The Goodies Are Rolling In!

The goodies I've been ordering for my classroom have been rolling in! Don't you just love a box or two on your porch this time of year?! I know I do! Thank goodness I'm home to grab them before the husband sees, and tries to guesstimate how much I've spent....only to be shocked by the credit card bill how much it actually was. It's better he just sees the bill, freaks out & I'm like, oh yeah....I bought some stuff for school. By then, it's stashed in the trunk of my car or somewhere around the house, and there's no going back....only forward....to my classroom! So here's what came 2 shipments ago. This isn't even the latest stuff I've bought. I went on a girls day on Monday with some relatives to the Spa & there happened to be a Melissa & Doug store in the resort. All I can say is that I LOVE Melissa and Doug----and my own 3 children scored some sweet pool toys/diving games & my classroom will reap some rewards from that little shopping trip as well! More on that later....

Back to my Amazon goodies.....

Take a good look! You will see....

1. 1. My "Mrs. Powell" monogramed binder from Zazzle.com. It's BIG. And cute! All my assessments info. will be put into this binder this year. I always use a binder to store my running records, MLPP testing (letter/sound knowledge, concepts of print, etc., sight words data, DIBELS info., and DELTA Math info.)....it seems as if I have my Data Binder out every day, so this year I wanted to make it super cute. And for a reasonable price, I snagged this binder!
2. GIANT Magnetic Base Ten Blocks. I was really wanting some of these last year. I mentioned it to my principal as he did a walkthrough last year while I happened to be trying to model with base ten blocks that it would be really great if I had some that I could put on the whiteboard at our group area. Is it super sad I didn't even know they existed?!??! I'm ashamed to admit it. Glad I googled that one! It led to my wish coming true! 
3. Foam Bath Letters & (not pictured) the crab letter links for the water table. I bought two sets of the crab letter links and 2 sets of the foam letters. I figured I'll rotate sets so that the kids stay engaged/interested in them & purchasing 2 sets of each will ensure that there are enough vowels for kids that are spelling a variety of lengthier words! Check out this FREEBIE for your students to practice their sight words at the water table! Just post it on the wall above your water table. 

   

   Click HERE to grab this FREEBIE!
   
   

   

   Click HERE to grab this FREEBIE! 

4. Soft Number Dice. I also desperately needed these last year. What a perfect math station to just roll & add. You could add 2 numbers or 3 numbers. You could graph how many times you rolled a number. There are so many possibilities. Check out this FREEBIE for you using number dice. Don't want to purchase number dice? Simply download a template online, or use a sharpie and write numbers on a wooden cube.....I'm sure you have some of those! If you happen to like the number dice freebie I gave you, you can get LOTS more for your classroom in my Number Dice Activities Pack

5. 

   Click HERE to grab this pack! 
6. Belkin Rockstar headphone adapter. I'm very excited to get some of my audio books on an iPod or iPad this year so that the kids can listen to them digitally. That's a whole blog post for another day....but I am seriously excited about this little techy purchase. I'm such a geek! 
7. Letter Beads. These are great. I am very excited to add these to my word work station this year. I do have beads already, but some are old, some too small, and the pile has dwindled over the years. I'm re-stocking & plan to use them with my new items from A Differentiated Kindergarten! Thanks, Marsha!! 

  

Grid Games & A Manic Monday FREEBIE!

Today's Freebie: GRID GAMES!

It's nearly the beginning of the school year, and for you PreK-K teachers like me, don't you think it's amazing how we seem to forget just how little the children are in those first few weeks (okay, MONTHS) of school?! They come from all walks of life, all sorts of backgrounds and experiences...including no experiences, for some of them! 

So...let's bring them in, put them in a room full of 16, 18, 20+ other children their age and begin to form  a cozy little family! HA! Easier said than done, sometimes. 

There are a million little details, activities, games, and ice breakers that you will no doubt implement in order for you to get to know your students, and for them to get to know one another. One (of many) of my favorite ways to get children working together is to sit down and play a little grid game. If you are looking for a great small group activity in the beginning of the year, grid games are great for your youngest and most inexperienced students - AND play can be modified to meet the levels of your higher learners. As the year progresses, your students will be able to play these grid games in a center, at an independent station, in pairs, or other small groups. 

What is a Grid Game?

A grid game teach is a type of board game that teaches one to one correspondence, counting, numeral identification, and even work on addition. To play a grid game, children roll a game die, identify the numeral (or count the dots) and count out that amount of manipulatives. Each manipulative is placed over one picture in the grid. Each player gets their own grid mat. Children play until the whole grid is full. The first person to fill their grid wins/that round is complete. Continue play as long as time/interest allows.

Why Grid Games?Board games are the original turn-taking games, and a grid game is one form of a board game. They can be played without having to remember a lot of rules, they are fairly fast paced, and it does not take long to wait for your turn to come back around----perfect for little ones learning to take turns and build patience.

Go ahead and grab your grid game freebie here! I hope you give them a try if you haven't yet used them with your students. If you are familiar...you know kids love these games, and it's nice to have different game mats to play with!   

Your students can practice counting, 1:1, number recognition, addition, and taking turns with this fun grid game!  There are 5 game mats with 10-frames & 5 game mats with 20-frames to use with your students' various abiltiies/levels.

These are great for a small group/center activity. Laminate and cut out game mats.

What you need: Printable game mats & 1-2 dice (either with dots or numbers). That's it! With the 10 frames, students will only need 1 dice; with the 20 frames, students can roll 2 dice and add them together if you choose.

Cover the spaces with glass stones, pom poms---anything small enough to fit inside each box. First person to fill up their grid, wins! Play again and again as long as time allows! :)  

Kindergarten Concepts & A Freebie!

Hey all! This is Jessica from Under the Alphabet Tree! 

I am so excited to be blog swapping with Keri today!

Today I'm going to be sharing with you an idea I got from my co-worker, Lisa! I was lucky enough to get new tables in my classroom my 2nd year of teaching! I started naming my tables by coins because my students had such a hard time with identifying coins. But since that is not a kindergarten standard anymore, I wanted to make some new signs that I can change out through the year to help reinforce some big standards that my kiddos NEED to have mastered before 1st grade!

The table signs are a great tool to help teach kindergarten skills in every day situations! These will be great in calling by tables to come to the carpet, to line up, to earn points for following directions or to call attention when need be! These can be switched out easily if you hang them from some fishing wire and a paper clip! I will slip mine into a sheet protector and hang from the paperclip... like pictured here:

They can easily be switched out through the year! The barrel of monkeys you see pictures above were used to reward tables who were following directions as a whole! When they earned 5 monkeys, they got a prize from the treasure box. But when you download my freebie, be sure to check out the last few pages because I created some small pictures that match the table signs. You can tape them on your whiteboard, and mark the tables with tally marks as they are modeling good behavior! =)

Some rewards you could use could be:

5-10 minutes of free play at the end of the day
First dibs on computers
Read with a friend
Prize from treasure box
Stickers
New, fun pencil and more!!!

I am sharing my table signs FOR FREE with you and in return I hope you follow my blog! I post freebies all the time! 

Table Signs

I also just opened my TPT store recently! I just posted my student's organizational S.T.A.R. binders last night, so be sure to check them out!

Now, if you have any other ideas of how my signs can be used, please be sure to share by commenting! And if you have any other suggestions on skills that can taught towards the end of the year, be sure to let me know! I always welcome suggestions!

Thanks so much Keri for letting me post on your blog!

Sincerely,

Jessica

ABC Action & Musical Learners

I'm thinking about the beginning of the year, and starting right at the basics....well, just beyond singing the alphabet song! My Pre-K friends love to move around and use up as much space as they can. It's amazing how far they can stretch the block area, and inch their way around every possible point in my room. Luckily, I have the space! 

Here's a great ABC sequencing activity in which your little ones will need A LOT of space! These BIG circles can be put in order from A-Z, or a-z ---but tell them to "take it to the floor!". Work on the floor? YUP---it's right where they want to be...where everything is accessible, at their level, and they can crawl, walk, or scoot to grab their letters and put them in their place. 

This is activity is great for your visual / kinesthetic learner. But what about some of those other types of learners? You can set up the circles cake walk style----add some music---and voila! Your musical and auditory learners are intrigued as well. When the music stops...some or all of the children say the letter that they are standing on (or next to---if you don't want little shoes/feet all over your new game!). 

It may not always be easy to find an activity that focuses on a certain concept and includes a musical element for those who learn musically. That is the hardest learning style for me to incorporate into my classroom. I have no musical skill whatsoever---and it's definitely not MY learning style. But if you are stumped...here's at least one way (besides all those great music/movement Cd's) that you can incorporate letter/sound identification in your centers/stations: 

Find a xylophone & add letter stickers to it!  You can only fit so many letters on each xylophone...so you may want to pick up a few of them! (you could also use these for number recognition!)

Have a musical day!! 

Bike...run....read!

Summer always leaves me more time for exercising, which is great! I've been biking, walking, running, and registered for a 5K Color Run!! I am super excited! I think it'll be a great experience for my 9 (almost 10) year old---and something fun we can do together!! 

I've been telling my son that I really have to prepare for this 5K. I'm not a distance runner, and it doesn't come easy for me for a variety of reasons. Don't worry, I'll spare you my violin and pity party. But really, I'm not even at a 10 minute mile right now....so it's time to practice, practice, practice. 

Tonight, we rode our bikes 4 miles. I wanted him to see how far the 5K will be. I figure if I keep practicing 4 miles, the 5K will seem easier. Anyway....yesterday I did a 4 mile practice RUN by myself (and it was brutal!)...tonight, the same loop on my bike felt so easy! 

I love biking, and it comes easy for me. I could ride a pretty good distance before it feels un-enjoyable, too hard, etc.

As I'm parking my bike in he garage after my ride, it occurred to me that biking vs. running for me is like reading for some of the children we teach. For the natural readers, it comes easy & it's enjoyable for a long period of time----like biking for me. For others, it may not be as natural, as enjoyable, and may not last long----like me on a run! 

You can see where this is going, and can probably infer that I've been reading this: 

So how does it all tie in---biking, running, and the Daily 5? Well....I'm reading this book and CAFE and liking what I read. It makes sense. I think the program may need to be tweaked for Jr. Kdg or Kdg., but overall---the gist of implementing A LOT of reading and writing time during the school day has won me over. I like the format, and the ways of building STAMINA! 

In the past, I've begun building my students' stamina from day 1 in preparation for literacy/math stations Debbie Diller style. Starting with 5 minute table rotations and working our way up to 7 minutes, then 10---and being in the full swing of stations throughout the room/hallway. Baby steps.

Daily 5 may be a new structure---but you essentially build stamina the same way. Little by little---starting with just 1 minute! In my case this summer---starting with just one mile! (I used to have a friend who had me running around our local lake (about 7 miles!)---don't think that I don't regret quitting that every time I get out there for a run these days! UGH! Back to baby steps. 

Just think...if I had kept up with running or even walking that distance, I would not be back to square one. I'd be comfortable going a longer distance---I'd have the stamina. So it makes sense that we start our students out reading to self just 1 minute, adding a minute each day if they can handle it, until the desired amount of time is accomplished. The children who are not natural readers, not easily drawn to reading to themselves, do not have a lot of confidence etc., need to be taught all the strategies, techniques, and given the tools & PRACTICE TIME to accomplish their goals (and your goals for them!). 

Don't be mistaken---I have always known that it takes time, effort, and practice to be a good reader. This is not news to me! But as a person that has always had it easy in the the area of ELA, and as a person that enjoys reading, writing, and cares about grammar, mechanics, and everything in between---it's easy to get removed from understanding how difficult and possibly unenjoyable it can be for some students. 

I'm going to spend my summer practicing to be a better runner, building my stamina (and hopefully maintain an exercise routine for good this time)...and spend my school year remembering that grumbles & moans that may escape from some students during ELA activities are just some students who aren't used to running the distance----YET! 

ABC Baseball

Here's a really fun game you can play at the end of the year with your preschoolers, or any time of the year with older students (the big Kindergarteners!). When I taught Kindergarten, I used to play this game with one of my grade level teachers, and our classes loved the friendly competition, socialization, and added physical activity during the school day.

We all know that if there is a way to make a game out of learning, your students will buy into it---creating a highly engaged group of students with a high interest activity. All you need is the baseball letter match game (which is a complete set of upper and lowercase letters), a dry erase board & marker (or something to keep score), bases/home plate and an excited group of students!

ENTER FOR A GIVE-A-WAY ON MY TEACHER'S NOTEBOOK SHOP!

Starts May 31, 2012 and ENDS at midnight!

10 LUCKY WINNERS WILL RECEIVE THIS PRINTABLE----FREE!!!



Click Photo



So....once you have printed the baseballs, you will want to put a number (1, 2, or 3--to represent the value and what base they could run to) on the back BEFORE you laminate. It's up to you, but I put a 1 on easy letters, a 2 on more difficult letters, and a 3 on the letters that are typically most difficult for students to identify. Then, laminate & cut out.

Now, you are ready to take your students to the gym or outside for a game of ABC baseball! I found some great bases and a home plate at the Dollar Tree, but I've only seen them there twice in the Spring over the paste few years. You could always make your own, or borrow from your P.E. teacher!

Set up your bases and divide your class into 2 teams, or bring another class to play against you! You will not need any players in the field. Simply have your students sit on the baseline until it is their turn to "bat" (no bat needed, though!). The teacher is the pitcher! :)

Have your baseballs in hand, and call one student up to bat. They stand at home plate and you tell them if it's a single (1--1st base), a double (2--2nd base), or a triple hit (3---3rd base). Then, "pitch" the ball (show them the ball with the letter on it). If they identify it, they run to their designated base. Next batter, do it all again. Every time a player crosses home plate, make a tally mark for a run for your team.

The team with the most runs at the end is the winning team!!

Shake it up! How to vary the game depending on each child's needs. When you pitch you can:

* show only uppercase

* show only lowercase

* mix it: sometimes show a capital letter, sometimes show a lowercase letter 

* ask for letter sound

* ask for a word that starts with that letter

* ask for a word that ends with that letter

* only use the letters in the child's first name



I hope this game is a HOME RUN for your class!

Have FUN!

SOS! SOS! Super Organizing Saturday - Assessments

It's Super Organizing Saturday once again! I have come to love these mornings this Spring...not too hot outside, a little chilly....not missing much if I stay inside and organize something! This week...it's my assessment binder for basic concepts. That's right....we're talking about assessments on a weekend. I know, I know, I know....that's a heavy topic for such a fun day of the week. If you agree, you might need a large cup of coffee. I'll wait----you grab yours, and I'll grab mine!

Ok, I'm ready! Here we go! 

When I organize my assessments, I of course do not use manilla folders, hanging file folders, etc. If you've read my posts before, you've probably heard of my File Cabinet Rebellion of 2011, in which I ditched any and all file cabinets or file cabinet "accessories". I loathe file cabinets----and I LOVE binders! 

So, you see where I'm going with this.....and you can infer that I organize my assessments in a binder! 

Here is the beloved binder that holds all of my assessments. I was lucky to have my district supply me with everything that I needed. This binder contains:

My curriculum/State objectives....

Letter Identification assessments...

Letter/sound identification score sheets

Beginning sound assessment & score sheets

And much more! However, there are always those basic assessments that are not supplied by the district or curriculum - but are so necessary to early childhood. It is usually up to the grade level teachers, or individual teacher to create their own assessment and find a way to record the information every marking period or during progress monitoring. 

For me, I certainly needed to update my assessments/record keeping. I've taken the time to create these assessments based on my classroom needs---and perhaps they can work for you as well! All you need is a large 3-ring binder, page protectors, and a color printer. If these assessments work for you, feel free go grab them HERE....at no cost to you! 

Spelling Center

Do you have a spelling center in your classroom? In Pre-K, I have an ABC Center---same thing, but leveled for my LITTLE friends and based on the alphabetic principle. I'm not sure how many upper elementary classrooms have a spelling center, but I sure would hope so! BIG kids like to move around and learn, too! Get your students out from behind those desks/tables and interacting with a peer, moving letters around, AND working on weekly spelling lists! Your kinesthetic/visual learners will be grateful!

This center can be a permanent station in your room, interchangeable with a cookie sheet, oil drip pan as a magnetic work space, on the side of a file cabinet, or in a little box that can be pulled off a shelf and taken to a comfy spot on the floor, etc. I made a spelling center for a fourth grade teacher last year, and was later told how much the students LOVED IT!

Here's some pics of how you can easily create an ABC Center activity or fun and cute spelling center, in which students can be social, free to move letters around and play with them, produce a product (recording sheet of their words that they made), and work on weekly spelling lists.

Here's the recording form that students can use to write the words that they have spelled! 

Younger students can practice spelling basic CVC words that they might be familiar with: mom, dad, cat, dog. They can also spell their friends' names. 

I have vocabulary cards in pocket charts in my ABC Center for such words so students can copy and re-create with magnetic letters. I'm sure you do, too! This activity is the same concept, but with different visuals---change it up! With your older students, replace simple CVC words or names of classmates with vocabulary or spelling lists! 

Here, I've put this activity/station on a oil drip pan. You could use space on your wall, back of a bookshelf, cookie sheet----or anywhere, really! I love magnetic items compared to velcro. :) 

Here, only a few of the letters are shown---but with this activity you will get a large selection of uppercase, lowercase, and lots of vowels in order to spell a variety of words. 

Look! One of my preschool students has spelled "car"! Too cute!

I hope you can find this activity useful---and if you do not yet have an ABC or spelling center in your classroom---grab and oil pan and lots of magnetic stuff---it's an easy way to get started! You can build up from there!! Want it? Click HERE (or--see below for ways to get it FREE!)

**If you are a current follower, or a new follower, invite a friend to join/follow my blog, and you BOTH get this activity FREE! Just comment/E-mail me to let me know who you are and who you invited (or who invited you!).

Thank you for stopping by!! I'd love to hear about some upper elementary spelling centers/stations if there are any out there!! :)

On the Right Track with Numbers!

Ever since Christmas, I've been watching my 5 year old twins play their new Leap Pad tablets. They LOVE them! They come in handy in the car on long trips, or when a little down time is needed. We definitely monitor the amount of screen time that our kids have (and really, mine would rather dig in the dirt than sit in front of the TV most of the time anyway!). 

However, when they do play their Leap Pad tablets, I can't help but notice how drawn they are to the math apps on there (K-2 level apps). More than that, the concepts they are working on are strikingly amazing for typical 5 year olds. They start basic, but every level they reach, opens the door for more challenges. Specifically, my daughter LOVES the cooking/baking game. Today, I heard the game say "slice the bread into three thirds".....Fractions?! Really. I thought I was going to have to help out....but NOPE! She did it on her own lickety split! 

Another game that they adore is a number sense game----there are different scenes (space, etc.) in which random numbers are floating and they have to pull them down and put them in order smallest to largest. When they first got this game nearly five months ago, that concept was REALLY hard for them. Now, they totally get it and are quite quick with it. Amazing! 

Don't worry---I'm getting to the point here. 

Anywhoooooo----the point of this is not to dote about my cute little loves, but rather how quickly they acquired the skills (as most kids do) with a TECHY device! Technology sells---and kids buy into educational concepts through fun, flashy technology. Oh, how I wish I was about to give away a Leap Frog Tablet---but alas, I'm not. 

I wish, I wish, I wish I could click my heels together three times and have such devices for the students in my classroom. Since I don't, I had to think of an activity that I could change up the levels (differentiate) for my students, while still building number sense. There are many activities to do this (and store bought ones are expensive)----so for now, here's what I've come up with.

This activity can be used in a variety of ways, and would fit in well with your little ones who love trains, or within a transportation unit, or just because! Take a look....

This is not a good picture, but you can get the idea of how to print the pages and laminate them end to end form engine to caboose.

Using a visual timer (ie: sand timer), students will race to beat the clock to arrange the numbers in a variety of ways:

By 1's... (or 5's, or 10's)... 

By 2's/Evens or Odds...

Or by ordering random numbers smallest to largest. 

You will get numbers 1-100 with this game---so it's completely flexible for you to give your students the numbers they need based on readiness/skill!

 Print a few train track mats for a small group or for your math workstation boxes, have pairs of students work together, or use for independent practice. 

Like this game? Please let me know in a comment!

Have a bunch of Leap Pad tablets to donate to my classroom?! I'll take 'em! LOL 

Click HERE for this game! 

Do the Dragonfly Drop!

I honestly can't make my brain think or do one. more. thing. tonight! I certainly, can't bring myself to write anything substantial---lots to say, but little motivation. The first day back from spring break is exhausting---plus I had a grade level meeting after school from 4-5pm, then grocery shopping with all 3 of my little loves, then home to make dinner, snuggle, read books and tuck in the little loves of my life!! The husband is out of town, so I am single mom-ing it until he returns. 'Nuff said!  I know you understand exactly how I feel! 


Regardless, I managed to get one game out out of my tired brain tonight and out there on my TN shop for you to to pick up! And now, G'night! :) 

Looking for fun springtime fact family games? Here's a new one! 

Click HERE to grab it! 

Put Me In Coach - I'm Ready to Play!

As I was looking through my Easter totes in the basement, taking inventory of what's in stock for the big arrival of the E.B (that's Easter Bunny), I couldn't help but browse through my old Kindergarten totes as well. Even though I currently don't teach Kindergarten, there's always some items that I can tweak to fit the levels of my Pre-K friends....it's just a matter of taking the time to do so.

Here's an old game that I used to have available during Literacy Stations in my K class. It includes Dolch word lists 1-3. I've tweaked it to include the alphabet and numbers so that PreK kids can use it as well.

You will need these great little sports Easter eggs. HURRY---go grab some before the stores are out! The great thing about these eggs are that you can use them at any time of year. They don't seem a bit "Easterish" and your sports enthusiasts will love them! 

You will also need a basket of some kind. These sport themed Easter baskets do the trick, too! 

Inside each egg, hide a little letter of the alphabet, number, or Dolch word. Students can record their findings on the Score! sheet. Some PreK kids may be ready to write their findings, others may just want to say the letter or number. Older students, or those that are ready, can definitely find it, read it, and write it! 

It's soccer season - and baseball season is right around the corner! Gear up!

Get your FREE game HERE!

Get lists 4-11 HERE!