Five for Friday August 19

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

       

I posted all my favorite name writing activities I use in the beginning of the year. (And throughout the year...).  I hope you find some great things.  There are some great freebies from TpT in the post, too!

I made this simple little back to school journal that I use as we begin Writer's Workshop. If you would like a copy, just click on the picture below.  I did a page or two as a whole group, but then worked on some pages with small groups.  I love activities like this in the beginning of the year in small groups, because they are very non-threatening. They give me a chance to get to know my little ones better and just listen to their stories as they draw and write.

These FREE Pattern Block Cards from Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler are FABULOUS! I'm printing them on cardstock and laminating them so they last.  My kids love working with pattern blocks, and having these cards to help practice numbers and letters will be wonderful.

 She also shared these great Alphabet Pattern Blocks Printables! Thank you, Erica!

I made this quick little activity for my class and use it early each year. It's a great way to introduce the children to  pointing to each word as they read- and to see that they, in face, CAN READ! 

First, I model the activity for the class.  I point to each word and decide where I liked to go.  I cut out the environmental print word and glue it onto my paper.  When I'm done with the "I go to" side, I point to each word as I read the page.  

                                  

Then, I turn it over and complete the "I like to" page on back.  

                                  

This is also great practice for for cutting, using a glue stick, and completing the activity independently.  

I print out the writing on one page, front and back, and then give each child a sheet of places to go and things to do.  They can choose their favorites.  When each child finishes the activity, he/she reads their paper to a friend and then to me. They also read it to someone when they get home.  The conversations about the places and activities are so much fun to listen to at the tables, too.  

Click HERE if you would like a copy!

Finally, I finished my MORE QR and Writing Prompts Packet- Author Studies!  I have been working on this forever.  It has over 100 books with writing prompts and QR codes to go along with 8 authors: Eric Carle, Donald Crews, Kevin Henkes, Laura Numeroff, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, David Shannon, Mo Willems, and Karma Wilson.  It includes cover pages for your students' author studies and a biography page for each author.

All the QR codes are also at the end of the packet to make it easier for you to print only these out for a center activity if you'd like. 

Each section has prompts with the QR codes right on them, a set of QR codes for a listening center, and a set of prompts without QR codes if you prefer those.  The preview for the listing has some you can try!

My kids LOVE to be able to take home a paper with a QR code of the story right on it, so they can listen to the story again and again at home, whenever they want. It's like magic!  

I love to use writing prompts with my students, too.  The prompts meet almost all of the CCSS in ELA.  They provide great insight into students' thinking and understanding after we read a story. They also provide great opportunities for authentic, purposeful writing.

You can choose the books you want to use for each author to make an Author Study packet (I have cover pages for that.) or just use several of the activities independently as you study an author.  They can also be used as a center activity with the QR code, as a follow up to the story. 

The packet also includes my Author Prezi.  This Prezi has links and videos to go with each of these 8 authors, so you can do whole group lessons on the Smartboard or Smart TV.  The Prezi also includes videos and links for Jan Brett, Norman Bridwell, Theodor Geisel, Robert Munsch, and Shel Silverstein.  

I also have a packet of Writing Prompts and QR Codes for over 100 OTHER favorite books (completely different books!)  that I use all year long!  These  have prompts written with both traditional and  non-American English (colour, favourite). 

These all make fabulous sub plans, too!  They are ready to go and easy to use- plus the kids love them.

I hope you found some things you can use in your classroom. Thank you for stopping by! Have a perfect weekend. 

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!