Slime

We made slime last week. We used glue, water, glitter, and Sta-Flo to make our slime.

First, the kids dumped the glue into a big bowl.

Then, they added water to the glue to thin it a little bit.

Next, the kids added glitter to the glue mixture.

Then, the kids added Sta-Flo to the mixture and they stirred it a lot.

When it looks like this, it is done.

Finally, the kids got to play with their slime. 

This was so much fun that I made it at home with my own kids. 

Election 2016

Today is election day. We learned about voting. We visited the polling place that is always at our school. The poll workers gave the kids "I Voted" stickers! We made patriotic hats.

We had elections for our favorite Disney character (Dumbo, Bambi, or Stitch).

Each student voted.

We ran out of time to count our votes. Tomorrow morning we will tally the votes and see who won.

Pumpkins

We have been learning about pumpkins. Here are some of the fun things we did. We read about pumpkins and drew life cycles of a pumpkin.

We did pumpkin math. Each group got a small pumpkin. The kids counted the ribs on the pumpkin.

They measured the pumpkin's height with Unifix cubes.

 They measured the circumference of their pumpkin with a string.

They figured out that pumpkins float.

They counted the seeds inside their pumpkin. I made a lot of circles on their white papers and the kids put ten seeds in each circle. Then we counted by tens to see how many seeds were in the pumpkin.

Letter and Number Recognition

Our Kindergarten homework asks students to practice letter and number recognition. Here are some fun ways to practice letters and numbers. These activities also help with fine motor development. Write letters and numbers in chalk, salt, sand, or shaving cream. Tell the students a letter or number and they write it. You could write the letter or number and ask the kids to identify it.

 

Make letters and numbers out of Play-Doh.

Write letters and numbers in finger paint.

 Make letters out of pipe cleaners or Wikki Stix.

Make sticker letters and numbers. First write the letter or number with a marker, then have the students cover the lines you drew with stickers.

 Use scissors to practice cutting out various shapes and lines. You can find learn to cut books like the one below at Dollar Tree or the dollar section at Target.

Use flash cards to practice identifying numbers and letters. Start with five numbers or letters and practice those until the students have them memorized. Then add five new numbers and practice those until the students have them memorized. Make sure the cards are in a random order; this way the students will learn the letters and numbers, not the order they are in.

Play with a Play-Doh letter or number bucket ($5.00 at Target).

 Get write-on, wipe-off books to practice letter writing. This also saves paper. 

Get a magnetic writing board to practice letters and numbers.

Use a number die to identify numbers. Roll the die and identify the number that is facing up. 

Practice counting to 10. Use a number line to point to numbers as you count. 

Watch the following on YouTube:
- Phonics Song 2
- The Big Numbers Song
- Lets Get Fit Count to 100 Jack Hartmann 

Kinder Camp 2016

Last Monday, we had Kinder Camp. Kinder Camp is four hours long. The incoming Kindergarten students come to school and find their desks and cubbies, learn our basic classroom rules and procedures, and meet their classmates. This helps the students and their parents feel more comfortable on the first day of school. As a teacher, it is a wonderful experience for me to meet the students before the first day of school and see how they work with other students, assess their prior knowledge, and learn a little about each child. The kids come in their uniforms if they want to, they bring a healthy snack, and they bring their school supplies. I encourage parents to stay and volunteer. This year I had a big group of parents that stayed and helped me. They organized and put away class supplies, prepared future projects, and washed our chairs. It was an awesome day!

I have the parents sign their child in and leave information about how to contact them if they are not staying and tell me if their child has allergies.

The students each get a name tag.

I set out collection bins for school supplies so that I do not have to sort the supplies later.

This is my classroom door. I put each student's name on a small paper and stick it to the door with painter's tape.

I always have work ready for parent volunteers to help with. This way, they get to stay and I get some work done too.

Here is my classroom taken from the front door.

Here is my writing wall where I display the students' work all year.

This is my classroom taken from the front corner of the room.

This is me with one of my students.