Scarecrow Fun

I am so excited about this week!!!  

I had something totally different planned, but I came across an inspiration...

and POOF, plans started changing!!

I don't know how I missed this when Deanna Jump first posted this but O M G!!! How adorable is this scarecrow??????  This made me start thinking about all my other cute fall/halloween stuff that I have spent half my paycheck on this month - please tell me you can relate!!!!!  :)  

I had already prepared this:

from Mrs. Kim Adsit and her Fall Literacy Game Pack and I had planned on using it last week but just never got to it. So, Sunday evening around 7ish I made the connection between the 2 - SCARECROWS!!  I know - I'm a little slow! LOL!!!  This connection led me to a big hunt through all the rest of my fall stuff I had acquired over the past few weeks.  I found a few things, but I made a few things too!!  You know what that means for you????  FREEBIES!!  Yippeeeeee!!!!  Here they are!

Click HERE to download!

I made these to go along with Kim's Alphabet Scarecrow Roll Say Keep game I showed above. I have been trying to find a way to introduce stamps to my babies and thought this would be a perfect way.  Depending on the level I have in my group, they can stamp the matching letter the member of our group rolled, or they can stamp the opposite (capital or lowercase) letter that was rolled by a group member.  I can also put this in a center next week and they "should" be able to do this independently!!

Click HERE to download!

I made this color coded patterning activity for a math tub!  You should know the drill by now - Run the scarecrow on 6 different colors.  Cut and glue the pattern starters to the back of each scarecrow.  Laminate and you are good to go!!  I had a spider one, and a bat one like this but of course I didn't have a Scarecrow one - sooooo I made one!! :) 

We are doing some of the fantastic activities Deanna has in her 

Scarecrow Math and Literacy Fun packet and I will share some pics as we go!!  We are also doing some great activities from my other amazing fellow bloggers!  I can't wait to share!!!   I hope you all have a great week.  I had a short week last week and this week due to Fall Break for the kiddos - and staff development for us. 

Ron Clark on TBA!! RUN! DON'T WALK!!!

OMG!  Can you believe it???  Go over and check it out NOW!

Kindergarten Beginning Rubrics - FREE

YAY!!!!!!!  It is clean...well almost!!  

I just can't get away from having at least one pile, but I figured one small pile is better than one great big one right???  I really enjoyed reading all of your comments about my desk and love that I am not the only one whose desk looks like that sometimes!!  

The last few weeks have been busy for us.  One of the things I have introduced within the last few weeks is the RUBRIC!!  That can be a scary word for a kindergartener and an even scarier word for their teacher!!  Explaining what a rubric is and why we use it can sometimes be confusing at first for the children but once they see it and start using it they start to see how helpful they can be!  After I introduce them to a rubric initially, and they get used to seeing and using one, we begin making them together before they begin the activity!  Here are  a couple pre-made rubrics we have used in the last few weeks.

We used this rubric when we did Deanna Jump's Apple Poem Activity.

I used this activity mainly as a following directions activity... (I know you can imagine what some of them looked like at the end... :) ) So that was the focus of this rubric.  You can download it HERE.

This is the rubric I used for our Pete the Cat Project.  I think they turned out really cute!  I didn't do a lot with Pete but definitely plan on using it more next year.  My kiddo's LOVED him and begged to read it everyday!!

This rubric we did one step at a time and it was really neat to watch them consider whether or not they accomplished each task. :) You can find it HERE. 

Ok- on a different note, this week(a short week for us --- We are on Fall Break now!!  YIPPEE!!!) we finished up making our Apple Pie Graph, thanks to Kim Adsit and it was absolutely adorable!!  It has scalloped edges just like the edges of a pie!!  So cute Kim!!  I for some reason did not snap a picture. :(  My kiddos were not ready to complete the data analysis sheet she included in her Unit so I made one that my kiddos and I did together.

You can find the Apple Pie Graph HERE!

They completed their analysis while I completed mine on our Smart Board.  Wait - you can see just a smidge of our "Pie" in that first picture!! :)  You can also see a smidge of our new carpet bags in use in the second picture!  A big thank you to Kim again, for the fantastic idea!  I don't know who loves them more...me or the kids!  We get so much more done when they have their supplies right there and ready to use!!  They are also doing a great job of not touching or playing with them during our instruction time when we are not using them!! ;)  Losing their carpet bag is not something they want!!

Phew...this post seems to keep going and going and going...I actually started it this morning and it is 9:00pm and I am still not finished with it!!  Plus, Grey's is about to start... :) Must...Finish....Fast!! :)  I will make this last part quick - it is just a few snapshots of our fun sink or float activity!  I used our AIMS Web activity book our county supplies us with for the response sheet. (It was actually cute!!)

First we made our predictions...

Then we performed our experiment...

and marked what each object actually did in the water.  We were able to compare our findings to our  predictions

Finally, we recorded our findings in our Science Journal.

Time for Grey's!! :)

Is there a desk under there??

I just got back from bus duty and took a glance at my desk:


Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a desk that looks like this right now!!!!!!! :) things have been so crazy with new things coming down from our county and state I feel like I am doing good to tread water to keep from drowning!! We have done some neat things down here in the Polka Dot Patch and I have used some really awesome ideas from some really awesome blogging buddies!! I promise I will post pics soon!! Until then- keep your head up and remember why we bacsne teachers in the first place... children... :) I'm off to clean my desk... LOL

Math Practice - FREEBIES!!

O.K - it is 10:30 on a school night and I just got home from taking my baby girl to see

OMG!!!  It was awesome and if you ever have a chance to go see it, GO!!!!!!!!!!  I have to admit, it was more fun watching Whitnee watch!!  Seeing her face when she made connections... "the TIN MAN!!!!!" O.K - I won't give anymore of it away - but really - go see it!  I know those of you who have already seen it will back me 150%!!! :)  Since I can't give anymore away about Wicked, I think I will give away some math practice sheets I have made for various reason.  Sounds good right?? LOL The following sheets I have used for various reasons with in the last couple weeks - homework, classwork, informal  assessment.  I hope they might help you!!

Click on each picture to get yourself a copy!

I hope you have a great Monday!  

We are Celebrating Colors this week with help from Brown Bear Brown Bear and Pete the Cat!!  I can't wait to use all the cute and fun stuff my fellow bloggers have created!!!  I will share pics of our fun later this week!!  

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.  :)

How about a little bit of Science...??

The county that I work for has put a HUGE emphasis on Science this year!  It is for good reason, (science being the second indicator for AYP) but a little much for kindergarten in my opinion.  We do science all the time but it is usually integrated into reading and math - so I am finding it hard to have a separate science time daily - but I am slowly learning and getting used to the idea.  This year we are required to spend 40 minutes daily on Science and log the minutes and what we teach.  To be accountable for these minutes our children have Science Interactive Notebooks (Science Journals) to show that we did in fact teach what we logged.

You can find the Journal cover HERE!

  

Where do I even begin... :) 

I love the "Journal" idea - so much so, that we have a Math Journal, a Morning Work Journal, a writing Journal and now a Science Journal!!  6 weeks into school and we have all pretty much learned most of us have learned how to find the first clean page in any journal!  Why is this skill always so hard to teach??  If there are any tricks to this PLEASE SHARE!!! :)  So our first entry into our notebooks was about the 5 Senses.  We did a simple picture sort Flip book and glued that baby right in the journal, added the "secret code" and ta da!!! Our first entry done!!  Well, that wasn't too bad - I think we can do this! :) 

 Another thing the county has asked us to do are Common Science Assessments for each Unit.  This shouldn't be too hard either.  I have some very creative and helpful colleagues on my team so together we should be able to do this with out any problems. Here is the first assessment that we gave along with the rubric we used.  One of those creative colleagues created the actual assessment for us and was happy to let me share it with you.  I did the rubric for us - TEAMWORK!! :) 

Click HERE for the assessment.

Click HERE for the Rubric.

I will update how our Science block is going throughout the year.  Next week are are doing Deanna Jumps solid and liquid activity - Making ice cream!! :)  That should be fun!!   

Now to kind of switch gears a little - I will be starting a Unit on the Farm next week and I am really excited!!  I kind of introduced the Farm on Friday and just asked some simple questions to see what kind of background knowledge they had.  Did you know that elephants live on the farm???  Needless to say we are going to learn A LOT in the next couple weeks!  

I have a very creative teammate and friend at school who really should start her own blog (hint hint Jayme Horner)!!!!  She creates some of the cutest stuff!  Along with making the 5 Senses Assessment, she made some cute math and literacy games for us to do during our Farm Unit.  I can't wait to use them and I know my kiddo's will love using them!!  Again, she was kind enough to allow me to share her work with you!

Yay!!

Here is a 

Barn/Haystack Ten Frame Matching Game(1-10):

 

Click HERE

and a Farm Animal Beginning Sound Match - you have to match the picture to the animal on the mat that has the same beginning sound. :)  

Click HERE

And she even made a Response sheet that is differentiated!  See what I mean?? Awesome!!! 

You can find it HERE

I'm feeling like I am forgetting to post something...but I'm hoping that I'm not!! 

Have a great Sunday!!