What's Happening?

If you have been checking the blog, you have probably noticed that I haven't been posting a lot about the happenings, but rather I've been uploading videos. These videos are being used during math group time. I have groups watch the video and then do the activity. So far, it seems to be a great way for kiddos to do math, but without having me right there the whole time. It is still me teaching, but then they can be independent afterwards.

With that being said, I will still try and put up things that are happening, but I also want this to be a great tool for the kiddos! You can always do the activities at  home too!

December 6, 2013 by lauren1983mitchell

Math Groups

I thought I would do a sneak peek on our Math Groups that we do everyday! It is a fun time where the kiddos rotate, move, and work on math skills. The kiddos count the eggs in the nest and then clip the clothespin onto the correct number.

September 10th - 14th

This week in reading we will...

• Work on noun substitution by singing the song "Skip to my Lou" 
• Learn the letter "X"
• Draw an ox

This week in math we will...

• Work with shapes
• Use fine motor skills to manipulate shapes and blocks

This week in handwriting we will...

• Practice making the letter "D"

This week in science we will...

• Begin our 5 senses unit

A Passion for Pinterest

It's official, I am pinterest obsessed. If you haven't seen or heard of pinterest, well then, I'm pretty sure you might be living under a rock or you have successfully avoided the social network community! I check pinterest quite frequently and I follow some pinners who consistently post amazing teaching ideas. My last post was all about math tubs and I must admit some of those ideas came from pinterest. But that is the beautiful thing, I AM NOT RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL!! Nope the wheel has been brought to me! I also have found ideas that I sort of like and then tweaked them to my needs and likeness. The next step is for me to start posting some of my own ideas, because we all know they are just genius :)

One pin I stumbled on today made me want to get right to work and make it! It's a big book about the teacher. Included in the book are pictures from when the teacher was little, growing up and adult life. The book also had a page with fun facts about the teacher and, my favorite, a page dedicated to the teacher's favorite books! I am definitely going to make this book over the summer and share it with my kiddos next year.

Math Tubbing It

One of my goals this summer is to make games for math tubs that will be used during our math intervention time. So far I have made three games and have two of three laminated. I'm hoping to have enough games made so that I can rotate games within the tubs every 1-2 months. I also want them to go with the themes that we will be studying; 5 senses, dinosaurs, ladybugs/insects, gingerbread.

Here are the games/activities I have made so far...

1. Crayon counting and matching

• There are 20 "crayon boxes" with a number on it. There are also 20 laminated "crayons" with a given number of dot stickers. The kids will match the crayon to the crayon box, e.g. 5 dots to the number.

2. Apples up on top

• I have made a set of 10 laminated "apples." The goal will be to put the apples in order. I think I'm going to add their pictures at the beginning of the year, so that they can stack the apples on top of their own heads!

3. Bowling Fun

• I have 4 sets of bowling cards. Each card has 10 bowling pins in the triangle formation with a number on each pin. The kids will draw a bowling ball card, that also has a number, and they will put a marker on the pin if they have a match. This is sort of like BINGO, but with a bowling twist.

So, that's what I've got so far!

Another goal this summer is organizing my reading games. I laminated each folder and made sure that the cards inside were laminated too. Then, I put all of the folders that taught the same or similar skill together in a crate. I think this will really help me during my guided reading time! I can identify the skill I want to work on with my group and find a game quickly AND it will look sooooo good!!!

April 9th - April 13th

The weeks are winding down and the kindergartners are turning into first graders little by little! However, it is important for them to remember that there is still a lot of school left. Please help remind the kiddos that they need to do their best and show their PRIDE at school. They do a great job of doing this, but sometimes the sillies just work their way in :)

This week in reading we will...

• Continue working on our fairy tale unit by exploring stories, both traditional and non-traditional. 

This week in math we will...

• Create a teen number book with drawings.
• Work on subtraction.
• Work on equal and not equal.

Starting in two weeks we will also begin our ladybug unit in science and I am so very excited about that! We will also be going on a field trip, but more on that later this week, expect a note coming home. I am also planning on teaching a short unit on weather, which will begin as soon as possible too.

In other news, continue to send your kiddos to school with light jackets, because it can be quite cool during morning recess. Keep up the great work at home, by reading, talking, and just believing in your child!

April 2nd - April 6th

Well, it is quite an exciting Monday! First, it's April, how has that happened? And second, tonight the Jayhawks will play in the championship game! The kiddos seem pretty excited, but so far they are doing an excellent job of remembering that we still have a lot of school left in the day.

This week in reading we will...

• continue working on our fairy tale unit

This week in math we will...

• work on building numbers 1-20 with our ten sticks and centimeter cubes
• keep practicing recognizing and making partners

In addition to the things mentioned above, we will also be getting back into our writing. We will finish the Ideas trait this week and begin Organization. It has been so amazing to watch them grow as writers! I know that you would be proud!

March 26th - March 30th

Wow! Welcome back! I hope that you had a wonderful spring break full of muddy puddles and a little bit of sunshine. I know that I am very thankful that today was a sunny day, we went outside for an extra long time this afternoon.

I can't believe that it is almost April. I feel like I write that a lot, "I can't believe," but I really do feel that way. The kinders have grown up so much. I wonder if you see that too. In math we are revisiting a book that we read during the first week. You wouldn't believe what they noticed this time around and the things they were saying. I like to tell them that they have really "turned" into 1st graders, but that also makes me sad, because they will no longer be mine. Well, I have enjoyed this year immensely and IT'S NOT OVER YET!

This week in math we will...

• Create our own teen drawings 
• Revisit "Anno's Counting Book"

This week in reading we will...

• Define a fairy tale and decide what a fairy tale is made up of. 
• Read "Cinderella"
• Plot out "Cinderella"
• Compare "Cinderella" books (we might not have time, so we will do this next week)

We will also have the Junior Achievement program coming to our class this week. They will be working with the kiddos on money saving skills and other economic issues. Today was our first session and it went great.

Our writer's workshop has gotten a little off track due to spring break and St. Patrick's day (photos to come). I plan on getting right back on the ball with that as soon as possible!

February 27 - March 2

This week we are continuing our study of Presidents. We read two non-fiction books about George Washington on Monday and on Tuesday we will read a book about our current president, Barack Obama. To wrap up presidents we will be writing Barack Obama a letter!

This week in reading we will...

• meet Ping Pong who makes the /ng/ sound
• draw a king
• celebrate our characters
• start writers workshop

This week in math we will...

• work on partners of 10
• focus on subtraction in small group
• work on more and fewer

Please think of us when you at the grocery store and also when you are buying goods for the week. We have some dry erase markers and gluesticks, but I am concerned that they won't last till the end of the year. Our kinders love to practice their heart words on white boards with dry erase markers! Which, if you don't have a white board, I know you can find them at the dollar store or Wal-Mart for a cheap price. They are a great tool to help your child practice their writing!

February 20th - February 25th

Welcome back after a long weekend! I really enjoyed getting to visit with you about your kindergartner. They are doing such great things in our classroom and it is exciting to share. Spring break is right around the corner and we have a lot to accomplish before that week.

This week in reading we will...

• Meet Zeke for letter /z/
• Draw a prize
• Meet June and her mule for the sound /ue/, / u _e/

This week in math we will...

• Continue to work on partners of 10
• Work with more and fewer
• Make tiny tumblers. This is a way to see and work with addition.

Monday was also President's Day and this whole week we will be reading and writing about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. I was gone Monday morning and the substitute read a TIME for kids about the presidents and they filled out a KWL about presidents; what I KNOW, what I WANT to know, and what I LEARNED. Later this week we will make an Abraham Lincoln writing craft.