Name Art

It's the first week of school and I need simple activities!  So today we did name art.  It's great for kids to practice their name and fine motor skills.  It took quite some time which was great since we haven't started curriculum yet and need lots of things to do!

I wrote the students' names and gave them bowls of construction paper squares.  They had to tear the paper into small pieces and glue them over their name.  They loved all the colors and learning to use the glue sticks!

They turned out so cute!  A couple were difficult to read, so I retraced their name on top of the pieces of paper.  Overall, it was a great first week activity!

Dry Erase Markers

Using dry erase markers is a great way for students to get used to holding a writing utensil and writing!  The marker makes drawing lines easy so they don't have to push hard and the thicker width of the marker is easy to hold.  Plus, the different colors are so fun!  I used a hot glue gun to glue pom-poms to the tops so students can use it for little mistakes.  It's great because they quickly erase little mistakes without having to stop and go get an eraser.  I got the idea from my teacher friends at my school, love these little teacher hacks!

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school!  It's my second year and I feel much more comfortable and excited!  I learned so much last year and I can't wait to see what this year brings.

My sister also teaches Kindergarten and her school started the day before! #RossGirlsTakeOnKinder

Circle Maps

Do you use thinking maps in your classroom?  My district has a big focus on writing and thinking maps so I use them all the time!  We create circle maps, t-charts, flow maps, and venn diagrams.  This was a circle map we made of our weekly focus letter.  We made it when we had a few extra minutes, they are great time-fillers too!

I'm attending a training this summer which is great because I've only learned about the different maps from my colleagues.  I'm super excited to learn more about using them in my classroom!

Anchor Charts

I just want to share how much I LOVE anchor charts!!  I love making them with my students because it really gets everyone involved in instruction.  I love how their opinions and ideas become part of the lesson and the classroom decor!  Anchor charts are also a great focus for a class discussion, you know that it's all about the visual aid!  After our discussion is over and our anchor chart is complete, I find a special spot to hang our poster.  Students refer to it throughout the year and I love seeing them looking at the posters for strategies or spelling words!

This is my favorite!  This student was looking at our anchor charts to spell a word in his journal.  I loved that he was taking responsibility for his learning and was seeking out the information he needed.  This very action is EXACTLY why anchor charts are so amazing!  Students create memories and build background knowledge during the lesson.  They remember creating the anchor chart; where they were sitting during the lesson, their contribution and connection to the lesson.  Later, they remember where that information is and know how to access it.

 

 

These are just a few of our anchor charts, I have to give credit to Pinterest for the different ideas and blog links!

Teacher Keychain

I want to share this adorable keychain my BTSA coach gave me!  I absolutely love my new keychain.  And it was made perfectly for me; sparkles, pink, and polka-dots!

We went out for a celebratory end-of-the-year dinner and she surprised us with these gifts.  How cute is the gift box?!  She ordered them from the Etsy store, Once Upon A Sugar Tree.  They create personalized jewelry, keychains, and all kinds of fun stuff!

Farm Diorama

This week we worked with the story, "Old MacDonald Had A Woodshop" and talked about farm animals and.  We made a diorama with farm animals and my students loved their 3D projects!  I usually don't show my students completed art or drawings when modeling because I want them to use their own creativity.  But having a completed diorama made a huge difference.  It was great to refer back to the model because a 3D project was a whole new concept and was difficult for some to understand.

Have you made dioramas before?  They are so easy!  I used the bigger sized construction paper and cut it to a square.  Fold it diagonally then cut from one corner to the middle.  Then fold the side over and use glue or tape to make it stick to the bottom.  I used double-sided tape to make life easy!  I pre-made blank dioramas to make the assembly easier.

             

First, students colored their farm animals and barn, then they cut them all out.  Each student had a little paper envelope to keep all their pieces together.  Cutting was the tricky part because they had to remember to keep the stand for each animal!  Needless to say, I had a couple extra copies of the animals for some accidental animal redos!

Next, they colored the scene on the diorama; the grass, mud for the pig to stand in, the sky, etc.  

Lastly, they glued the barn against the back wall and all the animals throughout the scene.    

You can download the farm template here!

 

Math Games

We got to go to a math games training last week and it was so amazing!  Our brains were fried after, we learned about SO many games!  All the games practice important math skills and build strong number sense.  All the games used common things like dice, cards, and dominoes.  I wanted to introduce the rules and routines with a simple activity so we've been using dice to practice "greater than" and "less than."  Students roll the dice and grab the larger number with their left hand (so they get in the habit of putting the larger number on the left side of number sentences).  I stamped everyone's left hand so there wouldn't be any confusion!

Students playing at their table, "Shake, Catch, Hands off!"

My 2 lower students used 1 dice to practice subitizing.

They rolled the dice and said the number.

Students rolled the dice, and used the sentence frames to compare the numbers.  

They said, " ___ is greater ___."  If they rolled doubles they said, " ___ and ___ make ___."

They're talking too which is helping them gain a deeper understanding of numbers!  My students love how much fun they are having with the math games and I love that they are building a strong number sense!

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week and we were all feeling the love!  Our PTC spoiled us and had so many treats and lunch every day.  I got cards and flowers from my students, so sweet!

 

A little gift from our principal, he's the best!  You can never have too many of these cups and I love that it has our school logo!

Our principal also put on "The I.O.T.W.Y.M.B.T.N... W.Z. Contest!"  Throughout the week, there were different challenges and Friday afternoon was the final contest.  Our Kinder team was team BAMF and we took it to the next level!  We decorated the staff lounge and put treats in all the boxes, we had too much fun!  We even dressed up as gangsters for the final contest on Friday (we changed after-school).  There was a lot of friendly competition throughout the week and the Friday contest was so much fun!

                 

A little friendly competition is good for everyone!

Team BAMF won!! Duh!  And we won a gift card for all of us to get lunch, awesome!!

Tablets

I love using tablets in the classroom and my students LOVE tablets too!  A couple times a week, we have tablet time and students work on a specific app.  We used to work a lot on Starfall so students could practice letter recognition and letter sounds.  Lately, we've been using different apps that practice CVC and High-Frequency words.

This is my favorite app!  Students practice CVC words with an adorable turtle in Kids Learn To Read (Lite).  This app is fun because students earn points and play while they practice spelling, blending, and reading!  Even on a tablet screen, the games are hands-on.  They spin the blocks to build the words!

I love how each word is sounded-out at the end, so great!

This is another app that I love!  Students practice HFWs with Parrot Fish in the Learn To Read Sight Words Lite app.  They have to identify and read HFWs in the fishtanks.  The game has lots of animation and different levels!

                    

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is this weekend so I browsed through Pinterest to get some gift ideas.  I saw a lot of pictures that used handprints to make a flower pot so I created a card for us to make.  Little handprints and student writing is always so adorable!

We did handprints on the front of the card and wrote our notes on the inside.  Students traced the flower pot template (I just printed one from google images) and I cut flowers using the die cut machine.

We glued the pots and flowers last!  They turned out so cute!  Happy Mother's Day!