Names!

 

We have been doing many different activities to learn our own names and the names of our classmates.

We have name puzzles where we can practice our own names and the names of our new friends.

Play-dough Names

Mystery Helper - it is like hangman but with student names.  The kids love it.  I got this idea from the blog Kindergarten Hoppenings.  Here is a link:  Mystery Helper

I changed it to magnets so that it was quick setup everyday.  I have a list of student names along the side where I keep track of who has had a turn.  The kids are learning about vowels and consonants with this activity along with letter identification.  I keep a list of student names in a pocket chart nearby.  It only took a few days before I had students looking at the chart to figure it out.  I didn't say anything about looking at it.  I wanted to see who would figure it out on their own first.  I still have some students who don't understand that the name we are trying to figure out is in the pocket chart and others who just don't understand how to look for who has what letters. 

 

Kindergarten Newsbook - Each day the students have oral language time where we talk with our friends about a topic of my choice.  Then we share out what are partner told us or we all have a turn to share with the class.  I pick a student to have their news put into our class newsbook.  The students are learning a lot about each other and we also sound out the words and talk about letter formation. 

What we have been up to lately!

 

Well, school started over 2 weeks ago already and I have been so busy I haven't posted anything!  My poor Ian was so sick that I miss 3 days of school during the first 2 weeks.  All is better now and we are settling into a routine at school and working on correcting behavior that was ignored by the substitute teachers. 

 

We have been finding letters in our names and not in our names from magazines.  It is not only working on letter identification but also fine motor.  Some kids really need work with scissors and how to correctly use glue (which can really be a disaster some times).

We have also been working on making letters and numbers with playdough.  Of course, we first learned how to correctly use playdough and then had exploration time before we worked. 

First Day of Kindergarten Pictures

I did this with my kindergarteners today. 

So cute! 

I will use the pictures for many activities in our classroom. 

I found the idea on pinterest but when I went to find the link it didn't have one. 

 

Rules and Behavior Chart

Here are my classroom rules and behavior chart that I made this year.

Aren't they cute!

I love the ribbons and the black backgrounds.

 

I got them from this website:

Here is a link:
http://mrsriccaskindergarten.blogspot.com/2012/08/classroom-management-freebies.html

More Progress

Almost Ready for My Kindergarteners!

 

 Here is how we will be doing lunch count each day.  The kids will move their names to hot, cold, or milk only.  This is also how I will take attendance.  I like that it is on the side of my desk.

 These number posters are wonderful.  I also like how we hung them this year.  My coworker's husband came up with the idea.  Use 3M command hooks, sting, and mini clothespin (found at Wal-Mart).  Now I do not have to worry about everything falling down in the winter when the sticky tack gets too cold.

 I made my alphabet for my word wall a couple of years ago.  I found in online but no longer know where I go the idea.  I changed it to have things I wanted and things I had.  Each letter has something on it that starts with that letter.

 Here is a close up of some.

Here is a list of all of them incase you want to make one of your own for your classroom.
A is Apples
B is Buttons
C is Cottonballs
D is Dominoes
E is Egg Shells (yes, real ones)
F is Flags
G is Gold Glitter
H is Hearts
I is Insects
J is Jelly Beans
K is Kool-Aid
L is Leaves
M is Money
N is Noodles
O is an Octopus
P is Pom Poms
Q is Q-tips
R is Ribbon
S is Smiles
T is Tootsie Rolls
U is Upside Down (stickers of people upside down)
V is a picture of our school Valley View
W is Wood
X is X marks the spot
Y is Yarn
Z is Zebra Strips

Here is our Welcome sign hung between the two kindergarten classrooms on our side of the building.  I also love my I heart Mrs. Grenz sign that a student gave to me 2 years ago for teacher appreciation week. 

Music Box

I found this blog today and it made me laugh out loud.  I am definitely going to get a music box for my room.  What a great idea!
The blog is A Teeny Tiny Teacher.

Here is a link to the blog post. 
http://www.ateenytinyteacher.com/2012/08/music-box.html
Enjoy!

New School Year Goals

Goal #1
Make each lesson engaging to get the most out of every minute of teaching.

Goal #2
(district goal that I want ALL students to meet)
All student reading at a level D or higher by the end of the year.

Goal #3
Keep my desk clean daily.  All teachers know this is nearly impossible to do :). There is just so much to do during the day.

Goal #4
Make use of my limited teacher work time each day so I can leave by 4 every day and spend my evenings focused on Ian.