Bear Snores On project

If you have not read Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, stop reading this and go check it out. No, forget that -- go buy it! It is a classic. Bear is hibernating and sleeps through a forest party in his den. 

It's one of my all-time favorite teaching books. It has rhyming text, repetitive text, surprise endings, great sequence... and best of all, Karma Wilson has a whole series featuring Bear and his friends.

Our school is having a special community day at a local store. The store is "revealing" window displays for each classroom. Each teacher chose a Winter-themed book to decorate a tri-fold board to display in the window. 

My class chose Bear Snores On... and we are SO proud of how it turned out!

I made the characters in the den, and each kid made a snowflake for the sky. The whole class worked on the trees and snow for the den [shaving cream + Elmer's glue]. 

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean!

If you haven't read this book... you should stop what you're doing and go check it out at the library.

It's waaaaaay cute. Simple, repetitive text. Laugh-out-loud funny. Full of voice and expression... and TONS of ways you could use it in the classroom!

It's great for reinforcing size comparison (bigger than, smaller than), ordering (biggest to smallest), using voice and expression, perspective writing, etc. etc. etc. Gotta love simple, versatile books!

Pattern Fish

Over the last few weeks, we have been working on patterns -- one of my favorite skills to teach! Even better... it's always one of the kids' favorite things to do. 

Kids naturally recognize and play with patterns. Identifying pattern types and copying, extending, and creating patterns is a natural extension of their innate curiosity. 

One favorite lesson and station every year is based on a great book, Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris.



I simply re-drew several fish from the book, ran copies, and the kids went CRAZY with the patterns! We did one together as a class, shared them with friends, and then put the extra copies at a math station for extra independent practice.

Book of the week: Plaidypus Lost

I love "beefing up" our curriculum book of the week with themed lessons. When done right, themed lessons can integrate authentic reading, writing, critical thinking, math, etc. in a meaningful way. I love the way the lessons flow together when we have a great book of the week.

This week was one of my favorites: Plaidypus Lost by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel.



A few themed lessons from the week...



We were very interested in what a real platypus was like. So, we read a couple books, searched the web, and even watched a couple short video clips. Then, we made a Venn diagram comparing a real platypus with the character, Plaidypus.



We discussed all the settings where Plaidypus was lost. Then, we made a list of our own ideas - I was so impressed with their creativity!



Then, we used our list to create a class book - always a favorite in my classroom. Here are few of the pages (aren't they awesome?!)







Next week brings another of my favorite "books of the week" - Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip with Kindergarten. And to celebrate... we're off to the fire station! Should be another great week. :)

i LOVE our classroom library!

I'm an avid picture book collector... okay, let's be honest. I'm obsessed with books. I think the most valuable way to spend time with a child is to read. I read-aloud at least 3 books a day to my class... often 5-6 a day. I *love* having the perfect book to teach a literature skill, or explain a science concept, or fit with a seasonal theme. 

Every primary teacher knows the FRUSTRATION of organizing classroom books. We want the books to be:

• Organized
• Accessible to the teacher
• Accessible to students
• Safe

It took me a couple years to get it just right, but now I LOVE our classroom library! Best of all, the kids LOVE it, too. My students know that books are highly valued in our classroom -- and they are always accessible to both myself and the students.



I started by sorting my books. I'm not gonna lie to you... this took a whole afternoon! I cleared off all my classroom tables and just started sorted. I had to adjust and re-sort many times. But, I ended up with 30-40 categories. 

The easiest ones to start with are seasonal (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter categories) and holidays (such as Halloween and Christmas). I then moved on to favorite authors and characters. I filled in with themes (such as bears) and subjects (such as social studies). I ended up with some "general" categories, too (such as animal non-fiction, animal fiction, and family and friends).



Now... the busy part! I collected several HUNDRED address labels (I bought mine on sale at OfficeMax) -- one for each book. Using Microsoft Word and Google Images, I created 1 label sheet for each category. I printed off at least one sheet of each category (several sheets for popular categories... such as animal fiction). Each book gets a label on the BACK COVER. 

Once all the books are labeled, pick containers that fit your books and fit on your shelves. I used "shoe box" size containers -- with no lids. I found them at Wal-Mart, in 12 packs for $6.00 (only 50 cents a piece!) Figure out which categories will fit into the boxes and place a corresponding label for each category on the front of the box.

BEST PARTS of this system:

• The kids can find AND PUT AWAY books independently! 
• I can always find the book I'm looking for.

Good luck!

Kindergarten Round-Up -- Hungry Caterpillar theme

Yesterday was Kindergarten Round-Up... one of my favorite days of the year! I absolutely loving seeing the looks on their faces. It always rejuvenates me for the coming year, and reminds me exactly why I teach kindergarten!

This year, we went with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle for our theme. It's a simple, but well-loved story -- and lends itself to cute decorations!

Here's a "round-up" of highlights from our day:
It's always difficult to find an appropriate art/craft for our little pre-kinders. Many of these little ones have never been to pre-school, so scissors are out of the question on this day! :) 


To make this cute little caterpillar, the kids simply glued strips of paper into a circle and added pipe cleaners for antennae. My favorite part was the counting practice. Together, we held the ends of the strips together and counted to 10 or 20 each time. 
(Thanks for the inspiration ABC & 123!)

We wanted our incoming families to become familiar with important people they will encounter at our school. So, my teammate made this cute caterpillar with photos of us, the principal, P.E. teacher, counselor, etc. It turned out looking great, but also served a great purpose at our entrance.

(Thanks for the inspiration, Project Project!)

An important routine we have added to our annual round-up is the "family photo spot." We found that when discussing observations of the kids and making class lists, it was often difficult to remember which name belonged to which child! So, upon arrival, families have their picture taken at our decorated photo spot. This way, we have a picture of each family to make our discussion more productive -- and the families get a picture as souvenir! Here is the "photo spot" we used this year (aren't we cute?!)

 It was a GREAT day... and we will probably be using this theme again next year. It was wonderful!