Week 4- Short and Sweet

This week was short and sweet!  Monday we had off for Labor Day and Thursday we had the day off for Rosh Hashanah.  Yes, it was a silly week of school with all those days off and no, we don't have that big of a Jewish population but we have to follow the District's calendar.  So, we had Thursday off too.  Even though it was a short week, we still had lots if learning to do.  We learned the letter K, took a test in math, and learned about apples.  Here are some pictures of our week.  

Every morning we begin with our alphabet song that goes with our reading program. We use the Read Well program. Each morning I pick a student to point to the letters while the entire class sings the song.  

I decided to go with 10 different centers this year.  I am constantly trying to think what would be beneficial for the students at the centers. Here are some of them in action. 

The students are playing Teach Me Kindergarten. 

Rhyming puzzle cards. 

Tracing pictures and then they color them.  

The students get lined paper and practice writing the alphabet.  

The students cover the letter with Play Doh. 

We also made a king crown for the letter K.    

We also did some apple activities.  We color and covered an apple.

We sequence an apple plant.  

This week I also had to assess my students because on Wednesday mid-terms go home.   It seems like we just started school so I can't believe I already have to reassess them.  Boy!!!  I must be getting old because time goes so fast anymore.  😃  After I reassessed my students' letter knowledge I had them write their names on my letter banners of the knew 100% of them.  I have an uppercase and lowercase banner.  I am SO excited that some of my students we able to write their name on the banner.  I think we must be off to a great year!

On Friday I got a little surprise from my mom.  Isn't she so sweet!!

Thanks for checking out my week! 

 

Week 1 of 2013

I just completed my first week with students for the 2013 school year.  We started with a big BANG!

We had a busy first week!!  We had curriculum to learn while I was teaching my students my rules and procedures.  

~~Side Note~~
The most valuable tool for new teachers I have learned over my 11 years is make sure you teach your class what you expect from them.  From how you want them to wash their hands to how to want them to sit in their chairs.  Seriously, teach them what your expect for everything.  This helps with your classroom management so much!  Don't just assume they know how to do things.  You will get a better result if you teach them what you expect.
~~End Note~~

We learned the letter A, sight words- red, blue, and yellow, and started our first unit in Math.  We also talked about our families.  Here are some pictures of our first whole week! 

 

The Ultimate  Color Word Packet

We made hats to help us learn our sight words for the week.  We learned the Heidisongs song for red, blue, and yellow and made the color watches from The Ultimate Color Word Packet.

We played Sight Word Hop with our sight words.

Sight Word Hop

Lay sight word cards in a path and have the students jump on them while they say the sight word.

We created an anchor chart for coloring.  I wanted to show the kiddos what I expected them to do when they colored.  I have HIGH expectations and I wanted my kiddos to know exactly what I expected.  A great way to show that is using an anchor chart.

We made a class pendant.

Kickin' Kindergarten Fun- Fun for the First Week of School

We made a quilt piece.  I will save these pieces for the kiddos scrapbooks.

Kickin' Kindergarten Fun- Fun for the First Week of School

I got the pendants and the quilt pieces from this amazing TPT packet.  Kickin' Kindergarten Fun- Fun for the First Week of School.

We also started learning how to complete our centers.  I have decided to have 10 different centers so that only 2 kiddos can be in a group together.  I showed them how I wanted them to complete each center and we practiced this week doing them.  I showed them the picture that matched the center so they would know where to go.  Next week we will continue learning more centers.

Overall, this was a Rockin first week!!  We will continue to learn procedures and add more curriculum next week.  My students are definitely becoming Wolfelicious!

Daily Five and Improving My Centers

This year I am back doing the Daily Five in my classroom (Wahoo!).  I am super duper excited!  I love Daily Five and I think it really does work to help my students become lifelong readers and writers.  

This year has been kinda difficult to get my Daily Five centers to be completely like I want them to be because we had to start small groups so early.  My students have practiced and practiced and everyday they are doing better.  I think after people read the Daily Five book, people get their own interpretation about how to complete it in their classroom.  My interpretation is based on Daily Five, however I did change it to fit my class and to make it work for me.  It is a tad different than how the Sisters suggest doing it, but for right now it is working and I am already seeing improvement in the students. 

 
Click picture to see my lesson plan. 

My morning is broken up into chunks.  We do a whole group lesson and then we break up into centers/Daily 5.  (This is how the Sisters suggest to do the Daily Five)  I really think by breaking my day up into sections has helped the students retain more.  I used to do my reading, phonics, handwriting, and letters all during whole group time.  This year I have separated it and I am really liking it.

Here is a general idea of how my morning is.

8:15-8:45 My students are coming to the classroom, unpacking, doing their chores (Putting their snack where it goes, moving their lunch clip, etc.), and then completing their morning work. 

At 8:45 we start with learning the new letter for the week.  We go over how to write it and practice writing it.  We go over a poem with the letter and sing an ABC song.

Around 9:00 I have my first guided reading center and the students complete their first Daily Five center.  I have a group, the computers have a group, and then the rest of the class is participating in the same Daily Five center.  

Once I am finished with my guided reading center we come back together for a mini lesson.  After the mini lesson we switch centers.

My mini lessons consist of: Introducing a letter for the week using the Read Well program (parts of the program).  Writing lesson.  Read a story.  Go over phonograms and sight words.

Everyday I think about my Daily Five centers.  I want to make sure I am giving the students the best centers that I know how to do and help them become a successful reader and writer.  I have always wanted to do this, but this year I REALLY want to since I know I will be missing 2 months of school for my maternity leave. 

The students and I are constantly talking about what they should be doing during the center.  I always ask them what the principal would want to see if he walked in.

I have noticed that the Word Work center is usually the loudest of the Daily Five centers.  Here are some of the things we are completing during this rotation.

Letter Bingo!

Making letters with Wiki Sticks.

 Making letters with Play dough.

 Alphabet Puzzle

Right now we are really concentrating on learning our letters during Word Work.  I will add different items for the students to do throughout the year with sight words, words, and writing sentences.

I LOVE the Daily Five!  Again, I am so excited to be using it in my classroom.  By the end of the year, my class WILL be successful readers and writers! 

Does you use the Daily 5 in your classroom?  How is it going for you?