The letter L and Clocks

Licking lollipops to learn about the letter l.

mmmm

Using a hula hoop to learn about clocks.

Free Christmas TpT Product

I just added a Christmas before and after game to my TpT store.  Click on the picture to download your free copy.

Fun Friday!

The students had to take the sticky notes with times written on them and make the clocks say the right time.

The students take an addition sheet, bear counters and a black and orange color mat to a spot.  The student look at the first number in the problem and put that many bears on the black side of the mat.  Then they look at the second number in the problem and put that many bears on the orange side of the mat.  Then, they count how many bears there are altogether and write the total in the answer box.  For some students, I will use an orange marker and a black marker to color code their addition paper.

I am thinking of making this a seasonal activity by changing the mat colors and using seasonal counters.

Putting number words in order to 20.

Putting numbers in order to 20.

Roll 1, 2, 3, or 4 die (depending on what level you are on), write the total in the box and then count on using the acorns.

This is a number comparing activity that I laminated from the mailbox.

A student is reading a book about creation.

A student is re-telling "The Three Bears" using the flannel graph.

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The Three Little Pigs

This week we are doing a unit on favorite books. One of the books included in the unit was The Three Little Pigs. Today, we read the original big book by Paul Galdone. In math we are studying clocks, so when we got to the part about the wolf asking the pig to meet him at certain times, I passed out Judy clocks and had the students make their clocks show the time that the wolf was supposed to meet the pig and predict what time the pig would actually leave. After we read the story, I had the students write a paper about what they would have made their house out of if they were one of the three little pigs. Then, we worked on the letter g and I worked with small groups on a reading story about pigs. The students took the story home to read again for homework.

Predicting times during The Three Little Pigs

A kindergartener would build his house out of bricks.

One kindergartener would choose bricks because they're hard.  Another kindergartener would make his house out of bricks because it would look cool.

Practicing little g and big G with whiteboards before trying it on paper.

Practicing little g on paper.

Small group reading paper.

End of the unit reading book, "The Three Cats".  We read it in small groups first and then I send it home for homework.

Snapfish Sale

Every year at the end of the year, I give my kindergarten students a hand-made picture collage as their graduation present.  This year, since I have 10 students, I am going to be taking advantage of online photo sales.  Here are some that are going on right now at snapfish.com:

Fall Art

Has anyone else found some great art ideas on pinterest?  Here is another great idea I found.

I painted the students hands and arms brown and had them make a print on black paper to make it look like a tree.

Then, we went outside and I used white paint to paint each of their feet, to make a foot print.  The kids actually did well with this part and my first grade girl made a great helper washing everyone's feet and my three first grade boys did a good job helping the kindergarteners put their socks and shoes back on and tieing their shoes.

The students turned their footprints into "monsters" or "ghosts".

Then, they cut out their footprints and glued them to the tree paper.  They also used small bowls to trace circles onto yellow paper, to make a moon.

Here's some of their finished work.

Leave a comment below with a link to your favorite fall art project! 

Fun Friday!

A mother of one of my students gave me this Montessori 100 board a couple years ago.  The kids love putting the numbers on it.

Our kindergarten program is only a half day program.  It saves the parents money and it allows me to focus on teaching kindergarten in the morning and first grade in the afternoon.  This year, I have anywhere from 3 to 6 kindergarteners, depending on the day of the week, that I have to watch in the afternoon while I teach first grade.  One of my kindergarteners took an hour or so to put this whole board together this afternoon.

One of my kindergarten girls using a pocket chart to put the numbers 0 to 20 in order.

Match the paintbrush to the right paint can.

A kindergartener put the number words in order on another pocket chart.

Math Corner

Putting the letters in order is always a popular activity.  It might have something to do with earning a big buck for doing it correctly :)

Inside Cover of Fall Journal

Journal Entry by a kindergartner.

Journal Cover

Exciting News!

I'm proud to announce that Miss Jackie will be a new contributor to my blog.  Miss Jackie and I went to college at Bob Jones University together.  She got her degree in early childhood education and I got mine in Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities with a focus on elementary education.  Miss Jackie teaches two sets of preschoolers each day.  Her morning class has 18 students!  I am looking forward to her contributions! 

Join our blog on the right to keep up with our blog!

If the Shoe Fits

Came across this book at the library while I was looking for books for our Nursery Rhyme unit.  It starts out talking about the old woman who lived in a shoe with her children, and they decide to move out.  Each new place that they try out has to do with a different nursery rhyme.  My students loved predicting which nursery rhyme would be on the next page!  I highly recommend this book!

                                    

Fun Friday!

I had a lot of activities planned for Fun Friday, but the kids really got involve with the first project, so we really didn't get a lot accomplished, but it was great to see the kids take such an interest in a project.

A student's finished fall project.

 We also did a measurement activity outside to go with our math unit.  I put the kids in groups of two and gave them paper and a pencil.  I took them to the basketball court and had them stand on one of the black lines.  Then, I had them jump as far as they could and we marked it with chalk.  I gave them different materials like blocks, markers, snowflake blocks, paintbrushes, etc to measure how far they jumped.  Then, they recorded their answer and their partner's answer on their paper.

Two boys comparing their jumps.

Nursery Rhyme Story Problems

We started a new unit on nursery rhymes this week.  The kids and I have been enjoying it.  For math class, I have left notes around the classroom, written by various nursery rhyme characters.  For example,

Dear Class,

I started out on the ground.  I climbed up the waterspout 3 times and down the waterspout 2 times.  Am I at the top or the bottom of the waterspout now?

  Just Hanging Around,

    The Itsy Bitsy Spider

 The first day, I "found" two notes written to the class.  One was by Jack and one was by Jill.  One of the boys in my class insisted that the notes were not written by Jack and Jill, but by some other kind person since Jack and Jill are not real people!

Check out my store on   to download your FREE copy of all of the story problems.
Thanks for stopping by,
   Miss Rachel

Fun Friday!

I try to set aside part of the day or all of the day on Fridays for "Fun Friday." 
The students have fun and they don't necessarily know that they are learning from the fun.  Here's a look at what went down yesterday for "Fun Friday"!  

Pattern Blocks

Working with Magnets

Spinning Tops to Build Fine Motor Muscles

Dress up Clothes

Counting pictures and matching them to numbers and number words.

Find the Apple Sight Word Practice

Here's a great idea that I ran across to review sight words.  The kids love playing this game!

I hid a red apple (pom pom) and a green apple (pom pom) under five cups with sight words written on them.  We would read the five sight words and then I would call on students to guess which cups the apples were under. 

Link to your blog and let me know how your practice sight words with your students.