After a year long break....

Phew it was a crazy year last year. So crazy that I didn't have any time to sit and post. I'm hoping that this years batch will not be as taxing and will allow me to just relax and have time for the important things. Like this blog! 

As any teacher knows. First day outfits are more important then what you plan on teaching!

Noise Level

I'm hoping to try something new this year with the noise level in my classroom.  We all know that this is a battle that none of us like fighting with our students. They want to talk and work and we want them to work and then talk.  Well in an effort to help them to be independent in yet another part of their day I saw this noise level chart on Pintrest and wanted to make my own version. Hopefully it will give then a visual reminder of what we are striving for in our classroom.  You can grab yours for free on my TPT store!

Rainbow Words

My first project of the summer is to get all our sight word stuff organized and ready to go for next year.  We are still following the same routine as we did last year, introducing two new words a week. But this year we are bundling them together into color groups.  These are called Rainbow words.  We are doing it a little differently then other formats.  In the usual format the kids start out with a group of words and remain working on it until they pass (being able to read and write them). When they pass they get a new set of words.  Having done this format in my previous school I found that some of the kids never got passed the first set of words and therefore were struggling with the same six words the whole year.  This year we are going to continue to introduce two words a week.  The students will be tested monthly on the words.  If they pass them they earn a color in the rainbow.  The goal is that by the end of the year they will have earned the whole rainbow.  We are still introducing the words whole group so that all the students are exposed to them.  They may not be able to read and write all the words from the first month but they are still being exposed to the other words they may need.  We will also be able to differentiate word work by what color words the students are working on. 
I made up the word wall cards with polka-dot frames to add a little cuteness to the whole thing.  I posted it on TPT for free so please feel free to use them in your own classroom!  IF you want different ones I am happy to make those up to so let me know.

Organization

Well I am moving rooms!  I put the exclamation point there because it means I will be with the other kindergarten rooms and not down the first grade hallway.  While I like my family down there it feels removed from all the action.  I am excited to bring our kindergarten hallway to life.  Check back later this year and see the cool way we utilize our hallway space!  ( I am geeked for the new ideas)

In the effort to move and get organized I have taken a pintrest trip and gotten a lot of good ideas that I wanted to share in case you might have missed them in your exploring.  First I got a great deal at target on tupperware with two different colored lids. I am organizing my math materials in one set and my literacy in another. This way students will know where to return them in the room. I also made labels which you are welcome to print off and use yourself if you want.  I will have more as I get packed and move ( I take pictures of what is in the tub so the kids know what goes where). 
Check back and I promise to have these uploaded....really big picture files I need to size down...sorry :(
I also wanted a new way of labeling books.  On pintrest there was a picture label that I really liked.  I ended up making my own because I needed bigger pictures.  My students have a hard time getting things back where they belong and I thought this might help them out a little better than my other labels did.  I went to IKEA and got blue tubs for all my books so that it looks uniform.  I did snag a few red ones for my math books because next year we are going to try out Guided Math and want a math literacy center.
Click Here for labels
Last but not least my supply organizer. I totally stole the idea from a pin but I thought you might like the one I found. I got a hardware organizer with 18 drawers at Lowes for 14 dollars and then got scrapbook paper at JoAnnes for 5 dollars. I typed up some labels and glued that to the scrapbook paper and then taped it inside the drawers.  It turned out pretty awesome! Let me know what you think.  You can grab my labels here too all you need is to get paper you like and have fun!

Father's Day

I know it has been a while since I posted anything.  Assessments have eaten all mine and my students time.  We have had very little time to anything other than review and taking tests.  Yes even in kindergarten students are being asked to take tests.  The best part of it was when during teacher appreciation week my students made a circle map about me during Media.  They said the usual nice things like "she loves us" and "she reads to us" but my favorite was "she gives us math tests".  Honestly it is sad when the kids are commenting on it.  But you know how it is the district has their sets of tests, and we have our tests and the school has their tests.  Pretty soon all you are doing is testing!

Well with that rant off my back I present to you the book my students will be making for Father's Day.  We go until the 14th of June so we have plenty of time to sneak this in.  I put it up on my teachers pay teachers.  This is the first time I am charging for it.  I only put it up for a dollar so hopefully you still feel like it is a deal.  I thought I would see if I could make any money at this thing.  We'll see I guess!  Make sure that you rate me or leave me a comment!  I would really appreciate it!

Click Here for the book!

Wonderful Weather

Wow I have been so busy on this spring break. I wanted to make sure that I got the big stuff done so that when I get back with the kids I don't have as many things to get done each night.  We all know I will be working on things every night anyway.  I am sure my plans will change at least two or three more times before I actually put this into action.  We are getting ready to start a weather week.  I am pretty excited for the kids to get to play around with wind, water and sun! Click the words and it will link you to my teacherspayteachers site.  Everything is FREE!!! Leave a comment to let me know what you think...any suggestions would be appreciated as well!

Books we are going to read:

 

Weather Math/ Morning Work

What is the Weather Book

Weather Writing

I even threw in my non-fiction features book. Made it half pages so that we can save on paper!  It is like gold and we all know how hard it is to copy a book when we know it is using tons of paper. This one should print back to front as well!

Non-Fiction Features Book

Funny Frogs Part Dux

I am plugging along on the unit.  I have added two more things; a sentence sequencer and a easy reader for the kids to use during read to self time. I try to have a book the kids can read each week added to their book bags so I know that they have something to practice.  It is great to see them pulling them out on their free time and with their friends.  Hope these add to your plans! Have Fun

Frog Sentence Sequence

Five Green and Speckled Frog Book