Write on!

Today, I took a deep breath and introduced Work on Writing. My students cheered when I turned over and introduced a new choice. They were so excited to learn what this choice would entail and begin working. I, on the other hand, was a bit apprehensive and nervous to how my students would handle WOW. It is a big deal for a 5 year old to start putting thoughts to paper and forming a sentence. So I put on my big girl panties and dove in head first and boy did my students prove me wrong today!

We had so much fun talking about why Work on Writing was so important. They named some of their favorite authors and of course Dr. Seuss was on the top of the list. Many said they wanted to be famous just like him. This led to a great discussion of how Dr. Seuss became a famous writer and all the time and effort he took to practice writing. Now all of my students want to be famous just like Dr. Seuss. They were ready to put the pen to the paper and start writing! But where would I start them? And how could I help them become successful?

Thanks to my fabulous teammates, we decided starting our children off with SIMPLE writing prompts would be the way to go. This gave them some direction and allowed their thoughts to start flowing. Eventually, they will not need this.
So they had the choice of:
 I love....
My mom....
My dad....

We brainstormed lots of ideas and things we could write about. And boy were they ready to go. I was still way nervous to let them go. But we kept going and I let my students choose the speed. I showed them where the materials where, where to find their special Daily 5 journal and reviewed our working spots in the room. One by one, my students got their materials, chose a spot and opened their journals to start. I was FLOORED! I thought for sure SOMEONE would yell out they didn't know how to write. PHEW, maybe all those anchor charts and modeling and building confidence really worked this year!

The noise level was not appropriate work time and I was not going to allow that to continue so I quickly gave my signal and my students came back to the carpet. We talked about all of the awesome things I noticed and some things to work on. They were then begging to go back and finish. So what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't allow them to?

We gave the signal and my students went to work. We practiced a total of 3 times this morning and they built their stamina to an amazing 7 minutes! I was so proud of every one of them. Some did a great job writing a sentence and using spaces and some need some extra guidance but overall they did fabulous. I cannot wait to see how their writing grows throughout the year!

Did you try something new today? What have had to put your big girl or big boy panties on for?

Building stamina and learning procedures!

WHEW! I am exhausted BUT loving my new sweet kinders. Thankful for this 3 day weekend!
Several other kinder classes in my building have been implementing Daily 5. We are still launching Read to Self but I will admit, this is the first year that I have felt that my ELA block is rocking strong! My kids are begging to read longer and are loving competing with other classes. (Side note: one of my sweet babies stopped a THIRD grade teacher and asked how their class was building stamina during Read to Self! I am loving them using the vocab and really "getting it!")

Here is an overview of the first 2 weeks of school!

We started the very first day creating anchor charts and reading lots of books! This was the very first anchor chart we created bright and early on the first day of school.  After coming to the carpet and reading a favorite, "Pete the Cat, the Wheels on the Bus'" we talked about what our carpet time should look like and sound like. I rephrased what they were saying with my expectations already pre-made. As they each come up with an idea, a friend would come to the chart and tape it to the poster board. This is how I like to create anchor charts that will hang in the room because my drawing and writing just cannot compare! This chart then works perfectly with the behavor clip chart system. Ready to Learn is where my children start everyday and before they were introduced to the behavior chart they were already learning the expectations. (I actually did not introduce the clip chart system for 2 more days and instead we really focused on what "Ready to Learn" looks like. (This anchor chart is from Kim Adsit's 1st Reading Unit.)

Click here to grab Kim Adsit's Unit!!!

One of the first read alouds I read is Brown Bear, Brown Bear which fits perfectly for the 3 ways to Read a Book. I showed my students this book and asked my students how can I read this book. Of course, one answers you read the story, DUH! (Gotta love our babies!) So I answered with of course you read the words on the page. (I then flipped to the book to point to the words on the page for that visual effect for our ESOL and visual learners.) I led to them to the Read the Pictures. They thought this was so cool! So we went through the book and Read the Pictures. They loved it! Then we went back and Read the Words. I taught Retell the story, the next day. Every book that we have read since making this anchor chart we always touch and read the part on the chart to show how we are reading the book. This really helped drive in home for my slowing to grasp learners and really build their confidence!  (This is a chart I made myself and is being added to my Reading Anchor charts. It will be for sale soon. If you are interested in it, please let me know and we can work it out! :))

Then the fun part began! I introduce my sweet babies to their very special book boxes! We practiced, practiced, practiced and then practiced some more on how to walk and get our book boxes and put them away. We did not touch any books just simply how to carry and put away. It is all about baby steps to get to the Big Goal. They were so excited about their book boxes so we then read the fun and favorite book, "Maybe a Bear Ate it." This is a perfect read aloud to teach how to take care of books. My kinders loved it and we still sometimes go back and read this book. They then helped me build this anchor chart to remind us how to take care of books and have visual in the room. We then practiced, practiced, practiced and practices some more taking books out and putting books back in their book box. We practiced each part A LOT and talked a ton about being a Book Lover! (I even tell my little friends, that in my old and dirty storage closet I have books that are torn and gross and known as boogie books. And if they cannot be a book lover they will have to have a boogie  book! They work really hard to not have a boogies book!

They were loving being book lovers, having their very own book box that now it was time to teach Read to Self/ We read, "Reading Makes you Feel Good." and talked about how much fun reading is. They were eating it right out of my hands. It is all about the delivery, folks!  They already had their confidence built to the clouds that they can read so they were ready to show me! We then created our I-chart for student-teacher jobs, what it looks like and sounds like and then created this chart to be our visual reminder in our room.  (This picture was taken before it got hung in it's special spot so please ignore the chart behind it.)

While talking about Read to Self, I always touch the Read to Self sign on my Daily 5 board. I want them to hear and have a visual of exactly what we are doing. They know this is something we will do every day but they are not aware of the other choices they will begin to learn. EEK cannot wait to share!!

We also been working on reading in our Reading Nooks. (I do not have a picture of this chart but will try to remember to take one.) Right now, I am choosing their spot but moving clothespins down to each picture of a spot in our room. But they do know that when they reach 10 minutes of  reading stamina that they will get to choose their very own spot. I am just LOVING our reading time!! I have been able to read 3-4 books every morning, focusing on 3 Ways to Read a Book and cover so many mini lessons. It have been a great start to the year!!

Now before I sign off, I don't want you to think we are not doing Math in room 117 because we ARE! I just do not have pictures and my Math block is not rocking as much as I would like at this point. I am going to have to work a little more with our afternoon schedule. However, we have created anchor charts for numbers 0-3, begun making a sticker book that will eventually have every number through 10, working on making sets...it is all about the Counting and Cardinality in kindergarten!

Next week, we are still building stamina, introducing Word Work, reading left to right,top to bottom, tracking print, demonstrating the difference between letters and words, charting numbers 4-5, organizing shapes largest to smallest and so much more. It has already been a jam packed year full of fun!

The beginnings of "Nothin Could be Finer..."

That first day back to work in my classroom is always full of many emotions and expectations! I am excited to get in and get things moved around,  stress about getting it all done and bittersweet as I think about the memories made and the memories that will be made. I always have high expectations and think I will get way more accomplished then I always do. (I always wonder where did all of this stuff come from?!) To me the room says a lot about the classroom. I work hard to make a fun classroom environment that does not look cookie cutter so my students can "claim" their room. I want them to walk in and feel happy and that they are at home. I also want to walk in my room for 180 days and feel happy! It is a win, win!

This year I was even more ready to get in my room. Last year, I started summer earlier than expected due to my little man making an early appearance. So I was stressing a little this summer thinking about where everything was placed. (I had a fabulous assistant and long term sub who really did a great job of putting things away!) I know things were placed in buckets but its just getting in there and finding it. Then our school's roof had some issues so we were even later getting in the room. And even today I still cannot arrange furniture in my room so instead I have been working on bulletin boards, taking down old decorations (I just had them keep it up to make it easy) and organizing cabinets. I apologize in advance for the long post!

Day 1

Believe it or not this photo was taken after I did some work in my room! I moved some of my tables to the tile so those are not in the picture. Our carpets are going to be shampooed and cleaned so all the furniture that is still on the carpet will actually be moved. Hopefully soon all that furniture in the middle of the room will find its place!  Thanks to two of my fabulous friends we all helped knock out each others' bulletin boards. I don't know about you but I love a good looking bulletin board but I do not enjoy the tedious work it involves. In the background, you can see a green bulletin board. There I will place theme words, writing stuff really just a bunch of words! On the top of the wall you can see my large alphabet set.  I am going back and forth if I am going to keep that set or create a new one. Then a little below is my word wall alphabet. That set will be replaced because I am over the popcorn buckets. Still working on exactly what I will put there. 

This is my outside bulletin board that I finished (or may still be  a work in progress.) Our theme this year is "Nothin could be finer.." (It is our state slogan.) So on this board is the "title" and then on the wall I am going to place stick kids holding pennant flags with the kids name. I think it will look really cute and a fun welcome. I am trying to make a South Carolina Theme, kinder friendly! I am actually still debating if I will place palmetto trees or something else on the board itself. What do you think?

This is an up close of the border I am using this year. I L-O-V-E it! It is a bright happy chevron pattern and then I doubled it with shiny blue border! (I also have the matching rugs for this border, woot woot!) I am using this border outside (just for BTS) and then all my boards inside to give a cohesive look!
I was pretty pleased with how much I accomplished on the first day back in! I am getting excited about how my room will look  this year!

Day 2

I spent my morning in a math workshop learning about our new math adoption, Envisions. (Do you use it? What do you think?) Afterwards,, I just dropped by the school to see what the room looked like once they moved all the furniture from the carpet to the tile and this is what I found...

Things are piled everywhere! So getting into my cabinets was not going to happen, obviously! And please ignore my missing "D" above the cabinets. That should read LOOK WHAT WE DID! (Hoping it just fell on top of the cabinets.) Yes, I have mismatched chairs that would be the reason I bought chair pockets to cover that ugliness up. :) They are hoping by Wednesday we can get in to move all the furniture back how it goes. That will give me 3 days before staff starts back. (We go back Monday  the 12th!) EEK!! I will repeat, It will get done, it will get done.... :)

I did hang my super duper cute door hanger on the door! In case you missed my last post I ordered this from Charlie D's. You can find her facebook page here! Or visit her etsy store here! She has many different ideas and you can customize! Way cheaper than other etsy stores I found and the quality is fabulous!










Since I could not get in my cabinets I began hanging my paper lanterns.. As you can tell my main colors are blue, aqua (that color does not show well in my picture) and lime green.  I will finish hanging them once my tables get arranged. I also took down  a lot of my wall decorations. Still trying to decide about the pennant banner above my Promethean board.  (What do you think?) I will pull other bright colors through accents in the room. But this year it is about the blue/greens in room 117. :) I found these at the fabulous Party City! The board to the left that you see will be my Daily 5/CAFE board. (I am super excited about implementing this with my kinders!


On another side note while I was attending my math workshop I found out a great group of friends/donors rallied together to help fund my 7th project! (4th this summer) I am beyond blessed, overwhelmed and still speechless. I am excited about receiving playdoh and alphabet stampers to add to my word work choice for Daily 5! Plus, I know my kinders are going to LOVE IT! To pay it forward, it I am giving  away a $10 donation to DonorsChoose. If you are interested please visit my facebook page! If you have not visited yet please do. I love to give away flash freebies!!

So Many Choices!

Choices, Choices, Choices!! Too many choices!  I have been thinking a lot about the 5 different choices I will be implementing into my Daily 5 block this coming school year. I have been wondering how can I give them the best visual model of the choices without reviewing all year. We all know and love our kindergartners but know the beginning of the year is EXHAUSTING! I want to provide them with great visual models of the choices since most will not be able to read when they start the school year. So I have been taking my time looking for just the right graphic to go with each choice on a poster to hang in the room. Now this is not to say, I made these posters and then I am going to review them once and expect my kiddos to "just get it!" Don't worry I am not that crazy!

Now that I (think)  have made some posters that will be useful as I introduce Daily 5, I have realized there are too many choices. And NO not choices for the kiddos but for me, EEK! I just could not decide on the border or font or anything that I made. I stuck to Chevron because that is going to be a major decorating element in my classroom but there are SO MANY CHOICES! I designed 3 different sets and I still have other chevron frames I could use. I am pretty sure I have settled on the bright chevron for my room since my room has lots of BRIGHT colors but who knows there are just too many choices. I did make one set with no pictures in case there are classrooms out there who prefer no pictures. Please check out the preview below and if you are interested you can find this set at my TPT store!

If you do the Daily 5 in your classroom I would be very interested to know what works for you and your little precious friends. If you are like me and going to implement this the coming school year please share your ideas as well! I am super excited about this adventure with my kiddos this year!

Daily 5 Notebook and a Freebie

Wish I was out laying  by a pool somewhere but sweet Andrew likes to nap all day so instead I will create! I bought all these cute fonts and graphics last school year but never had time to sit down and create anything. So, since my summer goal is to get ahead on some work for my classroom, I decided there is no time like the present! I have been working hard on gathering Daily 5 resources to implement this year so naturally I need a CUTE notebook to put it in. I played around with some fonts, graphics and backgrounds and created 5 different documents. Now all I have to do is decide which one to use!  I am in the process of creating mini posters for each Daily 5 choice so keep checking back! Take a look, see what you think and download if you would like! :)

Daily 5 Freebie

 

Reflecting and Planning for the Upcoming Year

Summertime...pool days, hot sun, lazy days, beach trips, lake days, family time, vacations etc. These are all things I look forward to as summer gets near. But summer also signifies a time of reflection, planning and preparing for next school year. I am like a little kid in a candy shop when I start thinking about next year. I dream of what my room will be like, the changes I will make, the improvements that will be made and of course I think about the cute little giggly kindergarteners that will grow and mature under my care.

This summer, I have BIG plans for next year. I am so excited that several members on my team have decided together to start Daily 5/CAFE in our classrooms! I know that my kinders are going to LOVE IT! I ordered the Daily 5 book during the school year and being the nerd that I am, I read it in ONE NIGHT! Seriously, I took a nice bubble bath and read Daily 5. It is an EASY read and I highly recommend you read this book if you have not. So I am spending my summer preparing notebooks of resources to make the first 30 days a little bit easier. I also just ordered the CAFE book and I am sitting on pins and needles for its arrival!

The last several days, I have been thinking a lot about the Read to Self time. I am super excited about teaching my kinders about stamina and taking the time with the mini lessons to help mold them into readers. I know taking the time at the beginning of the year will be well worth it! Our district already requires independent reading for 20-30 minutes a day so  I am feeling fairly confident about the Read to Self time. Because my school requires this time (also known as 100 Book Challenge) all of my students will do Read to Self together and I will do independent reading conferences during this time. (I also plan to allow it to be a choice for them.  If they want to read twice during the day, I am not going to stop that!)

I have been thinking a lot about our book boxes for next year. I have a class set of cute neon orange and purple book boxes. (I stalked Target last summer for several weeks to  buy them!) This year  my kinders kept their 100 Book Challenge books in them, school library book, class library books and I got a DonorsChoose project funded for some leveled books that they read. They had several options but I feel like they still need MORE especially at the beginning of the year to build their confidence. So my kinder team was doing a lot of thinking and our plan is to add: ABC charts, a book that they can add their sight words in and maybe a book with all of their friends pictures with their name. I want my kinders to know that from the beginning that they CAN read. So what do you place in your book boxes? Are you planning any changes for next year? Please share!