Five for Friday September 18

Anybody else tired?!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. Thank you for hosting, Kacey! 

I posted LOTS of environmental print freebies  in my post at the PreK and K Sharing Blog.  My class is loving environmental print.  Here's some proof:

They are so proud that they're readers!

This is one of my favorite activities  to do with them- and their first "homework" was to go home and READ this to someone in their family.  It's amazing how quickly they can learn to point to each word as they read it. 

I let them choose three things they like to do and three places they like to go from the pictures I have on the papers. 

                                  

                                  

This last picture is mainly here because his shirt made me smile all day long.  It says, "Purrito" and is a cat in a burrito. Of course.  

I made my Superhero Vocabulary poster this week.  We haven't added any words yet, but I wanted to show you what ours looked like.  You could use any before and after Superhero:  Peter Parker/Spiderman,  Bruce Wayne/Batman...   

I can't wait to start adding words.  Every book we read has some new and interesting "better" word that we talk about, and we can add to the poster.  I think our first one might be the group of words "get a drink"   and then "hydrate," because I have one little guy who will just randomly shout out, "I NEED TO HYDRATE," throughout the day.  I sort of love it. 

This is just one of many ideas in the book I wrote with Dr. Jean.  We had so much fun thinking of our favorite ways to teach reading that really helped the children remember the concept we were teaching while having so much fun at the same time!

Since my theme is Superheroes this year, I wanted to think of some reading strategies to go along with the theme.  This is what I came up with:

I just used Google Images to find the pictures. I saved them and printed them out 8X10.   HERE are the pictures I used for this poster that I put together in a document (just in case you'd like them and don't feel like searching for them!).  Here's my thinking of the pictures I chose:  Mr. Fantastic is sort of blurry- but it worked fine when I cut him out.  It was HARD to find a Wonder Woman who wasn't extremely voluptuous.  And I cut Superman and his "S" out of the picture I used, because I wanted him and the first letter of his name. Just cut out the other part of the picture.   

Someone on Facebook asked about using Batman, and I said that I had thought of adding another strategy with Batman and Robin, that said, "Ask a friend if you need help."  So- that's how you could add him to the group. 

My sweet friend Anne, at Common Core Connection, just added this darling freebie of Growth Mindset Posters to her TPT store. It's perfect for a Superhero theme!  Thank you, Anne!

I wanted to share a fabulous freebie from one of my FAVORITE reading companies,  Reading Reading (pronounced "Redding Reading" because it is based in Reading, Pennsylvania.) . This company has wonderful leveled reading books that are just right for kids- great text size, pictures/photographs, stories, book length, and story topics.

Reading Reading  is offering wonderful FREE ABC Printable books.  So far, they have letters A-J, which our whole kindergarten team is using and loving to use.  More books are coming soon.  They only had A-D just a while ago- so they really are coming soon!  Here's a sample look at the A book:

We have a book closet for our primary wing with our sets of guided reading books.  We share these books among all the classes, kindergarten through second grade.  I do not have individual browsing boxes for my students in the classroom because it became very time consuming to manage, and we never had enough books.  I felt like I always had to get them back to the book closet because other classes were waiting to use them.

Instead of individual browsing boxes, I ordered the mixed sets of these Kris Bonnell leveled books for the last few years from Reading Reading with my textbook money. They come with one copy of each of the different books.   I have colored bins that coordinate with my group colors. I fill the bins with leveled readers appropriate for each group.

When my students finish an activity early, after morning work, or even for independent reading on the rug, they go to their colored bin to choose a book to read.  I have enough books to switch out often so they have a big variety at their level.  When the group levels up to the next level, it's very easy to include some higher level books in the bin.

I love it because when I have a few extra minutes to read with a child, I can easily choose a book that will be just right for that child because they are right there.

These book bins have worked really well for me.  The books are just the right length for the children to read and finish, plus the kids love the topics.   Lots of them have photographs which the kids really like. We do have lots of the sets of six in the book closet that we love to use for guided reading.

Here are some samples of the insides so you can get an idea.  I find the books to be on the "easy" side of the levels, which I like.  Don't you hate choosing a "C" leveled text and having it be so hard that you wonder who on earth leveled that book? I know...  #teacherproblems- right?

Reading Reading is a wonderful company, and are always coming out with new books, too.  

I loved this quote and this picture so much, that I put them together.  I feel like we've got to start swinging the shift back to teaching and learning what it means to be human.  We've got the technology down. We can't forget to teach children to be good people, share, and to get along with and work with others.  For a while I feel like everyone's been so caught up in keeping up with all the technology, that the human side of teaching has fallen by the wayside and has been labeled as "old fashioned." 

 I do think with people are seeing the consequences of too much technology:  seeing children getting less exercise and having more health issues, having more cases of ADHD, and having difficulty with any sort of down time. The consequences are unfortunate, but I'm glad people are recognizing these effects, and maybe realizing we need more balance.  At home, there is less family interaction because everyone is on some device- and instead of spending quality time together, often either the parents or children, or both, are doing something else on on a phone or iPad, while they're together.  

I like to see and use new things in the classroom, I just want to protect the human side of teaching as much as I can.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Five for Friday- First Week Back!

Before I get started, there's still time to enter to win a $100 Amazon card, a $50 TPT card, a $25 TPT card, or a $10 TPT card at our blog hop!  The drawing is September 12th, so hop right over to enter if you want!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. Thank you for hosting, Kacey! 

Let's just get right to it.  Here is how my year started before it even started.  

In my head, I saw these darling hand cookies with a Hershey kiss in the middle.  I saw me taking each child's picture to add to my sweet poem after we read, "The Kissing Hand," and sending this keepsake home on the first day of school.   However, in real life, in my real kitchen, the story was not as darling. I knew I was going to have to  1) quickly write a book called "The Kissing Mitt" where a baseball player is scared to go to school, and his mom kisses his mitt- so these ridiculous cookies matched the story or 2) let my sweet family eat these because they wouldn't even complain. They would just be happy they had ugly cookies to eat, and I would do something else for that first day of school.

They did taste good and they made me laugh when I opened the oven, so ...  

Luckily, we always practice my name on the first day of school, because I tell the kids it's the hardest part of kindergarten.  I have a little picture with a Hershey Kiss (for "Kis"),  kids singing (for "la"), and someone skiing (for "ski").  If they can say my name for me, they get a Hershey kiss!  So - problem solved with the Hershey kisses.  

We then go on to say how glad we are that my name isn't "Mrs. Broccoliloski" or "Mrs. Spinachloski," so I didn't have to give them broccoli or spinach.   

At our school, the kindergarten teachers meet our classes in the gym for the first few days, and then walk together to the classroom.  I take my clipboard with a class list- to see who is packing/buying, and keep any notes.  Here were some notes I took in the first five minutes:

"I know my dad is having a great day!  He's going to rest and watch TV all day."

"I had to poop at my mom's- and I'm afraid I have to poop now. "  (He would later go on to talk about having to poop quite a bit throughout the day... poor sweetheart.)

"Guess what my favorite movie is?"  "College football."

I love this group.  At snack time, I was trying to explain why it was polite to wait for everyone to have their food before we started eating, so I asked if anyone knew why we waited.  One little girl said, "So we can say the Lord's Prayer."  And a little boy said, "We can all say it in our heads if we want."   LOVE them.


Here was one of my favorite moments that I had to capture.  You know, reading, writing, and math are important, but...  look at that sweet, loving, caring moment.  How can people NOT let children play and explore in kindergarten?  I have learned more about my students in the short amount of free choice time we've had,  than in weeks of teaching "at" them.

Here is my "secret weapon" the first few days of free choice. Ready? It's very high tech...

Crocodile Dentist!

OH my goodness.  We laugh and laugh.  It's great because anyone who wants to come over to play can play.  I just sit at a table (as the center of attention) with my crocodile, as the kids are playing. If anyone wants to, they just come over and bravely touch a tooth.  We  take turns each pushing down a tooth.  Then when it chomps down (which does NOT hurt at all, by the way), we sort of all scream and laugh.  A few of the children just like to stand and watch- and sometimes get brave and touch one tooth.  It's fun to watch and see the different personalities.    I like the kids to see me have fun and be real.  We're going to be a family for 180+ days!  Plus, I do genuinely scream every single time it chomps down on me because I can't even help it.  

I put together a lot of the ideas I like to use for teaching letters, and typed it up.  If you'd like a copy, click HERE.  Sometimes it's tricky to think of  a food idea or an activity for a certain letter! 

I also wrote ideas I have used for letter anchor charts for the classroom.  I outline the letter with glue, and glue on items that start with that letter.  It's a cute bulletin board idea and the kids love it.  

I wanted to share these ELA apps that my friend Anne, from Common Core Connections, and her son Keith made.  They are fabulous for reading comprehension.  What great practice for the kids!  I love them because they're easy to use and not too busy looking. Sometimes apps get so busy and cluttered looking that it's hard for the kids to follow.  These are perfect. The apps fit each reading level, so  you can monitor exactly what you want each student to work on. Anne is my "real life" friend who lives near me!  I'm so proud of her - and her son!  

Finally,  I got the most exciting email on my first day of school.  Emily Kate Moon, who wrote Joone, one of my all time FAVORITE books, emailed me!  

She's writing another book about... the water cycle- of all things. It's like she reads my mind. If you read my blog, you know that I'm strangely obsessed a little with the water cycle. Because, for some reason, teaching about the water cycle is one of my favorite things to do.  Not sure why.  The kids just love learning about it- and now I will have yet another reason why it will be my  all time favorite.  I can't wait for her book. I will be sure to tell you the minute it's out!  

If you haven't discovered Joone yet- well- she is just fabulous. This is from Amazon:

Joone likes the color orange, ice-cream sandwiches, and playing outside. She lives in a yurt with her grandfather and her pet turtle, Dr. Chin, who rides around on her hat. Grandpa teaches Joone something new every day. Sometimes Joone teaches him something new, too, like how to make a daisy chain. Together they enjoy life’s small joys—sunsets, tree houses, and most of all, each other.

Emily Kate Moon’s debut picture book is a charming tribute to the outdoors and a tender portrait of a grandfather and granddaughter’s loving relationship. Fans of Ladybug Girl, Freckleface Strawberry, and even Dora the Explorer will fall in love with this independent, free-spirited little girl. 

The story is so much fun for the children, because Joone shares lots of fabulous small moments about herself- which is EXACTLY what we want our children to learn to do in their writing.  What a perfect mentor text for Writer's Workshop.  The kids really "get" the small moment idea from the book, because Emily added so many wonderful little details about Joone.  The kids see that those details are exactly what makes someone special, so they start thinking of their own life details.  Perfect!

AND- this may be my favorite page of the book.  It's actually the moment I knew I was going to love the book so much.  You know how some things "speak" to you- well, this did.  I would love to spell my name with a smiley face.

                                    

Emily has a wonderful print out at her website to teach children how to make a daisy crown (one of Joone's FAVORITES!) I cannot wait to do this with my class in the spring (except we'll need to use dandelions because we have LOTS of those, but...  it will be a beautiful flower crown, nonetheless! Joone would approve, I'm sure.) You could also send this paper home with the children after you read the story, so they could try to make a crown at home. She has a sweet coloring sheet for Joone, as well.  

Emily also shows her art for Joone at her website.  The children will love this, because they can see that REAL authors/illustrators sketch and plan before they actually publish a book, just like we're teaching them to do!  How cool is that?!   

Maybe you all know about Joone, and I'm late to the party- but this book is a treasure, and I'm so glad I found it.  

For some reason I thought I had discovered Joone and was so excited to share her with people at school.  Then, when my class made favorite book iMovies in technology, guess what book our technology teacher used as her favorite for an example... YES- my (well, Emily's!) Joone!   I loved it, and  smiled just like Joone's name!  

By the way, my birthday is in June, so from now on,  it's in Joone (with a smiley face!).

Thank you so much for stopping by!