Egg Cycle

We did a fun project today where we made 3D eggs showing the cycle of a hatching egg.  The project comes from Robin Sellers on TpT.  They had to order the cycle, glue it on the eggs, and then they could color it.  Finally we taped it all up into a 3D hanging diagram!

Why I Love Kindergarten

Some of my favorite things about kindergarten are the sweet notes, pictures, and hugs.  Here's an adorable message I got yesterday. They really know how to win me over, I love these little guys!

"You're beautiful. I love you."

Dinosaur Week Continued

We started off our second day of dinosaur week by making a schema chart, we put our current knowledge in one color and our new knowledge in a different color.  When we find a misconception we can move our post-it note easily down to that box.  I was so impressed with how many specific facts they already knew about dinosaurs!

Royal Reader Month

To celebrate National Reading Month we've had parents and siblings come read stories to us during the day.  It's been fun to have our family members in the classroom and to hear their favorite books.  One of my parents came to me with the greatest idea.  We had her Nan read us a book all the way from Australia using Skype.  Her mom and sister had copies of the book to show us the pictures while she read.  The best part was that it was a surprise! Afterwards, the kids got to talk to her and they came up with some fabulous questions.  It was so fun!

Dinosaur Week Day 1

For the beginning of our dinosaur unit, I did Deanna Jump's egg hatching idea! It was so fun to make inferences based on clues that I gave them about what was inside the egg.  We drew the first picture without any clues, our second with three clues, and the third drawing was what was really inside the egg.  Most of my unit comes from here.

During a rotation on that day we also make silly words and real words using plastic eggs.  It was a great way to integrate the phonics chunks that we've been working on.  

The word family egg idea comes from here!

Math Story Problems

We did a math rotation last week inspired by this pin found here.

I was able to make 4 different sheets of problems on butcher paper, which made it really easy to differentiate.  For my addition problems, two students took turns dotting the 2 numbers to add in different colors.  Then they added them up and wrote the answer.  For subtraction, they dotted the first number and took a marker to cross off the second number.  

How to Catch a Leprechaun

During recess, we laid out a glitter trail around the room and then put a piece of "gold" on each desk.  The kids were SO excited that a leprechaun had been in our room.  They wanted to come up with a plan to catch the leprechaun, so we spent our afternoon making traps!  For each group I assembled a variety of supplies for them to use.  I added things like straws, toothpicks, foam, wood shapes, beads, string, pipe cleaners, etc.  I showed them what they could use and then had each person make a drawing of what they wanted their trap to look like and what materials they would need. After they were done with their plans, they got to work constructing the leprechaun traps!

What time is it?

We are working with telling time in math this week.  We did a fun whole class activity today by making watches and asking each other what time it was.  The class got so creative with their watches! It was fun going around and asking our friends the time.

I love this picture, their expressions are hilarious! Those are their "telling time" faces. 

Spelling Centers-Words their Way

Now that our class has gotten used to sorting words from Words their Way, I thought it was time to start some new spelling activities.  On Wednesdays I set up 4 stations around the room and let the students pick where they want to visit to practice their words.  So far, these have been a hit and have renewed their interest in their spelling sorts!

Vowel Bat Center Idea

The day finally came to show my kids the Vowel Bat song! I have a lot of Batman fans, so I knew this would be a hit.  We've been talking about vowel sounds a lot lately, so it was perfect timing.  If you've never seen Vowel Bat click here!

To practice our vowel sounds, I had the class do a vowel hunt as a center activity.  They started by watching the video again on the iPad, to get to the video they scanned a QR code. After watching the video, they did a search around the room for vowels.  One person held a bat stuffed animal and one person took the iPad and took a picture of a vowel.  Then they switched.  It was really fun!

Ice Cream Stories

This might be my favorite writing activity we've done all year.  I got the idea from a popular pin I found on Pinterest of a melted ice cream cone which I posted about here. I have a formal lesson plan for this activity, which is on my TpT here.

I did a similar rubric to my scientific observation activity, where I had 4 pieces of writing that I had made and we ordered them from best to what needs the most work.  This helps put my expectations into something concrete that they can compare their work to. I made a chart with my objectives for the lesson and I also shared an old chart with them that we made about writing. This was such a fun, engaging, and creative lesson!

Math Center Activity

This idea also comes from my teaching partner Cathy.  She uses paper rolls to write numbers and reinforce skills like counting by fives, tens, twos, backwards, and counting on.  Her dad built wooden holders to set the tape in and the kids keep pulling as they write numbers.  I usually set a 100's chart on the station in case they need a reference.  Here are some of the activities we do with the tape:

Start at 1 and write as many numbers as you can during the rotation.

Work with a partner and take turns writing the next number in different colors.  Count by two's when done.

Start writing numbers where you left off. 

Start at 50 and write numbers back down to 0.

Write by fives, twos, or tens. 

I also learned a safety tip about this activity.  Be careful not to buy thermal receipt paper, it contains some dangerous chemicals.  You can test it by scratching it with your nail and seeing if it leaves a dark line. Luckily we've always used normal paper rolls!

Partner Coin Game

My teaching partner, Cathy, came up with this fun counting game for our beginning coin work.  She drew the piggy bank and put a ten frame in the middle.  The partners take turns rolling a dice that has both addition and subtraction on it.  They add or take away the numbers of pennies onto their game board.  The first person to get to ten puts a dime in the corner and wins. As they play the game they say "I have __ pennies, I need __ more to make 10."  It was quick and fun!

Snap Circuits-Scientific Drawings

Our class is working on a technology project using Snap Circuits and will eventually be collaborating with other schools on our project.  Our first step in the project was to get familiar with the pieces in a Snap Circuit, so we did a scientific drawing of the pieces we will be using.

I then did a rubric activity by showing them 4 drawings and I had the class put them in order of what they thought a 1 looked like and so on.  Making these pictures really helped, the kids would bring their pictures up to mine when they thought they were done to see what else needed to be added. 

                             

We've done scientific drawings before, but I made sure to remind them of how to make a drawing by giving them objectives on a chart.  

Brain Breaks

Brain breaks are a lifesaver, especially in kindergarten! If we have to transition from one sitting activity to another, I always make sure I squeeze a brain break in the middle.  My class loves them so much, I even use them as a reward sometimes.

Shake Break- This is our ultimate favorite, my kids could seriously watch this 10 times in row. 

 It's short and sweet. Any of the Pancake Manor videos are pretty fun.

Passport Centers

Our usual routine in the mornings is to do 4 rotations involving reading, writing, or math.  We spend the same amount of time at each rotation (usually about 10-15 minutes) and I designate the groups.  I've been playing around with the idea of setting up centers and letting students pick where they want to visit.  In order to give some regulation to the process, I made a "passport" of all the choices they could pick from and let the class know that they needed to get at least 3 stamps during the time.

 

Next time, I would add a couple timers to the popular stations like iPads and read to self so they can make sure they get enough time to visit 3 places.