Five for Friday March 13th

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. Thank you for hosting, Kacey! Happy Friday the 13th!

I was out a couple days this week for professional development and an RTI conference, so I felt like much of the week was spent writing sub plans!  But we did get to do some fun learning along the way.  

Here was a spur the moment math review activity the kids loved.

 Every day a different student brings snack for the day.  This day's snack was iced animal cookies.  (OK- yum...  I know they are horrible, but for some reason at 10:30- when lunch isn't until 1 they become delicious to me sort of like left over goldfish crackers from snack-  that I never eat at home, but eat at school some hungry days like I'll never eat food again...)

ANYWAY- we have been working on reviewing our facts of five, so I gave everyone 5 animal cookies out of the bag.  Then, one at a time, they each came to the board to write their five fact, by writing how many white cookies and how many pink cookies they had.  This was great for fluency practice, because we kept reading the math sentences and noticing how many were the same. 

The funny thing we noticed was that nobody had 5 pinks or 5 whites- everyone had a combination of the two.  

We finished our author study of Donald Crews.  The children love his books.  He uses great color and detail, with lots of movement and perspective in his illustrations. I posted about how I use books by Donald Crews as mentor texts for small moments in narrative writing here, as well as how I love Ten Black Dots.  

For this author study, I focused mainly on the illustrations in his books, so the children could see the continuity of his work and really get a sense of his style. We read Harbor, Parade, Freight Train, Truck, Flying, School Bus, Sail Away, and Carousel .  

The books are quick and easy to read, so the first two days of our author study, I read a few books with illustrations that we could really study, and ended with one that I used with a writing prompt.

I made a packet of Author Writing Prompts that I use all the time.  I included eight authors in the packet.  

I also use my Author Prezi to go along with these prompts.  My Author Prezi features 13 authors. This prezi has links to information about the authors and to some of their work.  I keep this prezi up on the Smartboard while we work on our author study.  

My Author Study featuring Donald Crews is FREE this weekend if you would like a copy! I just put it up on TPT.  I would appreciate your leaving feedback at TPT if you download it.  Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it.  If you like it, the Author Writing Prompts packet has prompts for eight different authors!

Here are some samples of the Flying writing prompt that we used this week. 

The next day, we wrote our own books like Donald Crews.  This was a really fun way to switch up Writer's Workshop for a while.  We have been working hard on writing Narratives and How-To books, so these books were a way to write a quick little book, work on some conventions, and add some fun details.  

Author studies are so neat, because the children really get to know the author you work on- and then they start comparing every book you read to the different authors they know, 

because they now "know" them.  I love it. 

 Finally, the last day of our author study, I had the children write about their favorite book by Donald Crews.  I sent home a copy of the author bio (in the packet)  on the back of this paper, along with their book.

                                                                     
My class loves to play our Detail Games.  For this game, I have everyone stand in a circle.  I secretly choose an attribute that will be my "detail."  I go around the circle and say, "sit" to anyone who does not fit the attribute or "stand" to the ones who do.  After I get around the circle, the children guess what the detail was that I was noticing. (for example, stripes in this one.)

Another fun game is to have everyone stand.  Choose one person whom you will be describing gradually.  As you say a detail, if it fits the student, they remain standing. If it doesn't fit, they sit.  So, I may say, "This person is a girl."  (Boys would sit.)  "This girl has a pony tail."  (Anyone without a ponytail sits.) Continue with more and more specific details until only one child is standing.  The kids love to try to be the describer.  It takes a little practice for them, but after a while they get really good at it. Then, later, when they are writing, I can use this game to remind them how important the details are for picturing what they are writing about. 

My little tennis friend makes me smile every time I see him.  These are so easy to make- and great review for practicing any skill with a child.  During free choice time, you can have letters all over the table, and call a student up to feed the letters to the tennis ball.  (We named ours Lovey. We voted.) Lovey loves to learn. They have to say the letter name and sound as they feed Lovey.  You can say, find the letters to spell "can" and feed Lovey, so they have to feed him c-a-n. It's great for practicing spelling names in the beginning of the year or practicing numbers, counting, shapes, coins...  I only have one Lovey, because I use it one on one, and it's special for the kids.  You could make lots of them if you wanted, and have the children use them- or even send them home with the kids.   You could get old tennis balls from a tennis club or even from the school team.  Be sure the ball is easy enough to squeeze.  Some of them are practically impossible because they're so hard.  Just cut a slit in the ball with a box cutter or an Exacto knife, and then decorate as little or as much as you'd like.  The minute those eyes go on, it comes to life!  Lovey has a pretty "carefree" look with the hair...   

                                                               
                                                                 
Here is my wonderful moment of the week. (Well, one of them!)  We sold our house, and are renting while we wait to move into another.  We are actually renting the home we lived in from 1992 until 1999.  It's an old Victorian house, with so many fabulous memories for me, because my children were young when we lived here. I love it.  Well, the other day, something fell behind the register in the kitchen, and I had to move the register out to get it...  and this was behind the register!

My Emily made it for me when we lived here BEFORE. I had it on my "heart wall" which was right above the register.  I love hearts, and had a bunch of them hanging on the brick above the register. This must have fallen down behind there sometime before 1999- and was STILL there, waiting for me, still beautiful.  I remember water coloring with the kids. This one Emily made on lined paper with cotton swabs. I remember like it was yesterday!  What a happy little gift from the past this was!

Have a happy, healthy weekend. Thank you for stopping by! 

Small Moments

When I introduce our Narrative Writing unit, I try to get my class to think about possible writing topics, like we all do.  I have tried to come up with some different ways to get my kids thinking about "small moments" from their lives that they want to choose as a topic for a story.

 

I show them a Lego house  that I made, and tell them that each day is like that completed house, but it is really made up of little pieces, just like the Lego house.  I  take some of it apart and say, "This piece was when I woke up this morning because the cat jumped on me. This piece was when I ate breakfast and spilled the juice all over the floor.  This piece was when I got dressed and chose to wear my lucky shirt..."   I explain how during the day, there are lots of things that happen that would make great stories.

 

Another day, to review "small moments,"  I bring in cookies- because you cannot go wrong with cookies.  Each child gets a cookie.  You guessed it- I tell them that everybody's life (or day) is like the whole cookie, but it is made up of special little moments which are like those special chocolate chips.  I have the children each  take out one special chocolate chip from their cookie, and while they do that, I tell them to think about a special moment in their life that might make a great story to share.  When I bake the cookies, I put in one mini Hershey kiss, so it is like a "big chip" that they take out. Almost everyone takes out that chip. There are always a few who dig out one of the other ones! It's fun to watch.  As they eat the cookie, they are supposed to be thinking of some of their own special small moments. We share some of the moments after we eat the cookies.

(These were actually SO good- I just bought Tops brand pre-made cookie dough, and the were great! Go figure!)

Then, we make an anchor chart to share which "small moment" each child might choose to write about for this story.  

 

Another fun visual for "small moments" is to show the children a Seurat painting.  He style of painting was pointillism (or 'dots' as we say...).  He is one of the artists we study in the class. "Seurat, Seurat, he painted with a dot,"  is how we remember him.  I show them some of his paintings from far away, then explain that his paintings are made of many, many small dots. Each little dot is very important for the whole picture, just like each small moment is very important for our whole day or life.

I also like to use The Important Book  by Margaret Wise Brown as a mini-lesson for "small moments."

 

I love to use this book for so many things. I also use it when we talk about how each child is special when they write about what is important about themselves.  For this mini-lesson, I use it to show that although many things happen in each person's life, there are some things that stand out and are really important to each person.  They  don't have to be big, huge, things, but important things to you. If it is important to you, it makes a great story to share.   I share some things with them that I remember about being little, like when my friend would come over to play and would walk to the store to buy Big Buddy bubblegum, and we would take forever trying to decide which flavor to buy.  I always loved orange-mint the best.Then we would walk home happily chewing our gum.  Or when I would go to my grandparent's house and we would cross-stitch, play Flinch, or play Bingo for little prizes. I loved when my grandmother made waffles for dinner right on the table with the waffle maker. When I went to bed I remember that I loved hearing the big trucks go by outside the bedroom window. 

 

Another great book to use to help the children get the idea of a "small moment" is Zoom by Istvan Banyai.  If you haven't seen the book, it is a picture story that keeps zooming out into a bigger and bigger view of a picture.  Here is a sample to give you an idea.  The kids love it. It is a great conversation starter for details and small moments.

 

 

We also read Shortcut by Donald Crews, because I always like this story for a "small moment" mentor text.  It is perfect for my kids' level and attention span. 

I made an Author Prezi and put together links for some of my favorite authors that we study during Writer's Workshop.  It has pictures of the authors, some links to interviews with the authors, and some videos of their work.  It is just handy to have it all in one place when I want to quickly show the kids a picture.  At the top are links to lots of wonderful author interviews and lists of good mentor texts. Click on the picture below if you would like to have it!

 

This is a special "small moment"- in a different sort of way.  Since I have been working on my narrative writing unit, looking up some good mentor texts for small moments,  it made me think of some even more important "small moments" in teaching.

 



 I was talking with one of my sweet, sweet former students who now has two precious little girls of her own. She was one of those sweeties who never demanded any attention at all, but because of that was the type I loved making sure got the attention she really deserved. I think I am extra sensitive to the quite ones who could easily be overlooked because they are just doing the right thing and don't "need" constant reminders or redirection. I want them to know that I appreciate them, and they do deserve to be noticed for that.

She and I were talking the other day on facebook, and she said that what she remembered about Kindergarten was one particular day when I was talking to the class about being good listeners, and she happened to notice the word "boo" on the wall.  She said that she looked at it, and realized at that moment that she could spell "boot" by adding a "t" to the end of "boo!"  That was over 25 years ago.

I told her that I hoped and prayed that I had been excited and happy for her wonderful learning moment- and hadn't said, "We aren't talking about that right now, we are talking about being good listeners!"  She assured me that I was happy for her, and luckily she has that moment as a really happy memory.  (Thank GOODNESS!  Otherwise this post might have been labeled "sad moments!)

That story, once again, made me realize that children remember MOMENTS.  Not necessarily the moments we plan and prepare for them to remember, or spend money on, or hype up-  but just moments.  We never know which ones. (Cause I remember some "moments" from my school career that weren't so great!) I am always praying that I remember that and give each child happy, wonderful moments to remember- with excitement, joy, soft, kind answers, and lots of love.

Have a great night!

Five for Friday- September 6th!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday! 

First three days of school... Always the longest shortest week.  My class is sweet and excited- a perfect combination.  Here is a sample of what I have in store this year. This conversation happened at 9:03 on the first day of school.  "When I say your name I want to call you Christmas Kisloski."  (Which, by the way, does sound a lot like 'Mrs. Kisloski' I did realize.)  So I said, "Oh- well, just don't call me Santa Claus!" To which she replied, "Could I call you Mrs. Claus?"  

The day ended when we were sharing some of our first day favorites, and another little girl said, "I was SO excited for this, I woked up at 20!"  (I think I woked up at 20, too, and never went back to sleep!)  So sweet!

Today another little girl came into the room and said, "It is SO good to be back here!"  So- we are off to a good start, I think. 

Here are my FAVORITE FIVE for the week!

I was so honored that the WONDERFUL Debbie Clement asked me to post at her Pre-K + K Sharing Blog. Please stop by if you can and leave me a comment!  :)

I will be posting on the 6th of the month. My first post is sort of a random sampling of my favorites. It worked out well, because my brain has been going in a million directions this week trying to remember to say this and not forget to do that- very random.  You know how it is!  I will start next month with some different topics. 

Debbie has a new Pattern Song that is so much fun! I can't wait to use it with my new class!

Here is her post about Patterning. You can get the song here, too.  We cannot figure out why Patterning is not in the Common Core Standards.  It is so important. Remember when it was such a great base skill for Algebra?  What happened to that?  How about those A and B Level books which are ... patterns! Anyway, I love my patterns.  I do. I do. I do. 

Speaking of Common Core leads me to ...

I am not exactly sure what CCSS it is where a student finally realizes that he will NOT be flushed by the automatic toilet flushers,

but, let me just say that as of today- day 3- we are all on board as a success with that one.  It was touch and go for those first two days, but with lots of coaxing, encouraging, and persuading- it's a done deal.  There was only one little guy who was pretty sure he was going down, but this got a spot on my five because it seemed to consume quite a bit of my beginning school routine!

I started introducing some Whole Brain Teaching yesterday.  They LOVE "Class, Yes."  Love it.  I posted about WBT here.  Here is my Prezi I made about the WBT Class Rules and explanations of each from Chris Biffle. The videos on the bottom are some of my favorite samples of teachers using WBT in their classrooms. 

 My rules are similar- but not exactly like these.  The ones I use in my class are

1.  Follow directions quickly.

2.  Raise your hand for permission to speak.

3. Make smart choices.

4.  Hands in your lap. Eyes on your teacher.

5.  Be safe, be kind, be honest

Then- I just have a big smile face on the end of the poster with no writing. I tell the kids that is 'Secret Six'- Make your dear teacher happy!  They love that it is 'secret.'

(This picture is a little disturbing- yeah- ...but I am leaving it just because- it's a 4.)

Next week we start our color weeks! We review a color each day for two weeks.  We do activities with each color, learn the words, and take class pictures for our Color Books.



I got out my Ten Black Dots book and wondered if when  Donald Crews wrote the book, he had any idea we would be so into tens frames?

 I made a bundle of  Kindergarten Math Common Core Prezi Bundle which includes  the best links and videos I found for each of the 22 CCSS for K Math.  (Actually 25 because there are 3- sub standards.) OK- that doesn't sound right calling them "sub standards." But-

One activity I did for 10 Black Dots was hot-gluing  magnets to the back of  ten black pompoms so we can use them on the magnetic white board to show ten.  I will probably work mostly with five of the dots since it is so early in the year.

I will also use the dots on the whiteboard to show how I can turn the dots into different things by adding details to them- like four for the wheels of a truck, two for eyes of a ghost, one for a spider in a web, six dots on a ladybug...  This is the activity I have the children do after we read the story. I have all sizes of black dots cut out of construction paper so the children can chose how many and what size they want to use- and then create whatever they want.  

Donald Crews is one of my featured authors on my Author Prezi at my TPT store.  I love his books. They are so good for teaching so many literacy concepts. 

He is also featured in my Writing Prompts and QR Codes for Authors packet!  I love this packet. There are over 100 books by 8 featured authors.  I use it the prompts and QR codes all. the. time!

 My Author Prezi is part of this packet, too!

The last thing I am going to do with my 10 Black Dots is to use mini oreos on a tens frame  as my 10 black dots.  Again, I may just use five- since we are really going to be working with five at this point in the year. 

The last thing I have to share is my "I can" interactive writing chart that we did.  This was about all we accomplished writing so far... We have some work to do on letter formation, but I always love the idea of this.

 I also make these very non-technical- homemade things for my kids to practice their ID numbers.  Each of our students need to punch in their own ID number when they buy lunch or log into the computers.  SO- it is important that they know their numbers ASAP.  I make these because they look just like the little pad that they use in the cafeteria when they buy their lunch.  After morning work, they practice saying and punching in their numbers  on this fabulous cardstock replica.   Just so you know- my class was the ONLY one who had children know their numbers at lunch today- so... it worked.  :)    Already!  They are five digit numbers- not easy to remember!

Have a wonderful weekend!  I am going to sleep so well....  How about you?!