October in Kindergarten

October is my favorite month of the year!  I love pumpkins, fall colors, and Halloween.  I just celebrated my 11th wedding anniversary with my sweet husband.  We had a beautiful fall wedding during one of the most lovely times of year here in my little part of the world.

So, it's one of my favorite times of year in the classroom too!  This is a sweet Fall on the Farm bulletin board from last year...

It was done slowly over time during our farm unit.  The trees were done collaboratively using corks and tempera paint.  I drew the trunks ahead of time using pastels.  The kids painted the leaves and apples using the corks in small groups.

Fire Prevention Month is also super cool.  My kids love seeing firefighters get into their full gear.  They especially love the "Darth Vader" breathing of the oxygen tank.  It's cool to see the fire engine too.   We are sending kind thoughts to all the firefighters and those affected by the wildfires in California right now.  Keep reading to find a firefighter FREEBIE later in this post.

In my classroom we always learn about pumpkins and use Halloween themed materials to practice important literacy and math concepts being taught.  Learning is more FUN that way.  So I am super excited to show you a special new product I made...

This is the beginning letter sound match activity from my Kindergarten Centers for October.
I adore the watercolor graphics.  It's great literacy practice during anytime in October.  They are perfect for Halloween too.

These pumpkin letter cards are also super sweet watercolor graphics!  You can use them for letter sound practice.  Pulling them out of a plastic pumpkin like this is so fun.  We say the poem I heard from Miss Kindergarten to practice letter sounds...  "Pumpkin, Pumpkin, nice and round, grab a pumpkin, say the sound."  It's great practice AND formative assessment.  You can also use these cards to match uppercase and lowercase...

This activity also comes with a recording sheet for kids to practice writing the matching letter.  My kiddos NEED the handwriting practice... so it's a great activity.  It's split into two sheets, so you can do this as two separate activities on two different days.  It's a better plan to do it in two days for our little learners in kindergarten.

 I also adore these eyeball jars that we are using for number sense activities.  My kids just learned number words by making this Counting Bears Number Book.

So we will be using those eyeball jar numbers to practice number words, counting strategies, number order, and more.  The number cards and number word cards both work with this sweet activity too...

These cute candy corn numbers can be used in many of the same ways.  They also have star ten frames to match.  All these number activities will help make my hands-on lessons with my math curriculum much more fun.  All these number activities come with recording sheets so students can review and extend concepts with pencil and paper.  They make great homework for October as well.

I love to begin my number activities by having kids work collaboratively to put the numerals in order.  We do it forwards and backwards.  Then they can match the counting cards and other representations of the number to the numerals.

We are also working on decomposing numbers as we work on counting strategies and number order.   It sets students up for success with understanding addition and subtraction later in the year.  This mat is a fun way to decompose numbers.  Using candy corns for math manipulatives in October is a must.  Here you can see 6 decomposed as 4+2  and 3+3.

 You could also use little mini erasers, bears, or cubes from your classroom as well.   These simple mats will work with ANY counter manipulative. These decomposing numbers mats are in my Kindergarten Centers for October as well.

The understanding that larger numbers can be made with combinations of smaller numbers is a hugely important concept in kindergarten math.  So we practice this A LOT during the year.  These are a couple of other ways we practice...

This set of Roll, Count, Build Number Sense Activities has a mat for every month of the school year and some extras too.  It also has mats for both two dice and three.  This is a great way to differentiate and is actually great practice for first grade too.  It comes with recording sheets to write number sentences as well.

You can use the dice mats with dominoes too.  We LOVE dominoes in our classroom.  They are the original number bonds and help kids learn soooooo much about numbers.  So, I love this sweet little math product.  You can grab it right here: Number Sense Activities - Roll, Count, Build all year long!

This Roll, Count, Color All year long! is another way to practice these same concepts.  They also make easy homework for parents at home.  This set of recording sheets for dice also have images for the entire year.  They are made to use with one, two, or three dice.

You can grab these pages right here: Roll, Count, Color All year long!

Back to the October center activities...

This is another activity to practice decomposing numbers.  My students are going to pretend to be wizards or mad scientists making potions...

This fun math activity has pictures of fun potion bottles in different number combinations.  Here you can see 7 decomposed as 5+2, 3+4, and 1+6.  Students can make Potions with any combination that matches the total number (7).

There are cards included to record the number relationship like this or with full number sentences.  It has fun recording sheets too!

Here are some other fun activities in this set:

Practice for rhyming... this includes other materials and gives ideas for lots of ways to use these cards.

OK...  this is turning into the blog post that will never end.   This Kindergarten Centers for October set also includes activities to practice hearing and counting syllables and color words too.  It is going to help make my October fun for the kids and easy for me... now that all the cards are printed and laminated, Ha ha!

Thank you so much for reading this post.  I hope some of these activities gave you ideas for your kindergarten classroom in October.  If you want these activities for your classroom, you can find them right here: Kindergarten Centers for October.

I promised you a Fire Prevention freebie...

It's a labeling activity just perfect for little students who are learning to stretch words and listen for sounds to write them.  It only has five words, so it's not overwhelming for kiddos just starting to write.  I did this as a guided activity where we worked collaboratively to stretch and listen and I modeled the writing.  Don't you love the rainbow jacket in this one?

Here's what the page looks like blank:

There are two pages included with boy and girl firefighters.  It's in my TpT store. You can grab it right here:   FREEBIE-Label the Firefighter


I hope you have an amazing October with your class!  Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Happy teaching!

Snowball CVC Picture cards FREEBIE!

Hey there!  I have had several requests for a little set of CVC picture cards to go with a recording sheet that is in my Print and Go! Winter Math and Literacy (NO PPREP).  So here it is!  The recording sheet is super sweet.  Kids love anything to do with snowballs, even if they are really cotton balls and paper, or crumpled up paper.  I did a blog post last year with lots of fun winter learning activities from my classroom.  You can check it out here: Snow much Fun! 

This is what the recording sheet loos like:

So,  for those of you who don't already have a set of CVC picture cards in your classroom to use with this sheet, you can use the small set of paper balls shown in the photo at the top of the post.  It has 20 cards, four for each vowel.  Just to be clear, you will have some prep involved to make these cards.  They need to be cut out and then I recommend that you laminate them for durability.  (That is the main reason I didn't add them into the Print and Go! Winter Math and Literacy (NO PPREP)  product.  I didn't want to turn it into a prep required product.)

If you are interested in a big set of cards that can be crumpled up into paper snowballs like the photo above, you can find them right here: BIG Black & White CVC Cards.   I use those because it is a huge set (94 cards) so it can be used over and over again without students becoming "bored" or memorizing all the words.  It also comes with the words as well so the set can be used for much more than just this recording sheet for a single center.  However, this is a big set, and a completely separate product, so it is NOT part of the Print and Go! Winter Math and Literacy (NO PPREP).

OK, here is the FREEBIE you came here for, just click on the link below to go grab it:

 

 Snowball CVC Picture Cards FREEBIE

Thanks for stopping by today.
Happy teaching!

Smile! It's a Teachers Pay Teachers SALE!

Just wanted to get the word out... there is a big sale happening at Teachers Pay Teachers this Monday Nov. 30th and Tuesday Dec. 1st.  You can save 28% on everything in my store.  Make sure you use the promo code: smile at checkout to get your extra 10% discount.

I am going to stock up on some wonderful things on my wish list!

I also wanted to let you know that I just finished two new products you might want to check out since they will be 28% off.

This is a great set of activities and printable practice pages to go with your gingerbread unit this December.  It has all the things I want for my own classroom along with a few others I thought might be helpful to you.  It's a really sweet set.  (No pun intended ;)  You can grab it by clicking on the image below or this link right here: Print and Go! Gingerbread

You may also want to see this helpful pack as well.  It is great counting and numeral writing review for throughout the year.  I love this activity because it is open ended and kids can challenge themselves.  It incorporates doing a detailed drawing, counting and numeral writing, and labeling parts of the picture.  I am going to keep these handy this year when I think we need some review or I need something quick in an emergency or for a sub.

This one is from earlier in the year before we learned how to label things in our drawings.

This one is from a lesson where students learned how to label.
Both activities went really well and I think this helps my students remember to include lots of details in their drawings.  You can take a closer look at this product by clicking here; Draw, Count, Write!  or clicking on the image below:

I hope you get some good deals on CYBER Monday!
Happy shopping!
Happy teaching!

Happy Halloween!

October has gone by so fast.  Has it been the busiest October ever for you too?  Wow!  And now it's almost over.   Ok, this little set of cards isn't related to Halloween, but I am so happy with how they came out.  They were a rush job last week to get them ready for Monday's math lesson.

I started the week using these Number Tower Cards for a math game with my kiddos.  We are working on the concepts of number order, and more. less, equal with numbers 0-10.    The kids played a game as partners where they had to order the cards first and then take turns closing eyes while the other student removed two cards.  The student with closed eyes then had to guess which two numbers were missing.  They really had fun with it.  Both parts of the activity were fantastic!  I love these cards because the visual representation of the numbers "growing" really helps students conceptualize how numbers work.  You can grab these cards for your class by clicking on the link or image above.



We have also been doing some pumpkin studies in class and my kiddos made these sweet pumpkin  life cycle projects.  We only had a small bulletin board space for them, so they are packed in.  It looks like a little pumpkin patch.  They made these as an independent center activity over four days. 

Here are the four stages up close:

I just love kindergarten art work!  They did a great job with this craftivity!  It was super easy!  I just cut white 12 x 18 paper in half hot dog style.  Then I folded each into four equal sections.  We started with the papers folded shut with student's name on the first section that they needed to use.  Each day, I unfolded the paper to show the following section where the kids would do the  next stage.  Nobody got mixed up! It worked great!



These haunted, or spooky, shape houses were another project my kiddos did in October.  They are up in our classroom to help decorate for Halloween.  They are a part of my new project based homework this year.  Let me know what you think!  I have gotten some nice feedback from parents.  I would love to know what some other teachers think too.

The kiddos had to draw out the design to support creative thinking.

They also had to use a recording sheet to count how many of each shape was used in the final design as well as how many shapes were used altogether.

These are not available in a product yet.  I am creating it and piloting it this year as we go along.  If you love it, let me know and I will try to share my Project Based Homework as a product for next school year.

I had fun decorating the classroom this year for Halloween.  I use these cute hanging thinga majigs and a big Happy Halloween sign on the line across my classroom.  The ghost at the top of the blog post is another decoration in this set.  They are too cute to be scary, so they are perfect for kindergarten kids.  I have had these for years!  I am pretty sure they were Hallmark decorations and it was money well spent.  They were built to last.  I also put up all the haunted houses the kiddos made and it was perfect!




This is the treat I gave to my sweet students this year.

Silly scarecrow stuffies!  Yay!  I wanted something that wasn't food.  I wanted something that I didn't need to wrap or spend much time on.  And... the kiddos had so much fun acting out The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything By Linda D. Williams and Megan Lloyd, that I thought these little scarecrows were perfect!  I hope they have fun with them.  Thanks, Oriental Trading Co.  It was a money vs. time decision.  Time always wins out for me, so it was money well spent.

This is that book I mentioned above.  I read it every Halloween.

These are some others I really love for pumpkins and Halloween time:

 

A story about the little bat with a big idea who helped the witch just in time for her Halloween party. 

 

This is an adorable tale about three friends who realize their friendship is more important than how they make the pumpkin soup each day.   I used this story to introduce the concept of characters to my kiddos. 

This story is about a young boy who loves his jack-o-lantern and how a pumpkin plant sprouts back from what was left of it in the garden.  Great story that incorporates the fun of Halloween with the elements of growing pumpkin plants.  It is a must have if you are doing a pumpkin unit.

 

This is my absolute favorite book for a pumpkin unit!  The photos are gorgeous and it is truly written as poetry.  It gives students the opportunity to ask and answer questions as well as infer meaning because of the rich vocabulary and use of literary devices.  You will LOVE this quality piece of children's nonfiction.  Perfect for pumpkin life cycle studies!

I hope you had a super fun day with your kiddos in class for Halloween!  My day went really well.  I am glad because it was a big week.  We had the full moon, a field trip, and Halloween all in one week... Yikes!  But this great little class really stepped it up.  They did a fantastic job on our field trip and a good job on our Halloween day too.  I am so proud of them!

If you are looking for a great resource to help your October and especially Halloween week, go smoothly, you should really check out my Print and Go! Halloween pack.  It has a variety of interactive NO PREP math and literacy pages that are perfect for October in kindergarten.  You can look at it by clicking on the link above or the image below.

Happy Halloween!
Happy teaching!