Our Colorful Week!

I always look forward to our first two weeks of school.  We review a color each day while I take pictures to make our Colorful Class and Crazy Colorful Class books. This gets us feeling like a class family and off to a great start.  We spend a lot of time these first two weeks , like you all do, establishing classroom routines and rules, writing names correctly, working on being kind friends, reviewing letters and sounds, learning our computer/lunch number, and singing and dancing, of course! I have already introduced many sight words, and this group just seems excited to learn. 

We were drawing and "writing" ideas about being kind friends yesterday,  and one little boy came up to me as they were drawing and said, "I really hope you know- I can't spell ANYTHING!"   (This is when that fabulous word 'YET' comes in, right?)  

This made me think of another sweet thing today.  One of my little guys came up to me with bright red, chapped lips,  and said, "Can you help me?  My lips are slowly burning off."   Poor thing.  As someone who is totally addicted to Blistex- I completely got that ever-so-accurate description!

Here is a glimpse of our colorful days!

Red Day:

After we read Ten Apples Up on Top, I had the children put ten apple stickers up on their heads.  This was a quick little activity to show me who could count to ten with one to one correspondence. 

Then we used Rebecca Stone's Apple Picking Emergent Reader on the Elmo to count how many apples we saw on the different pages.  This is a great activity- free at her store! 

We  also made our Number 5 bracelets.  I had the children put 5 red beads on a pipe cleaner which I turned into a  bracelet.  We counted them and even added and subtracted with them.  This was a good introduction to our 10 bead counter bracelet we make later.  The children had lots of fun making and playing with these, and then by the time we make our 10 bracelet, they are more ready to use it for our adding and subtracting questions.

 This is my extra red day bonus: 

YELLOW DAY:

The class loved reading How Will I Get to School This Year?



This was a wonderful book to introduce the word "illustrator" because the illustrations are so vibrant and fun.  The children are already used to saying, "The author writes the words.  The illustrator draws the pictures."    We had a great discussion about different ways to really  get to school-and the different ways she thought of to get to school.

Next we made our buses to put over our lockers in the hall- with our bus numbers on them.

We read In My New Yellow Shirt, and each child drew a picture of what he/she would pretend to be in a yellow shirt.

(This example is NOT the norm in my class, by the way, with all that detail and color- I felt I needed to add that disclaimer.  I would like you all to just imagine that I had them all this far along in these 6 days, but ... nope. NOPE.  ;) 

Kristin, at A Teeny Tiny Teacher, mentioned using a music box to get the children's attention.  I have this bus that I got at a garage sale a few years ago. It is a Little People bus, and plays "The Wheels on the Bus"  if you touch a button on the top.  It stops the kids cold for some reason when it starts to play.  Last year, however, it would just play randomly, out of the blue, any time it felt like it.  It was so creepy.  I thought the batteries were getting low and changed them, but it still did it.  It has since gotten its act together and is playing only when I tell it to. I am sure it was a little wire that was off or something, but there is something very eerie about "The Wheels on the Bus" starting to play when you are in line to go to lunch and that bus is on the other side of the room.  The first time is funny. Then it gets real.  Real creepy. 

The Haunted Bus

Since it is YELLOW DAY, I have to share this beautiful clipboard my friend Leslie from Color, Cut and Glue made for me.  We drew each other's names for the Back to School Blog Exchange, and I couldn't be happier that I did, because I got to meet such a sweet person!  She made me this clipboard which is just perfect of my bus rosters that I use each day. It makes me happy every time I use it!

I love using the things I buy from your TPT stores, and the ideas I borrow from all of you.  I see your names or think of the blog post where you shared an idea, and it just makes me happy to think of you! 

BLUE DAY:

(This is a scene from our CRAZY COLORFUL CLASS book... They are really good at these.)

Cookie Monster returned with some Cookie Crisp cereal for some math work. 

We read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.  Then, we watched a couple Pete the Cat stories.

These are all on my Character Education Prezi, which is FREE at my TPT store.

We made our own Pete the Cat to hang up in the hall.  I found the pattern on April's Chalk Talk blog, and she got it from Hooray for Kindergarten.  The pattern is here.

 I hung them up outside my door.  We aren't allowed to put ANYTHING on our door- inside our outside, so they are hanging around outside.

 

Green Day:

Green Day  is always one of my favorites, because I absolutely LOVE this book:

There are SO many activities to do with this book.  I made these necklaces for each of the children:

Someone had put out their old calendar pattern pieces on the "give away" table at the end of the year- and I snatched them up!  I have also made these by cutting cellophane circles.  The children love to hold these up to the light and look at everything blue, then yellow, then green. 

We also mix the colors with water.

I had the children mix the colors.  It is fun to do this on the Elmo,  too- and see it on the big screen.

This was my all time favorite, though- from my sweet friend Sandy at Kinder-Gardening.  I think I actually gasped when I saw this idea on her blog! 

 (I found it worked better for the mixing to make Little Blue a little smaller-otherwise the blue sort of dominated.)

This is what happened when they hugged.



I put these right in Ziplock baggies and into the mailboxes so they made it home!

And of course, color mixing with paint!  Suzi has this  FREEBIE at her TPT store ready to go for mixing colors! I use cotton swabs and the kids have a ball.

Of course my other favorite for Green Day is this book!

I gave each child a paper and the crayon colors of the monster before I read the story.  They had to listen and draw the monster as  I read- but NOT see the pictures. 

After we did this, I reread the story and showed them the pictures.  Then, we shared our monsters. 

Cathy Stoecker has a cute Go Away Big Green Monster Take Home Bag FREEBIE at her TPT store with lots of different activities to go with this book.  Here are the activities-

And I can't wait to use my Monster Manners FREEBIE from Growing Kinders tomorrow. We ran out of time today. This  is a great activity for the beginning of the year!

Tomorrow is PURPLE DAY.   I love sharing Harold and the Purple Crayon with the children.  I have the treasury book with lots of stories in it.  I have both pre-made, stapled, blank books and big paper folded in half that the children may choose to use to write (draw) their own purple crayon stories.  We have fun with this, and it is actually their very first "book" they write.

I hope you all had a colorful week  ( with all the very BEST colors!)

 

First Few Days of Fun- and a FREEBIE!

I am always amazed how quickly learning happens in Kindergarten.  It is sort of like you can't even slow it down. The children are so ready to absorb what you say when the year is so new and fresh.  I have introduced 5 sight words- I, a, can, like, and look.  They can't get enough. Once I mistake them for possibly being second graders because they read so well already, they just want MORE!

I am using the same simple morning message format for these first couple weeks.  I am only changing the day and special, because I want us to get in the habit of reading it each day together, noticing the capital letters, spaces, and punctuation.  

Some days I will put in a sentence strip with something else to do, like this:

Here are our Rug Rules.  I have mentioned that they are a variation of WBT rules.  I love watching the children do #5. We do "safe" like someone is safe at home  plate, "kind" like giving ourselves a big hug, and "honest" with our hands over our heart.  So sweet.  The smile face is "secret rule six"- Make your dear teacher happy!  They love that it is our secret rule.  OK- I  love it, too!  ;)

 They are already in the habit of telling me, "An author writes the words." or "An illustrator draws the pictures."  After I introduce a book and say the author's name, I say, "Tell me in a complete sentence what an author does."   I started doing this because I like them to answer me in complete sentences.

I introduced Eagle Eyes- sort of by accident, when we were reading Llama, Llama Misses Mama.

At the end, when Llama is so happy to see Mama, and runs to her, my one little sweetie said, "UT OH- He threw those crayons!"  She zoomed right in on that! So of course, that opened up the praises for her "eagle eyes!" And so the reading strategies began... I love when teaching happens like that!

Today, one of our Literacy Centers was reading "I Spy" books to help us sharpen our eagle eyes!

I also want to show you how my golf pencil worked for my little guy's grip- ready?

Day 1- regular pencil:

Today- golf pencil:  Oh. my. gosh!  I love it!  He was just adamant that he had a pencil with an eraser- and I slapped one on so fast!  :)  (By the way, after we read In My New Yellow Shirt, he decided he would be a yellow 'rig.'  That is what that means written on there! :)

Am I the only one who can't just let snack be snack? I have to turn it into yet another "hands on" activity- like sorting.  

 (Poor thing is like just let me EAT my snack!!!)

Heaven forbid they have pretzel sticks- we make every shape and letter under the sun!  Snack takes for. ever.

I love my Common Core Math Standard I Can Statements from Erin Dowling!  I also got her Writer's Workshop Procedures.  We are working on shapes this week in our math centers. 

This was a little Hexagon City the kids made after they sorted.  

I also wanted to let you know that my Pre-K, K, 1st Grade Character Education Prezi is free at my TPT store. 

I posted a sad little post yesterday (that I took off)- because someone left bad feedback for this Prezi, and it just said, "to small."  It ruined my day  I thought about it all day a few times throughout the day. First of all, the feedback lady seems to teach 3rd-5th grade- so I don't know if "to small" meant that the Prezi was too small, it was too small for her grade (which it would be because it is for Pre-K to 1st) or if it wasn't zoomed out and was actually too small size-wise... oh dear. If she had EMAILED me, I would have made it all better for her and given her money back and been nice.  :(  It is a smaller size Prezi- but has some great Character Education videos on it  as well as some class rules posters and all of the WBT rules and explanations from Chris Biffle. I made it just to have my videos together when I wanted a quick Character Education fix in the class!  I hope you enjoy it and can use it.  PLEASE leave me some loving feedback because apparently I am a huge baby not very thick skinned and words of affirmation must be one of my love languages- or maybe I just am not really good at handling whatever the opposite of words of affirmation are. Either way, thank you, my sweet, sweet, blog buddies.  Thank you to my sweet friend Leslie from Color, Cut, and Glue actually caught my little  post yesterday for the short while it was up there... and made me feel so much better.  Have a great night!

                                   







Free Choice Rant and Some Apples!

The other day, I was talking to one of my past students who is now in 4th grade.  Let me tell you the names of  three of her five teachers in her short little schooling career so far:  Mrs. Kisloski (Kindergarten), Mrs. Kozlowski (third), and Mrs. Kurkowski (fourth).  No kidding.   We only have about 22 classroom teachers in our school Pre-K to 5th grade- and three of us have these crazy K names! (Mrs. Kurkowski  married into that name this summer. ;)    So- if your name is K(something)ski, you are probably a shoo-in for a job in my school.  Apparently, they can't get enough of us! ;)

I have been busy making my schedule grid for this year- figuring out where and when I am going to fit in all my goodies each day, every day.  My schedule changed from last year, so I have been playing around with getting everything in there.  As I have worked and reworked my schedule, I find that whenever I put in the words "Free Choice" I feel a pang of guilt.  I had to sit myself down here and type it out. 

"Free Choice" is essential for my students.  Period.  I will not get rid of a small chunk of time that they can choose activities, interact with others, and practice all the wonderful Character Education skills I want them to learn and use for the rest of their lives.   We would never teach, teach, teach what a capital letter is, what reading strategies are, or what a number line looks like- without giving our children lots of opportunities to work with those things and practice using those skills we teach.  It is no different when we  teach skills like using kind words, sharing, negotiating, and problem solving while interacting with others.  To acquire and perfect these skills, children need time to practice them.

 

 

 

With the CCSS and Six Shifts in ELA and Math- I feel the pressure to fit in more, more, more-but I never want to forget what good teaching is.  We all know what it is.  We just know.  Without a balance of academics, relationships, exploration, independence, free choice- and some fun- the standards are just a checklist to try to get done, rather than meaningful content to teach.  I remember in the late 80's when our district switched to a curriculum which taught cursive writing in Kindergarten.  I went for a week of training, and was completely taken with the presenter.  I still remember the black and white little jumper she wore.  She could have read the phonebook  and sold me on that curriculum.  Her dynamic personality was the key to her being a successful teacher, not the program.  Later, our district decided that cursive in K wasn't the way to go, and we moved on to something different.  Curriculums come and go, initials on programs change all the time- but the programs are similar, modified a bit, but if they were once good, sound teaching ideas, they still are.  Math Their Way was fabulous- then sort of went by the wayside.  Now many of the "new" math ideas I see look very much like Math Their Way.  That program had good teaching concepts, and they really don't go out of style. 

Free Choice time is also an invaluable chunk of time for me with my students for several reasons. I have a couple this year who aren't used to sharing anything,  and who whine, cry, don't know how to use those kind voices to talk to or make friends.  I can model all I want to in whole group lessons, but they need the chance to practice playing with real, live friends. Then, I can observe, praise, and teach informally as they play.

I also use this time to work one on one with students.  It is actually a Free Choice/Art Center/RTI time- because writing that makes me feel better. This coming week I will be checking skills and working on writing names.  One. on. one.   For me, there is nothing better than having one student beside me and helping him/her form each letter correctly. I can see if the student really understands how to write each letter.  In a whole group- or even small group- I feel like it is hit and miss. I don't have that uninterrupted time with a student where I know we covered each letter.
 
I guess the need for "Free Choice" time never ends.  When I come home and read all of your wonderful blogs, I love reading and sharing educational ideas with all of you.  It is the most valuable professional development going- the "common core."  However, I also love hearing about your new homes, your own children's successes, your weight loss progress, your tough days that we can share and get through together, and your silly situations that we can laugh about together- the real stuff- the "free choice." We all need some "free choice" in our days.

OK- I am done with that rant! I feel better.   I  am actually planning lots of academics for the week- so don't worry! :) It is the start of COLOR WEEKS!  Tomorrow is RED day.  I love reading  Ten Apples Up On Top!

Some years, I have the children cut out apples and glue them above their picture. This year, I found stickers.  We are going this route.  I am going to have them count each one for me to check one to one correspondence.

 

I have apple magnets that I use for quick images counting. I quickly show  a number of apples on my magnetic board and the children tell me how many I have on the board.  I will probably only use images to five for this lesson since it is day four of school. :)

 



Michele Moss has a free Smartboard lesson at her TPT store using tens frames to go with this book.

 

 

My friend Amber Monroe from School is a Happy Place has a fabulous freebie at her store!

 

Rebecca Stone has a great free emergent reader at her TPT store.  It's a perfect addition to our apple lesson.

                             

 

We are also doing some apple printing, which I will show tomorrow.  I am introducing "I" and "like," and working on writing names - forming those letters correctly!  We will be taking our Red class picture and, of course, our CRAZY Red class picture.

 

Here is one more thing I made I thought I would show you.  I saw the idea on Pinterest from Teach Beside Me.    She used it for color sorting, numbers, or patterning paper clips.  I thought it was great! I made a magnet stick for all my students.  I had some red/yellow magnet dots that will be great for adding. I also thought these would work well for spelling sight words with magnetic letters. 





 

Have a wonderful week!