St. Patrick's Day

Having a theme in the classroom is something that I find fun and engaging for students. In December, we had a Gingerbread man that left rhyming poems on our morning message each day. The kids loved it and couldn't wait to see what message he left! During the last week, we had a Leprechaun in our classroom. He is the Gingerbread Man's friend, and he is very sneaky. He loooooves letters. In fact, he stole letters from our Morning Message! That sneaky Leprechaun ;)

Our job was to locate him every morning and get our letters back. We attached them back on to the message with tape. You can't trick us, leprechaun!

The kids adored this, and without them even realizing it, they were practicing phonological awareness! The Leprechaun would take letters from any part of the word and the whole class would work together to put them back. I was amazed at how well the kids did :)

On Friday, we set traps for the leprechaun for Monday (Today is St. Patrick's day, but right now we're stuck at home with our 11th snow day). I wonder if we will catch him!

Love,
Kate

Dr. Seuss- Read Across America Week

Dr. Seuss Activities

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Taking a break from Non-Fiction was pretty nice this week....well, what we had of this week (thank you snow). Here are some things that we did!

-at Word Family Hats
After reading The Cat in the Hat, we discussed words that end with -at. We modeled as a class how to think of words that end with -at, and wrote them on a stripe in our Cat in the Hat hats. The students wrote and decorated their hats, then we put a band around their heads so they could wear them. (this is probably the 5th hat we have made this year...turning anything into a hat is most exciting)

This lesson is easily differentiated - higher students can include words with blends, digraphs, etc., and struggling students can trace the -at letters on their hats. Early finishers can draw pictures of each word to help them remember better!

Hop on Pop-scotch
After reading the ever-appropriate "Hop on Pop," we thought of -op word family words. After modeling how to write them, students were divided into four groups to create Hop On Pop scotch boards -- aka large paper with a hopscotch outline written on them. With dry erase markers, students were instructed to write -op words before they could start playing. They threw a mini bear and played hop scotch, saying each word that they hopped on. It was a blast!.

Left foot, Right foot, feet feet feet....

After reading "The Foot Book" - we traced and measured our feet. And decorated them! This corresponded perfectly with our Math Unit on Measurement. We measured them with both cubes and links.

Oh, The Places We'll Go...

Finally, after reading "Oh The Places You'll Go," we wrote about what we wanted to be when we grew up. We compiled them into a book :) Some cute answers..."When I grow up...I want to be a KID" <---he's got life figured out ;) 

So, in conclusion, although the week was short, it was a blast. I think next week we will do a little bit of "Oh, the thinks we can think," and discuss imagination. It was something I wanted to do this week, but thanks snow :o)

I'll leave it at this: Character day was Friday so my Instructional Assistant and I dressed up as Elephant & Piggie. It was so fun :)

Kate

Number Puzzles DIY

Hi! Even thought I am not a substitute teacher any more, this page received a lot of view thanks to my Pinterest post (even though I think it was the thumbnail picture that did it- gotta love visual learners!). I will keep the name for now! For my first official teacher sharing moment, I will share with you my very popular Math Center, Number Puzzles. This is an easy DIY center that can be kept forever and easily differentiated. It works on number recognition as well as some critical thinking/problem solving skills. My Kindergarteners love them!

Note: This idea was inspired by Make, Take, Teach 's blog post. She has free printables on her page as well! I created a few of my own because they were such a success with my students. 

Number Puzzles:
What you need: 

• craft sticks (10 per puzzle - thick size)
• Picture printouts: visit my TPT store for the FREE download
• Modge Podge (OR make your own Modge Podge using Glue and Water!!!)
• a Spatula
• Exacto Knife
• Thin Point Sharpie

Step 1: Make Modge Podge

Use a glass jar with a lid and pour however much glue you would like. If you added 16 ounces of glue, you will add 8 ounces of water. You need half of the amount of water as glue.

Shake it up!!!!

Step 2: Glue Picture to Popsicle Sticks

Line up 10 craft sticks side-by-side. Tape them together so they don't move! Then, lay a thin layer of glue on the side without the tape and place picture on top.

 Then, add a thin layer of modge podge on top of the picture. 
Step 3: Let it dry!!!!!
Step 4: Write numbers on bottom of craft sticks.
You can use whatever numbers you want!!!! I used a few puzzles as 1-10, a few more from 11-20, and one more as 21-30. 

Step 5:Use Exacto Knife to separate sticks.

Place them in a plastic baggie and label to avoid confusion!

This has actually been a center for over a month now. My students were very slow at first but are starting to figure out ways to finish quickly. It can be independent or group work. 

Enjoy!

Kate