Inside, outside, around, and through!

We've been having fun with position and location words in math!  Everyday we learned a few more words and added the word and an descriptive illustration to our math journals.

Monday had fun with inside and outside...


They listened to my words to jump inside and outside of a hula hoop. It was harder than you think!



Tuesday we top, middle, bottom...



I would say a position and they had to do what I said (like Simon says) The ones standing were still in the game even though I was trying to trick them.

Wednesday morning we read "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"...

Later that afternoon we tied the story into math using over and under to retell the story...



There were 3 billy goats all named Gruff that wanted to get to go to the other side of the bridge to eat the delicious green grass and flowers.



The goats went "trip, trap, trip, trap" over the bridge but a mean troll was under the bridge waiting to eat them up!

  


The troll would say "who's that trip, trapping over my bridge, I am going to eat you up!" and the small and medium sized goats said, "No, please don't eat me! My brother is coming later, he's bigger than I am, eat him instead." the troll agreed. 



But when the biggest, strongest troll crossed the bridge, he solved the problem of the mean troll by butting him off the bridge.  The troll was swept down the river, never to bother the goats again! 

Okay, okay, so it was a very loose intrepretation of "over and under" but you know, I'll find any excuse to play! We had so much fun acting out the story of the "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"! I love when we can tie all our learning together!

On Thursday we worked with left and right. In they morning they each got a Red bracelet for Right and a Light blue bracelet for Left. And then we got...FuNkY! We did the "hokey pokey", the "cha-cha slide" and the "cupid's shuffle".



cha-cha slide! "slide to the left" (Look at all those smiles!!)



Mrs. G even got in on the action! "now kick, now kick, now come on baby kick"

I'm not gunna lie, I was sweating and may or may not have been sore the next day!!  

Today we rounded it all up with a fun little activity involving paper airplanes! We had to determine where out airplane flew (over, under, through, left right, etc) of the cloud. 

It's Friday and boy am I ready for the weekend! Y'all have a good one!

Is it living?

We have been busy, busy in science learning about things that are living and not living.

We started out with the basics.

I then incorporated apples into out theme. Just because it's fall and I like apples...and I love any excuse for a class project.

We discussed the life cycle...



Does anyone know how to fix the flipped pictures??! Frustrated.



And did this super fun little big project. We started out in groups painting trees....trees don't look like lollipops...they have trunks and stems and branches...

You think I let them just use brown paint?? NO way Jose, they had to mix their colors to make brown. It made for a really neat textured look!

Then we added these things...

The boys made leaves.



and we (the girls that are WAAAY outnumbered by the boys) did "girl things" and made these pretty little flowers.

Then....

Winter snowflakes with marshmallows, summer small green apples with an apple sponge, big fall red apples with a real apple!


Put it all together and you get....

 


I don't mean to brag but I mean....this is good right?!?  I LOVE the way the bright spring apple blossoms pop in the hall! Even Mrs. Hobin came by to say she thought it was a project Ms. Flores, our art teacher, had done. Nope! It was just those 5 and 6 year olds down here in K-6!

We are in the process of writing about each part of the life cycle/season underneath. We've only done winter so far.

And guess what?

Yep, we even had fun cleaning up after all our mess. Enter: baby wipes.



Today Mrs. Hyde, our U of H friend, taught a lesson about different types of animals. They played a fun game on the smart board and did a sort like this in their science journals. 

And that's all folks....well, hardly.  We still have a bunch to learn about living and non living things!

A world of sponges.

I hope this parent won't mind but I just HAD to share an email I recieved this morning....

She wrote:
I've noticed a huge improvement in --------'s ability to read, just in this past week. It is like something has clicked! It is so impressive! Thank you! He seems so proud and confident!
Best,
-------


And this was my response:
That's my favorite part of my job! I seriously can’t even take credit for it...you're right, something just clicks with them (some early on in the year and some not until later) All of a sudden not only can they read, they WANT to read! It really is amazing!


Y'all seriously....this such an incredible age for learning. All it takes is me telling them just one time and voila...they get it! They really are little sponges. Of course not everyone is reading yet but I hope you all have noticed changes in your child.  Obviously, I want everyone to always perform well but I don't care about testing, etc.,  my main goal here is that they gain a love of learning. period. the end. Everything else falls into place.  So I will keep "tricking" them into learning new things everyday by having tons of fun and I hope the fun continues for the rest of their life.

Has there been something this year (besides lunch and recess!!) that your student couldn't wait to tell you about when they got home?? Let me know what they're loving so I can keep it up!

First day of FALL!!!

Ahhhh....the first day of fall! The BEST season of the year (in my opinion anyway...football, pumpkins, thanksgiving, perfect weather, cute boots and scarves...yes please!!)

Did I take advantage of this amazing fall weather??

YOU BETCHA!!

We spent the first part of our morning working on our words outside.  I heard not one complaint!  Jake, Hannah, Abel, and Grace can testify: 

I hope you all will take advange of the amazing (morning) weather this weekend and get outside and play! I know this little pups excited about it!

...even though she's long over due for one of these....

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Sorting!

We have been doing lots of work with sorting!

Here are some of our goals during math stations this week:

Each week we have 5 different stations that we rotate through each day. Here we are working at some of them:

The boys on the left were sorting different animals. Not only were they sorting by type but (just as the goals we set stated) they took it a step further and separated the animals by color.  These boys on the right were sorting various, well, junk.  They first sorted by item.  Next, they sorted by color.

The group on the left was sorting buttons.  They decided to sort by how many holes they had. Joe and Claire were collection buttons with 2 holes while Grace and Sharan collected buttons with 4 holes and one hole.  The group on the right was working with (basically junk again, ha) They had nails, wood bead, screws, and washers.  They started out by sorting things with holes and things without holes.  The other station was sorting different transportation vehicles.

*******



Ever wondered why your child hardly ever brings work home?? That's because I hate dislike worksheets!  I don't learn that way so I certainly won't make my kinders! We do lots of hands on things and use as little paper as possible.  Their journals (and brains!!) are FULL of work though.  You'll get a chance to take a look through journals (not their brains...sorry!) at parent/teacher conferences coming up soon! 

*******

Today we added another entry to our math journal.  We drew things that were the same or alike and things that were different.  Jasmine, Joe, and Shriya had some great ideas:

We even included sorting in our science lesson yesterday when I introduced living and non living.  I showed them a picture and placed it in the "yes" or "no" column.  As pictures got added we stopped to guess how they were beings sorted.  Finally we all realized I was sorting things that were living from things that weren't living, then I added the words underneath.

To go along with our living and non living theme we've been doing some fun things with apples! More on that later but I'll leave you with a sneak peek!!

why is this side ways?!?! grrrr!

Buddy Reading

Today I introduced "reading to self" or buddy reading.

This is another part of our morning routine, that I was very excited to get started.

We first discused how to choose a partner.  It's very importantto choose a partner responsibily.  It's not always a good choice to choose your best friend you may talk and be silly with.  After we find a partner we find a quiet area away from others and sit next to them EEKK (elbows to elbows, knees to knees).  After we get our book baskets we may begin.

Here's how it works:

I was SO impressed and excited to see that everyone was doing just as we discussed!!  I loved seeing and hearing all the reading and learning that was going on. 

Shriya and Shealyn we're really paying attention to each others words as they read. They were also being a perfect example for sitting EEKK.  AWESOME girls!

Marcel was reading this Clifford book by the pictures and reading from memory.  Grant was quietly adding to the story as well...way to choose great partners boys!

I jumped for joy when I saw that Sharan was stuck on a word.  Just as we practiced, Gideon quietly asked him if he needed help with the word or more time to try and figure it out on his own.  It was a word neither of them knew but sounding it out together worked!! SO impressed with their reading!

I am one *LUCKY* teacher!

shapes galore!

We have had a great time working with shapes over the last week.

First we started with the basics...


And Ms. Hyde, our U of H student helper, taught us this song about shapes:

Then we played a game with buddies. They took turns rolling a dice (die?) with shape names, finding the shape, and dotting the shape with a bingo dotter.

We made a monster glyph using our favorite shapes and colors...

And yesterday we took shapes outdoors to play a fun game. I had an idea of what I wanted them to do but was pretty much making it up as we went along (typical)...we had fun playing "Sides to Corners"! (that oh so clever name just came to me after trying to think of a cute name all day yesterday, sometimes my creativity is severely lacking, ha)

I took it from a game "Ship to Shore" they learned in P.E..  One side of the Kinder drive was "sides" and the other side of the drive was "corners". They had to listen to what I was calling to know which side to run to.

Here they are running to the corners side.  Neto was on top of this!

Then in the middle of running back and forth from sides to corners I would call out a shape and they would have to think of the number of sides it had, find that many buddies, and make the shape on the ground with their bodies.

We know a circle has no straight lines so making that shape was was a challenge...but we had FUN trying!

I think Ms. Hyde has one more activity to round off our unit on shapes tomorrow. 

In math we are now on to sorting objects!!

Don't you wish you were in Kindergarten?? I sure am glad I am!!

If I had a million dollars....

I would spend it all on some cool stuff for my class...

Okay, okay, that's probably a lie. I have a list at least a mile long of things I would LOVE to waste money on (and an entirely different -and boring- list of things to spend the money wisely on: finish paying off car, student loans, etc. yuck.) BUT I would use at least some of it to purchase some awesome little toys for all my Kinder babes.

iPads for everyone!!

I definitely have a case of the green eyed monster at the moment...at least until I win the lottery!

Until then I have to settle for this:

(which sadly only has one app, because it's the only free one I could find)

I have used this app for a couple students during word work. I know there are LOTS of other awesome apps out there just waiting to be downloaded! So tell me, do you have any apps for your kiddos worth purchasing? Words, games, writing, patterns, numbers, songs, books....I'm SURE there's an app for that!

On a side note, if you have any retired iTouches that are looking for a home...I know JUST the place. I have 44 warm hands just dying to adopt them!

Just a few words...

can make a sentance! (and build the confidence of those that "didn't think they could")

The past couple of days we have been working on the words I, can, see, the, and a.

(We always, always, always start sentances with a capital letter AND use spaces!!)

Then we put it to practice on our own...

Quiet little authors busy, busy...and behind those "offices" work like this is happening:

SO proud of Little Miss Claire for writing the word "cat" - /C/ is the first sound of her name, she had that down! Talan did a great job taking what we talked about and using it to make a sentance. He used a picture for the word "tree" he didn't know how to write but I know very soon he'll have the confidence to try and sound it out!! Great job Claire and Talan!

In math we're working on shapes...I have a few fun things up my sleeve! Stay tuned!

RING OF WORDS!

Here we go....finally a post about ROW.

We have been doing lots of Word Work at school. As your child shows me they are ready to begin working on real words they will earn a “Ring of Words”. Because this part of our day seems to be a favorite, I wanted to tell you a little more about it. This is a fun method of expanding our vocabulary, reading, and writing skills, that has proven to be very successful.

I will be sending home a list of words we work on in class. These words are taken from the Dolch Site Words. Students will receive the first set of words after showing me they know all the letters and sounds. I am excited that almost everyone has earned their ROW this year!

Each morning your child has a choice of about 15 different activities they can work on to help them learn the words. Ask your child what their favorite is!

Here are a few things we use...

(alphabet cards, big letters, alpha rubbings with crayons, magnets, lima bean letters, markers and colored pens for rainbow writing, letter stamps, letter blocks, playdoh, chalk boarda, and dry erase crayons on boards)

When they are able to read the set of words they will earn a sticker. When they can spell each word they will earn another sticker and a new set of words. They should be able to read and spell these words aloud without hesitation.

I feel this method works for several reasons but primarily it allows each child to work at their own pace. (Also, a little friendly competition can be quite amazing encouragement, especially for those boys!) As they quickly begin to learn the words they will also find that they can read and write stories of their own. As the students work through the words (Pre-primer through 3rd grade) I will personalize the list to include words they are frequently misspelling in their writing.

Although I don’t require it, it can be very beneficial (and FUN!) to work on the set of words your child is on at home as well. Maybe try making a ROW at home and adding that as part of your nightly homework routine.

If your child is still working on letter recognition and sounds please continue to help them at home as well. My goal is for everyone to be onto words by October!

I hope you will soon begin hearing your child talk with you about the words they are learning and using in class. I can’t wait to see where we go from here!

Thank you for your continued support at home and remember: the best way for your child to become a better reader and writer is to READ, READ, READ!!! If nothing else please, please, please read with your child every.single.night.

A little proof...

While I haven't had a free second to take pictures of students actually doing the work...I have taken a few pictures of the anchor charts we've been making together in class. These should give you a pretty good idea about what our morning look like right now. This year we are implementing the "Daily 5" in our classes. As it turns out I was basically doing this program all along the last 3 years, I just didn't know it was an actual "thing" teachers were doing, since it was something I just kind of started doing from the get-go without any real guidance, when I had no idea how to create a Kinder class my first year of teaching. (MAJOR run on sentance I just used...eek!) After reading up on it I changed my schedule a little and voila, we are officially a Daily 5 class!

Here's a little idea of how our mornings go....
Unpack, Morning Announcements

Sing our "good morning" songs (ask your kids to share!)

Go through the alpha chart daily like this:
"A says /a/ like apple" "B says /b/ like bear." etc.

(I will be sending home a copy of this very soon to practice!)

Read a story and fill out or discuss orally a chart like this:

Then we work on words. Many of us have earned a "ring of words" (which deserves a post of it's own in the near future, promise!) and others work together on letter recognition and letter sounds.

We've worked up to TWENTY minutes of independent work! WHOA BABY! :)

We then have a short lesson on whatever skill we are working on at the moment. Sounds, words, rhymes, etc. This usually includes working with a poem like this.

Then we grab our book baskets and read to ourselves for about 20 minutes.

We join back again and have some sort of short writing lesson like this:

Then we work on writing in our treasure books until it's time for lunch.

We also find time to throw in things like songs that get our wiggles out, a small activity here and there, and morning messages that will hopefully say this same thing every Monday...

GO TECH!!!

I only have about 901 things I want to add to our morning routine. The general schedule will remain the same but I will be changing things up as we go along.

Unlike your kindergartener who has built up stamina to work hard all day long, you are probably exhausted (or confused) just from reading all that!! I'm sure they'll be able to answer any questions you might have.

Peace!

**please excuse grammer and spelling...I was rushing! :)