Monday, September 19, 2011

A little of this, a little of that...

Hey friends!!!!
It seems like it has been forever since I last posted....wait...IT HAS... and for that I am very sorry.  Things have been hopping over at the Polka Dot Patch and I feel like time is never on my side!!  Can anyone relate???  Ha Ha!! :)  I have some random things to share so just hang with me... 

We have been talking about Solids and Liquids in Science so I was so excited to try Deanna Jump's Ice Cream activity!  I was anticipating a HUGE mess, but it really wasn't too bad and the kids LOVED it!  Here are a few pics I managed to snap - with sticky hands and all!!

Here is the liquid after we mixed all of our ingredients!

Here is how our liquid turned into a solid!!  Shake it up, shake it up!!!!

WOW!!  We have ICE CREAM!!! :)  YUMMY!! 

We then drew a picture of our experience in our Science Journal and then completed the Venn Diagram that Deanna included with her activity.
You can find this activity in her Farm Unit and also in her Science Experiments Vol 1 - both found in her  TpT Store.  :)

Classroom Management
A few weeks back, Kim Adsit posted about some of her classroom management tricks and tips on her fantastic new blog, Kindergals.  She shared how she uses "Happy Rocks" to reward her students for various things that happen through out the day.  I LOVED this idea and knew that I had to give it a try!!  Here is my version of the "Happy Rocks" Jar and I added my own twist...The Happy Rock House - where the Happy Rocks wait! :)  
You can see in the background that I also used her other trick from that same post - The students do not like it when they loose an animal. 


I use the Smiley/Frowney technique from Whole Brain Teaching, and I was using a laminated smiley/frowney face chart but got tired of erasing and the dry erase marker not coming off all the way - it looked way yucky - so I came up with this...
This was easy to make and I find it easier to use then what I was doing before.  :)  FYI - These are lids from the pint size paint cans that I use when I make pencil holders and what not.  I have a TON of them and have been trying to find ways to use them!! :)


And finally... I needed something to document the progress my children were making or not making in their name writing.  I created this document to help in that!  
Inspired by Kim Adsit... again... :) I have several different "Clubs" that the children can gain membership into when they accomplish different tasks - and one of them being writing their name CORRECTLY! :)  In the morning during their morning work routines, if they are not a member of the Name Club they have to get to practice their name writing.  :)  On the front of the book I wrote their name correctly so they would always have a model,  and so I don't have to write their name for them everyday.  I made enough copies of the second page  for at least a month (one a day) and staple 3 times across the top - and there you go!  It has a place for them to write the "Secret Code" (date) and they have 5 chances to practice and then one more at the bottom to write it the very best they can.  Once I see that they can consistently write their name correctly, I take their name tag and post it on my cabinet with the other club members.  We have only been using this document for a few days so I will let you know how it works out for us!  
Click the first picture below to download.

Here is the sign I use on my cabinet for the Name Club - there are some other signs included in this download that I made at the same time - one is for the title for my Clip Chart and the other is a title for a rubric I post for adding details to our pictures. 



I hope everyone has a great week and if you lasted this long - thanks for sticking with me through all the randomness tonight.  :)

14 comments:

  1. LOVE LOVE LOVE the name club! I also have lots of "clubs" they can get into for accomplishing certain tasks, but I have yet to do the name club. I'm so printing this and starting tomorrow!!! Thank you so much!!!

    Katy
    Kindergarten Katy

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  2. Okay, so your happy rocks are so stinkin cute! Way better lookin' than mine! Love it!

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  3. LOL!! Kim - you crack me up!! You knew polka dots would have to be involved!! :)

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  4. Hi Mrs. Nichols...from another Mrs. Nichols! I teach 3rd grade, and have just started whole brain teaching! Just a quick question after seeing your new smiley face scoreboard...what do you use as the motivator when they get more points, and what do you do when you get more points?
    Thanks,
    Alexis (Nichols)

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  5. Each day they get more points they earn a polka dot that get's added to the top of my board. When they earn 5 polka dots they earn extra recess, popcorn party, dance party etc... something easy yet fun for them. If they lose - they don't get the polka dot and it takes longer to earn their prize. They also get happy rocks for how many more smiley points they have then frownie points - a nice little math lesson each day too. :) I hope this helps! :)

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  6. I can't wait to start our very own name club! Thanks for sharing!
    Tessa
    Spotlight on Kindergarten

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  7. I love the template for the name club! Such a cute idea! What other clubs are you using in your room? I'm very interested in this idea!

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  8. Love this idea! Will start tomorrow. Thanks! :)

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  9. Haha, great minds think alike, I have the ice cream making activity planned for Friday afternoon! Glad to hear it's not too messy! I just gave you the Versatile Blogger award, check it out at my blog and accept your award!

    Jennifer @ Herding Kats In Kindergarten

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  10. Hello,

    I absolutely love your name club idea. I clicked on the images to go to Google Docs and when I clicked on File, Download Original, it wouldn't load it. Any ideas? Thanks very much!

    Sandy

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  11. So glad you guys like the name club!! Like I said - it was inspired by Kim Adsit - I learn so much from her!! :) Sandy - I just tried to download the file and it worked so try it again and if you still can't load it shoot me an email and I will send you the file! :)

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  12. LOVE IT! How many ish clubs do you have and how do you manage them!! I have the great idea in my head but LOVE the simple-ness of this one and how easy it would be to manage!! Thanks for the idea!!

    Gotta love simple!!
    sarah hetrick
    shetrick@gmail.com

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  13. Cute stuff!! I really love your happy rocks! I will have to do the name club. I also need a shoe tying club :)

    http://wildaboutk.blogspot.com/

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