Friday, September 6, 2013

Number Packet 1-9

I love making freebies, but today I thought I'd try making something and actually charging for it and see how that goes. So I worked up a number packet that I'm pretty proud of. This is definitely something that I would have loved when I was working with my Pre-Kers and Kindergartners, especially for homework at the beginning of the year.

Click picture above to buy. Check out a sample page at the bottom of this post. 

Each page gives students a numeral poem that helps teach proper form.  They get a chance to practice tracing the number 16 times and then writing it on their own 8 times. Then they move on to counting fun items and the number of items vary up until the focus number (so if you're on 4, there won't be more than 4 items).  Then they get to write the number word for additional handwriting practice. The font is great for tracing (the nine is straight, and the eight facilitates proper form), which I've found is hard to find! And it's only $1.00! It's pretty reasonable compared to others on TpT. If you're still not convinced, print off the preview page, give it to your students and see how it goes.

Here's a sample page. You can download this page and print it to try it out. 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Awesome books for the first week of school




Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes


A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon


If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff


My Teacher's My Friend by P.K. Hallinan


Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten


First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg


David Goes to School by David Shannon



The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn


Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss


My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits













Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud


Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Parry Lovell


The Teacher from the Black Lagoon


The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

First Day of School Round Up


Here are some fun activities for the 1st day of school that I've seen around the internet.


"When I Grow Up" photos
I especially love the use of chalkboards for these pictures.

What kind of teacher do you want? 
I love this because in addition to reminding you what kids love about teachers, it can also help you introduce brainstorming. You can also use it to find and discuss adjectives.
Also, if you haven't checked out the videos from "Teaching & Learning Together", you really should! There are some really great strategies for teachers to use, and watching these teachers teach is so inspiring!

First Week of School packet
One of my favorite parts about being a teacher is seeing the progress that students make throughout the year.  This is a great packet for Kindergartners to work on their first week.  Then during the last month of school, they fill the packet out again to see how much they've learned.  

Ways to Show Respect
This is a fantastic way to get students thinking about how to be respectful in all areas of the school and with all people.  This is so important when building your classroom community. I would take this even further and have students write "I will be respectful at school" and have them sign the back.  You could also break students into groups and have students write and perform skits of the Dos and Don'ts of one of the categories.  


Name Caterpillars 
I like having students do some type of name activity on the very first day.  Something cute that can be hung up on the wall that very day.  I think it helps give the students ownership of the classroom.  These caterpillars are an example of something that would be great for young students. Aren't those adorable? 

Summer Overview
Kids are always very excited to share something excited that happened over the summer, so I always like to include an activity to give them a chance to do so, and to give closure to the summer break. Here's a super cute Summer worksheet. 

Get to Know Your Classmates BINGO
Let's not forget the freebie I made a couple days ago! As I said, this is a fun way for students to get to know one another and see what they have in common with their peers. 



Of course, don't forget about doing some fun read-alouds during the first week. Tomorrow I will be posting some of my favorite stories to read during the first week. Stay tuned! 

Monday, August 26, 2013

First Week of School Round-Up: Classroom Setup



I'm sure most of you are busy setting up your classrooms before school starts, so I thought it would be fun to do a round-up on cute and functional classrooms or ideas to help make your life easier.  Since I'm subbing this year, I don't have a classroom to set up, so I will be living vicariously through my blog and setting up my dream classroom.
I love this classroom. It is so pleasing to the eye, and still seems very student centered. It seems like so many classrooms are overrun with primary colors, which doesn't seem too necessary to me. I think students can still appreciate a classroom like this. 

 
I love this! Especially for students who are new to telling time, this gives them more independence. I won't have to keep telling them how long until lunch time! 



Organization
Perfect for art supplies for each table group to share. Source

Attaching file folders to front a desk for unfinished work. Brilliant! Source


Classroom Library/Reading Nook



  


Come back tomorrow for fun activities for the first week of school!


Friday, August 23, 2013

First Day of School Freebie!

With a new school year coming up, I'm going to be working hard to start adding more to the blog. Starting with a freebie! Directions: Students write the person's name under a fact that's true about them.  When they fill out a line, yell "BINGO".  You can only use a person 1 time. 


This is a fun first day of school group bonding activity for students to get to know each other.  After the first BINGO is called, I have the student read the names back.  This gives me a chance to ask the students to share a little more about their fact. (For example, What's your cat's name? How old is your sister? What is your favorite part about camping? etc.) Depending on the time, I either let them play more until another person gets a second BINGO or I will go through the rest of the facts to hear from the the rest of the class. 


Find more freebies at:

Classroom Freebies Manic Monday



Sunday, January 27, 2013

Valentine's Day Freebies for Pre-Schoolers

I made a few more FREE worksheets for Valentine's Day. I plan on making a couple more, and I will add them to this post, so check back!

Here is a fun fine motor activity for students still learning to write their letters. Tracing this lines will help them build the muscles they need for letter writing. I recommend sticking with crayons for young children because it requires more muscles in their fingers to write or draw with. We wants lots of finger muscle building with these kiddos!
Click the pictures for the link to download.


Here is a fun cut and paste activity for math time patterning. My old Pre-K students (even the boys) love pretty pictures like this, so I know this would be something they would love to do. In addition to math skills, it is great for cutting and pasting practice as well.












Also, here's a link to my Valentine's counting sheet that I posted last week. I'm adding it here, because I want to make this post a collection of all of my Valentine's Day freebies, so check back!










Check out some more awesome freebies for the month of February over at Corkboard Connections,  Teaching First & Classroom Freebies!
          Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

10 Ways to Add Variety to Reading Aloud



I use these methods multiple times during reading instruction. It keeps students from zoning out because they aren't sure how we're going to be reading next. It also keeps me sane when having to read the same story over and over. It also gives students who struggle with fluency a chance to hear fluent reading and practice reading with expression with echo reading and choral reading.

1. Choral reading
2. Popcorn reading: Randomly calling a student's name to continue where previous reader left off.
3. Reader's theater: Acting out the book by reading the parts
4. Filling in the words: Read aloud and students fill in the missing word where you pause
5. Students read with a partner (taking turns every other sentence or paragraph),  then summarize to the group or class.
6. Students read aloud at their own pace, while teacher comes around and listens
7. Reading a page or two silently, then summarizing as a group.
8. Give the student a chance to practice, then tape record themselves and listen.
9. Students read in a different voice (whisper voice, robot voice, singing voice, spooky voice, etc)
10. Students practice a story then go to a younger grade to read to them.


I would love to hear ways you add variety to reading aloud. How do you keep it interesting for you and the students?