Five for Friday November 22!

Thank you, Kacey, from Doodle Bugs Teaching, for hosting Five for Friday! I always look forward to linking up.

 

 

 

 

Was it really only ONE week since last Friday? It wasn't a rough week- but long. I had my observation, conferences, a class after school, and several meetings- plus just busy life stuff.  You know how those extra things seem to each add a day to the feel of the week?

 

Don't you love him?

 

 

In honor of the letter Pp, we polished pennies.  First, we learned about the penny and Abraham Lincoln.  I used this book from Scholastic, because it is simple and has great illustrations.

 

We talked about the penny being worth one cent. This is a great lesson for so many things- word problems about buying candy that costs one cent (um- there is none now, so they were really easy problems), counting the number of pennies it takes to make one dollar, grouping those pennies by tens and counting tens to a dollar, how many more pennies would you need to make ten... on and on!

 

I also love to tell the kids that I still look for lucky pennies all the time, and I am thrilled when I find one.  One boy said, "If it is heads up, it's lucky!" But I think they all are. 

 

I read once how each penny we find is like God's way of reminding us to TRUST  in Him when we read "In God We Trust."  I loved that, and I think of it every time I find a penny.

 

I love cleaning pennies with the kids, because they gasp, and they love it.  I'm sure you have all done this, but if you haven't , that means you didn't watch ZOOM when you were little. 

I still remember the address for Zoom!  "Zoom... Z- double O M- Box 350 - Boston, Mass. O2134!" I wonder if that is still the address 35+ years later?!  Here is a little memory if  you watched it.  If you are old enough. Otherwise, it's just for me.  It made me happy.

I should put all the addresses, grocery lists, and other important things I need to remember to music, then maybe that would work.

 

Anyway, back to my pennies,  all you need are a lot of dirty ( normal- just not shiny)  pennies, vinegar, and salt. 

Put some vinegar and salt in a bowl- and you have made some Magic Penny Cleaner.

 

I show the kids the magic by putting half the penny in the vinegar as we count to twenty- and TA-DA!

 

Next, they each drop in their penny. 

Don't forget the magnifying glasses so the children can examine everything there is to study about a penny- Abraham Lincoln, the date, the Lincoln Memorial... 

 

Speaking of the Lincoln Memorial, have the children use that magnifying glass to see Lincoln inside of the Lincoln Memorial on back.  It is much easier to see him in newer, shiny pennies (after 2000), so I have some of those just for this "research." 

 



I staple the "recipe" for the Penny Polish onto their piggybank paper, in case they forget  those two ingredients.  The kids did some crayon rubbings over their papers, too, which was fun. 

I have had this piggybank paper for.ever.  Probably from  a ditto somewhere.  Not really.  But I don't know where it is from. Any pig will do.  I had the kids draw and label what they might save their pennies to buy, then I taped their cleaned penny to the top of the bank.

 

 

Oh- also for the Letter P, we had our Popcorn/Pajama Party.  I had conferences in the afternoon, and thought the parents may prefer that I was NOT in cozy pajamas, so I didn't wear mine. Although now that I look at my sweater that I thought was pretty, it looks a lot like pajamas. Hmmm.  Oh, yes- I do see Mr. Upside Down in the front row.  He did that each time the flash went off, so...  Finally the Physical Therapist who was taking the picture for me had to leave and take her little guy, so we were done.  The one I sent home to  him had him upright and my head cut off.  It's always something.

 

 



We made cards for our heroes this week!  The kids loved making them.  Here were some cute ones from the first day. They enjoyed it so much, I kept out the supplies during Free Choice all week. I have quite a package to send out!

 

 

 

( He was adamant that I write this. He knew there was something going on during that War of 1812 with England trying to take away our flag... that he should be thanking these soldiers for...)

(MOTION LINES! :)

 

 

 

This week, my Shake Break Prezi and my Character Education Prezi are both FREE at my TPT store! I would love you to have them if you would like them. I put together my favorite videos and links, so I have them all in one place. This Prezi makes it really easy to click on a quick song during transition times.  We use them every single day on the Smartboard.  

 

My Character Education Prezi has videos- songs and stories- on top, and then has Character Education anchor charts below that.  On the bottom  are the Whole Brain Teaching class rules. Beside them on the far right are the rules again, with videos of Chris Biffle explaining the "why" behind each rule, as well as some other favorite WBT videos I love.  I also put some links on the bottom for teachers.

 

 

I am thankful for each of you and want you to know it!  I would be so thankful if you would leave me feedback, too.  :)  ENJOY!

 

 

I put this bulletin board up out in our hallway.  I wanted to put it in my classroom, but I have Z.E.R.O room.  We have fun with it out in the hall. Before lunch or specials, we walk by and read the words on the bricks. After break, I am going to take small group out with clipboards to Write the Bricks.  Soon there will be some stockings hung by the fire!  With care, of course...

 

 

 

Mrs. Hodge and Her Kindergarten Kids shared this on her facebook page. I loved it and wanted to pass it on.  Speaking of Facebook, I would love you to visit my facebook page if you get chance!  :)

 

 

 Have a fabulous weekend. 

 

 

Learning through PLAY!

Yesterday I wrote a post about how important it is that children learn through...  play.

This was something I wrote for my Play Every Day Prezi. 

Children need a strong foundation of oral language (speaking and listening) to help them learn to read and write.  During play, they will have many opportunities to practice this by interacting  with the teachers and the other students. They become engineers creating buildings and towns, working together to make it the best it can be.  They become veterinarians caring for animals, discussing symptoms and finding solutions to a problem.  They become waiters and waitresses, reading menus to customers, taking orders on their pads, and serving friends with their best manners.  They are moms and dads playing house, learning to talk kindly to each other, respect each other, and think of each other.  They write books, make cards, and draw pictures for each other and for family members.  They actually PLAY school, reinforcing concepts as play, not even realizing it is "learning."   Similarly, children learn about numbers by finding them in the world around them.  They are clerks checking out friends in the grocery store, using the cash register to add items and give change.  They measure the height of a block for a house they are building.  They play board games counting numbers on dice for each move, and practicing manners and sportsmanship.   Play makes math and language  interesting and meaningful.

Today I wanted to share some of the things my kids love to "play" with!  I wrote sight words on ... everything. I have sight words on blocks and Legos.  The children write books, make cards, play post office, and play teacher.  The children take restaurant orders or write veterinarian prescriptions.  But they learn so much more that that. They actually have real life opportunities to practice the character education lessons and object lessons that they have learned.

I made placemats so the children can learn to set the table.

and because  they are waiters and waitresses!  I made lots of menus and  have lots of trays, pens, and pads.

REAL LIVE Guest Checks are the best thing ever.  Sam's Club had a HUGE pack of them- I am guessing for REAL restaurants and kindergarten classrooms.  

 I remember loving these when I was little, so of course I needed them for my waiters and waitresses. 

Our grocery store opens a little later in the year, when the children are more ready for it.  I have real coins and a chart to remind the children what coins should be in the register at the end of playtime.  I have prices on some play food, and bags to use, of course. 

I like to change the free choice centers often.  I found some adorable, real vet scrubs at a second hand store (and washed them really well),  for our Veterinarian Office.

I set up the beanbag chairs and called it our "living room," and all of a sudden, the girls were reading to the horses in the living room!

When I put out magnets and whiteboards, children were writing all their color words on the white boards- and looking for words to write around the room- at PLAYTIME.   After that, they went around to the tables and wrote down every friends' name on the white boards.  FOR FUN! 



I still remember setting up my stuffed animals in chairs ready for Sunday school. I remember setting up my Viewmaster movie projector, pulling my shade (like a teacher), turning off my bedroom lights, shutting the door to show a movie to my class of dolls.

I even remember having a huge blackboard in our basement, and going downstairs to "teach" geometry when I was taking it in high school- because it helped me learn it better. I got a hundred on the Regents by the way...  pretty sure it was because I played school. 

My point in all this is that nobody will ever tell me that play is an "extra."

 

The social skills, conversational skills, negotiating, compromising, and life lessons in general are worth their weight in gold during our free choice time.  The learning is just a wonderful bonus that happens because they are experiencing real life and real interactions.

I love being able to relax a little with the kids, oooh and aaah over the fabulous creations they make, and just listen. On other days if needed, it gives me a perfect chance for one on one reading or much needed RTI time. 

Lots of times, I take pictures during free choice that the children write about later .  They love it when I take pictures of what they make, so that when they have to take it apart at clean up time, it isn't really "gone." 

 I love my free choice time.  Can you tell? 

(That is my favorite - because the picture is my own two little princesses when they were little! :)