More Centers!

You know your centers are a success when centers time is so quiet! The children have been so engaged this week and are working together very nicely. Here are a couple of the things we are doing:

For this center, I took two large foam dice and covered each side with a sticky label. On the red, I put the two vowels we have been practicing, and the blue die has the consonants we have working on. I LOVE using dice because the precious ones love them! So, they roll a consonant, roll a vowel, and then choose a letter from the box on their page to make a word! Here is the page (available at my Teacher's Notebook shop)

Go get this recording sheet!

Another center we are doing is the tried and true playdough word tracing for our sight word centers. I ask mine to roll out the dough into "snakes" to use as lines when forming the words, as opposed to just smashing the dough down in any old way. This helps them see how the letter is formed. 

I'll keep 'em coming! 

Centers, Centers, Centers!

Centers time can be so much fun! Thank you, blogging teachers, for sharing such great centers ideas. I wanted to give back a little bit by sharing a couple of my favorite recent centers and adding a freebie! Here we grow....

Here's the freebie! It is a sight word graphing page. I have seen this idea other places... I know Moffat Girls has a very cute version, but I needed to make my own to meet the needs of my little learners! The children were so excited to see which word would "win!"

Download the graph by going to my shop on Teacher's notebook.

I printed these pattern block numbers from makinglearningfun.com and they were a hit! They were such a great way to begin our journey into number formation. For a follow up, visit my shop for the still free numbers formation book!

Meeting the TEKS:

Sight Word Center

110.11. English Language Arts and Reading

• K.3.D identify and read at least 25 high-frequency words from a commonly used list

Math Center

111.12 Mathematics

• K.1.C use numbers to describe how many objects are in a set (through 20) using verbal and symbolic descriptions

Painted Pumpkins

These are actually from last year, but I plan to do them again! The kids painted a white layer over their whole pumpkin (we used tempera because it was available, but an acrylic paint would be even better to prevent chipping later). The next day the children chose from several fall colors to add decorative handprints. We took some really cute fall photos with our pumpkins that were adorable on our Thanksgiving place mats.

Thanksgiving Numbers!

I can't wait to use these numbers come November! Our K math will be heavy into numeration at that time and I am already planning all of the fun math centers I can create. As soon as I have the corresponding worksheets made I will add those to the store. For now, I have plenty of printing and cutting to do!

Labeling and All About Me

Last week our theme was All About Me - which lent itself perfectly to our writing concept, labeling.

Students created q-tip skeletons and labeled four major bones using a white colored pencil. 

They also colored, cut out and glued 4 major organs onto a body and labeled the organs. The right side of the lung is not glued down, so you can lift up and reveal the heart! Each organ has a kid-friendly description of its function. 

In centers, students practiced labeling (and, of course, inventive spelling) independently with laminated illustrations and wet erase markers. This was the favorite center last week. The kids loved writing on the pages with the markers and loved using the spray bottle of water for cleaning them off even more! I also loved how they were so fearless in using inventive spelling in this setting compared to writing with pencil and paper at the tables. 

Meeting the TEKS:

110.11 English Language Arts and Reading

• K.15 Students write expository and procedural or work-related texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes.
• K.18.A Use phonological knowledge to match sounds to letters

Pumpkin Parts

I just love these adorable pumpkins we made to celebrate the coming of fall! After learning about the life cycle of a pumpkin and discussing the pumpkin parts (stem, shell, seeds and pulp), students created these cross-section pumpkins! First, we painted two sheets of paper - one orange, one yellow. The next day, the students cut out a large orange pumpkin shape for the shell and a smaller yellow pumpkin shape for the inside. They used bits of orange string for the pulp and real pumpkin seeds. Brown construction paper stems completed the project!

Meeting the TEKS:

112.11 Science 

• K.10.B identify parts of plants such as roots, stem, and leaves...
• K.10.D observe changes that are part of a simple life cycle of a plant: seed, seedling, plant, flower, and fruit.

Healthy Habits

Healthy Habits

My kids had fun searching through grocery store circulars and magazines to make a plate full of healthy foods!

Meeting the TEKS:

115.2. Health Education:

• K.1.B Identify types of food that help the body grow such as healthy breakfast foods and snacks
• K.3.B Plan a healthy meal and/or snack

Free Item!

Please visit my Teacher's Notebook shop to download this free Number Formation Book!

My First Blog!

I chose to begin my blogging experience with this photograph of when I was moving into my first classroom, because it sums up how I am feeling about setting up my blog... like a mess! When I decided it was time to join the teacher blogging world, I knew it would be no problem for me. I used to design fabulous myspace layouts with ease! Well, either times have changed or I'm out of practice, because I spent the entire day yesterday trying to figure this stuff out. I wanted to design my own look, so I came up with a theme, purchased some adorable flowers and stick kids at scrappindoodles and set out to create my page. Ten hours later, I purchased this pre-made template. It will do for now, but I'm not giving up on the layout of my dreams! Anyway, please stay tuned as I attempt to figure out how to set up my Teacher's Notebook store and learn how to add all the fun things I'd like to share!