Santa Shapes

Ohhhhhhhhhh, 
You'd better watch out,
You'd better not cry,
You'd better not pout,
I'm telling you why….. Santa Claus is coming to town!

Let your kindergartners make this cute little "SHAPE SANTA" for the holidays.  I just cut triangles, rectangles, and circles out of construction paper.  I placed the shapes at a table and the kids went to town!!! 
(no pun intended.. LOL!)

Ho! Ho! Ho!  Get festive!!!!  :)

Left and Right

How on earth do you teach "left and right" so that the kids will stay engaged during a lesson?  I did a couple activities that worked really well….. and I was AMAZED how great my students did!

1. Play the "Hokey-Pokey" song
We sang the Hokey-Pokey and acted out the actions….. the kids loved it!!!

2. I made up a left right story called "Lucy Left and Randy Right."  I sat the kids in a circle (where I joined them) and began the story……. as the word "left" or "right" was said, the kids had to pass the bag to the corresponding words (left and right).  At the end of the story, the person holding the bag, got to pass out the treat that was inside the bag!  I put rings for their "right hand."  The kids lovvvvvvvved it!  :)

3. Left and Right bracelets were a BIG hit!  I gathered plastic and foam beads, pipe cleaners (chenille stems) and sat them at each table.  The kids made 2 bracelets….. a left and right bracelet!!!  It's just the little things…… they thought it was FUN!

Comparing Numbers

Finding anything useful to use in my classroom for comparing numbers was not going so well.  I was looking for a "hook" to introduce this concept.  I came across Jack Hartman's song called "Mr. Alligator Can Chomp" and it was perfect…… I just needed something to incorporate into my flip chart.  Sooooooo, with the help of my 13 year old son, I made my very first YouTube video to go along with the song!  I hope you enjoy it and can incorporate it into your "comparing numbers" lesson plan!!  :)

Just click the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Dvrdombiw

POW + TIDE Writing

Hi All,

One of the hardest things to teach my kindergarten students, undoubtedly, is writing.  It's just a hard concept to teach. It's especially hard for the littles that can't write their names…. geeeeeesh!  But, I do agree that to get your kids writing, you have to start early and practice it often!!

I was introduced to the POW+Tide model this summer at a Common Core training that I attended in here in Tennessee.  Although it is NOT the only way to teach your students to write, it's a viable resource for writing.  It was taken from SRSD which was developed by Karen Harris.  POW is a simple acronym….  P- Pick an idea (pull apart the prompt and pre-write), O- Organize your thoughts (use the TIDE graphic organizer), and W- Write (and say more).  The TIDE acronym is used for the  expository genre of writing... T- Topic sentence, ID- Important Details, and E- Ending.  After attending the conference I searched on the web to find something more that I could use with my students.  Well, guess what? There wasn't anything much at all!!!

Sooooooo, I went straight to work on a TPT packet!  I am so excited to offer this packet that contains 10 printable POW+Tide posters that you can post in your writing center or import into flipcharts to use on an active board!  It also contains 10 friendly graphic organizers that your students can use, student  bookmarks, a student checklist, and a 36x48 inch printable poster.

Contacting Parents Via Texting!

Need to let parents know about an upcoming PTA meeting? School pictures? Need to remind parents about an upcoming field trip?? 

This is a great way to keep in touch with your parents and/or students via texting during the school year! The best part is that this site does not give out your personal information (cell phone number) to parents and/or students…. it gives a "dummy" number instead. Check it out!!! 

Day 100 Scrapbox Paper Portraits

Hi All,

Even though our 100th Day of School has passed, I wanted to post a picture of a few of my kid's Day 100 portraits.  They used scrapbooking paper and construction paper scraps to make their picture.  They REALLY turned out cute!  I hung them with a sign underneath each one that says, "100 years later...... (student name).

Day 100 Scrapbox Paper Portraits

If you haven't celebrated your Day 100, please be sure to check out my Day 100 Party Pack with Kim Adsit.... it's on TPT!

The 100th Day of School Activities

Hi Friends,

Oh my goodness!  We had such an amazing day celebrating the "100th Day of School!"  We had activities and games going on all day long.... which made it extra fun for the kids.  First of all, the kids came dressed up as 100 years old.  Some children brought in a collection of 100 objects.  We made hats, necklaces, a Day 100 Snack, and a stamp book.  We also had a scavenger hunt and ate a cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company!  The jumped for 100 seconds and walked 100 steps.  Needless to say, I was POOPED by the end of the day.  In fact, I'm soaking my feet right now!  LOL

Below are pictures of activities that we did throughout the day.  I hope you get some great ideas to use in your own classroom!


I decorated my door - My kids dressed up as 100 year olds - My team wore matching T-shirts!
 

We made hats!

We wrote numbers to 100!

We had a Scavenger Hunt!

My sweet Room Mothers are ready to help make Fruit Loop necklaces!

Day 100 was AWESOME!!!!!