretend to lick left palm, then lick right palm, then clap them together. Here is a book to match this cheer. You can use this with two letter words found on the word wall.

B-B-B-Batman

Used with alliteration; chuncking.

Sing /b/b/b/b/b/b/b/ - Batman!
Change the beginning sound and sing, /f/f/f/f/f/f/f/f/f/f - Fatman
Can also use with student names at the start of the year!!

Here is the Tis You song written by Dr. Jean and her daughter:
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2003/11_november/11_2003h.html

Her CD's

Activities of the Month from Dr. Jean
She suggests that you have a parent helper print all of these pages and bind.

Attend A Workshop

Sing to Learn

Kiss Your Brain

All Day Long

Keep on Singing

Mrs. Taylor - Dr. Jean Page

Kinderpond - Dr. Jean

Kinderpond - Dr. Jean 2

Pre-K Pages - Dr. Jean

Mrs. Pohlmeyer - Kiss Your Brain

Is Everybody Happy After Seeing Dr. Jean?