Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Position Words - Using There's a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Suess



We're studying Position Words.  What better way to help it sink in than to incorporate some literature.  We read and listened to Wacky Wednesday and Hop on Pop today.  The students used position words to describe where items were in the illustrations.  The following day, we read There's a Wocket in My Pocket.  The students showed me a thumbs up every time they heard a position word; this is GREAT formative assessment.  Next, we created our own 'wockets' and placed them all over the room.  Each pair had the use position words to 'find' and describe where the wocket was hiding.  












Miss Bindergarten Takes a Fieldtrip with Kindergarten - Community Helpers

We've been studying community helpers!

We can name, illustrate, and explain what different community helpers do.





 I used this activity as an introduction to nouns.  We'll be hitting it hard next week.





 There are some gorgeous afternoons here in Tennessee.  Why not take our writing outside?





Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Zero the Hero

It's Zero the Hero! We're celebrating our 20th day of school.
 

 We each have our own Zero the Hero book to track how many days we've been in school.

 We can make Zeros!!
 He brought us Fruit Loops!  Zero the Hero loves snacks shaped in his favorite number.



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Rhyming Yellow Day

I love yellow day!  There's something special and happy about everyone wearing the bright color.  We discussed rhyming words along with our story Fix It Duck.






We used the character's names and the words from the text to create a chart.  This was also a great opportunity to discuss the sequence of the story. 

Incentives- Brownie Points

My new FAVORITE way to reward my students is through the use of brownie points.  I bought a cheap pan from Wal-Mart, hot glued the ribbon around the outside, and copy and pasted some 'brownies' for our counters.  The students earn a 'brownie point' each time the receive a compliment or work together as a TEAM.  The class has earned brownie points for completing centers quietly, listening during a story, sitting nicely on the carpet, lining up when called, etc.  

When we accumulate 20 points, the class earns a reward.  Before we begin, the students choose what they'd like to work towards.  We earned our first reward yesterday, a Popsicle Party!  To enhance our study of position words, we also played Duck. Duck Goose.  You'd be surprised how many had never even heard of it! :)




Wonderful Wednesday

It's Wonderful Wednesday!!!!

Thank you to Kayden Perry's family for supplying us with yummy cinnamon rolls and drinks.  :)




This is a new, special time of day that I decided implement based upon our new Core Curriculum Standards. Many of our new Language Standards involve conversational rules and use of vocabulary.  We talk about different topics during this time that pertain directly to the kiddos. 

It's our Second Wonderful Weds!!

Thank you to the Combs Family for providing delicious muffins!




Math Stations

 

Math Stations are the kiddos second favorite time of the day!  They last for about 20 minutes after our whole group lesson.  This gives me the opportunity to observe them using the skills taught in whole group;  I record anecdotal notes, pull children for one on one practice, and introduce harder concepts to those children that are ready. This week we've been discussing position words. 


 Kayden and Bradey are sequencing events, then explaining why each picture is in that particular order. 



Emma and Jewel are reviewing skills from our last Topic on sorting.  They are sorting various animals into groups by type.


Katie and Cayden are working on number sense by filling in missing digits on number lines.
 
 Naomi Kate and Preston are creating patters with chain links.  Patterning in our next Topic.  I use this as a formative per-assessment.  If the students can explain how and why the chains are in a particular order, we can skip to more advance patterning skills right from the beginning. 

 
Landon and Jolee are practicing counting using one to one correspondence.
 

Jaxon and Hannah are using measurement tools in the rice bucket to estimate & measure.


Anna and David sorted bears by color then practiced putting them into various pattered rows.  


Kately and Lola practiced spacial awareness and fine motor skills while putting together this puzzle.
 
Evan and Cameron were matching number words, colors, and numerals to sets.

Writing with Shaving Cream

Want a fun way to introduce your students to writing letters and numbers the RIGHT way?  Why not use something messy & sticky like.......shaving cream!!!



Their little faces when I say, "Yes, you can touch it!" is priceless!  I'm trying very hard to give them more opportunities to explore and create in 'out of the box' ways.