Math Strategies

 I have been teaching my kinders math strategies and tools they can use to help them add and subtract.  I explained how just like we have reading strategies to helper readers, math strategies can help mathematicians.  I spend a week practicing using each strategy, make sure they know using tally marks only works well for addition problems.  Then I like to mix up problems and have practice adding and subtracting at the same time.  I made a song to help them remember the strategies, made posters to hang on my math board in the classroom, and created practice sheets to work on each strategy.  I also have them play partner games and participate in whole group activities during the weeks I spend on this unit.    My practice sheets and posters can be purchased by clicking on the link below.  I have 16 different sheets and 5 posters included in the set.  The link to the youtube song is also found below!

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                 
                                           

Three Bears Acting Out

My students love to act out the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  It is so funny to hear them change their voice for each character.  From time to time I like to give them little props they can take home to retell stories to their families.  I run all of the materials for this on different colors of construction paper and quickly cut them out.  They glue the pieces in order and move the bears and Goldilocks around to tell the story.  They keep Goldilocks and the bears in a library pocket I stick to the back.

If you would like to purchase it for $1.00 click on the link below

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                         

                                           

Behavior Plan

I have tried a new positive behavior plan for my classroom this year and it has made a world of difference. I have found that focusing more on the positive things that kids do right is much more beneficial than correcting the negative things. Every child likes attention and this system has made it easy for me to complement good behavior. I have a circus theme in my classroom so I went with a balloon for each child. I fill their balloon with a bingo dabber stamp each time I noticed them doing something good. This might be as simple as the first child who comes to the carpet and sits correctly or someone who uses good manners. Every child has a number in class and the balloons are displayed in the classroom. When a child balloon is full of stamps they are awarded a prize. They can pick from one of eight things including being the line leader for the day, using the super supply bucket for their work, being the class DJ, or picking out of the treasure box to name a few. When their balloon is full it is taken off the bulletin board and they take home a certificate celebrating their accomplishment. Then I replace their balloon with a new one and they start over again.  The materials for the bulletin board, award certificate, and prize cards can be found here.

                                       

Reading Comprehension

I added on to my circus/carnival theme this year and created a train for my reading comprehension strategies.  I feel like I always start off the year covering and introducing the first few great and as the year goes on I get busy with other things and I fall short.  I took these straight form the Kindergarten Common Core Literature Standards.  I hung the train in front of my meeting area and have been referring to a lot already.  This narrowed things down for me and seems more Kindergarten appropriate.  Above the train it says Good Readers Always Stay on Track, you can purchase the posters and make your own train by clicking here.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Comprehension-Train-for-Kindergarten-CCSS-1391630

RL.K.1 , RL.K.2, RL.K.3, RL.K.4,

                                                                                                             
                                         

Good Night Owl Acting Out

After we read Good Night Owl a few times I assigned the kids to be one of the animals and make the noise in the story.  I gave them a printout of the animal they were and they colored it in the correct color.  I had them tape the animal to a popsicle stick and wrote the sound on the stick.  We invited the other k classes over and acted out the story.  I hung a big tree made out of paper from my whiteboard and had the student that was the owl sitting on the carpet already.  Then as each animal is mentioned in the book a student walked over to the carpet, help up their animal on a stick and made the sound two times.  Then they sat quietly on the carpet under the tree.  In the end of the story we turned off the lights, when the words in the book say darkness fell.  All of the animlas made their sound one last time at the very end when it mentions that they all wake up.  They really enjoyed putting it on for the other classes and it was easy prep!

 

                               

March Display

For our March display I assigned each student a vowel pattern and they came up with 6 words that contain that vowel pattern.  We watched this vowel patterns video during calendar this month so it was easy for my kids to come up with their words.  You could also do this with different word families and write a different word family on each cloud.  This could even be used to show math facts that equal the number written on the cloud.  I would love to hear about the creative way you displayed student work.

                                                 

3 D Shapes CC.K.G.1

To introduce my students to 3-D shapes I like to use the you tube song These are the 3 D Shapes That I Know.  This gives examples of shapes in their environment and begins to teach them the vocabulary words for these shapes.  Then we work as a class to complete the sheet.  I play a video for the specific shape we are on and we look at the pictures of things shaped like that.  Then I call on three different students to pick an object we should draw on our own paper.  This activity usuall takes two 25 minute sessions to complete.  If you click on the document you will get a print out of the two sheets I use, one for each day.  This is the video for the cube, once you play it you will see the links for all the other shapes. 

During the week we also sort pictures of 2 and 3-D shapes, make shapes out of clay and popsicle sticks, and play a guessing bag game of 2 and 3-D shapes.  I would love to hear how you teach shapes in your classroom.