Resolution

In 2015, I will write one blog post a week.

And if I meet my goal each month, I get to buy more clip art.

Accountability, right?

Christmas Crafting

We had school the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and my assistant was not going to be there on Tuesday. So I decided while I was all by my lonesome to do not 1, not 2, but 3 crafts with my Kinders! Luckily, the crafts came out cute and the day passed by quickly. Here is a snap of the crafts that we did:

I stayed late on Monday and took some things home to prep. When the kids came in, they had the classic Rudolph craft materials laid out and ready to go. I think I have one of these I made at my parent's house somewhere :) To prep, I cut a brown triangle out for each child. They I used my Fiskar circle punch to cut out two black circles and 1 red circle for each child. Last, I gave them a half of sheet of manila/light brown paper to trace their hands.

To assemble: Have students glue down the black eyes and red nose in the right spot. Have them trace hands on manila paper and cut out. Glue one at each corner of the short side of the triangle.

And when they fail at tracing their hands and cutting...you get lots of funny "horns." If you look closely at my picture, you will see a few sets of horns.

In the past, I have also mounted these with the sentence: "Rudolph has a red nose." Very easy and cute!!

The next craft we made were "snow people." I wanted something giant and funny to look at in the hallway, and these did the trick :) I used my same Fiskar circle punch to cut out 2 black eyes, 2 pink cheeks, and 3 black buttons per child. I did end up buying the smaller punch after we did this craft, and I think next year I will make the eye circles smaller.

I used a small and large dinner plate to trace the white circle for the body and head. I cut brown paper into long and short skinny strips for the arms. I cut 2 inch black strips for the legs....and I traced out shoes on black paper, bows, and hats....and orange triangles for the noses! Next year I will make the arm strips skinnier.

We took this project very slow. I had them put on the eyes and cheeks and draw the mouths first. I also let them stick the bow or hat on at this time. Next, I showed them how to glue on the head to the body and add the buttons. I also showed them how to glue together the short/long strips of brown paper to make arms, and then how to attach the arms by gluing them to the back.

The last step was to glue on the black strip legs and accordion fold them....and we added shoes for an extra touch of cuteness! All of the kids loved the snow people, and lots of teachers have told me how much they love to see them in the hallway :)

And then there was this guy, who added teeth:

The last craft we made that day was a curled-paper winter tree. I cut out green triangles, brown rectangles, and tonnsss of 2 inch x 1 inch green rectangles. I showed them how to glue down the brown rectangle to make the trunk, and we added tree details with our brown crayon. Then they glued the triangle on top of the trunk (I told them to leave room for the star at the top). They used their pencil to halfway curl their green rectangles, then glued them down to the trees in rows. The last step was me calling them over one by one to add glitter stars and snowflakes :) they were very excited about the glitter!

Too help keep the calm, I just passed out these little plates full of the strips they needed out all around the room. I think I put 2 at each table...I showed how to just take a "pinch" at a time and grab more as needed, and how to pass it around and share. It worked out really well!

I was really, really tired after all of the crafts we did BUT I am very pleased that our hallway was decorated for Christmas/winter before we left for Thanksgiving break!

And in the meantime, this guy is back:

Instead of buying the Elf on the Shelf sweaters, I bought these from Michaels, "Holiday Sweater Ornaments." I pulled the little hangar out, and they totally fit him! You can find a set of four here.

May your days be short until Christmas break and your coffee be strong!

Peek At My Week: Week 1 of Kindergarten!

Linking up with Mrs. Willis to share my plans for the FIRST week of Kindergarten! We are still a week out (tomorrow is my first workday), but I like sharing plans early so that I can be prepared, and I can help others prepare who are still looking for ideas.

I have tried to over plan. This week will be all about routines and procedures and setting everything up for the rest of the year. It will not be perfect, it might not be pretty, but I know they will get it soon and we will have a great year.

Here is a snipped, shorter version of my typed plans (I use Planbook.com for my lessons):

You can click the plans to download the PDF and you can click most of the pictures for links to activities.

I know it may seem crazy to start literacy centers on the first day of school, but I am determined to get Guided Reading up and running as soon as possible. I am also starting with super simple centers that are what they need at the beginning. We will work this week on using the iPad (without picking our noses) and taking turns touching it. My assistant will teach them a very simple alphabet center: matching the letters, and putting them back in order. We will not stay at centers very long either, we will be working on building stamina.

Next week, we will dive more into using pictures for writing and telling stories. This week, we are just teaching procedures and making memories :)

I am still working on my ABC pack and need 3 editors to edit...if you are interested, look at my previous post for more information!

Good luck to all my friends going back to school this week :)


PS-I saw this ecard earlier and died laughing because it is me to a T over the summer:



I have done so much stuff in my classroom this summer/PD because I switched schools. Also, today was closing day at the summer camp where I work....and if I sat on my couch right now, I don't think I would move until Tuesday. I had every intention to cook my first meal tonight (my husband and I both work at summer camps, so there is not really a need to cook over the summer), but I can't handle life and we are leaving for an early dinner. I have a personal goal to be in bed by 8:30 tonight. Teachers clearly live it up in the summer!

Looking For An ABC Pack Editor

I am working on a pack that I used last year with my kindergarten class to teach them how to practice letters/sounds/handwriting and fluency with letter recognition. I had some pretty awesome results from it! My kids did so well with LNF last year, and I think a lot of it was from all their practice with this pack.

I will write more about it when it is finished, but for small groups I would have the kids say the letter, picture, and sound. Then we would find the letters by ourselves and cover them with clear chips (I could quickly see who got it/did not get it and how fast they were). Then we would say the letter and sound as we moved off each chip to see the letter. For my higher kids, we would also race through to name ALL of the letters and sound. Then, they would trace and write the letters independently with markers (they were in dry erase sleeves). I loved the easy routine of it all and the difference it made in their letter knowledge!

 Anyways, I made the original pack last year with Microsoft Office clipart while I was testing it out, and now I am updating it to sell with pretty clipart from Whimsy Clips and awesome fonts from KGFonts. I've almost got part 1 of 3 done. However, I need 3 pairs of eyes who would like to edit for me. I will give a copy of the pack to you. If you are interested, send me a comment with your email.

Here is a sneak peak:

There will be a two or three more parts to this pack...if you do a great job and would want to edit the rest and a get a free copy of the whole thing...that would be great :)

Meet the Teacher Blogger

Stephanie at Falling Into First is hosting a Meet the Teacher linky, so I thought it would be fun to share a few things about me.

My name is Holly, and I am almost 25...the two week countdown is on as of today! I live in the mountains of North Carolina with my husband. We have been married for a little over two years. This will be my third year teaching kindergarten, but I have also taught first grade. Fun Fact: Every year I have taught kindergarten, I have bee in a different school :) so I have had a pretty great exposure to all things K!

When I went to college, I accepted North Carolina Teaching Fellows to UNC-Asheville. I went there, loved the mountains, hated the school. It was not the right fit for me, so I transferred after my sophomore year.

My husband and I met at the college we both transferred into, UNC-Charlotte. We just went back to visit and were blown away by all of the changes there...it looks like they are tearing down the old dorm we both lived in, and I am very sad about that!

I am lucky because I loved living in the mountains and always wanted to live there, and my husband is from the mountains of NC. I am so glad we live here-if I want to see a waterfall, go on a zipline, or go tubing...there are a zillion places to do so here. 

This summer I have been busy reading whatever I can get my hands on, working as a secretary at a summer camp for girls, kickboxing through 9Round, and getting my classroom moved/situated at my new school. I tried to grow a garden...but it has not been too successful. My thumb is black instead of green. 

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

Italian food and sushi...I could eat pasta every night if I wouldn't gain a million pounds. Target. My Kindle app. The beach. Snow days :) being organized. Blog creeping. Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Pretty Little Liars, and Chasing Life pretty much get me through the school year. I am still pretty heartbroken that PanAm was cancelled. 

 IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

Working as a secretary-I really enjoy my summer camp job. I never thought those words would have come out of my mouth, but I love filing, dealing with emails, paperwork, organzing, and all the other little tasks that I do. 

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Talker. Goofy. Hardworking.

 

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________,  SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

"Summer is too long!" said no teacher ever!
 

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

J. K. Rowling so that I could harass her with Harry Potter questions that I never had answered in my childhood. And to request a sequel!

Q: IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

The Accidents and Adventures of Holly (I have a lot of ridiculous accidents that have happened to me).

 Q:YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

I would want to be able to apparate so I could go anywhere without driving or flying. 

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

"Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live." -Tuck Everlasting
 

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 

 Barbie Girl....because I was a kid in the 90s.

 

 Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

I am a night owl. I would rather stay late than be up early. The struggle in the morning is real.

 

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

 My Anecdotal Records. Even though they are free in my shop, they give me so much help in the classroom. Whenever teachers came to observe me from other schools, that was the resource everyone wanted a copy of. After I used it and it helped me gain so much insight to help my kids become better readers, I knew I had to share it. 

Q: SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU! 

My first year teaching, I went back to my classroom to grab the lunch that I forgot. I shut my door, and the giant, plywood intercom speaker fell off the wall and hit me on the head. I had a concussion, and the box broke into pieces when it hit my head. I cannot make this up. That intercom had been there since the fifties, and no one's had ever fallen. Strange things happen to me. 

It's your turn! Follow the link to link up and share!

Peek At My Plans: Daily Schedule Breakdown

Hi! I am linking up with Mrs. Willis  to share my lesson plans for the week. We are still two weeks out from school starting, so I do not want to share my plans for that just yet. I switched schools, and I have not planned with my team yet so everything is kind of "temporary" until I finalize things with them so we are all on the same stage. I will say that the day after I got my new job, way back in June, I may have wrote out plans for the first two weeks of school from excitement :)

Here is a breakdown of my day:

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Schedule Breakdown:

Arrival/Morning Meeting

Students at my school will begin arriving after breakfast, so I am thinking they should mostly be in my room by 8:00 and settled (crossing my fingers and knocking on wood here). We will begin our day with the morning meeting routing (group greeting, shared activity, morning message) and wrap up with announcements from the principal. This is a great part of the day to make sure every student feels welcome and part of the group. I will use the shared activity to review skills or just have fun. Sometimes we might put ourselves in tens frames, hold up words and move around students to unscramble a sentence, or just do a fun, silly Just Dance Kids dance (definitely the last part on Fridays). For morning message, we will practice and review skills (reading left to right, popcorn words, letters, punctuation, etc). We will preview our learning for the day and review math, phonics, and science/social studies skills. 

Mr. Greg is my all-time favorite source for morning meeting ideas and advice. I read his blog before I read the book, very helpful! 

Writing

Writing is my very-favorite, first-thing in the morning activity! I think it sets a great calm atmosphere for the rest of the day (knock on wood). I always start writing with a focused mini-lesson with lots of modeling. The kids assist me with my story, brainstorm ideas, and they go back to their seat to work. We wrap up with sharing under the document-camera (hoping to make an Author's Chair this year) or sometimes we share with a partner. At the beginning of the year we will use pictures to tell stories, move onto sentence frames, and finish the year with sentences that they conceive and write on their own. I love the growth they make in writing from beginning to end!

I am using this pack I got from Kreative in Kinder the day she posted it for sale. I read her blog post and was hooked. I read it through the first day and am pumped to use it. If you are looking for help with teaching writing to Kindergartners, I highly recommend it! She gives tons of  anchor charts, student samples, and tons of book suggestions in this pack. 

Phonics

We are using Letter Land for phonics at my new school, and I am super excited about it. I do not know a lot about the program, but I have always, always, always, loved what I have read about it. I will post more as I use it. 

Guided Reading

This is my FAVORITE part of the day! I was so, so bad at teaching Guided Reading when I was a newbie teacher. Luckily, I have had lots of professional development, read some books, and pinned ideas from great teachers. I feel like last year my kids grew by leaps and bounds in reading. Whenever I was filmed teaching a lesson, the one comment that I heard the most was about students using their strategies and reading independently without teacher prompting. I am hoping to start strong with it this year and finish the year with strong readers! During this time, I will pull ability groups for on-level instruction. My assistant (and whoever else may join us) will pull one to three students at a time for any needed literacy interventions. The students not being pulled will be in mixed-ability literacy centers. At the beginning of the year, our centers will be: computer, phonological awareness, listen to reading, learning names, alphabet basic (recognizing the letters/putting the alphabet back in order), and reading (the pictures and retelling). We will slowly add in centers for initial sounds, word work, sight words, and writing. 

I will be using my anecdotal records for level A heavily at this point in the year :)

Math

We use Investigations. I modify it a bit to fit our needs. I usually start with a QUICK math review and their suggested classroom routine. I teach a short, focused mini-lesson and the kids split into ability groups. I usually have three rotating groups. They have an independent activity, a review activity with the assistant, and a new activity/lesson with me. I have taught Investigations every year of my career, and I am the most happy with math when I follow this routine (and the kids get a lot out of our math time). We always wrap-up with a problem solving activity as a group, a quick review, or sharing our learning. 

Science/Social Studies

The activities really vary based on what we are learning. I usually tie in literature, a craft, writing response, or experiments based on whatever we are learning at that point in the curriculum. These are almost always whole group lessons that split into independent or group activities. Sometimes, if I can get my hands on guided reading books based on our topic of study, I will even pull our guided reading groups for a quick read. 

Intervention/Enrichment

This is a time where students can be pulled-out by specialists for extra support. My assistant and I will be working with the kids in our room on any interventions they need for success, and also pushing kids for more who are on level. This will most likely target and phonics/writing/reading/math skills they need help with or need a challenge with. I have usually had this time meshed with my Guided Reading time so I am very excited for this extra time of differentiated instruction. 

That's a wrap! I will be linking up again next week to share my first week plans with visuals to help others (like new teachers) get their thoughts together. 

Changes

I have not written in a while because I found out that I was moving to second grade. I was on board with that and had moved my classroom and started researching ideas. Then I found out that a spot opened up in Kindergarten at a school closer to home...long story short, I'm at a new school, but still in Kindergarten!

I am really excited about working at a new school, but really sad to leave behind my friends/coworkers and students at my old school. I am sure I will make new friends and of course have new, wonderful students as well :)

I toured my classroom today and didn't take any pictures. There wasn't a whole lot of wall space and it has an interesting set-up, including a stove in the classroom. I am pretty excited about figuring out ways to make it cute and a fun place to learn. So keep your eyes out for a classroom tour when I'm all done.

In the meantime, now that I'm settled back into Kindergarten, I will be doing a 7 week series on the 7 Habits in Kindergarten. It is so hard to find ideas to teach it in Kindergarten, so I thought I would share some lessons that worked in my classroom.

Enjoy your summer!