Earth Day

I love teaching my students about Earth Day!  They get so excited and I love watching them take initiative in helping the earth!  It's so cute how proud they are when they pick up trash on campus and turn off the classroom lights on the way out.   It's important for them to learn about the earth so they can protect it as they grow up!  I saw a cute anchor chart at A Cupcake For The Teacher.  We had a class discussion about taking care of the earth and made our own anchor chart.  There are a bunch of teacher approved Earth Day videos, we watched a Peppa Pig video about recycling.

We also made this adorable flip craft I got from Michelle and wrote one way to help the earth.  I hung them outside on the windows and the students loved looking at each others!  Happy Earth Day!

Monthly Calendars

Every month we make calendars and it's always a fun activity.  Students practice their numbers and have a chance to relate numbers to real life!  We also do a little art to go along with the month!  I got the calendar template from Miss Kindergarten (get the Calendar Template).  Some of the calendars have traceable numbers, perfect for pattern practice.  Now that we have learned numbers beyond 20, students are able to fill in the calendar themselves!

Read Across America Day

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's birthday and in his honor, we celebrated National Read Across America Day!  This day is about motivating students to read and we had guest readers who came into the classrooms to read to us.  The day before, we made Thing 1 and Thing 2 decorations and I made a welcome sign for our classroom door.  We celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday by reading his books, making Cat In The Hat headbands and doing Dr. Seuss themed activities.  Our Thing 1 and 2 decorations were a huge hit too!  And how convenient that the PLC Principal site visit is on Friday.  Definitely leaving the adorable door decorations up for a few days! 

 

100th Day of School

The 100th Day of School is a big deal in Kindergarten because we learn to count to 100!  The whole day was filled with 100-themed activities.  In the morning, we made 100 Day headbands and paraded around the classrooms to see all the 100 activities.  The day before, we made gumball machines and posters.  We made a gumball machine with 100 gumballs and they turned out so cute!

I set out 10 paint colors and students used 10 Q-Tips, 1 for each color.  They painted 10 "gum balls" of each color so they had 100 gumballs!

We also made posters of 100 items and students glued down beans, foam shapes, gummy bears, stickers, etc.  I forgot to take pictures before I sent them home, oops!  The items were glued in groups of 10 so we could practice counting by tens too.  In the afternoon, students did the 100 Cup Challenge.  They worked in small groups and had 5 minutes to stack and build a structure using 100 cups.  They LOVED this!  They had so much working together and it was great to see them all talking and problem solving.  After the time was out, they compared the other structures to see which were taller.  Loved hearing all the academic language!

The winning team!  They had the tallest cup tower!

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school!  I woke up feeling happy, excited, and so very nervous!  This is my first year of teaching and I am so ready to begin my teaching career!

My sister teaches kindergarten too!  She's an incredible teacher and has been a huge inspiration to me!  So fun because we both start school today!  #RossGirlsTakeOnKinder

IPSF Summer Enrichment Academy

This summer I'm teaching "Jumpstart Kindergarten" at the IPSF Summer Enrichment Academy.  It's been a lot of fun!  Each day we learn a new alphabet letter and do a little letter-related craft.  We also practice the numbers and shapes.  The program is pretty awesome, it gives students some exposure to the social and academic aspects of a classroom environment.

I taped paint bags onto the small back table so students could practice writing letters.  We made pattern snakes on our letter S day.

I used sheet protectors so students could practice writing with expo markers.  The days are short but we really get so much done each day!  I'm loving this enrichment program!