Pilgrims

On Wednesday, we assembled these Pilgrim hats. The hat part was already traced and ready to be cut out, while the straps and buckles were pre-cut just like the Indian headbands. (Thanks again for all of the mommies who helped!) Therefore, the students just had to glue, and I stapled.
We made these yummy "Turkey Oreos".

Before school, I filled the bowls, so I just had to put them on the tables and students were able to grab as they needed. It was a great day and the students had a blast!

Indians

Today we made Indian headbands as we talk about Thanksgiving. We discussed what the Native American Indians used to eat, wear, and do. Previously, we discussed how they communicated. We read Thanksgiving poems and each child was give their own Indian name!

On a sheet of labels, I typed 30 Indian names. The brown are boys' names and the red are girls'. The kids (and parents) loved this. They thought it was funny when I would use their Indian name, instead of real name.I used the labels as name tags and stuck it to their shirts.

Fall has finally hit our playground. Now, the children can see this "leaf color change" I have been talking about!

Cubby Labels

I had to find an easy solution to label cubbies, as students have been enrolling and withdrawing frequently. The teachers in my room previously used tape to label the cubbies and it left sticky nastiness all over each cubby. Instead, I decided laminte labels and velcro them to each cubby.

I used black velcro so it wasn't an eye-sore.

When a student leaves, you can peel the label off and send it home with them.

Putting My Daubers To Good Use

For "Art" this week, I had the students cut out cards with numbers on them, glue the cards in order, and daub the correct number. The kids did pretty good! Some had some "organization" issues and had to use the back. Overall, it was a great way to get some use out of my casino daubers!

My Favorite Educational Website...

Every Monday, my PM class gets 40 minutes in the computer lab. A fourth grade class has the computer lab before us, so right before we get there, the fourth graders pull up my favorite website: www.tickettoread.com. It's too difficult for most of my kinders to type.

This website is amazing! Any educational website that can keep kinders engaged for 40 minutes is fabulous in my book! The website goes through each letter and rewards the students with virtual toy parts. For my readers, I can go onto the teacher website, voyagerlearning.com, and advance them to the reading portion and skip the letter lessons. The students have to use their headphones, so the entire room is quiet... incredible! Occasionally, I'll hear a faint "/a/ /a/ /a/" or "the!" So cute.

On the teacher website, I can even see how many minutes each student has spent on the site at home.

(Ticket to Read working its magic.)

Below is a picture of their laminated cards that speeds up logging in (when there is only one of me and 29 of them). The cards have their pictures, usernames, and passwords. I hang them up on the wall next to the computers.

Indian "Symbols"

In November Center this week, the students draw pictures to communicate, similar to the Indians. Then, they crinkle up the paper to age it. My example is clipped to the plastic stand.