As a Kindergarten teacher last year, I was always trying to find fun activities and games to reinforce concepts. When you can find a really good one for FREE, it's even better!
Here is a set of 26 rhyming cards for FREE. They come from Carl's Corner - always such a great resource! Check it out!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news...
I am a bit slow on getting all of my birthday "presents" sent out to everyone who commented on Facebook. I apologize for this!
I hope you have all had the chance to check ou the HUGE TpT Cyber Monday sale that is going on! GREAT THINGS THERE!
Today was a bit odd at school. The kiddos came in T-I-R-E-D, but soon found their energy. Thankfully we put it to good use and got a lot of work done, but that first hour was kind of like pulling teeth... How did you first day after the Thanksgiving break go?
~HoJo~
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Book Sales!
Our 5th grade classes held book sales last week. No, not the kind requiring any money! The kind where the students try to "sell" their classmates on a book they've read!
It all started when I was volunteered to do a book sale for each of the 5th grade classrooms. I had a lot of fun with it! For my book sale, I "sold" the book The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary by Candace Fleming.
Each of the students was supposed to dress up to reflect the book. Of course that meant I also had to dress up! Man - did the kids ever look at me likes I was nuts when I walked into the room!!
About a week after my "preview" sale, the students had to perform their own. We weren't quite sure what to expect...
We were pleasantly surprised! The first student - who is normally pretty shy and reserved - came out wearing this -->
Yep - those are underpants!! We couldn't believe he had dressed like Captain Underpants! Not only that, but he was totally prepared! He even hid behind his "machine" and made a bunch of funky - uh, cool - sounds!
Another student had the most creative homemade costume around -->
His Robin Hood costume was the best! He even had homemade arrows in the back. Very cool!
Alright - it is well past this lady's bedtime! I have the rubric we used to score these, but I'm too tired to figure out how to upload it right now. If you are interested, leave a comment with your e-mail and I will send it to you. Hopefully I remember to come back here within a couple days and get it uploaded!
3/3/2012 update - Here's the link to the rubric! (FINALLY!!)
G'Nite!
~HoJo~
It all started when I was volunteered to do a book sale for each of the 5th grade classrooms. I had a lot of fun with it! For my book sale, I "sold" the book The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary by Candace Fleming.
Each of the students was supposed to dress up to reflect the book. Of course that meant I also had to dress up! Man - did the kids ever look at me likes I was nuts when I walked into the room!!
About a week after my "preview" sale, the students had to perform their own. We weren't quite sure what to expect...
We were pleasantly surprised! The first student - who is normally pretty shy and reserved - came out wearing this -->
Yep - those are underpants!! We couldn't believe he had dressed like Captain Underpants! Not only that, but he was totally prepared! He even hid behind his "machine" and made a bunch of funky - uh, cool - sounds!
Another student had the most creative homemade costume around -->
His Robin Hood costume was the best! He even had homemade arrows in the back. Very cool!
Alright - it is well past this lady's bedtime! I have the rubric we used to score these, but I'm too tired to figure out how to upload it right now. If you are interested, leave a comment with your e-mail and I will send it to you. Hopefully I remember to come back here within a couple days and get it uploaded!
3/3/2012 update - Here's the link to the rubric! (FINALLY!!)
G'Nite!
~HoJo~
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Letter Recognition & FUN!
Are you a scrapbooker? Do you know someone who is? Chances are you or that person have a lot of random letters left over after you used a sheet of stickers. I know I sure end up with a lot!!
Do your students struggle recognizing letters in the format other than the one you teach? Then this is the project for you!
Make an alphabet book! Take the leftover stickers (beg, borrow, or steal if you have to! Ok - no stealing...) and make a book for your kiddos.
I figure pictures will do it WAY more justice than my rambling...
Sorry about the glare! It didn't seem to matter whether my flash was on or not, I still had it! :S
My kinders absolutely LOVED this book last year! Because some of the stickers were puffy while others were covered in glitter, it was also a great way for them to "feel" what letters are like. I loved listening to them run up to me and say, "Miss Whetham, did you know a ____ could look like this?" while pointing to various letters. TOO CUTE!
Now - I must tell you where this idea came from. I taught Reading Recovery for a year and watched kiddos continuously struggle with letter recognition. I figured this would be a great way to help them out. (Plus I just couldn't come up with something to do with all those leftover stickers I had, so I HAD to come up with something!) ;)
Maybe next I'll make a math numbers book! =) Then again, maybe I should wait until I'm back in an early elementary classroom...
Alright - if you have hung on this long - let me remind you about the freebie I have going on this week to celebrate my birthday! Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store and choose the one item you want to receive! Then, head over to my Facebook page and leave a message on the wall telling me the item you want for FREE and your e-mail address. That simple - I will e-mail it out!
If you loved the idea of this book, then I think you will also like my alphabet letter sort. Check it out here! Remember, if you post on my facebook wall by midnight mountain time Wednesday, November 23 - you can get this item for FREE!
~HoJo~
Do your students struggle recognizing letters in the format other than the one you teach? Then this is the project for you!
Make an alphabet book! Take the leftover stickers (beg, borrow, or steal if you have to! Ok - no stealing...) and make a book for your kiddos.
I figure pictures will do it WAY more justice than my rambling...
My kinders absolutely LOVED this book last year! Because some of the stickers were puffy while others were covered in glitter, it was also a great way for them to "feel" what letters are like. I loved listening to them run up to me and say, "Miss Whetham, did you know a ____ could look like this?" while pointing to various letters. TOO CUTE!
Now - I must tell you where this idea came from. I taught Reading Recovery for a year and watched kiddos continuously struggle with letter recognition. I figured this would be a great way to help them out. (Plus I just couldn't come up with something to do with all those leftover stickers I had, so I HAD to come up with something!) ;)
Maybe next I'll make a math numbers book! =) Then again, maybe I should wait until I'm back in an early elementary classroom...
Alright - if you have hung on this long - let me remind you about the freebie I have going on this week to celebrate my birthday! Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store and choose the one item you want to receive! Then, head over to my Facebook page and leave a message on the wall telling me the item you want for FREE and your e-mail address. That simple - I will e-mail it out!
If you loved the idea of this book, then I think you will also like my alphabet letter sort. Check it out here! Remember, if you post on my facebook wall by midnight mountain time Wednesday, November 23 - you can get this item for FREE!
~HoJo~
Monday, November 14, 2011
Day 1 of CAFE and Upcoming GIVEAWAY!!
Today was day 1 of implementing the CAFE model with my 5th grade special ed kiddos. We discussed expanding vocabulary and even added a word to our word wall!
I have always been HORRIBLE about word walls in the past. I tend to put words up, but then I never refer to them or teach them again. So - I am hoping putting the responsibility back on the students' shoulders pays off! I will keep you posted! :)
The only thing I might have to change in the amount of time I meet each student. I guess I didn't have my thinking hat on entirely... Last year when I met with my kinders, I could meet with a student in 3-7 minutes. Well - I simply don't think that is going to be enough with my older students. For starters, their books are simply too long! Do any of you have tips that might help me out?
Finally, I plan on doing a HUGE giveaway from my TpT store next week! And we are not talking just a one-person-takes-the-cake giveaway - we are taking an EVERYONE'S A WINNER GIVEAWAY!! Stay tuned... =)
I have always been HORRIBLE about word walls in the past. I tend to put words up, but then I never refer to them or teach them again. So - I am hoping putting the responsibility back on the students' shoulders pays off! I will keep you posted! :)
The only thing I might have to change in the amount of time I meet each student. I guess I didn't have my thinking hat on entirely... Last year when I met with my kinders, I could meet with a student in 3-7 minutes. Well - I simply don't think that is going to be enough with my older students. For starters, their books are simply too long! Do any of you have tips that might help me out?
Finally, I plan on doing a HUGE giveaway from my TpT store next week! And we are not talking just a one-person-takes-the-cake giveaway - we are taking an EVERYONE'S A WINNER GIVEAWAY!! Stay tuned... =)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Starting The CAFE Book by "The Sisters" Soon!!!
I am SUPER excited! The general education teacher that I work with and myself just received permission to do pull-out reading work to meet the needs of our students on IEPs. (We have been doing a full model inclusion classroom all year, but we fear we are not meeting the true needs of our students by not giving them reading at their level.)
Anyway, I am going to start a modified CAFE model on Monday! OOBER EXCITED!! The plan is to pull them 3-4 days each week for the 50 minute reading time. The other two days they will stay in the room to receive instruction with their peers. We are hoping this meets their individual needs, while also pushing them ahead and keeping them up with the current 5th grade standards and expectations.
Here is how I hope it will look:
So from now until Monday I need to: pick books for my students (AGH!!! I don't know if I'm ready for this! I did it last year with my K kiddos, but 5th grade is intimidating me right now for some reason...); get them book boxes (maybe this can wait a little bit...); figure out how to get a 3rd computer in my room (aka - beg the 6th grade teachers to let me borrow a laptop for an hour each day); get my posters printed, laminated, and up; and finally, figure out the first couple mini-lessons or how I'm going to start this...
I know it will all fall into place, but I am freaking out (and excited!) about starting!!
I did a small amount of searching on Teachers Pay Teachers today looking for CAFE menu items, but I could not find what I wanted. It seems there are a lot of the headings, but I couldn't find the subheadings. I know "The Sisters" recommend going through this with your students and having them make their own - but I just don't have the time and I feel like my 5th graders will be ok just seeing them and helping me add them to the wall. With that being said (and I may end up regretting that decision - time will tell!), I made my own posters. Now - they are nothing fancy AT ALL! They are simply a couple of Word documents with borders, but I am pretty sure they will serve my purpose well. Not only do I have the main four headings, I also have all of the subheadings and the correct behaviors. If you are interested, you can check it out here.
On a final, random note, I put my letter sort on sale today. As a former Reading Recovery teacher who loves doing centers, I found these worksheets invaluable!! Once we did one together as a class, my Kindergarten kiddos were able to independently complete them during centers while practicing cutting, pasting, and quick letter recognition. Please check it out or pass the link on to a colleague.
Happy Hump Day!!
~HoJo~
Anyway, I am going to start a modified CAFE model on Monday! OOBER EXCITED!! The plan is to pull them 3-4 days each week for the 50 minute reading time. The other two days they will stay in the room to receive instruction with their peers. We are hoping this meets their individual needs, while also pushing them ahead and keeping them up with the current 5th grade standards and expectations.
Here is how I hope it will look:
- I will trek the students all the way down to my room as quickly as possible! It is quite a walk. And did I mention it's uphill? Seriously!! (Ok, it's not a hill, but it is a slant!!)
- We will do a 5-10 minute "mini-lesson". This will probably be on the concept being taught in the classroom. (We want to try and be consistent in skills so the students will be successful on their days back in the general education room.) **Here is a WONDERFUL resource I bought today that I am hoping will guide most of my mini-lessons when I'm not using the basal --> Reading Skills Mini Lessons E-Book
- Then half of the students will get on Lexia - a computer based reading program that we are using this year. The other half of the students will silently read to themselves from their book boxes, read an AR book, or work on homework or late work from class. During this time, I will meet with individual students to work on skills and read for 5-10 minutes each. The goal is to incorporate the CAFE model here!! I haven't done this in the past, but I'm looking forward to students being responsible for their own learning! (Ok, in all honesty, I'm a bit obsessed with sticky notes and am looking forward to the students using them too! Maybe I will create another sticky note monster! hehe)
- I am EXTREMELY EXCITED to be starting an "Expand Vocabulary Wall"! Here's my thoughts... We will have a box with each letter. Any time the students find a word they find interesting, they will add the word and its definition to the wall. (I will take off any I feel are not "worthwhile".) What I'm thinking right now is that to get students to use these words, I am going to give a point each time they appropriately use one of these words in every day conversation or use it on a paper. Each student will be responsible for showing me when they use it and we will keep track of points on the board. A certain amount of points will get them something - maybe candy or a small prize. What do you think?? (Please be kind, this is all very much still a work in progress...)
- We will switch after 15-20 minutes so the other students are on Lexia and vice versa.
So from now until Monday I need to: pick books for my students (AGH!!! I don't know if I'm ready for this! I did it last year with my K kiddos, but 5th grade is intimidating me right now for some reason...); get them book boxes (maybe this can wait a little bit...); figure out how to get a 3rd computer in my room (aka - beg the 6th grade teachers to let me borrow a laptop for an hour each day); get my posters printed, laminated, and up; and finally, figure out the first couple mini-lessons or how I'm going to start this...
I know it will all fall into place, but I am freaking out (and excited!) about starting!!
I did a small amount of searching on Teachers Pay Teachers today looking for CAFE menu items, but I could not find what I wanted. It seems there are a lot of the headings, but I couldn't find the subheadings. I know "The Sisters" recommend going through this with your students and having them make their own - but I just don't have the time and I feel like my 5th graders will be ok just seeing them and helping me add them to the wall. With that being said (and I may end up regretting that decision - time will tell!), I made my own posters. Now - they are nothing fancy AT ALL! They are simply a couple of Word documents with borders, but I am pretty sure they will serve my purpose well. Not only do I have the main four headings, I also have all of the subheadings and the correct behaviors. If you are interested, you can check it out here.
On a final, random note, I put my letter sort on sale today. As a former Reading Recovery teacher who loves doing centers, I found these worksheets invaluable!! Once we did one together as a class, my Kindergarten kiddos were able to independently complete them during centers while practicing cutting, pasting, and quick letter recognition. Please check it out or pass the link on to a colleague.
Happy Hump Day!!
~HoJo~
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
One of my FAVORITE teacher websites!!
What do you do when your lesson goes MUCH quicker than you planned? I know we all have some back-up ideas, and sometimes just having the kiddos read or catch up on late work is ideal. But - if you're looking for something different that nearly any age will like - then check out this site! http://storylineonline.net/ There are about 24 stories on there now, but they seem to add to them regularly! (I recommend checking it out at school first to see what your speed is like. I've worked in districts where this website doesn't work too well...)
**The Polar Express is one of the stories they feature! Maybe that can help you out when planning for Christmas?!
Can you see yourself using this website? Had you heard of it before? What else do you do when you finish a lesson earlier than you had planned?
Happy Tuesday!
~HoJo~
**The Polar Express is one of the stories they feature! Maybe that can help you out when planning for Christmas?!
Can you see yourself using this website? Had you heard of it before? What else do you do when you finish a lesson earlier than you had planned?
Happy Tuesday!
~HoJo~
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