Addition in action!

I've been neglecting the blog side of my world...  what a busy year it has been!  We wrapped up a unit on addition and subtraction and I was super busy creating and teaching new math center activities.  Take a look and grab a freebies!

...and a FREEBIE for you!

Come on over to TpT and grab this freebie!  Its an easy way to practice fluency in double facts!

W-I-L-D about numbers 1-5!

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!

First Day!

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!

10 Things...

10 Things I've Learned from Teaching!

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!  

Missing my kinder-crew!

Kindergarten families and friends,

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!

Teacher friends!  Want to grab a copy of our summer fun journal?  Click here! 

Working with Bzzzzy-Bees!

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.  

Click here to download the preview!

Kindergarten INSECT research! Come and get a template!

 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.  

Want a pre-made template?  

Click here to access a freebie from my TpT store

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!

Go, Ibrahim, go!