My Week At VBS

 One of the perks of being a teacher is that we get a little extra time in the summer to use our teacher skills and talents outside of the regular classroom!  I exercised my teaching brain a little bit this week by working at our parish's Vacation Bible School.  The theme for the week was SonSpark Labs...we turned the whole space into a science lab and connected faith and science throughout the week!

 

My friend and I engineered the crafts area for the various age groups.  Some of these are modified from the packaged curriculum, and some we came up with ourselves.  If you're interested in seeing what we did, take a look! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(By far, the Rocket Balloon Cars were the most popular activity of the week!  We extended the project over two days and had a racing tournament after they were constructed.  :) 

This activity would be fantastic for any science classroom...I found the instructions and template here at Scholastic.

 

 

 It was such a fun week and we're already thinking about next year!

Five for Friday- What A Week!

 

 

It's been quite a week!  Today is the only day I have not been running around somewhere...from early in the morning until late at night.  Who knew summer could be so exhausting??  Read on for some of what's keeping me busy these days...

 

 

 

 

 

 

My back to school order of books arrived this week!  I'm working on my plans for the first week of school, and I think these will get us off to a good start.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been helping with the craft portion of our parish SonSpark Vacation Bible School this week.  Here is a sneak peek of one of the crafts we did...more on that later!

 

 



 

 

On Tuesday I went on a tour of an island that is almost completely man-made of material that has been dredged from the Chesapeake Bay shipping channels.  What an amazing project...I learned so much!

 

 

They have a program for schools where teachers can adopt a terrapin and raise it in their classrooms!

 



 

 

http://www.playtolearnpreschool.us/2015/05/name-folders.html

 

Found these name folders through my various perusing on other teacher blogs and I'm so excited to start making them!  Last year some of my students were in a habit of mixing their upper and lower case letters in their name, or writing their name in all caps.  It took a long time to break them of this habit.  I knew I wanted to focus on starting the year off right away with reinforcing the use of lower case letters (other than the first letter of their name, obviously!)  They are going to be part of my word work station during the first few weeks of school.  I have the folders and ordered dry erase tape from Amazon.  Now all I need is my roster of names! 

The link to how to make these name folders is here.

 

 



 

 

And finally, sharing one of my new favorite snacks with you...brownies.  In a bag.  Mint flavored.  They are crispy and cookie-like...yum!  Who thinks of this stuff??!  If you think you will like these as much as I do, you can find them in Target in several yummy flavors! 

 

 

And that's it!  Next week will hopefully be a bit slower.  :)

 

  Be sure to check out the other Five for Fridays at Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Must Read Monday- Rhyming Books

I'm having a great time reading everyone's book suggestions this summer!  I'm linking up again today with The Kindergarten Connection and Kindergarten Planet to focus on books that rhyme!

 

When rhyming books come to mind, the first thing I think of is Dr. Seuss.  How can you resist the delightful sing-song catchiness of his books?  (I remember my first Read Across America day in the 1st grade classroom where I student taught.  I read Dr. Seuss ALL DAY- in small groups, with individual students, whole group, etc.  When I went home that evening, it was hard to have a normal conversation without speaking in or listening for rhymes!  This was my introduction to a primary teacher's life.)  :)

But I'm not highlighting just any Dr. Seuss book.  This book is in my top ten favorites.  It MIGHT even be in my top three favorites: Horton Hears a Who.  This lovable elephant is on a quest to save very small persons on a speck from the evil Vladikloff the Vulture.  I love watching the suspense on my students' faces when I read this to them.  I make voices for the characters and encourage the children to join in on the repetitive verses.  They pretty much have it down by the end of the story.  :)  It has such a sweet message and theme for little people...a person's a person, no matter how small!

 

 

 

 

 



The Llama Llama books are great little rhyming stories that teach social skills!  They are so age-appropriate and relatable for little ones.  Llama Llama Misses Mama, by Anna Dewdney, is a good book to share during the first week of school, for kindergarteners who are having separation anxiety.

 

 



I think it is pretty rare to find a catchy non-fiction text for kindergartners that rhymes! I was first introduced to I Like Bugs! by Margaret Wise Brown as a Big Book read aloud selection in our reading curriculum last year.  Then I realized there were smaller Step Into Reading versions of the book available (as pictured above).  You know a book is good when your students beg you to reread it and are participating as you are reading it to them!  It has a rhythm that is irresistible!  (And, who doesn't love reading about bugs??) 

 

 



The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing  is a new favorite of mine!  I ordered it this summer to add to my Back to School collection and I am excited to introduce it to my kindergarteners this year.  I like it because the text is based off of the popular "Twas the Night Before Christmas" poem, so students have some background knowledge about the poem and also can relate to the text that is specific to them!  It will be a great example of how authors can use other's work as inspiration for new stories. 


Check out the other teacher suggestions this week for great books that rhyme at The Kindergarten Connection and Kindergarten Planet !

Five for Friday- Summer Shopping!

To celebrate my new job, I made a few purchases over the past week (aka, an excuse to buy cute new teacher stuff!).  So this Five for Friday is all about my summer shopping splurges!

I have been looking at these planners from C. Jayne Teach for a few months now, ever since I saw a review on Kickin' It In Kindergarten.  Well, when I found out I would have a classroom job again I looked these up hoping they had not sold out.  The binders are gone, but the planners were still available.  For $10 off, you can get a planner that is "slightly damaged" with a few scratches on the back.  Well, mine came and you can barely see any scratches!  I'm really happy with the spiral-bound notebook.  My favorite part is the standards in the back!  No more looking them up online, and I have been filling in lesson/center/game activities for each one so I can get my resources and planning better organized by standard this year.

P.S....I especially love the philosophy behind this company.  The trendy stripes and anchor are not just a super cute touch...the anchor is a double reminder that the planner helps me stay "anchored" AND it is based on a Bible verse ("We have this hope as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure." Hebrews 6:19)  Love it!  (No, I wasn't paid for this...I was just really excited about it)  :)

Another teacher splurge I made was this cute kindergarten Tshirt from Teacher Tshirts.  I agonized over which shirt and which color to get...they are all so sweet.  I decided to keep it simple.  I am planning to wear this at special events like back to school night/open house, field trips, field day, and more! 

Went to Walmart yesterday and made it past all the yummy new school supplies with ONLY glue sticks!!!  I'm stuck between wanting to prepare and stock up while the prices are good, or waiting to see what is in the room and what the situation is like.  I can't get in the room until the week before school starts, so I'm trying to control myself here.  :)  I did grab our supply list from one of the displays to take a peek at what the kids will be bringing in.  It asked for 3 glue sticks.  I just have a feeling that is definitely not going to be enough to last the year.  ;)  I found these bigger sized sticks for 25 cents each.  I've scoped out other glue stick prices and this seemed like a good deal, especially for the bigger size for little hands. 

Funny story...I pulled up to the checkout trying to keep all of my 25 individual glue sticks from falling out of the cart.  The woman behind me, with an amused look on her face, asked, "You must be a teacher.  Either that, or you like to eat glue sticks."  I almost said, "Yep, and I don't eat them, but kindergarteners do!"  Seems like I always get comments on my overflowing carts of school stuff.  Most people are shocked that a teacher is using her own money to buy things for her classroom! 

Saw these on a few other blog posts...Kohls currently has four of the Laura Numeroff book characters and books for $5 apiece!  I already have most of the books, but I couldn't resist the animals.  I bought all four.  I don't currently have any stuffed animals and figured they would add a little coziness to my classroom.  :)

Technically not a school purchase, but a Five for Friday post of mine wouldn't be complete without highlighting my current food obsession:  Individual Nutella cups with pretzels for dipping!  I took some of these on my recent road trip and decided I prefer the pretzels to the breadsticks.  The sweet and salty combination is delicious! 

Be sure to check out the other Five for Friday posts here!  What are your classroom MUST purchases, no matter the school?  What else should I definitely be doing to prepare for the year with my remaining month of summer?
 

Must Read Monday- Books About Compassion

 

 

 

 

Thanks to The Kindergarten Planet and The Kindergarten Connection for hosting this weekly summer link up!  I'm jumping in today for week 5's topic: book about compassion! 

Compassion is such an important idea to introduce to our kindergarteners.  Some students are naturally further advanced in this than others, and most are just beginning to grasp the idea of feeling empathy for another person. 

 

 

 

1.  I love having a chapter book on hand to read aloud to my students when we come in from recess.  It helps calm everyone and focus us for the afternoon.  I usually try to keep our chapter books short, but I took a leap of faith this spring and chose to read them Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, partly because our media specialist had introduced them to the story.  I own the Garth William's illustrated version...I love his sweet and charming pictures!  It took us several weeks (month?) to get through it, but they were so into it!  They really developed a connection with Charlotte and Wilbur.  Death is a hard topic for kindergartners to grapple with, but the book depicts it gently and lovingly, and follows up with Wilbur in turn caring for Charlotte's children, having had her model of care and compassion.  And Templeton the rat lightens things up by adding humor throughout the story, which my students loved!

 

 



 



 

2.  A new baby in the family is something that several of my kiddoes experienced this year.  If they have been the baby up until this point, it is sometimes hard to understand that there is a new little one that will require some of Mom and Dad's attention, too.  Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats recognizes the fear and even anger that some little "olders" might experience at first, but ends by Peter realizing that his younger sibling needs him and can use his outgrown baby furniture.  I read it to my class and it provided an opportunity to talk about new siblings and how big siblings can help during this new, happy, but sometimes difficult, time. 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

3.  We were HUGE Bear book fans in my classroom this past year!  Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson is one of the many Bear books I read to my students throughout the year.  Most kiddoes can relate to the idea of having someone take care of them when they are sick.  This book provided a great age-appropriate way to talk about little things we can do to make someone feel more comfortable when they are not feeling well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague is a good way to introduce (or reintroduce) kindergartners to the concept of not hurting their friends' feelings, and playing nicely with others.  I own several of the "How Do Dinosaurs" books, and I love to pull them out when a particular behavior starts cropping up in my classroom.  It shows children, in a gentle, humorous way, what not to do.  Of course, we would NEVER act like THOSE dinosaurs!  Never, ever!  :)

 

 

 

Check out other teacher recommendations for books that teach compassion at The Kindergarten Planet's post this week!



Classroom Themes

Well after returning home from vacation, I am thrilled to say that, by the grace of God, I have a job!  Even better...IT'S IN KINDERGARTEN!!!  I am beyond blessed and thrilled and think I am going to love my new district and school. 

I am excitedly planning to move full steam ahead into setting up my new room and preparing for the first few weeks of school. Of course, I am also taking lots of time to relax, read, and just enjoy summer, because I know I will be so busy in just a couple of months. 

My biggest dilemma right now is deciding on a theme.  Here's the options...

1. Chalkboard & apples (think farmers' market feel) I have the most materials in this theme already but I'm worried I'll get tired of apples. 

2. Farm/ranch (I have some of this stuff too) 

3. Black/white chalkboard & primary colors (more whimsical/modern than #1 but I'm not 100% sure how to pull it off) 

What do you think?  Have a tip for where to start looking for ideas and materials?    Leave a comment and vote below!