Science & Five Senses

Unfortunately, we don't have much of a science curriculum. Basically, we have Foss Kits for Trees and Wood & Paper. We are supposed to spread these two units over an entire year. And no, I am NOT joking! Anyhow, I don't complain, I just try to supplement wherever I can. So last week I decided to do a mini-unit on the five senses...

We read and talked about "My Five Senses" by Aliki.

Then the kids helped me label a chart of the five senses. I prepped this in a hurry during morning announcements, and you can totally tell because I forgot to make arms! The kids didn't notice though hehe :)

Then the kids visited 5 senses stations and explored their senses with hands-on activities. I left it very open-ended and just let them explore while I walked around asking questions and encouraging them to use the new vocabulary words. Here is a sample of things I included at the stations: 

Feeling Station: stuffed animals, rocks, sandpaper, various fabrics, a secret "feely box"

Seeing Station: color bottles, books about five sense, coins and magnifying glasses, sunglasses

Hearing Station: various musical instruments

Tasting Station: crackers and goldfish for snacking

Smelling Station: scented candles, incense sticks, scented oils, hand lotions

Finally, the kids labeled their five senses in their journals using this template I made. Click the image to get your own copy! I made one for boys and one for girls.

 

Literacy Centers "I Can" Cards

Phew! It's just past 1AM and I've finally finished my weekend project! My Literacy Center "I Can" Cards are now up on TPT! These are such a great way to get your kids to become independent during literacy centers! And they coordinate perfectly with my free Literacy Center Management Board! I included a total of 153 "I Can" cards, 10 center title cards, and 9 reading response sheets! They are a perfect complement to Deedee Wills' Task Cards! Click the image below to check them out!

Literacy Center Management Board {FREEBIES}

While I won't be starting my literacy centers for another few weeks, I thought I'd get everything ready with a brand new management board! I've posted my management board and some reading response sheets for you all for free! For the management board, I use pictures of the kids and I have them work in pairs. I just move the cards down after each center rotation. Click the images to download and enjoy!

This set coordinates perfectly with my new Literacy Center "I Can" Cards!

Includes 20 center cards with cute Scrappin Doodles clipart. 

Cards are included for Literacy Centers as well as traditional kindergarten centers!

Includes 3 Reading Responses, 3 Listening Responses, 

and a Big Book Response Sheet!

Sorting Activities

Here's what we've been up to in math these past couple weeks! We've been getting lots of practice with sorting...


Hula Hoop Shape Sort: First we practiced as a group, sorting by color and shape. We went around the circle and each student placed their shapes in the correct hula hoop. Then I put tubs of shapes on each table and gave students a divided work mat. They had to sort two groups of shapes in various ways.





















Mixed Up Manipulatives: I forgot where I found this idea, but I told the kids that during recess, someone came into our room and mixed up all our math materials! Oh no! We practiced how to sort objects by kind, then I dumped them out on the tables and each group worked together to sort out all the containers. They had a blast!

Sock Sort: We read "A Pair of Socks" (MathStart) and then the kids helped me sort socks by size, color, and pattern. After, I put various manipulatives out on the tables for the kids to sort, since I didn't have enough socks for independent practice.








Shoe Sort & Graph: We sorted our shoes into three groups (laces, velcro, and slip-ons) and made a concrete graph using our shoes. Then we drew pictures of our shoes to add to our bar graph.

Bear Sort: We sorted bears by size on these work mats that I found from Kindergarten Crayons HERE!

Guess My Rule: We've played this game a lot. It's quick and easy. I just call groups of students to the front and ask the children to guess how I sorted them. I might sort by gender, color clothes, type of shoes, hair color, hairstyle, accessories, etc. Then I ask questions like: "How are they all alike? Why do they belong together? Who else belongs in this group?"

Daily Schedule Cards {TPT Store}

I guess I'm not getting much sleep tonight! Once I start something, I just can't stop! For those who loved my Polka Dot Behavior Chart and Class Rules...I just finished these Polka Dot Daily Schedule Cards! They all feature adorable Scrappin Doodles clipart. And they're so easy to use. I just stick magnets on back and put them up on the board. You could also use them in a pocket chart. There are a total of 39 cards included plus 3 header cards! Head over to my store to check them out!

And here's a picture of how I use them in my room. I just made an arrow and stuck a magnet on the back to track our schedule throughout the day!

There's more to come this week! I'm working on a new management board for my literacy stations as well as "I Can" cards! Check back soon and have a great week!  

Classroom Tour!

Whew! We've made it through the first few weeks of school, and I have to say...I LOVE my class this year. I have such an awesome group of kids! And now that I've got some of the kiddies' work up on the walls, I decided to take some pictures for you. Here's the grand tour!

Welcome & Name Tags

Whole Group Meeting Area

Math Stations Tubs

Computer Center (Loving our new iMacs!)

Small Group Table

 Small Group Supply Shelves

 Star Word Wall

Housekeeping Center & Reading Center

Reading Center & Literacy Tubs

 View from Meeting Area

 View from Small Group Table

 Student Work Displays

                                          Class Promise                                  Behavior Clip Chart

Lesson Plans

Some of you were asking to see my beginning of the year lesson plans. Well, here are my lesson plans from August through December. I am still making a few changes to my plans for the second half of the year, but I am pretty much done! Two entire days spent and I am planned for the entire year! Woohoo! Feels great :)

Literacy Worksheets {FREEBIES}

I am torn about posting these because I have a love-hate relationship with worksheets. I always try to focus on hands-on learning and meaningful activities, but I'll admit I do sometimes like to use them for morning work and fast finisher folders. I know that some children do learn well this way, and I am just trying to meet the various learning styles of my students hehe ;)

Anyway, I made up these worksheets for my class and I hope somebody else might find them useful!!

  Alphabet Sounds A-Z                                    Word Families                                        Missing Sounds

              

                                                      Sound Sorts                                                    

A My Name Is...

We read "A My Name Is..." and learned about the first letters in our names. We sang "If your name begins with __, please stand up (to the tune of If You're Haappy and You Know It). The students came up to find their letter and place it in the pocket chart. Then we made this cute portrait craft I found from Deanna Jump's blog.

We also learned about the letters in our names with these rainbow name mosaics. I wrote the kids' names on 12x18 paper and gave them strips of colored paper (one color a time to minimize confusion). They just cut up the strips and glued the pieces onto the letters. I cut them out after they dried. I love that this craft allowed for so much learning - letters in our names, counting how many letters, rainbow color order, fine motor practice...and of course, they're so bright and cheery! This idea was also from Deanna Jump.

Next week, we will read Chrysanthemum and chart how many letters are in our names. Stay tuned...

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Last week we read one of my favorite books...Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! After reading, I played the song for them (There's a great Chicka Chicka Song on Youtube that I like way better than the original) and we sequenced the letters on our felt coconut tree. Then each student created their own coconut tree and used foam alphabet stickers to spell their names.

 

Color Days (Part 2)

Here's part two of our color days activities. Some people have asked for templates, so I am working on getting the ones I have up on here!

 Purple

We read "Harold & The Purple Crayon" and made our own purple crayon drawings.
Then we made purple cow milkshakes!

Pink

We read "Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink" and then we made and tasted pink lemonade! Yum!

White

We read "It Looked Like Spilt Milk" and then used white paint to make our own "Spilt Milk" paintings.

Black

We read and sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and made black spider stick puppets. We used our puppets to act out the song.

Gray

We read "Frederick" and created a gray Frederick collage.

Brown

We read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and made a paper bag puppet which we used to retell the story. Click here for the Brown Bear Templates.