Spring has Sprung in Room 24!

The month of March has been pretty busy for us in Kindergarten.  I've been procrastinating spending my time trying to think of a good idea for a hall display.  Initially I wanted to do something with shamrocks but decided that wouldn't last very long.  I went with a spring theme. 

We read a couple books about spring to spark interest and start our discussion:

My kiddos LOVE to write lately.  Their confidence is growing and I love it!  We decided to write about what we are GOING to do in spring, what we CAN do in spring, or what we LIKE to do in spring.  I like giving my students a prompt for writing but this allowed them to have some options still.  Here is the final product for our hallway!

"In the Spring we like to..."

"In the spring I like to play with my sistr"

The close-up is from one of my lowest writers, I'm so proud!!!  Check out those lowercase letters, finger spaces and word wall words!

Also, while doing assessments, I got this from one of my first graders.  The paper is supposed to say "The boy is riding his bike.  He can go very fast on it."  Too funny!

New Literacy Centers!

Lately, I've been bored with my centers.  I have quite a few in my rotation, but I really wanted to mix it up more.  After making some new purchases thanks to PTO money, I was more motivated to actually come up with something!

The first center is definitely not something I created....all I had to do was order it!  I plan on integrating something else into the center later, but for now, my kiddos are just getting used to taking care of these plastic pieces!

I also purchased a pocket chart with my PTO money.  I had one pocket chart but it was being used as my center work board.  A while ago, I inherited a free pocket chart stand so I don't know why I waited so long to actually buy a pocket chart!  Each week, I put in a new song for our letter of the week.  My kids LOVE singing.  At pocket chart center, my kiddos get to use these "star pointers" and sing the song!  This helps build fluency.

This last center was inspired by some free ABC stencils that my mother-in-law gave me.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to use them so I decided to create a center.  I made a worksheet with 3 columns: word wall word, stencil, magnet letters.  My students pick a word wall word card out of our ABC pockets (interactive word wall) and record the word.  Next, they "write" the word with the ABC stencils.  Last, they build the word with magnetic letters.  The kids love the multiple steps and manipulatives! 

New Purchases!

Every year, our PTO is kind enough to give us money toward purchasing materials for our classroom.  You can see the desktop easel I purchased with my PTO money last year in this post.  This year since I work in two buildings, I was able to make two separate purchases.  For my morning school, I got $25 and I used it to purchase a magnetic word builder set from Lakeshore:

At my afternoon school, I was allotted $63.  I couldn't decide what I really needed besides a pocket chart, so I started checking out some catalogs that were in my school mailbox.  I decided to order from Learning Resources.  (The same company that makes the recording device I won!)  I only have one (standard size) pocket chart in my room and I'm currently using it for my center board.  I have small pocket charts, but they don't work well for center games.  Now I'll have another standard pocket chart (plus a free stand from school) so the kids can do a pocket chart center!  Please send any and all ideas my way! ;)  I also ordered a letter construction set.  I thought this would be good for an ABC center, early finishers, or even indoor recess.  I also picked the Creative Writing flip book.  It has pictures of Who, What, When, & Where to help with story ideas.  I plan on introducing this in interactive writing and then letting my kids use it as a tool in writer's workshop.  After all of this (with a coupon code), I still didn't qualify for free shipping so I had to throw in one more small item.  I decided on Phonemic Awareness reading rods.  I figured these could easily be integrated into centers somehow.  In the end, I got all of these goodies for $18 out of pocket.  Not too shabby!  Plus Learning Resources shipped me my order in 2 days!

What purchases have you made for your classroom lately?

Meet Lily (and an ABC Center Idea)!

At the beginning of the year I knew I wanted to have classroom jobs.  I decided on the jobs before my kiddos started.  My jobs include: Line Leader, Door Holder, Caboose, Teacher's Helper, Messenger, Center Inspector, Scrap Monster, Supply Star, Librarian, and Gardener.

For the longest time, I didn't have a gardener because I was too lazy to get a plant!  I finally went to Kroger and bought a mini rose plant on sale.  I have a serious brown thumb and kill EVERY house plant I own.  I have much more luck with my gardens outside which is nice for my neighbors. :) 

Today I introduced the plant to my kinder friends and we brainstormed a list of names.  In the end, we decided on Lily.  Here are some of the other ideas my friends came up with.  Just for entertainment!
Rosie, Plant-Plant, R2D2, Beyblade, Plantie, and C3P0.  (Can you tell I have a lot of boys in my class?)  So without further ado, here is LILY!

Please cross your fingers for us that Lily survives and thrives in Room 24!

In other news, I've been trying to think of some multisensory center ideas and saw this pattern block activity on Pinterest. 

Source: makinglearningfun.com via Emily on Pinterest

I printed out the sheets and mounted on red construction paper.  I also added ABC flashcards that I printed free from ABCTeach.com.  My students will use pattern blocks to "build" the letters and then practice their phonics chant for each letter.  For example, "R, /r/, rabbit!"  Here is what I ended up with for this ABC center:

I'm sorry they are sideways.  I've tried a million (aka 4) times to rotate them and they are rotated everywhere except when uploaded to blogger!  As you can see, I have some cutting to do since I just laminated them.  Any volunteers?! ;)

Teaching Sight Words

Word wall words.  I know every teacher has a different approach of introducing new words.  I have kindergartners who are struggling so I like to introduce about 3- 4 words a week maximum, depending on the difficulty.  Each week, I informally assess which words we can "retire" and which words should stay on our "words of the week" list for another week.  I display our words of the week in this [Target dollar spot] pocket chart in our group meeting area:

We practice spelling, writing, and reading these words in many different activities.  I keep the words in the "Words of the Week" pocket chart 1-2 weeks.  When the words retire, I move them to 2 locations: our big word wall and our interactive word wall.  Our big word wall hangs behind our computers and is not accessible by students, but can be seen by everyone.  Our interactive word wall consists of 26 library pockets (A-Z).  When a word "retires", I stick that word card in the corresponding pocket so students can go grab it when they need it.

 I know this may sound like a lot of prep work, and I'm not going to lie...the first year, it is!  It took me a while to make the letter cards for my word wall and the ABC pockets.  However, these will be reusable every year!  (Plus, if you want to save time, you can always buy pre-made stuff...I was just trying to save some $!)

On top of the things I already mentioned, I also use word card rings.  I have enough rings for every student in my class and these rings are used for games and in centers.  Eventually (when we have more words), I will be sending these rings home with take home books as practice.  Some of the centers we use these for include computer ("paint" sight words on Pixie), dry erase (practice writing sight words), and word work (make sight words out of magnets, letter tiles, etc.).

How do you teach your sight words?  

Tattling and Big Books!

Yesterday I posted about some of my classroom management techniques.  I accidentally left out one other thing I have in my classroom.  I have seen the Tattling Turtle in many primary classrooms and love how it eliminates tattling!  I didn't want to spend the money on the turtle so I created my own 'Tattling Teddy'.  My kids love him.  So far, they haven't written anything, but sometimes they tell Teddy what happened (instead of telling me)!  I love the time it saves.  I got the bear at the dollar store and the little note box on clearance at Target (it's actually a desktop trash can). 

Last year I borrowed big books from our school book room, but I didn't have any to keep in my own room. Translation: I never had to come up with a storage solution for big books!  This year I am fortunate enough to have a huge supply of big books that stay in my room!  They were in a storage closet and I wanted them out so we could use them as often as possible for shared reading.  I found that this lamper from Target works great!  Just a tip for those in need of a cheap solution for these awkwardly large books!

Classroom Management Monday!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  I spent the weekend at a cabin in the woods and it was wonderful!  We hiked, played games, visited, made s'mores, and had fun with family.  It felt good to get away from the "city" life for a weekend and just RELAX.  I didn't have ANY cell phone service and it was kind of nice.


I thought for Monday I could share a few of the management techniques I use with my kindergartners.  I teach kindergarten intervention so most of my students are behind....emotionally, socially, academically, behaviorally, etc.  I want to have a system for individual students as well as a whole group system.  This is what I decided on and it has been working great!


My clip chart.  I know there are mixed opinions on these, but my kids love it and it works very well for us.  Each student starts the day "good on green" and has the chance to move up to blue for making good choices, and can move up even higher to purple for having an outstanding day.  If a student is making poor choices, they move down to yellow as a warning.  I always remind students on yellow that they have the ability to "change their ways" and go back up to green.  However, if they continue to make bad choices, they move down to red and I send a note home about their day.  (I also send a note home when a student moves up to purple.)  The kids get very motivated by seeing other students move up.  I've also found that when a student is on yellow, the rest of the class does a good job of reminding that student to make better choices.  (So cute!!)  Here is a picture of my chart.  Click the picture to download the file.  I just printed each page on colored paper, mounted on matching construction paper, and laminated the whole thing.

For whole group management, I wanted to come up with a strategy that  allowed students to work as a group to earn something.  I decided to use the "marbles" technique because it is simple, cheap, and effective.  To go along with our star theme, I call our marbles "star stones".  Every time I catch the class working hard and following directions, I add a star stone.  When we fill up the jar, the entire class will get a reward (I haven't decided what yet)!  I usually give the students an idea of when I'm thinking I might add a star stone if they aren't all on task.  This is another time when they work well together and remind each other to do a good job to earn star stones.

What classroom management strategies work for your kids?  What have you tried that didn't work? 

Classroom Update...finally!

Back to school today!  Not with the kiddos until next Tuesday but today starts our "required" time back for meetings and PD.  Already have my coffee in hand! :)

I've been working hard in both classrooms and finally have some photos to share!  I don't know if I'll ever feel totally "done" but I'm at least satisfied with both rooms for now.  Since I teach intervention at both schools, I will not have students right away because we need to assess and identify the students who will be receiving special services.  This is why I don't have any fun class stuff up yet!  To see some before pictures check here and here!

Classroom A (reading intervention)

got my crayon wreath up!

My desk....it needs some personalization!

Kidney table :)

Most of the stuff on the bookshelf is to hang up, that shelf will be for library books!

I'll be getting rid of those green crates but I have to clean out the filing cabinet :/

I still need to make some labels for the blue baskets on top!

Reader ratings board.  This year I'm just going to have them post books with sticky notes I think instead of "voting".

This super creepy homemade pointed was in my cabinet. 

 Here is a before and after view from my door.  Progress?

Classroom B (kindergarten intervention)

My "Writing Workshop" writing center....not finished but almost there!

Meeting area with calendar...I wish I had a cute rug!

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow cards I made for calendar time.

classroom library with new book bin labels!  I'm still not sure what to do with that chalkboard....

cute signs and book hospital from blogland :)

Turn in trays

Teacher area that I'll share with another teacher.  This one also needs some pepping up!

Word wall, computer center, housekeeping, learning targets.

months of the year, classroom rules, maps & presidents

After working all day on both rooms.....tired and hot!

 Here is a before picture.  Sorry I don't have a similar after picture so you'll have to imagine for now!

Any advice for things I should take away or add?!