My Science Journal: Outer Space

Outer Space is always a fascinating to children and adults! I have finally published My Science Journal: Outer Space and thought I would share some samples.

My students LOVE outer space and they feel like real scientists when they keep their journals.

Journal pages include:
8 planets and 1 dwarf planet (we all know who that is...)
Sun
Moon
Stars
Asteroids

Meteors

Nebula
Space Shuttle
Astronaut

Extras include:
Art activities
Realistic Posters
Vocab cards
3 Readers
...and more!

Sight Word Centers!!!!!

Hi everyone,
This post if for my fellow teachers who are gearing up for January in K! I have been working on a couple of things this month. The first is that I have finished my Primer Sight Word Centers. These centers include Lists 9-18 and are perfect for Kinders during the second half of the year. Check it out!

 These centers work with My Kindergarten Sight Words curriculum. This is the primary sight word curriculum in my classroom. Students learn 5 sight words a week, and these centers compliment the direct instruction lessons wonderfully.

 

 

Rainbow Word Match

 Fluency Strips

I am excited to have a full collection of sight word centers that correlate directly to my sight word lessons. As we know, the most fluent students are in the first 100 sight words, the more likely they will be at succeeding in their education overall.

I have also bundled all of my Sight Word Centers into one convenient download. My Kindergarten Sight Word Bundle has sight word centers for the entire year.

Numbers in the Teens (Have a Group of 10)- [a place value song for k...

Base Ten

This last month, we have been working with the concept of Base Ten. We are learning that it is easier to count in groups of 10, instead of by ones. We are working on organizing our thinking so that, when we count, we can look at objects in groups of 10.

Yesterday we played a game titled "Trade It!" This is a fun base 10 game where you roll a dice and place that many units on your board. Once you get enough to trade up you yell "trade it!" and trade your units in for a 10 rod. Each child has a board (just fun foam with a line in the middle), but they play in partners, sharing a dice. This game really drives home the idea that we are looking at making groups of 10, instead of just finding them. Take a look:

Happy After Thanksgiving!

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful time off.

Here is what went on the day before our Thanksgiving holiday:

We had a visitor by the name of Tom Turkey. As you know, your child was tasked with designing a disguise for Tom and they have all come up with some pretty incredible ideas. Then we got to meet Tom! He was very talkative and excited to see everyone.

The good news is: He didn't get eaten on Thanksgiving! Yay!

We also attended our field trip to the Lancaster Performing Arts Center. We saw the Stunt Dogs perform their tricks for us. We saw dogs doing flips, running obstacle courses, and even jumping rope! Our students were the best behaved kids in the theatre and I am so glad we got to go on this wonderful trip. 

Quails, Firemen, Tigers, and Votes!

I am so sorry, everyone! October always gets away from me, and I never can keep up with everything. There is so much to share and not enough time. I will give you some of the highlights of our last month and, hopefully, add more to it during the week.

In October, we raised 4 baby quails. Their names are Pumpkin, Spice, Ginger, and Sugar.

 First hatched in Mrs. Musick's room

These little ones moved to our room until they outgrew their area. They now live in the school's garden. 

We wrote about our quails!

On election day, we had the Kinders vote for their favorite character. The candidates were Pete the Cat and Clifford the Big Red Dog. Clifford had a solid support group, but Pete won 72-35!

Fire safety day was so much fun! The firemen came out and discussed how to be safe during an emergency.

We went to the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound to begin our research on an endangered cat. Students chose from many different species and will create a presentation for our NPDL program.

 We meowed with this little guy.

 Our guide explained all about endangerment and conservation. 

 

We got to see them feed the tiger!

(It's chicken.)

This is just a few of the amazing experiences we have had these past few weeks. I will be adding to them very soon. :)

The Number Line

This week we focused on the number line. The number line is easily forgotten in the scheme of math, but is the most important component in Kindergarten math after one-to-one correspondence. So many skills can be taught from a number line alone. To practice the number line, we do a variety of activities. Check them out:

 Human Number Line

Finding the correct place in the number line is important and needs to be worked on often.

The following photos are from our Boxcars and One-Eyed Jacks math program. 

This program uses dice, dominoes and playing cards to teach number sense to children (and adults!)

Each week we play a specific game. This one is a dice game. We play the game a minimum of 3 times and then write about our math on Fridays. My students are making a math journal that they will be able to take home at the end of the year. Not only is Boxcars engaging, but it brings in a variety of skills, including social and emotional, critical thinking, and reading and writing.

This week we played a dice game in which students rolled a dice with a partner and placed their dice on the number line (a ruler).

 On Friday we wrote about our math in our journal. I am more a facilitator than an active teacher during our journals. Students have learned the game and can play the game on their own. Now, they need to take what they have learned, gather data, and write about it. Here are some of their examples:

 As you can see, I am not correcting their work as they go. We will discuss their journal writing after the lesson is complete. Because a growth mindset involves critical thinking, failing, and trying again, I let them work through the problem before we hold our discussion. Then, they will try again. 

I love making math more than just a subject in school. It is a part of life, both fun and not-so-fun. But, it is important either way. 

We look forward to having a Kindergarten Family Math Game Night in which parents will be able to play these games with their child. It will be so much fun!

Dinosaurs...Part 2

We completed our dinosaur unit this week. It was a blast! Here are some of the highlights:

Pterodactyl Craft

This is very easy. Take a pterodactyl template and fold in half. Cut it out. (I did it for the kids.)

Have students color a clothespin and the template. 

Glue the Wings inside the clothespin (hot glue works best.)

Have the handle of the clothespin be the open mouth and glue on some eyes. Fun and easy!

The anatomy of a triceratops. This was made with butcher paper and toilet/paper towel tubes. 

T-Rex bone puzzle by Scholastic. 

Baking soda dino eggs.

These are super easy to make. 

Put a whole box of baking soda in a bowl and add water until you get a clay consistency. 

Scoop some in your hand and add a mini plastic dino to the egg. Fold dough around the dino to form an egg.  Let dry overnight.

 We studied Paleontologists and the tools that they use on a dino dig. Then I have them their own tools.

 1. Paleontologist Hat

2. Pick (toothpick or popsicle stick)

3. Brush (paintbrush)

4. Magnifying glass

 Some students really took their time and others cracked that egg as fast as they could!

 After they were done, they got to play with the "dough".

 Stegosaurus Fun Food

Dino week is always a good time. Thanks to all the parents who gave me the toilet paper tubes! :)