Five for Friday!

Hello lovely, little teaching community! I have neglected this poor, sad blog for a long time! My busy 2 year old is fast asleep, so I decided to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and her Five for Friday!

1. So does anyone else feel like summer just started, but for the rest of the world it is almost over?!? I went to look for cushions for my wicker loveseat...oh, sorry...we're out of those! I went to look for flowers at my favorite flower shop...oh, sorry...closed for the season! Target has summer on clearance, and is moving in the school supplies! Craziness! And even crazier....I actually looked at them! And I definitely bought alphabet and number magnets for Daniel! Ahh!!! It's a sickness!

2. Jane.com anyone??? If you haven't checked it out...you should! You may or may not be thanking me later. There are so many good deals! I love it mostly for shoes, scarves, and cute two year old stuff! I'm currently thinking about this scarf and the black HP shirt for the little one! And don't forget to keep checking it. If you missed something you really love, the deals usually come round again!
  

3. I am enjoying every summery, sunshiney moment I can with this cute kid! Ahh! I can't take the cuteness! I love the feeling of just being able to relax with him. All year long, I have hurried this boy. Hurry to eat breakfast and get dressed. Hurry to run to daycare. Hurry home to make and eat dinner. Hurry to get ready for bed. Ugh! I pretty much hated it. I love these slow, lazy summer days!

4. The Simply Kinder facebook group! I am loving all of the cute ideas that people share! This is the cutest bulletin board ever! I think I need the shirt too! :)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/292452569533727896/

5. And here's a little something I've been working on...Click on the picture below to see it in my TPT store!

This Alphabet Super Pack comes with my ABC song chart. This is literally my favorite teaching tool ever. I keep this handy little guy everywhere! I make copies for my students to keep in their book boxes for independent practice. How cute is it to hear them singing their song during read to self! Gotta watch out, sometimes those quiet kids are the loudest singers! I love it because it helps them connect letter names with sounds. It also helps with some tracking practice!

I don't have a picture of it hanging up, but I had these gigantic posters of it blown up for all of our Kindergarten classrooms. I started each morning off with my munchkins by singing this song. The song is Barbara Milne's original alphabet song. You can find it here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3S3OX6HQm4 We sing it just a little differently, instead of singing the sound three times, we sing it twice and sing the name of the letter last. This helps students to link the letter and the sound together. 

I also stick it in their writing bins! This little chart is a huuuuuuuuuge help with writing. When writing, students don't always know what letter is making the sound that they just said. Because the song links the letter and the sound together, they can easily find what letter made the sound. Some students just have a hard time knowing what the letter looks like in order to write it down. I always hear, "How do you make a j?"Now I can say back, "Use your alphabet song chart to help you!"

Once I made the chart, I decided I wanted my classroom alphabet line to match it! So....the sparkle alphabet line was born! This isn't the greatest picture of it hanging in my room, but it's all I have!

Here is a picture of one of the posters up close! I kind of love this happy lion! And anything that glitters is right up my alley! You could also make these posters into an alphabet book for your classroom library. If you print it in landscape, it makes a smaller book that students could put in their book bins. 

It also comes with alphabet flash cards! There are large ones that could be used for large group practice or a focus wall display card. The small ones are good for individual practice or take home practice. I like to keep my small ones on binder rings. 

And finally, we have a matching game for some extra practice!

Happy Friday everyone! 

Tricky Tracking!

Oh my...my class is in huge need of tracking practice! I am in the process of creating some books with easy sight words and dots to assist my students with tracking print. I'm also hoping to hit up Party City this week for some finger pointing assistants...aka...anything that makes pointing fun! Things like wands, monster fingers, and play tools (especially play screwdrivers!) come in super handy and make kids actually want to point to the words on the page!

Here is a sample of the book we are using this week! I am trying to make one each week, so stay tuned!

 

Last week, we did one featuring everyone's favorite caterpillar! Click the packet to view in my TPT store!

 Aaaaand Goodnight! This teacher is tired!!! :)

Updated Number Talk Wall

 

I updated my math board just a little bit! I really needed to expand the pocket chart area for math vocabulary/strategy cards. 

I found an amazing resource for math vocabulary cards, these were made by Regina Burns. The bottom two cards on the pocket chart in the picture were made by her. They are perfect for all children, but especially helpful for ELL's and Special Ed students. Visit her TPT store here to see them! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Common-Core-Math-Vocabulary-Posters-472263

 I am using my number talk wall daily. We went through numbers 1-10 and are going through them again. We are back on number 2! This time, the students are using their personal recording sheets to follow along with me. Although if anyone has a way to quickly distribute and collect whiteboard markers and erasers let me know! ;) It takes a little longer to have them do this, but I'm hoping it is worth the effort! If you are interested, the packet can be found in my TPT store! Click on the packet below! It now includes the recording sheet, the number formation poems, and dice/domino cards!

This is what the recording sheet looks like. I have both sheets in a sheet protector so students can use them every day!

On the sheet protector, I slide in my quick fluency objectives for the week. Every week, I am trying to be intentional about giving them quick opportunities every day to say, show, and write numbers.

I am drawing random objects on the whiteboard paper and then just asking the kids what they see. I drew two different colors of apples, and I was pretty amazed with what the kids came up with on their own! 

In the corner, I squeezed in the ten frames for keeping track of the days of school! These were made by Bethany Gardner and can be found in her TPT store here...https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Chalk-it-Up-Rainbow-Chalkboard-Calendar-Materials-733968

Hope you are all having a great October! I hit up the pumpkin farm today with my two favorites! 

Sale!!!!

Yay for TPT throwing another sale! I know I have added about 10 new things to my wishlist since the last one! My store will be 20% off tomorrow! Click on the image to head on over and grab some goodies!!!

Five for Friday!

I haven't done one of these in forever!!! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and her linky party Five for Friday! 

 

1. I am enjoying every bit of sweet summer left with this cute munchkin! To celebrate him and my niece both turning one, we set up a cake smash in my parents lovely backyard! My sisters took some precious pictures! Daniel was loving every minute of being allowed to dig into this yummy cake!!! My Mom and Dad's dog also got in on the action!

This one is my favorite!!! How am I going to leave this face in a few weeks!?!? I'm really not sure. :(

 This one sums up my life right now! Two cute chubby little arms wrapped around my leg!

 

2. I started thinking about Kindergarten Orientation this week. Goodness, it is coming up so fast! I had made this really cute writing activity a couple years ago, and decided it was time to give it a refresh! I love this new, sweet little raccoon! He makes me happy!! 

 

I also simplified it a little bit. I made the poem larger and made the handprint circle into a box. I discovered that the older handprint circles were a little small for some hands! I also put the poem and the  right across from it so I don't have to mess with cutting and taping a bunch of different things! Now I only have to tape these two pieces of paper on one piece of construction paper and make sure I have some heart stickers and I'm good to go! If you are in need of your own orientation activity...I reduced the price of this little gem in my TPT store! Click on the cover of the packet to check it out!

 3. I've also been working fast and furiously on some alphabet materials! My Kindergarten team has used Barbara Milne's original Alphabet Sound song for years! We had an old chart with letters and pictures that matched the song that we blew up to poster size. We sing this song every day for morning meeting. I use my sparkly wand to point to the letters while the kids follow along. Eventually, I let my student of the day lead the song while I sneak off to take attendance! ;) 

Anyway, I decided that we needed an updated version with fresh, clear pictures! I am ridiculously excited to use this and share it with my team! I created a brand new alphabet chart and a new classroom ABC line that could also be used as a book! I plan to use it both ways! I am super excited about this and I have plans to make some matching games and more flash cards to go with these!

Click on the covers to check them out in my store! 

4. I am making an oil pan check in board! Have you seen these on pinterest? People take a giant oil pan and use it for a magnet board. I plan to use mine as a place for students to sign in with in the morning, and then to use whenever they need to leave the room for the nurse, speech, OT/PT, ESL...you name it! Hoping this will help me easily keep track of my munchkins with a glance! :) Stay tuned...going to work on it next week!

5. I am in love with She Reads Truth! If you haven't checked it out, you need to!!! They have online devotion plans that are amazing. I am a little behind, but I just finished up a study of both Old and New Testament Women...and I was so sad to finish! I thought I knew a lot about these ladies, but I learned so much from this! There was some really amazing insight into the lives of each one of the ladies they covered...and some great application as well!

I am super excited because next week they are launching He Reads Truth! And the girls and the guys are both going to study the book of Daniel! I have been so excited about these devotions and I was wishing there was something like it for my husband! Yay! Now there is! And how fun is it that we get to study the man we named our son after!? Can't wait to start it on Monday! Anyway, that is all she wrote for now! Happy Friday!!!!

My favorite ABC song!

So although this blog has been super math oriented lately, I am a literacy girl at heart! I am starting to look at all of my alphabet materials to get them ready for the new school year. One of my absolute favorite things to use is the original Alphabet Letter Sound song by Barbara Milne! You can find it on Youtube. I play this video at the end of the day during snack a lot in September. 

We also learn to sing and sign this song. I like to teach my kids how to fingerspell. The best part is when they learn all the letters and I teach them to spell their names! Then it becomes a classroom management trick. Whenever we are stuck waiting in the hallway, I will fingerspell the name of someone I catch waiting very patiently! This never fails to keep them quiet and completely happy! They love being able to read fingerspelling, and I think it is a pretty awesome skill! But I digress...

My Kindergarten team has used this song for years now. We have our kids sing it every morning. The only thing we do different from the video is saying the sound only twice and the letter name last. We have a chart that has the pictures from this song on it.  The kids use it as a reference for reading and writing. I have my kids keep a copy of the chart in their book boxes and writing folders. They use and rely on it so much, that I decided I wanted my classroom alphabet line to match the pictures in the song. Then everyone will be able to see it, and hopefully it will be more useful than my current abc line is now.

I have spent many an hour working on this little gem while Daniel naps! I think I have finally got it exactly how I want it! The adorable graphics, mostly by JW Illustrations, make my heart sing! This cute little cookie is my favorite one! And oh yeah, did I mention it sparkles?!? What?!? Everyone needs a little sparkle somewhere in their classroom! I will post pictures when I get mine hung up! If you would like your own, it can be found in my TPT store!

Finger Counting

So I haven't been much of a blogger these days! My own cute little munchkin keeps me pretty busy. I am headed back to school in the fall after a year off with him. I have super mixed feelings about it! I love teaching, but oh how wonderful it has been to stay home and watch my own little one grow and learn!! 

 While this cute kid naps, I have been starting to work on some stuff for school! This little finger counting mat can be used when you need a more kinesthetic approach to counting! It will help with 1:1 correspondence too. 

I printed out a whole class set of these and had baggies ready to go with ten chips inside. Then as students sat on the carpet, we arranged all our chips into the bottom circles. I made a larger board for myself and hung it on a magnet board. I put magnets on my chips so I could model for my students how to push up a chip to the top of each finger as I counted. 

This was something fun for the beginning of the year and it was easy to place into a center once the kids got the hang of it!

If you would like to try this activity with your own class, it can be found in my TPT store for $1.00!! Don't you love that TPT got rid of the three dollar minimum? Yay! Sometimes you just need a cheap, cute idea!