Teacher Show and Tell

Last night, we had our first Teacher Show and Tell night at school.  The parents came to school with their child in the evening and experienced small group and center time. I set up a cute table in front of my classroom with treats for the parents and activities for them to do.

I put a copy of our class book on the table so that the families could look at it. I had an estimation jar filled with bunny mallows. The person who had the closest estimate got a pack of glitter glue. I also had a compliments bag. The parents were encouraged to write a compliment to their child. We are going to read the compliments on Monday. 

  
 I got this cute idea from Pinterest. 

I also made the water bottles for the parents. The label says "Parents Like You Are Refreshing".

I also put this sign outside my classroom so the parents could tell me what about their child's learning they are most proud of (again, thank you Pinterest).

I taped this poster on my whiteboard so that the parents could write down any questions they had and I could respond to them later. 

At this time in the school year, we are running low on some of our supplies so I wrote down items we need on cupcake cutouts and put them on the table. This was an adorable idea I found on Pinterest. However, the cupcakes fell over as soon as the door opened and the wind blew in. Next time, I am going to use larger clips on the bottom.

Here are some parents working in my small group math lesson. We were doing sticker subtraction.

The parents also went to learning centers with their children.

The kids had a lot of fun telling their parents where to go and what to do.  It was a wonderful night. I look forward to our next Teacher Show and Tell.

Small Group LA Activities

We were busy at small groups this week. I thought you might like to see what we do for language arts during small group time.

Monday:
We learned what a contraction is. The kids sorted the words into two groups, contraction and not a contraction.

Tuesday:
We practiced writing. Our prompt was "If I was a Leprechaun I would..." Some kids sounded out their own words and some kids traced the words I wrote for them.

Wednesday:
We practiced categorizing words. Each flower petal had a word on it and the kids had to put the words in the proper category (colors, numbers, places, or animals).

Thursday: 
We practiced our sight words. The kids wrote a sight word on five gold coins. Then the kids read the words they wrote.

Friday:
Cooking: We followed directions and made a tasty treat. Cooking day is one of the most anticipated days of our week. On Monday, the kids start asking me how many more days until cooking day.

Dramatic Play: Nursery Center

We closed our flower shop and opened a Nursery in our dramatic play center. The kids love taking care of the baby dolls at this center.

There are books to read to the babies. There are toys for the babies to play with.

We have a washer/dryer to clean the baby clothes. I got this using my bonus points from the Scholastic Reading Club.

There is a pack 'n play for the babies to sleep in. I got the dolls on sale for $6.59 at Toys R Us!

We have baby food, bottles, and baby care items.

We even have a baby bathtub and diaper changing station.

The boys love playing in this center just as much (if not more) as the girls. 

Small Group Math

Kindergarten math is so fun! Here is what we did in math during small group time this week.

Monday:
Geometry: We made shapes out of play-doh.

Tuesday:

Addition. I told the kids a story problem and they drew symbols to solve the problem. For example, Jane brought five balloons to school. John brought three balloons to school. How many balloons do they have altogether?

Another example: Three kids were playing soccer. Eight more kids joined wanted to play soccer too. How many kids are playing soccer altogether?

This is our small group at work.

One last example: Jane has two cupcakes. John has four cupcakes. How many cupcakes do they have altogether?

Wednesday:
Rainbow Addition: Each band of the rainbow has a number on it. The students took turns tossing cotton balls on to the rainbow. Then the kids write the numbers on their paper to make a number sentence. Finally, we used our fingers to help us solve the problem.

Thursday:

Greater Than /Less Than: We made two groups of rubber ducks in a pond (made out of paper). The kids are pointing to the one that has less. I also asked the students which group had more and they pointed to the group that had more.

Then, we practiced number sentences. In the pictures below, we are practicing subtraction. Nine ducks are floating in a pond. Four ducks flew North for the winter. How many ducks are left in the pond?

 Five ducks are left in the pond.

Friday: 

Normally, we do cooking on Friday, but tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and we are having a class party. When we do cooking, the kids follow a four or six step recipe and make a tasty treat. Then, they get to eat it. The kids always ask when cooking day is. 

Fairy Tale Literature Unit

We just finished our Fairy Tale Literature Unit. We concentrated on two fairy tales: The Fisherman and His Wife and The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

Art: 

     Castle: We did a castle directed draw. Then the kids decorated their castles.

     Worn out shoes: The kids decorated a shoe pattern to show what the                princesses and princes shoes looked after dancing all night.

Math:
     Fish Patterns: The students made three different patterns using fish stickers.

     Shoe Patterns: The kids made three different color patterns on the                    shoe outlines.

Language Arts: The students wrote a summary (using first, next, last format) of the story as a group and then they each drew their own pictures to go with the summary.

Science: We drew a magical fish and labeled the eye, mouth, fin, tail, gills, and scales on the fish.

We had a lot of fun learning about fairy tales.