Peek at my Week! 1/27 and Freebies!

So I have basically been a missing person for over a month! I have absolutely no excuse. Winter Break and at least 5 snow days were thrown in there. But, I'm back and would love to share our plans for the week!

We have begun our talk curriculum unit and are really delving into how to talk to partners. I have modeled it with other teachers, had them practice with me and each other, given them prompts, practiced with read-alouds and more....but I will tell you none of this really got them talking. They all sort of tried, but they basically sat with their partner and read books to each other.

What got them talking? VIDEOTAPING THEM. So simple. I happened to have a 2 minute free window when I was done with my conferring during our partner block and saw two girls in my class just nailing their talk about their story. I videotaped them on my iPad and showed the class and all of a sudden, I have little superstar talkers!

We are doing so well that I get to show videos of my little experts almost everyday! I want to make sure that they are still independent when I'm not watching/videotaping them, so I made these little bookmarks to remind them of what they can say to each other.

You can get them here!

In math, we are starting our geometry unit! Our scope and sequence doesn't have us starting shapes until now (weird!). But anyway, we have been learning all about 2-D shapes and sides/corners!

I use this great song to help them relate the shapes to the environment.



I also found TONS of freebies on TPT that I'm using as math stations this week. They are on my lesson plans!

I also made two subtraction games using Dollar Tree finds for my math stations. You can get Fancy Hearts Subtraction and How Many Hearts? here and here! Both games practice basic subtraction skills.

 

 

My last math station game comes from my newest product that gives students opportunities to work towards mastery of addition skills covering all K.OA CCSS. You can check it out here! You can check out On A Mission for Addition! I will be posting pictures of my kiddos playing the games over the next few weeks.

Here are my lesson plans for the week. I have an extended observation, our 100th day, 2 birthdays, Bring Your Parents to School Day, and buddy time. It's going to be quite a week :)

 Enjoy the last of January!

Peek at my Week 12/15

The week before break....sigh. The behavior....sigh. These babies just do not do well with changes in their schedule. It's partially my fault. I've made them creatures of habit, and being out of their routine is a big fat no-no for them!

But anyway, we had a fantastic last week learning about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa (didn't quite get to Diwali, we'll hit it after break!). I have a post all ready to go to talk about all of the holiday fun we've had at the end of the week :) This week, we are going to finish Kwanzaa, and learn about Las Posadas and Christmas! My kiddos have really enjoyed learning about the different traditions.

We are still working on really hitting the sight words hard. Have you seen the Have Fun Teaching songs for sight words? They are awesome! I used them for letters and now sight words. I totally get that best practice is for students to experience sight words in their reading BUT some repetitive practice is necessary too!!

And this Harry Kindergarten sight word rap is so cute! It is introducing a lot of sight words at the same time, but it is also a fun, engaging transition song!

I am going to start playing this song as a transition into our reading block! We are going to be learning a bunch of new sight word games this week.

We will also be focusing on subtraction! We will be doing a lot of story problems in our math journals to practice.

Lots going on this week, so here is a Peek at my Week!

Have a great last week before break!

TONS of freebies for Target and Dollar Tree buys!....Holla for a Dolla! Halloween Edition

So I don't know about you, but I constantly pass the cute little games in the Dollar bins at Target and at Dollar Tree that I look at and say, " I could totally use those for my classroom." Then I buy them and don't know where to start!

Well look no further, I have taken tons of items from the Target Dollar Spot and Dollar Tree and turned them into math/literacy (mostly math) games with response sheets!

I'm cleverly calling this.....Holla for a Dolla!

If this is popular/useful, I will continue to make these games for seasons/holidays as they come!

The first item is those cute little erasers from the Target Dollar Spot! Get the following games here!

These guys have endless possibilities...but these are the few ideas that I came up with!

Candy Count: Choose a number card (0-20 provided), and then match that amount of candy corn erasers. A response sheet is included if wanted! 

Franken-Tower: Using your little erasers, have students make a tower as tall as they can without it falling over. Each time the tower falls, count how many erasers were used and record it.

Pumpkin Pick-Up: Play this game like you play jacks. Bounce a ball and pick up pumpkins in the same hand before you catch it. Record how many pumpkins you picked up and then write the two numbers that come next.

The Skeleton or the Pumpkin?: Grab your skeleton and pumpkin erasers. Record how many of each you have and then circle the bigger number. 

Next on my list is the table scatter from Target Dollar Spot! I saw orange pumpkins, red leaves, and brown leaves available, but I only got pumpkins and red leaves.

There are tons of ways to use these cute little counters, and you can get my ideas here!

Grab a Pumpkin and Grab a Leaf: In both of these games, students simply grab a handful of pumpkins/leaves and count how many they grabbed.

Hit the Magic Spot: In this two player game (pumpkins vs. leaves), each player takes their turn rolling 1 dice and covering that many spots on their side. The first person to reach the magic spot with that exact number wins!

Line Em' Up: Choose a leaf card (0-5) or (0-10) depending on your kids needs and fill the ten frame up with that many leaves. Then, fill the rest with pumpkins and create an equation for a combination of 5 or a combination of 10.

 

This table scatter is so fun! You can use it for so much more!

 

 

The next item is the spider rings from Target Dollar Spot! (And spider ice cube trays from the Target Dollar Spot!)

 

 

These guys can be used for EVERYTHING! Spider rings are fantastic :) But you can see my ideas here!

 

Spider Six: Students roll their dice. Then, they grab that many green spiders to match that number for the ice cube tray. They fill the rest up with the purple spiders and make an equation for a combination of 6. They color in the green/purple squares to match the numbers in their equation.

Dead Ringer: Students gently throw a handful of spiders in the air. They count how many landed on their feet (alive) and how many landed on their backs (dead) and make an equation. 

 

Webby Match: Students count the correct amount of spider rings to match the number on the webby card. Numbers 0-20 are included for easy differentiation.

 

These cute spider rings are perfect little counters for pretty much any counting activity you have!

 

Now on to the Dollar Tree purchases! Starting with...Dollar Tree Foam stickers!

 

 
These foam stickers are obviously super fun for art projects and decorating, but they can be used for more academic stuff too! You can get my ideas here!

Sticky Graph: Give students a baggie of stickers for them to sort. Then, create a graph with the stickers. Two graphs are included depending on the size of the stickers.

Scary Match: Give students a baggy of stickers for them to sort. Then, students count how many of each sticker they have and match to the number. For example, 2 witches on 2, 4 spiders on 4, etc.

Make a Pattern: Give students a bag of stickers. Have them choose a pattern card, and then make a pattern using that rule with their stickers.

 

Sticker Story: Give students a sticker. Then, have them write a story about it! (I left it neutral in case you want to use it for any other types of stickers!)

 

 I love how easy it is to use these stickers for other things!

The next item is the Night Creatures from the Dollar Tree! These little flies are a little gross, but my boys especially will like to use them!

You can get my ideas for these creepy crawlies here!

Hide-A-Bug: The students grab a handful of bugs. They count them and then cover a certain amount with a cup. Their goal is to try to figure out what number is on the cup using the other two numbers in their equation.

Shoo Fly: Students CAREFULLY throw a handful of bugs in the air. Then count how many are on their feet (alive) and on their backs (dead). Use these numbers to write an equation.

These were super creepy so I didn't think of too many games for these haha!

The next Dollar Tree item is the Halloween erasers! These puppies are so cute!!

These erasers were perfect for all kinds of activities. Here are my ideas :)

Make A Pattern: Students choose a pattern card and complete the pattern. They could also extend it further.

Grab and Graph: Students grab a handful of erasers. Then, they count and graph it using the graph paper below.

Secret Story: Students grab a "secret eraser." Then, they write a story about the character they see.

I think this is my favorite buy! They are just so cute!

The last item are the Dollar Tree ice cube trays!

These cute little trays are perfect for making equations and counting! These are my ideas!

Crazy Eyes: Students choose a blue eye card. Then, they fill the cube tray with that many blue eyes. Finish filling the tray with the gold eyes. Then, write an equation to create a combination of 5 or 10.

 
Pumpkin Pumpkin: Put the 1-10 pumpkin numbers in the bottom of the ice cube tray. Then students fill the tray with the little pumpkins (from Target Dollar spot) to match the number.

Skelo-teen: Put the 11-20 skeleton numbers in the bottom of the ice cube tray. Then students fill the tray with the little skeletons (from Target Dollar spot) to match the number.

 

These by no means are the only ideas to use these Dollar Tree/Target Dollar Spot finds....but I feel like they are useful! Hopefully you can use them with your kiddos!

 

Have a great Halloween week with your students! Hopefully they aren't too crazy :)