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!

How do you teach the ABCs? Part Two

Hi there, I am back again to talk about how I teach the ABCs in my classroom.  This is the one thing I do that I think helps ALL kids become fluent with letters and sounds.  It is really important for kinder students to become fluent with using letters and sounds for the real purpose of reading and writing.  I think this product more than any other helps my students master letters and sounds.  It is a Kinesthetic Alphabet with a character and movement for each letter.  I teach each letter explicitly with the movement.  When all letters have been taught, we do the chant every day until all students have mastered letters and sounds.  It takes no more than 5 minutes of instructional time to do the chant.  This is by far the most powerful instructional method for teaching letters and sounds.  Period!

I have been doing some version of a kinesthetic alphabet since my very first year teaching kindergarten (eighteen years ago).  It is kind of an obvious thing to get your kids moving while saying the letters and sounds.  It really helps address the various learning modalities of your students and it is FUN!

 

These are some examples of the teaching posters.  You can also see an example of the back side with directions and a scripted lesson for each letter if you choose to use it.  After I teach this alphabet to my kiddos, we then use this alphabet chart for reading and writing.  Always!  The kids go from using the chant and motions to remember the letters/sounds to eventual fluency.  It works!  The chart is free in my TpT store.  You can go grab it there.  Just click on the image below.

I will try to add a video of me doing the chant with my class as soon as I can.

If you would like to add this set to your language arts program, you can go get it in my TpT store.  Just click on the image below to go grab it.

Happy teaching!

How do you teach the ABC's? Part One

This is the first of several upcoming posts on how I teach letters and sounds in my classroom.  So, first things first, if you are teaching kindergarten, please tell me that you don't do letter of the week anymore!  I was soooo glad to read this on Cara Carroll's blog too!  I have been thinking it for years now, thank goodness someone just put it right out there.  Kindergarten kids need to have a working knowledge of letters and sounds by the end of the first trimester in order to meet grade level expectations for the end of the year. So, teaching letters weekly just doesn't work.

OK, so... time for true confessions.  Even just a few years ago, I was still doing a poem each week that had a letter reference and activity with it.  Although it wasn't really a "letter of the week" program, I finally came to the realization that it wasn't appropriate any more.  By the second half of the school year, my students were so "beyond" the letter work, I was feeling bad.  It's hard sometimes, as teachers, when we see the value in certain activities, but we know that it is time to move on.  Well, I finally moved on.

So, I tweaked my alphabet program a bit.  Instead of a weekly poem book, my students make a little ABC emergent reader.  It is one of the first books they learn to read.  Not only does it help internalize letter names and sounds, but it also helps my students learn to handle books, point as they read, understand directionality with text, and it makes them feel confident as readers.  Woo hoo!  That's why I love these little books and am happy I made the shift to these.

These books are VERY simple.  You could easily make them yourself by drawing out the pages (wink, wink).  If you have the time and inclination to do that, go for it!  This is not an original idea.  But, if you don't have the time to make them yourself, you can go get these in my TpT store:  ABC Book! Student made Emergent Reader for Letter Learning

I have my kiddos do a page each day as a center activity for the first few weeks of school.  It is nice to have an activity that they feel comfortable doing as we are learning routines and setting expectations.  For each letter, I set out lots of matching picture cards like these (ABC Cards! Letter matching cards for learning) .  I am also in the process of teaching my kinesthetic alphabet to them at the same time.  We are also reading lots of alphabet books.  We are doing lots of hands on activities with tactile letters.  They are getting immersed with letters as we make these books.

The important thing about this book, is that students choose what picture they will draw for each letter.   When the child chooses, she will usually pick something that she has already associated with that letter and sound.  This creates a STRONG connection between letter and sound.  It helps students master letters and sounds quickly.  It has been working well in my classroom.  That is why I am finally sharing this with you.  I have had proven success with this.  (...and I finally made it into an actual product I can share... ha ha!)

You get the idea.  There are also pages with the pictures and words already on them.  Those are for TK or preschool sweeties.  Here are a couple of those:

 

So the pre-K pages do not require drawing, just coloring.  I used these with my TK students last year and they were perfect.  The pictures are aligned with my Kinesthetic Alphabet.  What is a kinesthetic alphabet, you ask?  Well, that is a whole other blog post.  So, keep posted.  It is coming soon.

I hope this idea helps you to teach the alphabet in your classroom this year.  Stay tuned for future posts on this topic.  Letters and sounds are such an important foundation in literacy.  So, it is something we need to share and talk about.  If you want to use this little book in your classroom, you can get it on my TpT shop.  Just click on the image below:

If you have some great ideas for how you teach letters in your classroom, leave a comment below.  I hope we can get a little conversation going.  Let's share best practices to help make us all better teachers.

 

Happy teaching!

What can I be for Halloween?

This is just a quick post about a little set of literacy centers I posted on TpT today.  I made it last year and my kiddos loved them!  I didn't get it finished in time to publish it last year.  Sooooo......
here it is ready to share with you now.  I think the sweeties in my class will love it this year too.

It has a cute emergent reader called What can I be for Halloween?  There are two versions, one that is student made with written words like the top picture on the post.  The other version is a little reader like the picture below.  It has nice spacing so the words are easy to point to when reading.

Either one would be a great literacy center and the best part is the black and white printable books can be made for each student to keep in a book box throughout the year or sent home for fun reading practice.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

The other literacy center in this pack is a set of clip cards like those pictured above.  They have all the costumes from the reader along with a recording sheet for kiddos to write the beginning sound for each word.  It was a fun activity last year in my classroom.

You can get it at TpT for your classroom!  Just click on the image below to go there and check it out.  There is a preview file with the entire set so you can see everything before you buy.  As always, it will be discounted for the fist few days, so don't wait.

I hope these are a great addition to the Halloween activities in your classroom.
Happy Halloween and
happy teaching!

Miss C's Class

I went to visit my friend Kristie today.  She is a Kindergarten teacher at Bonny Doon Elementary school.  It is one of my "sister" schools in the county.   It is a small single school AND district,  just like mine.  Because I don't have a group of fellow kindergarten teachers at my school, it is very important for teachers at our small schools to reach out and connect.  So, I am very grateful that my administrator gave me a day to go observe Kristie and learn from all her wonderful ideas. Yea!
I was so impressed by the many great things going on in her class!  I just had to share some of them on the blog and also process what I saw so I can incorporate it all into my own teaching.

There were some great, things in the room environment that I just loved!  The first thing I noticed was this COOL tree in the middle of the room.  I think it is such a fun idea! 

I also loved her cutie patootie number line.  A big theme for the year is the butterfly life cycle.  It is a metaphor for the kids and the changes through the year in the classroom.  She calls her kiddos caterpillars.  They will soon turn into butterflies at the end of the year. 

And this sun on the back wall.  Yes, shine, little caterpillars.  Shine bright every day at school!  (and you too, Miss C!)

And, you just have to love this built in bench in a nook perfect for gathering the group.  She has books, anchor charts, and other goodies posted around the space.  It is the heart of the classroom.
LOVE it!

I was so glad I got to see Kristie's morning centers in action.  They had three activities and then another special activity for the TK kiddos.  (for those of you reading not from California, TK stands for transitional kindergarten.  These are pre-kinder kids that are just not quite old enough for kinder, or those needing more time to mature, that are receiving a pre-school curriculum in a kindergarten class.  Yes, you heard right.  She is teaching a double grade with pre-school and kinder students!)

I love her anchor chart on behavior expectations for centers...

and her centers chart, too.  She changes the top three cards when it is time to switch centers.  Then the little caterpillars come look to see where they each need to go. 

They had a sight word job with the instructional aide,  a writing activity with Miss C, and Life lab.  For those of you not familiar with the life lab program, it is a garden based environmental education curriculum that was developed at UC Santa Cruz.  If you want to know more, you can check it out here: http://www.lifelab.org.  Kristie's school had a life lab teacher to do the center outside with the kids. Each center lasted for about 30 minutes.   These are some shots of the sweet learning garden at Bonny Doon:

At the sight word table, they were doing a trash or treasure word sort with sight words(treasure) and nonsense words(trash).  Kids had to read the word on the paper and decide which it was, and record it correctly on their paper.  If it was trash it went into a little trash bin.  FUN!  I saw this idea on Pinterest.  I bet Kristie did too.  TK kids had another sight word activity:  building words with linker cubes.  I think the kinder kids got to do this too, when they were done with the sorting.

The TK kiddos also had another task to do after building the words- a letter/sound match activity.

The two boys that I worked with for a bit, both seemed like they had some knowledge of the sight words AND knew lots of sounds.  They are ready for Kindergarten next year!

Kristie's writing center was great!  The kids have been studying South America, and the rain forest.  Today they were writing about the sloth:

They developed the sentences as a group.  Miss C modeled the correct writing on the board. Then, students wrote them in the book they were making.  Next,  Miss C took the kiddos through a step by step drawing of a cool sloth (or they could draw their own version if they liked).   TK kids had a different book, and just copied the word sloth under the picture space.  I liked this because the group had a good discussion about the main idea, with a fact, and added more detail.  It is explicit instruction to help expand their thinking and writing.  And, for those of you who use Step Up to Writing in your school, you will notice the colors are aligned. Great!

She also had a great writers anchor chart with a similar idea on expanding sentences.

For math, later in the day, the little caterpillars did some Marcy Cook tile boards.  I helped out, so I didn't take pictures.  If you don't use Marcy Cook math materials in your classroom, you really should check them out.  If you ever get a chance to go to a training with her, GO!  You can check out the materials here: http://www.marcycookmath.com

As I was wandering around Kristie's HUGE classroom, I also noticed so many signs of creative activities happening.

And other evidence of powerful teaching and learning!

The thing that I think Kristie has done an exceptional job with is social-emotional development and behavior expectations for students at school.  I saw so many signs that respect, kindness, and good manners are the norm.   Reminders for all these are woven throughout the day and the year.  She was ever vigilant, modeling perfect behavior, gently reminding, and holding expectations high for appropriate behavior at all times from students.  What a lovely community of young learners I saw today!  They were polite, respectful, and on, what I would consider, best behavior ALL day.  This is no doubt due to Kristie's incredible work all year long.  At this time of year, when most classrooms are getting loud and bouncy, the kids in Miss C's class were doing business as usual and it was BEAUTIFUL!

Some examples of the great things I saw:

And a voice meter (that's what I call the one in my classroom):

And this is something that I really liked a lot.  These tally marks are a record of all the times the little caterpillars give Miss C "goosebumps" for their good behavior - kindness, great transitions, whatever.  But this is the best part- there is NO REWARD!!!!!!  They are just doing it to feel good about themselves, and receive the intrinsic motivation they should for behaving well.   (And learn days of the week, tally marks, and practice counting by 5s as well.)  This is genius!  Kudos, Kristie!

What a wonderful day of learning for teachers (me!) and students at Bonny Doon!  This has become a huge post, so I will stop here.   But, be on the lookout for my next post about the student art show I got to see later in the day.  It was spectacular!  I will do that post soon.  There are many more photos to edit...

Thank you to my friend, Kristie Carruthers, and Stephanie Siddens, principal of Bonny Doon School!  You made me feel so welcome and I appreciate your time with me today.  You must be very proud of the wonderful school community you have.

Happy Teaching!