The Three Bears, More/Fewer, and a Peek at my Week (10/6)!

Whew!! This whole fall without any breaks thing is getting tough. My babies work REALLY hard, but even I'm starting to get stir crazy. Only 2 months till Thanksgiving Break right? :(

Last week we read The Three Bears!

It is amazing how many of my kiddos have never been exposed to these classic stories before. They just thought my Papa Bear voice was phenomenal!

During this time in my reading units, when we are close reading each emergent storybook, we are really looking for the students to get deeper into the book! We have been focusing on the aspect of retelling the book. I found a similar version to the following activity on Pinterest. 

My kiddos and I retold The Three Bears orally and I made sure they included the important parts. Then, each child took a part of the story to retell and illustrate on this large piece of construction paper. I made a big deal out of the fact that each part of the story is important (for the whiners who didn't get the part they wanted!). 

They worked collaboratively together to finish it! I made it in the shape of a road map, so during other parts of our day (literacy centers/learning centers), my kiddos could walk the road and tell the story!

They were so proud of their part, and it really forced  slightly pushed some of my kids out of their comfort zone that normally didn't participate as much in the retelling process :)

We also read the most adorable Three Bears poem! I found it on pinterest here :)

We have also been using our Guiding Kinders math resource to learn all about more/fewer. These are some pictures of my students choosing cards, building the number with bears, deciding which has more/less, then spinning to see if the winner is the person with more/less. YES! MY KINDERS CAN DO THIS!!

Here are a few pictures of my kiddos in action!

So precious right? They are so proud of themselves for all the math they can do! And bonus for me, my kiddos are progressing faster and more fully than last year at this time and they started out lower in general!! WOO!

As usual, I'm linking up with Mrs. Wills Kindergarten to share a peek at my week! 

You can get a copy of my lesson plans here :)

We are reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? this week and learning TONS about color words!! I'll try to share more throughout the week :)

Have a great end to your Monday! I am watching my Cardinals and hoping for a win!!

Missing Person Found!! Monday Made-It (And some FREEBIES)

So I am here to tell you that I am not a missing person. Although, not blogging for 6 MONTHS would almost make me one. I'm so sorry for my long absence. I had a special friend in my class this year, and it was really all I could do to actually make it in the door each morning, much less think about this little blog. But I'm back, and I'm definitely going to be better about blogging more often :)

I've been teaching summer school, and taking the opportunity to get some stuff ready for next year! I FINALLY get to teach the same grade level two years in a row. Kindergarten again next year and I couldn't be more excited! These are some of the things I've been getting ready for next year! (Don't worry, I only stay for an extra 30 minutes each day!! I'm not wasting my precious summer!)

I purchased DeeDee Wills' Poetry Station and Shared Reading Complete Set for next year! 

Being new to kindergarten this year, I bought her poetry pack for August/September with every intention of continuing on throughout the year as my students LOVED it! I just couldn't get it together to have them all set and ready. So, I'm doing it this summer!!

This is just some of my progress. I've managed to cut out/laminate all of the little pieces, and am working on the actual poems on sentence strips right now. I'm about 1/3 the way done! That's pretty good right?

I also convinced my K team that we had to have DeeDee Wills and Deanna Jump's math and writing complete sets! I mean come on, these ladies are amazing! And if you get just one unit, you know you're going to love and it and will be mad at yourself for wasting your money on one when you want the whole pack :) 

I didn't want to overwhelm myself, but had a little time for pool reading, so I've completely read through Units 1-5 on DW and DJ's Guided Kinder's: Math Units.

These units are AMAZING. I'm not kidding, I cannot wait to see how much more and how much faster my kiddos grow in their mathematical abilities because of this amazing resource. Not only does it give you detailed lesson plans, but it also organizes and builds on itself in a way that is easy for kids to understand, easy to differentiate, and easy for teachers to prepare. I LOVE IT!

I think I have all of the materials ready for the first 4 units, which should hopefully last me until December(ish). I am just beyond excited to start this in August!

We also purchased DJ and DW's Writer's Workshop: Writing Through the Year pack too! I am also super excited to use this wonderful resource. 



So far, I have managed to get through the first three units. Once again, I am just amazed at how wonderful these ladies are at making fluid lessons that push students, in addition to building off of the unit before. Writing was my biggest struggle as a kindergarten teacher because I felt as if I was modeling too much of what my students were not ready for. These lessons are very developmentally appropriate!



So, now onto my Monday Made-It! I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics to show you some projects I've been working on!



This project is something that I've wanted to make for a LONG time. A new prize box! I'd been waiting and waiting for the wooden treasure chests at Hobby Lobby or Michaels to go on sale, but the more I thought about my little kinder babies, I think if that got dropped it would shatter. So, on to plan B!

Michael's was having a sale on their containers, so I got this guy! It is perfect for a prize box because it is big enough to hold everything, and has a snap lid. My only concern was that it was clear. With a little sparkly scrapbook paper, problem solved! 

This was honestly one of the easiest projects I've done. I just attached the scrapbook paper with scotch tape! My kiddos are not going to be in this that often, and when they are, they won't be ripping at the sides (hopefully haha!). And since the box will be full and you won't see it anyway, I put the tape on the inside. 

This is what the box looks like with a few new prizes in it! Since the box is not totally square, the paper did not go all the way to the edges, but I think it still looks good!

Then I just needed to finish the lid! I put some extra sparkle paper on it and made a little prize box label. You can download it for free here (thanks Creative Clips for the border and Kevin and Amanda for the font!)! 

I feel like it turned out really nice! I'm happy and I'm sure my kiddos will be too with all the lovely prizes they'll earn :) Total cost of this project: $15. ($10 for the box, $5 for the scrapbook paper)



After having students the last few years that struggled with emotional regulation, I knew that for next year, I wanted more resources available in my room to help my students calm themselves down. I had seen this idea of a calming jar on Pinterest before, and had failed at making it! 



But I finally found an easy way to make this calming jar that I didn't mess up, from Juggling with Kids. It was so easy! All you need is food coloring, some kind of jar/bottle, glitter glue, and warm water! 

I ended up using Gatorade bottles. (Glass in a K classroom? I think not!) For each bottle I added 3 cups of warm water (it needs to be warm/hot to melt the glue), half the bottle of glitter glue (I used Elmer's), and 3-4 drops of food coloring. Just shake/stir to mix. Then I added just a tad more water at the end, but don't make it totally full or the kids can't shake and mix the glitter!

I think they turned out great! These pictures were taken about 1 minute after shaking, and it takes about 5 minutes for the glitter to settle completely. Total cost for this project: $7. ($3 for the glitter glue and $4 for the food coloring)

So I have been reading The Next Step in Guided Reading: Focused Assessments and Targeted Lessons for Helping Every Student Become a Better Reader. I bought it last summer and briefly read through it, but I really wanted to delve more into it! 


After reading the chapter about emergent readers, and learning that the fastest way for students to pick up letters and letter sounds is for them to: a) trace the letter everyday and b) see the same pictures for sounds on everything (wall letters, ABC charts, tracing books, etc.). Since I couldn't find one on TPT that I liked, I made my own!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Now-I-Know-My-ABCs-ABC-Posters-Tracing-Books-and-Charts-1311217

Now I Know My ABC's is a little 83 page pack I made that includes large ABC posters to hang on your wall, ABC tracing books in color and black and white, and an ABC chart for student reference! 
It is on sale on TPT for 1/2 off today and tomorrow only! And the ABC chart is included as a freebie in the preview file :)

Have a great Monday! I'm so jealous of those of  you in VEGAS!

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 :)