Kinder Creations: 2012

Thursday

Freeze Read

Similar to "Freeze Dance," we played Freeze Read. I play music while the kids walk. When the music stops, they grab the closest partner and read their journals.

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Toilet Paper Number Line

Today we used toilet paper to count to 100. Seriously. Anything to get them excited about counting over and over again...

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Wednesday

Recycled Snowmen

We still have plenty of donated paper towel rolls, so we made Roly Poly Pals from "The Mailbox." Luckily, I have an aide who put 28 bags together full of the pieces needed.

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Tuesday

Elf on the Shelf

Our Elf on the Shelf has been candy cane skiing in our classroom.

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Wednesday

I have been collecting paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, and egg cartons. We used the toilet paper rolls this week. Our shape of the week is "cylinder," so we made "cylindeers."
Cylinder + Reindeer = Cylindeer
I precut the triangles and punched out snowflakes for the antlers. The kids cut out their own ears. The red noses are buttons.
I got the idea from Parenting magazine. :)

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Thursday

Hula Hundred Chart

We are working our way towards the number, 100, in math. I made this chart to replace my store-bought one hanging in my classroom. The children will be responsible for writing in the numbers. "Hula" was the best word I could think of to match our ocean theme, that also started with an "h." Maybe we will hula while we count!

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Sunday

Elf on a Shelf

I have decided to share the Elf on the Shelf tradition with my class. We will open the story/doll and name her on November 30! The website is www.elfontheshelf.com and Pinterest has some creative ideas to excite your class! :)

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Wednesday

Three Blind Mice

I changed the words to "Three Blind Mice" for our Halloween costume, since the original lyrics are rather disturbing. :) Thanks to my aide, Mrs. Reimer, and our AM/PM K teacher, Ms. Antonelli, for dressing up!

Mine...
Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who stepped on their tails, which wasn't nice,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?
Original...
Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

More Anchor Charts

I know I have posted some of these anchor charts before. They are from last year. Rather than drawing all new charts for this year, I put Post Its over the facts. As the children brainstormed ways to be a good illustrator, I would pull off their ideas. Luckily, the Post Its are transparent. Any new ideas were written in.

Charts we haven't discussed yet... www.thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com has great ideas! :)

Here are new Anchor Charts we will be creating this year:
Labels (idea from www.thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com)
Sounding Out (segmentation/turtle talk)
More and Fewer
Zero
Rhyming

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Tuesday

Anchor Chart

We will use PostIts tomorrow to label this anchor chart, we made the other day. I used my friend's book, www.victorthevampire.com.

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Super Star Vowel: Aa

In Lively Letters (readingwithtlc.com), the vowels are named "Super Stars." Our Super Star Aa was a shooting star. Overnight, it flew into our classroom, greeting the children with a sparkly mess in the morning.

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October Math Center

Here is a counting center, using pumpkin seeds and a cupcake tray. The children work in pairs counting seeds to match the numeral written on the pumpkin. It's easy to swap out the numbers for different themes/seasons. You can even use math facts. Happy fall!

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Supplies List

When it comes to a School Supplies List for the beginning of a new school year, I try not to ask for too much. I do ask for items that are free, that we can use to reuse/recycle. My list consists of...

Backpack (Big Enough to Carry a 9x12" Folder)
4-pack of Large Dry Erase Markers
1 Ream of Copy Paper
Gluesticks
Ziploc Bags (Gallon or Sandwich)

The free stuff that I need throughout the year are...

Empty Egg Cartons
Paper Towel Rolls
Old Magazines
Box Tops
Soda Pull Tabs

Sometimes I ask for Play-Doh. I definitely give them a heads up on the School Supplies list as to when I will ask for monetary donations for gifts made in-class. In November, I ask for $2, in March I ask for $7, and in May I ask for $2.

Sight Word Pillow Cases

I am making these pillow cases now so I don't have to worry about it during the busy school year. I will be adding handprints and names to them. I plan on giving these to the children during the holiday season. :) I found the pillow cases online for about $1.50 each and I used fabric markers.

I got the idea from this picture.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxZzA1456sy0u1-ANpVdxai19abc3gIfYPSfdprQpMzjLzuD8pQSrYMNPqj0ZFxQmqD7hE_tyWc_l3VPOqRl-h8FJDugllC1PqDSOHyPpqr31hYLVmMuevz9UP-9nrh4e3KHZ1d8O/s1600/100+Sight+Word+PCase+snip.JPG

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Wednesday

Counting On and Composing/Decomposing

I made a class set of ten-frames and laminated them to practice "counting on" from ten. We have also been using them when breaking down numbers.

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Monday

Word Machines

We are talking about ways to recycle and reduce waste for the upcoming Earth Day. We are turning these old egg cartons into Word Machines. The students cut out sight words and glue them into the spaces.

The children use bottled glue.

After the words are put into place, a bean is put into the egg carton and closed.

I asked for egg cartons at the beginning of the school year on my supplies list. Very cheap!

The students then paint the outside and I have been writing Word Machine with puffy paint after they dry in their cubbies. The students shake the bean in their cartons, open, and read the sight word it lands on!

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Wednesday

Sight Word Stars

I know we have an ocean theme but stars ARE above the sea... Our new read and write the room center is "Sight Word Stars." I put 50 stars on the ceiling and the students walk around, stargaze, and write down as many words as they can!

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Tuesday

Sight Word Baskets

We made paper eggs with sight words on them, to use to play the game Memory. My husband made 50 baskets to hold them in.

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Something Good by Robert Munsch

We read Something Good, again, by Robert Munsch. My kinders LOVE Robert Munsch. Our assisitant principal introduced them to his books! We made price tags after we read the book.

We have a fun activity for The Paper Bag Princess coming up, too! Thanks to Whole Foods for donating 300 paper bags. :)
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Bunnies

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Wednesday

Question Mark

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Friday

Sight Word Puzzles

Last time I made the Easter egg sight word puzzles, I used Sharpie. It didn't last, so this time I'm trying puffy paint. Hopefully, it won't get picked off!