This week in kinder-land we've been working on our numbers to 5! Here's Noah, Meghan, and Jose working on Common Core Standard K.CC.4-: Counting & Cardinality
* Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted.
* When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order..
Click here to find some fun GAMES to play with your kinders to develop their counting and number names!
* pairing each object with one and only one number name...
The activity comes from my Wild About Numbers activity set from my TpT store! Come by and take a look. I'll be listing it for 50% off for the next week. Thanks so much for stopping by!
What a day! Our kinder-crew was busy ALL day! Sometimes, it's hard to get a lot of information out about your child's day. Here is a great article with ideas to start conversations about the school day. Click here!
You may hear a lot about this Alphablocks video. It was a BIG hit. Take a look...
Parents, here is a link to some SUPER fun games to go along with the Alphablocks. It's a fun way to work on letters and sounds! Alphablocks Enjoy!
Thanks to Miss Kindergarten for hosting this fun linky-party! I'm tweaking it a bit to share the 10 things I've learned from teaching kindergarten, I'm sure you won't mind. Here we go...
1. No matter how patient, kind and gentle you are... a kindergartener will show you one day that you are not. Kindergarteners taught me real patience, kindness, gentleness, love and understanding.
2. It's OK to have a soft, squeaky and child-like voice... it was meant for kindergarten children!
3. I can create a song/lyric/dance/ or chant to explain anything.
4. Enunciation and expression!
5. Every child in your class is their parent's WHOLE world. Always remember how special that is!
6. Tying shoes is very annoying.
7. A kindergartener hears and sees ALL. They will be the first to notice a haircut, boo-boo, sparkly earrings or a new pen. If you make a mistake, don't take it too personally if they tell you and then remind you again... and then bring it up a few days later.
8. The best feeling- EVER- falls somewhere between February and March. You look around and see the children quietly working during literacy centers, or reading independently, taking an Accelerated Reader test , giving directions and helping another student ALL BY THEMSELVES! It happens every year, so be patient!
9. Sensitivity! You learn it quick after seeing the pain in a child's eyes when they realized they were wrong or disappointed the teacher.
10. Every year the children that are brought into your life through teaching TEACH you!
I hope you are enjoying your summer. I love being able to sleep in and have extra free time, but... boo-hoo, I miss my little friends!
THE BEST picture from the 2012-2013 yearbook... I think we all look FABULOUS!
Please remember, NEW first graders... write in your summer fun journal! I can't wait to see what you've been up to! Return your journal in AUGUST and I will have a special treat for you!
This is what my busy bees were working on this week at the Making Words Center. Come by my TpT store and download the preview to get your own set of short e word builders.
I am SO proud of my kinder-crew! Their writing is just amazing! Not only can they write sentences that are grammatically correct, BUT they can add details from their own research. WOW!
We used World Book Online to conduct our research. It's called Early World of Learning and is an awesome resource to have. Talk to your media or tech specialist to purchase a license for YOUR school!
The question we used to guide our research came from our MMH reading series. The question is "What are some interesting insects?" Our note-taking template was super-simple to create. We just used some legal-sized paper and 3 post-its. Once we gathered our information, we wrote sentences to tell about our interesting insects. Our rule for sentences? Write a 3 star sentence!
1. Start with a capital letter. 2. Use spaces between words. 3. End with a period.
The following day, I read aloud the guided reader My Caterpillar Report. Using this book as a model, we created a list to show what needs to be included in an insect report.
And finally, our final product! My school has a wonderful die-cut machine so the booklets we made came out super cute... take a look!
Click on the picture above to get your OWN copy of the Insect Report template!
This time of the year is the BEST! The weather is beautiful, the flowers are blooming and so are my little learners! Have you started seeing the amazing progress of you kindergarten readers??? I'm so proud of all they have accomplished!
This week we focused on the fairytale, Jack and the Beanstalk. The kids had so much fun reading, writing, listening and responding to this old favorite!
Here are a few of my little darlings working on the little book Happy Jack. I love to see them so engaged!
Here are some great videos to watch with your kindercrew if you are reading Jack and the Beanstalk. The first one is my FAVORITE- it's so interactive, the kids really "jam-out" to it!
*Be careful when viewing YouTube videos in class, I usually let the commercial go on before letting it project full screen!*
This year, my deliberate practice has been finding similarities and differences. In our district we have one deliberate practice item to focus on throughout our year for professional development. I have seen such a difference in the way my kinders process, apply and extend new information and skills! We have all been working on talking about similarities and differences for several months now. I am so happy to see that they have turned their "talking about it" to "writing about it"! YAY! Look at them go!
I would LOVE to share one of my TpT products with a few of you! I am giving away one download of the Happy Jack little book AND one download of the Comparing Characters activity. Leave a comment below with your email, the download you'd like AND your FAVORITE fairytale to teach. If your favorite fairytale matches mine, you'll get your choice of download. Here's a hint, it's definitely been re-made by Disney. I can't wait to hear from you!
This game will change your life, seriously... The Game of 6 is the best way to practice number writing to 100.
I can not take credit for this one. I learned of it at a math training several years ago and have yet to remember the name of the presenter. What was great about the training is that the teachers learned how to play the game by playing it. Even grown-ups are engaged and focused while playing this game. Take a look at my little learners doing such a GREAT job playing this game! The link for the freebie is below.
Hello kindergarten families! School starts back up tomorrow. I am SO excited to get started on our new spring-themed learning activities.
Find our new calendar here. We've got a BUSY week coming up!
Parents, please come take a look at our "Books with Bijou" page. Click on the link to access our guided readers at home. Bijou loves books and Bijou wants our kinder-crew reading everyday!
The real Bijou loves to hear about the learning in our kindergarten classroom!
This week in math, we began working on the number 20. To introduce the number, we got out the Play-doh and made up some chocolate chip cookies! The children were given directions to make 4 cookies. When it was time to add the chocolate chips I gave different directions to each group:
1. Put five chocolate-chips in the first cookie. Put the same number in the other cookies.
2. Make 20 chocolate chips, split them evenly between each cookie. The number in each cookie should be the same.
-or-
3. Add chocolate chips to your cookies so the total number is 20, and each cookie has the same number of chocolate chips.
The children took many different approaches to their cookie-making! I extended the lesson to include counting sets of 5 to 10 and to 20 and in some cases, 35. Wow! That's a lot of chocolate chips!
The children LOVED this activity, so I will be putting it in centers next week. To summarize their learning, they will be completing a Show What You Know activity page. Here it is for you!
Our little-learners had a blast sharing their maps today. I was so impressed with the kiddos participation and enthusiasm. Boy, can they talk! Thank you so much kindergarten families for supporting your child's learning! I know it was an extra assignment for you too! I am happy everyone got to participate.
Teacher friends! Click on the picture below for a sample parent letter and rubric for your own Social-Studies Share. Come back soon... I will be posting on different ways to group your little learners to get the most out of "class chat" time!
Keeping track of the date is a skill new to kindergarten children. With new learning, sometimes we see mistakes like this...
OOPSY-DAISY
That's not right!
Don't worry, we fixed it! It became one of those wonderful "teachable moments" that couldn't have been planned better!
Kindergarten families! Click HERE to see our updated calendar.
Did you know that our classroom calendar AND reading calendars are available on-line? They are super easy to find!
Classroom Calendar
Kindergarten Families>Parent Page
Reading Calendar
Reading and Language Arts>Reading Calendar
Come back to the reading calendar page for updates to implement the Common Core Standards!
Families, be sure to leave comments or send me a message if there is anything else you'd like to see on our class site!
Let me leave you with a darling picture of our little learners celebrating the 100th day. We had a great time and THANKS to the families who donated treats for our math-a-licious 100th day snack!
Hello kindergarten friends and families! We are getting ready to wrap up our unit on addition and we have been busy joining numbers, modeling addition and writing number sentences.
Take a look at Zoo Animal Addition. I created this activity to help little learners practice joining numbers and recognize symbols for addition... a plus and equal sign!
Teacher friends, here is a simple document to help your little learners in joining numbers and developing fluency in adding numbers. Print the document on card stock, cut out the cards and place in a zippy bag. Directions are included for at home practice.
Throughout the next two weeks your child will be participating in FAIR testing. Please take a look at the FAQ's below to see what FAIR means for you and your child.
1. What is FAIR?
The FAIR is a state-wide assessment for grades K-3. It stands for Florida Assessments for Instruction in reading. The FAIR is given 3 times throughout the year. The purpose of the FAIR is to screen, diagnose and plan for reading instruction. It is just one of the many measures teachers use to see the progress in their students' learning and plan for future instruction.
2. What kind of assessments are included in FAIR?
In kindergarten, the FAIR assessments include Letter Name and Sounds, Phonemic Awareness, Listening Comprehension and Vocabulary. The last FAIR assessment (in April) will include Sight Word Reading and Reading Comprehension. The assessments are done in a one-to-one setting and take from 5-10 minutes to complete.
3. When will parents be notified of student results? All kindergarten families will be getting a letter that will help parents support their child's growth in reading based on their child's assessment results.
Specific results can be obtained by scheduling a conference in person or over the phone. Please email me to schedule a time to meet! jcabral@pasco.k12.fl.us
Kindergarten friends and family! Welcome to my very first Guest blogger... Crystal from Ms. Jones'Junction. Be sure to come on over to Hippo Hooray for Second Grade to see my guest blog post!
Greetings Bloggy Friends!!This is Crystal from Ms.Jones' Junction!I am a first grade teacher from South Carolina.I have been blogging since July and have loved every minute of it... so much that I think Ihave become obsessed.I just recently reached the goal of 200 Followers....More about that in a minute!!
I am so excited to be a part ofthe guest blogging exchange -“New Year, New Ideas, New Possibilities Linky Party, hosted by Stephanie, Stephany, and Kathi of PrimaryPossibilities.I’m thrilled to be a guest blogger at Primary Pointe a kindergarten blog.
Well I have a lot to cover so let's dive right in.I have a cute craftivity/math activity that my firsties will be creating next week when I start my snow unit.I just love this time of the year, but living in the south now, I don't get to see snow anymore.It is a rarity if it snows at all in South Carolina.So I try to bring thesnow to my littles.They will be creating snow pals and practice some basic math facts at the same time with this Frosty Addition Craftivity:
Click on the picture above to download!
Students will cut out all of the pieces
and form into a snowman
Student will then roll a die two times to create a number sentence.They will then use the commutative property of addition and turn thenumbers around to create switched partners.
for example: 3 + 5 = 8and5 + 3 = 8
My students always enjoy doing this activity.I hope this is something that you can use in your classroom with your students.I love letting my students have some fun while they are learning!!
Before I go I wanted to let you know that I am also having a 200 Follower giveaway on my blog.
I will be giving away 20 items from my TN store and some sweet bloggy buds are helping me out with my giveaway so hop over and enter for a chance to win some great prizes!!!
I want to thank Julie for having me as a guest blogger.Now I am going to check out the other blogs that have joined the linky party!
