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!