Environmental Print

Here are some FREE Environmental Print Cards! I like to have these on hand as an alternative to other alphabet charts. The kids love talking about how they have been to these places, or know what it means, and if it gets them excited then I am excited!

FREE Environmental Print Cards!

Literacy Centers Week 1

Week 1 of my literacy centers went well. Due to the Labor Day holiday and the absolutely insane Tuesday following, I was lucky to get any centers in at all! Here is a look at the four  literacy centers I rotated last week.

Match the Capital Letter

 For this center students had an ABC chart and ABC beads. I chose to give them only capital letter beads because our goal is to be able to name all of the capital letters by the end of September. The chart can be used for just about anything, including dry erase writing. Just print it out on paper and stick it in a sheet protector. Easy enough. My students really enjoyed this center and were even upset if they didn't have enough time to finish their chart. Grab the chart here.

 Dry Erase Letter Trace

 These are tracing sheet from the Moffatt Girls. I put these in sheet protectors and ringed 3 sheets together so that students could go on to another page when they were done.

Clothespin Capital and Lowercase Match

 I found these cute ABC matching cards on Pinterest for free from teaching Mama. You can see them on Pinterest here.

ABC Lacing Cards

My class this year really needs a lot of extra support in fine motor skills. I am using lacing cards to build up those fine motor skills. This is a cute set by Melissa and Doug that I found on a camping trip by Hearst Castle. The kids like it, and the cards are made of strong wood so they wont rip or bend.

Pencil Boxes

You are probably seeing my students' pencil boxes in these photos. Their pencil boxes have their name-tag on it and their group picture. This month (September) we are apple groups. I have four groups (red, yellow, green and blue apples.......yes, blue apples.....no one said it had to be real). My students carry their pencil boxes around the room so that they always have what they need. Their pencil boxes have lids that close. And they always remember what group they are in by looking at their picture. Each month I change the theme. October will be nocturnal animals.

Make the Letter

There is a big difference between the fine motor skills of a Transitional Kindergarten student and a Kindergarten student. Many TK lack the pre-writing skills needed to benefit from tracing on a dotted line. I had one little girl in my class last year who just couldn't do, no matter how hard she tried. What she could do what trace on a highlighted letter. (I hope you have all tried using a highlighter for tracing, because it is AMAZING for the kids who need extra support in fine motor skills!) And she could stay with in the lines of a letter outline.

I could not print out a highlighted paper without a crazy scary ink bill, but I could prepare letter outlines for my TK students in advance. This mini packet here is called Make the Letter and it is all about staying inside the letter outline to get the fingers and brain working together. Check it out.

These are half sheets because many students just aren't ready for a whole sheet of paper. I also don't want to waste a whole sheet of paper. Students can trace inside the letter outline and write the letter on their own. They can color the super cute pics from Pink Cat Studio (amazing, again!) and get the extra practice in that they need. You could also laminate these or put them into sheet protectors to have students use with dry erase markers. I have mine in sheet protectors with dry erase markers in a binder. This is something they can do at "Choice Time". These will also work with Pre-K students.

Happy Writing!

Alphabet Fun Crafts!

As Kindergarten teachers know, getting the kids to work on one letter a week can be...well....boring. We like to spice it up with more than just handouts. We do activities like Highlight a Letter where they get to use a highlighter to color letters. We like to make a snack with foods that start with the letter of the week. We like to make art with the letter of the week. And we like to do the Alphabet Crafts each week. Here is what they look like:

This is the old version of what I using, but it shows the work very well. Each week we do a page like this with a different letter and material. Some of the activities have food and some don't. Of course, the food ones are the most fun. If you would like to do something like this with your kinders, GRAB IT HERE

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Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is probably the most read ABC book in Kindergarten at the beginning of the year. It is a super fun way of introducing the letters of the alphabet. We read it and we sing it. We make our own tree and we make a tree we can eat! For our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom craft we use toilet paper tubes and a palm tree cut out to make the tree. I then give students a letter sticker sheet and tell them to put the stickers on their tree however they want. They love to retell the story. As they are putting the stickers on I have them tell a neighbor the letter names. We did this craft with our principal in the room with us. The kids loved showing off what they know.

Chicka Tree Top

We also make a coconut tree we can eat! We use apples, a pretzel rod, and Whopper candy. I like to use Alphabits cereal or ABC cookies, but I couldn't find any this year.

The kids love making pictures they can eat!

Assessment

One of the most difficult parts of the first couple weeks of Kindergarten is assessing the students to see what they know. I am way more into arts and crafts, storytime, manipulatives, music, and, you know, TEACHING. But, no.....I must test. I do appreciate knowing what my students students know. And I am always glad I did it when I'm done.
     I test on the basics during the first and second week of school.

1. Writing Names

2. Numbers

3. Colors

4. Shapes

5. Letters

6. Sounds

Here is a copy of my Kindergarten Beginning of the Year Testing.

Besides the information above, I use a running record testing letters and sounds. 

The way this spreadsheet works is like this: The date goes at the top of the column. If a child knows the letter name I put a diagonal line. If the child knows the letter name and its sound I cross the diagonal line to form an "x". As you can see in this picture this student knows almost all of his letter names, but needs to work on letter sounds. The next time I test I will use the next column and be able to chart their progress as they learn. I usually give this test once a month. This is my formal letters and sounds test. I will informally assess them with flashcards weekly. Grab a copy of this test HERE.

Learning the Letters in Our Names

The first week of Kindergarten is soon upon us! Ok, ok, it's a month away. But, I still need to be ready to handle the first day and the first week of school. The theme for our first week of school is Names.
We will make our names in all kinds of way. We will trace them, cut and glue them, find them, and sing them. Here is one activity that we will do the first week.

 

I will write my students' name on the line with a highlighter so that they can trace it correctly. Then we can color our special letter and glue fun things to it like sequins, beads,etc.  This activity is a nice one to hang up for Back to School Night so the parents can see it. Grab it HERE.

Letter Bracelets

I am always looking for new ways to reinforce a child's learning at home. This year I am going to do ABC bracelets. Every week we explore a new letter. When I introduce the letter of the week on Monday I am going to give each student the letter bracelet and help him or her put it on with tape (less dangerous than staples and more durable than a glue stick). My students will be able to take them home and tell their parents what letter we are learning and what sound it makes. I am all about parent communication, so this is just one more way to get them involved. Here is the link for the ABC Bracelets.

Transitional Kindergarten

Happy Summer! (I think it's summer anyway. I am still working working working.)

My name is Maryanna Baldridge. I teach Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten in Southern California. I am married to an amazing man who encourages me in everything I do. I am also a mommy to a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old. I am sure you can imagine, my days are full! We are keeping busy playing in the backyard with our dogs and pet rabbit. We are gardening, roller skating, and painting. Ahh, vacation.....

Needless to say Pinterest, Teacher's Notebook, and TeacherspayTeachers wont let me have an actual summer vacation because I am finding new and better ways to do my job! I am very excited about how teaching is changing and how I am able to inspire my students more effectively. I am currently selling on TpT and Teacher's Notebook. If you are in the market for some new material for your TK or K class, check out my shops. My main focus is on Language Arts and Math. I have several units for Sight Words and am working on several more for TK. I just put up a TK ABC Pack. Go take a look!