Unpacking Is For The Birds!

Summer is winding down and I feel like I have spent most of it in my new school unpacking my classroom. So far, my experience at Pottsgrove has been a great one. Everyone is so nice and supportive. I think this is a start to an exciting chapter in my career. Speaking of starts, the kids will be coming in just a short time!! Here are some photos of my classroom set-up.

I plan on placing the tables on the left side of the room. I have a black board and a white board to use. I am told that I have tables waiting to be put together but I wasn't sure how many I would get, so I snagged these two from teachers who didn't want them. 

This is the other side of the room along the same wall. I will set up my palm tree in the far corner and have the whole group/library area by the book bins. My mom did a nice job stuffing the boxes. I will sort them when everything else is in place but right now that isn't a top priority. 

LikeComment Tag Photo

My mom and I were both injured while putting up bulletin boards. We were trying to get a pesky staple out of the stapler. I hate when those things get stuck! The band aids were nowhere to be found so we had to improvise with paper towels and tape. Is this how they did it in the olden days?

Do you like my 3-D borders? (The top one) This is what we bled for. I think it looks great!

Pottsgrove is moving towards a balanced literacy approach. (Good for them... I mean US!!) I put this display outside my classroom to reflect the 'I Do, We Do, You Do,' gradual release of responsibility model. I  plan on putting up student work to show off. Setting up my classroom IS for the birds, but I love these toucans!!! I found them at the Dollar Tree in packs of 15. They also have lions and monkeys! Oh my!

Do I have that book?

In the process of packing up and moving my classroom I have been trying to keep everything organized for easy unpacking. (It isn't over yet!) I have avoided looking at my classroom library because it is NOT as organized as possible. Sure, I know each individual bin the books go in during the school year, but I have just stuffed them all into large bins for travel. It makes me a bit uneasy to think that I don't know exactly which books are where. I was also talking with a coworker about ideas for next year and she was trying to remember if she has a specific book and where it might be if she does own it. I spent a bit of time after school digging through my semi-packed library to see if I had a second copy, which I didn't. Boo. She and I decided to both look for an App that would allow us to scan our books into a spreadsheet so we will never have to dig again! And...(drum roll)...it exists! She found the most amazing website! 

 

It is called Classroom.booksource and it is an online tool that utilizes a scanning App on your smart phone to automatically scan books into your library. You can select settings which allow for information such as cover art, author/illustrator, word count, and guided reading level to show on your spreadsheet. WOW! Also, books being sent home with students can be scanned to keep track of books that are checked-out and those returned. And the best part? IT IS FREE!! Here is the link. Rest easy knowing you don't have to waste countless hours of family time typing in data for every book in your classroom. Mmmmm...technology. :)

HAPPY SUMMER....almost.

Well, we made it to our 'Kindergarten Move-Up Day' celebrations. I wish that I could post photos of my kinders, I mean first graders to show you how snazzy they looked! There is nothing cuter than my little ones in their Sunday best. We had full suits and puffy skirts galore! Congrats to my smart graduates!

With only 4 days to go until our summer vacation begins, my free time has been spent in a mad dash, packing up to move my classroom to a new school. I HAVE A NEW KINDERGARTEN POSITION!! I am so very excited, yet sad to leave the relationships I have built here at McDaniel. You end up being a bit of a celebrity after teaching kindergarten at the same school for 5 years. I will miss my tiny 'paparazzi' calling my name and stealing hugs as I walk by.

Onto the next chapter in my career. With that in mind, I have been digging into some AMAZING chapters on my summer reading list. First up:

I am planning on revamping my math work stations next year using Debbie Diller's fabulous ideas. If you haven't yet implemented math work stations and guided math into your math block, this is the text to help. If you are like me, you need visuals to really understand what it should look like. Ms. Diller has packed this text with photographs, work station ideas, math literature, and organization and management tips. What a wonderful resource!

100th Day Celebrations

Happy 100th Day of Kindergarten!!

We began our 100th day celebration by reading a story about our favorite fictional kindergarten classroom. We then discussed our plans to celebrate our 100th day of school.

We began thinking about what we will be like when we are 100 years old. (This was a difficult concept.) We listed some of the things we will wear, say, how we will look and what we will know. As you can see, many of my kids thought about what they will do for a living. My favorite is that they will know how to be happy. Let's hope they figure it out before they reach 100 years old!

We created portraits of what we think we will look like at 100 years old. HOW CUTE!! This and other really great 100th day activities can be found here.

This math page took a lot of focus because there were so many tiny pictures to color specific colors. As you can see, my kinder is working on counting her pictures and writing the numbers in. Her 30 is backwards, but I am pleased with how hard she worked. This page can be found here.

We loved this 100th day pizza game! The game called for rolling dice, adding the numbers together and coloring in the corresponding number of pepperoni on their pizza. The player who colors in all 100 first wins. I decided to use a spinner for this game and then add the dice in as my kids become more familiar with the rules. They LOVED this game. I put the boards in page protectors and let the kids use dry-erase markers to color in their pies. This game can be found here.

Boy, February sure has been a busy month! We took some time this week to explore some 'sweet' new station activities. Happy Valentine's Day! Aren't we super cute in our Valentine's Day headbands?

SENDING LOVE WORD SORT

This is a great little word sorting activity. The kids each took turns flipping over and reading the word on the card. For our initial introduction the kids simply sorted the words into the Number/Color/Other Word pocket charts. I found the great charts at Target, by the way. Next week we will be writing a sentence to add a little challenge to the station. As you can see, my kids really enjoy helping each other read and sort the words. This is where you can find the activity.

SWEET WORD FAMILIES

My kinders really enjoyed this station, although anything with velcro and dry-erase markers is a hit. We have been working on building words and making word family lists. I added velcro to the back of the letters this activity provided. The kids used the letters to build words and categorized them into real words (smile) or nonsense words (frown). You can find this activity here, in my favorite blog. 

VALENTINE NUMBER FILE FOLDER GAME

This picture isn't very good, the laminated board has a nasty glare. This game was simple and I will definitely be adding some challenge to it next week. I found this in one of my Mailbox books. The kids flipped over number cards, identified the number and moved their game piece according to the number on their card. The board has a few "move 2 hearts" spots, but it is overall a pretty simple game. 

HEARTS TIC-TAC-TOE 

This was a very good math game and one we will be using again. The boards have numbers up to 12 inside the hearts. Each child has 12 unifix cubes. One number die is rolled and everyone puts the corresponding number of unifix cubes at the top of their board. Repeat the process for the second number die. I always put a cabinet liner inside the 'rolling bin.' It really cuts down on the extra noise and the bin keeps the dice from flying across the room. Without it my kids spend more time searching for the dice than learning. As always, Mrs. Wills provided this wonderful math station here to help us celebrate Valentine's Day in the City of Brotherly Love!

Classroom Photos and Descriptions

Here are some photos of my current classroom. I am constantly changing and as I see it, refining my classroom spaces. This year I have spent a lot of time combining my classroom library with my whole group reading area. I have also had a lot of fun with my jungle theme.

This is my guided reading table. I have my student reading level display on the cabinets. They are my top reading bananas! I have found that displaying their levels and celebrating when someone reaches their next goal really motivates my students to read at home, practice their Word Wall words, and use their reading strategies. I would like to make a small reading strategy reference list for each guided reading spot. The orange and black (homemade) shelf is where we keep our math and Writing Workshop work. The table in front of the green word wall is our Writing Station. We have all sorts of markers, crayons, stencils and paper to use. In the past I have laminated envelopes with the students names so that they can 'mail' their friends a note. I just took pictures of the kids to post on their envelopes. I hope to get this up soon.

Storage space is a huge issue in my building and I am forced to use the window sill to house a lot of our dramatic play choice center materials and curriculum boxes. The poster on the shade is a list of reading strategies.
I am very proud of how our palm tree and library has turned out. I found the directions here, but modified them a bit. I was advised by the Home Depot experts to use a very light tube for pouring cement. I also found the palm leaves at Ikea. I am in the process of labeling our books in an efficient and kinder-friendly way. I have labels on the bins, but I am going to put a mailing label with the name and picture of the category on each book. This way my kids can simply match up the picture and word to the bin the book belongs in.
The white boxes are our independent reading book boxes. Each morning the kids unpack their belongings and begin reading at their seats, allowing for tardy students to not miss essential content. In the boxes the students have self-selected books and a tracker (pen cap) used to track the print. We usually trade books about once a week. During independent reading time I am making observations, taking attendance, walking around supporting readers, or meeting with a small group.

 Here is a photo of my whole group reading area, which we use for math time as well. You can see our jungle vines peeking through. The bottom half of our calendar board will house our upcoming question of the day. This will soon become one of our daily math activities. Our room looks big, but pile in 30 kinder kids and one teacher and space becomes limited fast! I try to keep my kids moving through group time on the rug, work at their seats and small group rotations. We don't have recess and our specials are in the room, so 30 kids can get pretty ancy if required to sit in their seats all day.

 Here is a closer look at our calendar and reading nook. My kids LOVE the comfy pillows and ($5) chair I found at Five & Below. The pull-out pink bin has the folders for the Puppet Pals Library Station, and the puppets and writing clipboards are in the blue bench. The bookshelf has our Author Study book bins on the top, and the independent reading books on the bottom.

 This is our beloved listening station. We alternate between listening to the stories we have read from our reading program, and using the leap pads. I am constantly replacing headphones for this station. The pads never seem to last! I also have a listening activity set which I will bring out later in the year. Behind the listening station you can see our math work hanging on the board. Our administration requires that we hang current student work around the room. The kids definitely adore seeing their work as well.

 Here is our main Word Wall. My camera phone doesn't have a flash, so don't mind the dimness. I used to put my words on different colored cards. Each letter of the alphabet had a specific color. I found out at the end of last year that one of my students was colorblind, and if looking at certain cards, couldn't see the words!!! I also found through research that children see the words best if written in black ink on white cards.

 Our second palm tree displays the class helpers for the week. I allow my students to hold the job for a whole week. I pick my helpers quickly on Monday mornings. I have Team Leaders: These students are in charge of passing out materials to their group members during Station time. They must answer any questions another member might have about how to complete the task. They also are in charge of keeping their group quietly working on-task. This is the most coveted job, especially since it comes with one of the badges hanging on the wall. I also have your generic Door Holders, Line Leaders, Paper Passers, and Clean-Up Helpers. If behavior is an issue with a child, they lose their job for the day but will be allowed to resume their duties the next day.

 This is our Writing Workshop display board. I have our steps to completing a writing piece, and have adopted aspects of Mrs. Will's construction of her writing time.

1. Think about what I want to write
2. Draw my picture
(This is timed using a pencil only.)
3. Add color and details
(This is also timed, and I have spent a good deal of time modeling this. Many kids say, "I'm done!" and I direct them to add more details and fill in all the white spaces. I have noticed that they are adding more details during the drawing time, and therefore need more coloring time. I'll accept this as a great alternative to rushed work!)
4. Think of a sentence to match my picture
(It is common for the child's sentence to not match the picture they just drew. I model this in my mini lessons, asking what one child drew, then asking the entire class some predictions about what the sentence might say and vice versa.)
5. Make a magic line for each word
(This really helps my kids with their anxiety about writing the whole sentence. They get overwhelmed at first. When they can focus on one word at a time, it makes the task more manageable.)
6. Write my sentence
(It is important to model going back after writing each word to help maintain meaning. They can easily forget the entire sentence.I tell my class that the Word Wall words must be spelled correctly, but if they can get at least the first sound, or one sound in the other words they are golden. I also tell them that they MUST be able to track and read their sentence to me.)


Kindergarten writing seems to be automatically filled with high anxiety. My first goal is to celebrate anything they put down on paper, and plead with their parents to do the same.

Writing Workshop Rules

1. Take your time and do your best work.

2. You are not allowed to say, "I can't!" or "I don't know how!"

3. You may help a friend, but you must not write for them.

I will include another post about my Writing Workshop and showcase some wonderful Kindergarten Writing.

 This is our Morning Message, which the children can't wait to read each morning. The content is about the events of the upcoming day. I include a few familiar sentences in each letter so that all students can be successful. They almost shout the last sentence! I have used this letter to introduce and apply reading strategies, we find Word Wall words, count sentences, find and discuss punctuation, count words in a sentence, and always track as we read and reread. This is one of my most effective teaching tools.
The blue pocket chart houses our behavior cards. Rather than purchasing the kit from Lakeshore, I have made my own. The kids are able to look at the chart and find their name based on where they are sitting. They know which card is theirs pretty early on. If I move their seat, I move their name accordingly.

Green-Following directions
Yellow-Verbal warning
Blue-5 minute time-out (must still fully participate)
Red-No Choice Centers and a sad face goes on the daily calendar in their homework folder.

I have recently added PURPLE to the behavior system. Purple students go above and beyond. They help me by listening and staying on-task and they are extra kind to friends. If I find them they gain a purple card and a kindness coin in their behavior slot and are handsomely rewarded. (First choice for centers, play-time during quiet time, or a gift from me before they go home.) I change it up to keep them excited to be caught being good!

Look what I found!!!

Oh Target dollar bins, how I love thee!! I couldn't pass up these great finds and have realized that I should probably make Target a weekly trip...these were the last items!! I hope you don't miss them!

Now, I cannot complain about the price of cute puppets however, the two on the right are slightly ambiguous...mouse/elephant, bear/monkey? Mr. Farin and I think they are an elephant and a monkey, but I will let my kiddos make the final decision....they are the experts after all! I will incorporate the puppets into our Library Station. Get a free response sheet here.

What a find! I bought all the puzzles they had on the shelf! I will have to create a mat to make sure my kids are successful, maybe connecting the number words in some way. Each puzzle is numbered on both sides and the snake has numbers from 1-20. (right on!)

These wooden lacing shapes are great. I have seen these in one form or another in Target's bins before and I think the size of the shapes are great for kinder fingers. I will add these to my current Lacing Pattern station. Can your kids resist making their strings into a necklace? My kids sure can't. :)