Five for Friday (Sunday edition)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This beautiful Monday morning rainbow was in front of me all to way to work.  The picture doesn't do it justice but it was incredible! 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Random, but I hate salad.  True story.  Oddly the Chikfila Cobb salad is the only salad I will eat. Something about the sweet/savory hot/cold combination just appeals to me, and I was craving one last week!  I should eat more of these. 

 

 



 

 

I was supposed to get a new student this week, but he ended up not coming to our school. I made the mistake of preparing for him a day ahead of time and telling my kiddies he was coming. So I fielded questions about why he wasn't there/was he lost/was he in another grade/was he in Florida ALL.  DAY.  LONG.  I'm adding this to my "lesson learned from this year" book...remind me next time to surprise them with a new friend!

 

 

 

 





I will be so, so happy to finish my two masters courses this week! I have three final projects due.  This is an excerpt from my 36 book annotated bibliography. (The blurriness of the screen sort of gives you an idea of how my eyes feel when I work on this thing!)  They have been interesting and useful, but two classes in one semester was just too much. I was dismayed to see that my first summer class starts just a week after these end, so there won't be much of a break, but at least it's only one to keep track of. 

 

 



 

 

 

The Magic School Bus 01x01 Gets Lost In Space from ETeach3r on Vimeo.

We had a fun little "space day" on Friday!  Our language arts theme was about the sky. My students were hooked on the solar system so I looked around for some special space themed activities. I kept it pretty simple.  We made astronaut puppets and acted out a poem, wrote about Mars, played "over the stars" addition, made a count down rocket, and ended the day by watching "The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space."  I loved this book as a child so I was excited to find the movie online to show my class.  (Some cosmic brownies may have appeared during the movie, too!). They loved it! Unfortunately as usual, I forgot to capture some pictures.  I found a cute packet of resources here and added to it a little bit. 

Next year I want to try to focus more on extending our weekly themes on Fridays and making more cross curricular connections, especially in science and social studies. 

And that was our week! As we near the "thirty days left mark" I have allowed myself to begin counting down- only seven weeks of school to go' 

Amazing Attributes

This afternoon I had one of those great teaching moments.  I am so glad I thought to grab a camera midway through!  The only thing better would have been to video it.  There was so much good "math talk" and "aha!" moments in this lesson. 

My kids are working on sorting by attributes.  Yesterday we talked about comparing two buttons that were alike and different, and explaining why.  Today I extended the lesson to have them use multiple buttons to really solidify the vocabulary I want them to be using.  (Many were still saying "same" for "alike.) 

As I was working with my first group, they were getting the hang of it easily and so I was thinking about how I could challenge my next group, the high flyers. 

(You know how that goes right? You can teach a small group while simultaneously thinking about your next lesson, the upcoming parent meeting, scanning the room for those off task, shushing loud voices, writing a nurse pass and talking to the secretary who walked in, right?) 

Anyway, to go along with my goal of having them work together more often, it started with the idea of giving them a small basket of buttons to sort with a partner, and then have them explain to their partner why they sorted them into groups. And suddenly it occurred to me to draw different numbers of circles on the table to have them sort the same buttons various ways.  I told them they had to come up with a "rule" for each circle. 

We got started with just two groups.  Two little girls were quickly sorting by "squares and circles" and got to the bottom of the basket and found two triangles!  They said "Let's just leave them out."  :)  Most partners ended up doing "same color, different color." Here is where it got interesting. One pair had stacked buttons WITHIN a circle by the number of buttonholes.  They had various stacks of buttons with two holes and stacks with four holes and told me that was how they sorted them.

I don't have a picture of the "two group" buttons, but I asked the student "If your rule is two-hole buttons, then why are the four-hole buttons in the same circle?  Do you think it belongs there?"  He looked puzzled, and then the "OH!!" moment came.  He explained to his partner, and they quickly sorted them into just two groups. 

I then told the kids I was going to challenge them.  Their faces got excited when I drew three (THREE!) circles in front of them. 

 

I was expecting them to pick it up easily by now, but they didn't!  Again, most did "one color, another color, other colors."

 

 

 

 

These are my two highest students.  They gave me puzzled looks when I asked them to explain how they were sorting and said "We need some more time."  It was interesting, because they realized the color sorting wasn't quite right, and were trying other combinations.  They finally realized they could sort by shape! 

 

 

 

 

For the record, there are only three shapes in all of the baskets.  :)  But no one seemed to pick up on that at first. 

 

 

More colors...

 

Then, we tried four circles. 

 

Now we could do colors more appropriately.  :) 

I wish you could have heard the math talk going on around the table, as they discussed how to group their buttons and which particular buttons belonged in which groups.  I also wish you could see their excited, engaged faces.  Something about providing the boundary of the circles and increasing them one at a time made it really exciting. 

One student even said we needed eight circles so we could do two rules...number of buttonholes AND colors.  (!!!) 

Before I knew it, we were wayyyy over our small group time, and they begged me to do this again tomorrow.  So we will, and I'll try it with my other groups too. 

I'm still waiting for them to realize that there are also two sizes of shapes; large and small.  :) 

Classroom Library- Part 2

I've been working on setting up a good classroom library, and here are the teeny tiny beginnings.

 

I wrote about the setting-up process and labels I used here.


After set-up, the next step was to teach the students how to use the library properly.  I've learned a lot about the concept "less is more" with my class this year.  I realize this "library" looks sparse.  While I have many more books that I would love to put out, I figured this was enough to get us started, and it was!  The kiddos have not gotten bored with the selection yet, and it has been two months.   I have added books to the bins besides what is in this picture, but I have not switched out the bins yet.  These few bins have given us enough material to appreciate and learn how to use the classroom library for now.

I am also happy to report that the bins are holding up just fine, thank you Dollar Tree!

When the students came in the morning I introduced the library, they were so excited.  I pulled out the Dinosaur and Curious George bins for my "show and tell."  (Both are favorites in our room!)  Lots of laughs were soon heard as I modeled putting the wrong books in the wrong bins.  I also modeled putting the wrong items in the bins...pencils, papers, etc. and emphasized how special and important our new library and books are to us.  The kids have really been great about keeping everything nice and neat and trying their best to put the correct books in the correct bins, with a few exceptions every now and then.  My mostly super organized self had other plans in mind, though.

I knew that I wanted to use the number labeling system to help the kids figure out how to return books, and help me keep everything organized.  But I figured that would take FOREVER and did not want to put off getting books in their hands any longer.  So I coped with the occasional Eric Carle in the magazine box for a little while.  

In hindsight, this was interesting because it provided us with opportunities for discussion about categorizing books and learning that there are different authors and types of books.  But I don't want to keep stopping to do this every time the students are switching out their two selected books (currently once a week, on Mondays).

A classroom high school helper kindly labeled all the books and bins last week that I currently have displayed.  Boy was she fast!  Now, each bin has a number and each book has a corresponding number on the front cover.  As I add books and bins it will be easy to continue the process.

Now, these books do not always stay in these bins.  No, the purpose of having them out is to get them in students' hands, right?  As you all may or may not know, we've been working on implementing the Daily 5.  The students pick two books to use throughout the week for "Read to Self" and "Read to a Partner."  They do NOT take classroom library books home....they do take regular school library books home once a week.  The classroom library books had a temporary home in "book bags-" colored plastic envelopes with a snap top from Dollar Tree.

But we have now upgraded to book boxes!

These are "Flyt" magazine boxes from Ikea. I got them for $1.99 for five and reinforced the bottoms with clear packaging tape. 

I left them pretty plain so I can use them next year. They have a Velcro dot with the students' numbers on the front. 

One month later, they are still holding up just fine!

How do you organize your classroom library? 

A Day in the Life

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Linking up with Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits today to show you "A Day in the Life" of my classroom!   

5:30  My alarm goes off.  Let's just say it is my goal to get up when my alarm goes off.  :)  I do some morning prayer/reading the Scripture readings of the day, get ready, and head downstairs for my coffee and breakfast, and get in the car around 6:45 for my 30 minute drive to work. 

About a year or so ago, I realized the need to invest some time making my morning routine more pleasant and consistent; laying out my clothes, making sure I eat a breakfast I enjoy, having a packed lunch ready to go, leaving a little early, drinking my coffee made at home rather than from a drive-thru, etc.  It makes a huge difference in my mindset when I arrive at work, and how I start my day!  Mornings are one of my favorite parts of the day now. 

7:15-7:20ish  I usually get to school about 10 or 15 minutes before students do.  I'm not one of those people who get to school really early, but I do make sure everything is set to go before I walk out in the afternoons.  I have a few quiet minutes to lay out breakfast, take down chairs, and take a quick look at my plans before our day is off and running! 

7:30-8:00  Students arrive and eat breakfast in the classroom.  There is SO much that happens in these precious 30 minutes...unpacking, coat hanging, chatting, collecting any forms or money coming in, checking home communication books, taking lunch count, recording who ate breakfast, signing yesterday's attendance, submitting today's attendance, shew, it makes me tired just writing all that out!  It did take me a few weeks when I first started to get it down to a routine, but it goes much more smoothly now.  Either that, or my kindergartners have just matured a whole lot.  I have tried to delegate as much as possible to students and the 5th grade helper, but a lot of it just needs to be done by me.  

While I am doing this, students are (SHOULD) either be A) eating, B) doing morning work C) reading in the library or with the helper.   I came up with these posters so they can look and see what to do: 

Around 8am announcements start and students also do a few minutes of quick exercises led by a helper to warm up their brains for the day!  

8:05 We are settled on the carpet and ready for our day.  I will admit, I would love to revamp our morning meeting routine.  When I took the class, I sort of grasped at straws to come up with something based on what I've seen done in other rooms, and what little I knew of what the students were already used to doing.  I know, that sounds terrible.  It works for us for now.  (That's my motto this year, by the way.)  But I've been keeping an eye on any good blogger posts about what other teachers do so I can come up with a more meaningful routine next year.  This year I am not making any more changes; my students seem to NEED our routine to be exactly the same every day...they like the repetition, and also love the music I've incorporated.  I know there is more that we can/should do; however, I've only been teaching kindergarten for six months, so I'm cutting myself some slack.  :) 

If it's Monday, or the first day after a break or time off, we'll do a Monday meeting with time for each student to share something they would like to tell the rest of the class.  I've written more about our Monday meetings previously. 

1.  For now, we sing a gathering song.  Then students help me fill in the date and fix a sentence that I type at the bottom.  They also circle any sight words in the sentence.

 

2.  They repeat our class promises.  Students helped me come up with these.  :) 

 

3.  We sing a days of the week song, then a months of the year song. 

4.  Our weather helper helps with the weather. 

By the time we get through this, students are ready to get up and stretch, so we take a class bathroom break (I usually don't let them go during the first hour of the day, so that we can all get in and settled.  They are used to this by now.)

**One thing I have learned this year...woe to us if something goes wrong during this first hour of the day; breakfast is late, I couldn't copy morning work, my music wasn't working, the board is not working (heaven forbid!) or if we have any kind of change in routine at all.  I guess that's just the nature of five and six year olds.  :)  But I try my best to get us off to a good, consistent start every day.

8:30  We are back in and ready to start our language arts lesson!  Our district is using a new reading program this year.  I tend to start with the vocabulary/Big Book/reading comprehension lessons, rather than letter and word work, simply because of pacing the stretching that the kids need.  The program comes with a letter of the week song and dance routine which my kiddies really enjoy, so I use that halfway through our whole group lesson to transition them to work on letter skills and sight word work.  It seems to make a more gradual warm-up...I love starting our morning off with a good story and lots of opportunity for conversation. 

9:30 Reading groups start!  Right now we are doing three rotating groups...writing table, reading or word work with me, and either reading to self or reading to a partner, depending on the day.  Again, I realize there is so much more that could be done during this time.  It just works for us right now, and for my stage with being the first year I have taught kindergarten.  After trying to plan all kinds of activities going on during this time, and frustrating myself and the kids with ever-changing activities, I realized that I really just wanted my kids to do two things:  read and write every single day.  So this format ensures that is happening in my room without adding a lot of chaos.  For writing, we currently are loving The Moffatt Girls' beginner writing prompts for every month...they are clear, easy to follow and fun!   

Lunch and recess happen after reading groups.  We are back in the classroom by 11:30.  Before starting math, I read a few pages of a chapter book while students settle down, get drinks, and take turns using the bathroom.  It does take about 10 minutes, but I feel like is time well spent.  Our current read aloud favorite is Charlotte's Web and the kids are mesmerized!  

11:40-12:00  Whole group math- we count straws for the days of school, count Box Tops, and take a look at the calendar and update countdowns for any birthdays/special days coming up.  Then we do a counting cup with a number talk, subitizing practice, or practice our skip counting in a circle.  It just depends.  (Reading Alex's math posts at The Kindergarten Connection has given me so many good ideas for math time!)  My kids love this time.  I review current objectives and focus the lesson, but prefer to spend teacher table time actually teaching the new concepts rather than in whole group.  I just find that it is easier to keep students engaged this way.  I also use this time to introduce any new math games or stations they will be using.  

12:00-12:45 Math group time.  We currently have teacher table, where I teach the new concept using manipulatives, whiteboards, or whatever we need.

My kids really like it when we write on the table too.  :)  Wet-erase markers work great for this!  I will also quickly write names at places if a certain group has trouble finding seats.  :)

I have an independent work table group (worksheet, dry erase, or other activity) and a carpet group (Promethean board game or carpet game) going on during these times as well.  

We have a 10 minute "quiet time" before specials.  I turn off the lights and play classical music.  I tell the kids to rest their brains.  :)  It helps calm and deescalate things before we go to specials. 

1:00-1:45 Specials for the kiddies and planning time for me. 

1:45-2:00 Snack time! 

2:00-2:20 Center time!  I switch some of these out periodically, but right now we have dramatic play (kitchen), blocks, paint, play doh, writing, science, puzzles, reading, and iPad/computers.  Next year I really want to incorporate a sensory center.  I have my kids sign up for these so I can take a glance and make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be, and so that I can make sure kids are getting to different centers rather than always choosing the same one.

2:20-2:30 Clean up time, pack up time, and go home time!  

I usually stay later three out of the five days of the week.  On Mondays I make any final preparations for the week that I need, usually finalizing ideas that I came up with over the weekend.  On Thursdays I make copies and stuff my daily folders for the next week (see below).  Fridays are my "special project" organizing days, creating centers, new spaces, etc.  This is fun for me so I do it on Fridays.  Wednesdays are usually staff meeting days and I try to save Tuesdays to slip out "early" to run afternoon errands or shopping.  At least, in a perfect week, this is how it goes. :)  I get out the next day's folder right before I leave every day.  It just makes me feel better and so prepared to walk out with this on the desk:  

Inside I keep the day's worksheets, homework, any office forms that need to be completed or "to do's" as well as any sticky note reminders. Because...if it's not written down, I'll probably forget it! 

The daily folders are a management tool my mentor teacher showed me while I was in college, and I love this system. 

I finish my day with dinner with my large family and working on my part time online job and my online masters classes. On an ideal evening, I'm also running and reading a few pages of my current book or two.  I try to make it to bed by 10 or 10:30 to start it all over again!

Five for Friday: Fitness and Fun!

Dr. Recess from Playfit Education visited our school this week!  He taught our classes structured recess games.  Unfortunately, it was raining when it was our turn for recess, but that didn't stop Dr. Recess.  I've never witness hallway recess, but that's what happened and the kids had a blast!  He also visited our faculty meeting to share six steps for a trouble-free playground.  You don't need a lot of fancy equipment or structures to have successful recess time!

Hearing his teaching philosophy also really challenged me to think about how I prepare kids for life by providing cooperative learning opportunities and teaching them how to problem-solve and work through their differences.  For some kids, the classroom is the only place where they will learn these skills!

Before...

After...

I FINALLY made it to IKEA and transformed our book bags to book boxes.  No more digging through piles of ripped bags!  We'll see how long the boxes hold up.  From what I understand after some research, they should hold up if treated well.  I reinforced them with tape and emphasized "gentleness" to the kids.

My kids discovered Kid President last week...



What are some other good Kid President videos to show a class?

(P.S...I just figured out how to embed a video!!  How cool is that??  Yes, my skills are limited...) 

No picture for this one, but report cards are definitely going to be part of my weekend.  I have to get a better system down next year.  I currently have a math folder and a reading folder for each student and filing and pulling papers for both subjects for each student is driving me crazy.  I'm thinking I am going to switch to a large assessment binder that will also include observational checklists and standards checklists on a class spreadsheet.  Hopefully that will make it easier to collect and enter data.  Any good tips for collecting and organizing data/doing report cards???

A little one left this picture on my desk at the end of the day.  I think she's got the right idea!  

Cooperative Learning- From Complaints to Compromise

Today was quite eventful.  It all started with a wasp flying around the room during our morning meeting.  So, if that gives you an idea of how the rest of the day went....well, yeah.

(I am happy to report that the wasp met its demise and I successfully removed it from the room.  It's a good thing, because we weren't going to get ANYTHING done until THAT distraction was gone.)

During the course of a recess game school assembly and introducing a new math game later this afternoon, I had a little epiphany.  My students need much more practice working in partnerships.  

I watched as three students missed an entire recess game because Student #1 was following Student #2 around trying to partner up, and Student #2 was following Student #3 around trying to partner up, and Student #3 was trying unsuccessfully to get the attention of Student #1 while avoiding every other student looking for a partner in his path.  

I watched several meltdowns during our math game (which I modeled with students and kept very simple) because So and So ALWAYS gets to go first, and So and So is CHEATING, and So and So is taking all the pink cubes, and on and on.  Sheesh.  Above almost everything else, whiners and "me first-ers" can really get under my skin. 

I called the groups together and tried to emphasize to students that we don't have any fun doing fun activities when we waste time arguing and bickering.  I realize this is part of their age and maturity level, but we REALLY need to work on it in my room.  It is partly my fault, because, as I realized today, I tend to shy away from introducing partner-based activities because of all the commotion.  We focused first on whole group behavior, then small group.  We are coming to the point where we are working well in small groups of 5 to 7.  Now, I think it is time to hone in on our partner work behaviors.  

Some of the questions I have as I reflect on moving towards this...

• Is it better to assign partners or teach children to choose their own partners? 
• What are some "ground rules" about working in partnerships?
• What is an appropriate reaction from me when students approach me with a problem?  

Some of my thoughts...

• I think I need a consistent system to start with.  Something that will be catchy and pre-posted so their attention is diverted and there are no questions about who is working with whom.  I would LOVE for them to eventually get to the point where they can nicely pick partners on their own, but I don't think we are ready for that yet.  A few months ago, a presenter suggested assigning "peanut butter and jelly" partners for Read to Partner time.  I went to my favorite store (Dollar Tree) and they did not have the peanut butter and jelly cutouts, but I found mustard and ketchup cutouts.  I just need to get magnets on the back, work out a partnership list, and get them posted.  My list will be based on both academic and behavior considerations; aligning students who are at similar academic levels and who complement each other's personalities.  Besides, "work with your ketchup partner" just sounds so much better than "work with so and so."  :)
• Ground rules...my kiddies do really well with anchor charts that they discuss with me, help me make and can refer back to.  Actually, our behavioral anchor charts are more often used than our academic anchor charts.  So, I guess we will have to have a class meeting about working with partners.  We'll discuss how:  
• You don't have to be with that person forever.  
• Strategies for deciding who goes first (i.e., roll a dice and go with the highest number)
• No angry voices or snatching,  Provide appropriate alternatives instead, "Please pass me..." etc.
• Choices for what to do if there is a problem (work it out, or work alone) 
• Ask "Does it matter?"  Pink cubes don't matter.  Winning and losing doesn't really matter.  Learning and having fun DOES matter! 
• If the above has been done, then, unless the problem is life-threatening, I think my reaction will  hopefully be....nothing.  I can redirect their attention to the chart, suggest an alternative response, and ask them what they will choose to do.  

Time to go off and plan some good partner-based measurement activities!  

Tada!

Well, I paid for one of my snow days with a spring break day today, but that's okay.  I think my kinder kiddies were still on their sugar highs this morning.  I may have been, too.  :)  The weather is gorgeous and I was able to get home in time for a nice long run. 

I am excited to debut my new blog design and blog button!  It makes me so happy just to look at my blog now.  :) 

I owe Diana at Custom Blog Designs a huge THANK YOU for her kind support, patience, and creativity in making my vision a reality.  This is the second time she has designed a blog for me, and both times were a great experience. 

 

 She was easy to work with, even through my slightly tech-illiterate questions and sometimes zany ideas!  Thanks Diana!  

I love my design because it is simple, teacher-y and home-y.  What do you think?