First Day with Kindergarten

Today was my first day with my Kindergarten group. I have four girls who struggle with some basic skills, so today's goals including practice their names and working on the letter "a."

I first started with dry erase boards and had them write their names. However, it was apparent that was too difficult, even after I wrote their name for them and had them trace over it. One of my cuties managed to get dry erase marker all over her nose trying to smell her marker (I had scented dry erase markers).

For tomorrow, I wrote each of their names on a sentence strip. The top line they can write over my letters. The second line they are to write over the dashes and the last line they are to write their name on their own. I laminated them and will have students use dry erase markers to practice.

 

Towards the end of our group time, we practiced making the letter "A" with Play Doh. Of course the kiddos were thrilled with this, and Play Doh got everywhere, but it was fun! I showed them how to make an uppercase and lowercase "A" with the Play Doh, covering the gray lines. Once they were down, then they could get another color and practice again.

 

 

A couple of the girls had problems making the letters, but they all enjoyed it. We'll keep practicing. We are going to try to get 3 letters a week if we can!

Dry Erase Board Makeovers

I took a dry erase calendar board and turned them into some fun things for students.

How Many Sounds?

 Students can use this to write the sounds in words. They can write the letters for each sound in a box.

 VOCABY

This is kind of like a BINGO game. Say a letter and number and students have to write that word in the box. You could also have students write their words in each box. Say a letter and number and then they have to read the word that's in the box.

Clipboard Makeover

Many of my clipboards had writing and markings left from my students over the years. I decided to spruce them up a bit with some duct tape!

My Reading Room (Part 2)

I've finished setting up my Reading Room and should be meeting with kiddos soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

iMovie Book Trailers

I have posted in a previous entry about creating book trailers with iMovie. Last year many of my third grade students made their own book trailers over books they were reading. 

Check them out below!

Let's Fly to the Moon! (A Story Using the App Book Creator)

I previously posted about the app Book Creator. I used it last year with my third grade students to make books about going to the moon. I was pleasantly surprised how well they turn out! I even came up with my own book about Bob and Sally's adventure to the moon. The app was very easy for my students and they came up with some great stories. I loved the voice recording feature, so students were able to narrate their stories, which of course helped with their expression. Check out my story below!

 

 I also had to share some of my student books. 

My Reading Room

Today I finished setting up my room.  It'll be a couple weeks before I start meeting with kiddos, but I'm ready for when I do!  Can you tell I like polka dots?

Spoiled

Yesterday was my first day at my new school. Everyone has been so welcoming and I loved getting all these treats in my mailbox. It made my transition so much better!

Walter the Farting Dog Book

Have you read this book? If not you need to because it's one of the funniest books I have ever read! My daughter LOVES this book to the point that she could not stop laughing. Best of all, there are sequels!

You can get all the books on Amazon:

Walter the Farting Dog

Walter the Farting Dog: Banned from the Beach 

 Walter the Farting Dog: Trouble at the Yard Sale

Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise 

Rough Weather Ahead for Walter the Farting Dog 

 

Epic! - Books for Kids

Have you heard of Epic? I LOVE it! My students loved it. 

What is it? Epic is basically the Netflix of books and it's FREE for teachers.

It's an app and website, so it's easy for students to use. My students read almost 10,000 books by the end of the school year and their reading scores went way up!

I posted a caterpillar that tracked how many books my students read. It was a great visual for anyone who came in our classroom!

To get started, go to https://www.getepic.com/educators!

Take a Number Board

I needed something for conferencing that was more effective instead of just having students come up to me.  I came up with my "Take a Number" board. My husband made the numbers with his 3-D printer and attached a magnet on the back of the numbers. I got a magnetic board and drew the matching numbers on it. 

It turned out to be a great tool that kept students on task and me sane! Students would pick any number and wait for me to call it. In the meantime they worked independently at their desks or had a buddy help them. If they didn't need me anymore, they put the number back. I used this for my writing and reading conferences. The kids loved it because they never knew what number I'd call. I highly recommend creating something like this to use in your classroom!

Brownie Points

I made these "brownies" to use as an incentive for student behavior. I got the pan and sponges at The Dollar Tree. 4 sponges fit perfectly in the brownie pan. I cut them in rectangles and painted them with brown acrylic paint. I attached velcro to the bottom and numbers on the top.

Pencil Holders

I got these straws at Big Lots. They are the large milkshake straws.

I cut them into thirds and taped them to student desks using duct tape.  They lasted most of the year!

Some students picked off the tape, but most of them kept the straws on their desk all year.

Bucket Seats

This past year I made some bucket seats to use in my classroom, due to limited chairs.  They turned out really well and held up all year (minus cracks in the lid, which is easily replaceable).  I don't recommend spray painting them because even after sanding the buckets, it wouldn't stay on. I used vinyl fabric, which was easy to clean, and foam for the seats.  They were attached with rope along the rim. These seats were strong enough for adults to sit on!