Here they are! 40 Classroom Callbacks for you to have handy in your classroom. Callbacks are the most effective way of getting a class' attention and the kids LOVE them! Print these out, laminate, and put them on a ring. Then you can use them whenever you need!

 Download 40 Classroom Callbacks HERE.

Update on Communication Calendars!

Hi everyone! If you purchased Communication Calendars for 2017-2018 and would like the new 2018-2019 version, please send me your email and I will send the updated calendars to you!
mrs.m.baldridge@gmail.com

Back to School Sale August 21st!

Behavior Calendars 2018-2019

It is almost that time! The new school year is coming up way too fast and we teachers need to get ahead of the game. Every year I use Behavior Calendars to communicate student behavior to both the student and the parent/family about daily behavior.

Each child has a calendar in their homework folder. At the end of every day I write a happy, uh-oh, or sad face on their calendar. This allows the student to know how their behavior was for the day and holds them accountable by having to share this calendar with their parents.

I do not like displaying behavior charts in the classroom because it has a negative effect on a child's attitude about behavior. Once they hit a sad face or a red card they often give up trying to improve their behavior for the rest of the day. Behavior calendars are not marked until the very end of the day and the student must keep trying to earn their happy face. In my opinion, you can ALWAYS earn it back!

I am sure many of you are thinking that this will take way too much time at the end of the day to complete. You are wrong if you think that! It takes at most 5 minutes and students are always eager to see what they get on their calendar. Isn't it worth it to spend 5 minutes a day so that the next day will be a little bit better? It is also a running record for you and can allow you to spot patterns in a child's behavior so that deeper conversations can go on and documentation can be provided to the parent.

You can also add special events to you calendar by following the editing instructions in the file. Book Fairs, Field Trips, Conferences can all be added to personalize your calendar!

I assure you, Behavior Calendars are the way to go. They are a life saver! Check them out!

Classroom Management is hard. Make it easier on yourself by helping your students self manage and keeping parents in the loop on a daily basis. It is so worth it!

Handwriting Freebie!

Here we are, at the end of the school year, and my kiddos have gotten lazy! They are writing fast and messy, with letters flying all over the page. It is time to slow down and remember how to form letters correctly and how to get them to use the lines appropriately. How can we do this with only 2 weeks left? Practice, Practice, Practice! You could even bribe them! I will be telling my kiddos that they will get a special prize if they can show me their best handwriting. And to do this I will keep track of it in their end of the year handwriting packet. Check it out:

Click here to get your handwriting freebie!

Updated Word Wall Words and New Lower Price!

I have updated my word wall words. I have added the IRLA 1G words to make sure my students have access to all words they are expected to learn. I find it funny when certain school say certain words are more important that others. Aren't all words important? I think so. Unfortunately, public school have to follow state guidelines and those guidelines follow one path, which may or may not make sense. I hope you can use the cards in your class. My kiddos love them and they are in constant use on my word wall.

To get the new lower price, please click here!

Be the Kool-Aid!

SALE! SALE! SALE!

All About Mom Survey

Mother's Day is almost here! And because moms are so amazing for everything they (we) do, I like to give them a gift that makes them laugh and makes the cry. In a good way!

The way to make mom laugh is by giving her the tried and true MOM SURVEY!!! Yes, letting Kinders write down how old their mom is, if she can cook, what she is good at, is a very good read for everyone. Especially mom. I have included a FREEBIE of my Mom Survey! Check it out:

So, how do I make mom cry? I have each child make a keychain with their thumbprint in it! More to come on that tomorrow!

Is your child going to bed at the right time?

I ran across this chart to give to parents at Kindergarten Round-Up! I have had so many conversations this year about when a Kinder (or any child) should go to bed each night. So, I thought I would share this with my Kinder Community so that we can understand that going to sleep earlier might not mean the child is actually sleeping enough (or too much!).

I have found that when I moved from Southern California to Oregon, I was NOT prepared for the extra long days in spring/summer or the extra long nights in fall/winter. My kids needed some serious adjustment. And, to be honest, so did I! I was used to putting them to bed at a certain time and have not always taken into account their ever increasing ages, nor their schedule. In California they woke up at 6am, but in Oregon it is 6:30-6:45am. Well, that means they can stay up a little later. And, let's be honest, this is my kids' dream come true!!

Spring Calendar FREEBIE!

Here is a super cute freebie to use for your Spring Calendar! Enjoy!

Click HERE for your Freebie!

Pennies for Patients

Hi Families!
McKinley is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this month. We are hoping to donate change so that we can help children with blood cancer. My class learned that our bodies have two types of blood cells. The red blood cells deliver oxygen throughout our bodies. The white blood cells fight the bad germs that make us sick. If our blood cells get sick the white blood cells stop fighting the germs. This will make people very, very sick with cancer.

To help kids who have this disease, we are collecting pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to help fund research to get rid of cancer. This is an optional program called Pennies for Patients. If you can donate, please send the change back with your child in their box this week. 

Parade of Books

Today we had our Parade of Books for Dr. Seuss Week and Read Across America! It was so much fun. Each child came to school dressed as character from a book. They also had to bring the book with them. When the parade started each child walked with their book throughout the school. At the end we all met in the gym for a special Seuss assembly. What I loved about this was the variety of books that were represented. We had everything from Pete the Cat, to the 3 musketeers, to Pokemon! It was so exciting! I look forward to doing this every year.

Another tradition I love is decorating the classroom door for Seuss Week. This year I did "Think outside the Hat" and a student of mine brought in cardboard book covers that I put on the wall. The Cat Hat is 3D with the characters popping out. It was very cute!

The Foot Book Activity FREEBIE

Read Across America is week is coming up FAST! 

Here is a little activity that I thought I would share. This activity explores your kiddos' foot from Dr. Seuss' The Foot Book using non-standard measurement. Students will trace their foot onto the paper. (I would do this without a shoe on.) After they trace their foot, they can use pennies, paperclips, unifix cubes, and crayons to measure how long their foot is. You can read The Foot Book before hand and have a discussion about the numbers your class comes up with afterwards. Have fun!
 P.S. This is also a great Big Buddy Activity!

Click HERE to get this FREEBIE!

Happy Read Across America Week and 

Happy Birthday to

Learning Empathy

Teaching Kindergarten students about empathy is hard. By nature they are self-centered at this age. This is not a bad thing. They are exploring their world and how to live in it. As a Kindergarten teacher, I am responsible to them to help broaden their world. Teaching empathy is the best place to start. While they are not all ready at the beginning of the year, I see a need to learn empathy during the winter months. Honestly, it is perfect because it goes right along with Valentine's Day. 

How do you teach 5-year-olds to care for others? You talk about it! This month at our community circle, we are working on real-life situations in which children can relate. I have attached the situations we discuss as a class. I state the situation and we go around the circle discussing our feelings on the topic. Some can relate. Some can't. The goal is to imagine what this feels like and share.

We are reading a variety of books that relate to empathy. The first book we read is Stand in My Shoes by Bob Sornson. In this story Emily learns what it means to think about how others are feeling.

Finally, I want to give you the 5 ways to teach your children or class empathy. More and more students spend time with the tablet or phone. Less and less spend time with other people. Without these interactions, we are responsible to teach them how to relate to others.

With all the academics we are required to teach please think about this quote:

Imagine what your child can be if they learn this skill in Kindergarten? Amazing. The answer is AMAZING!

February McKinley Connections

Mckinley Connections

Find out what is going on this month!

Zones of Regulation

I have been using the Zones of Regulation this year to help my students become aware of their emotions. Of course, as the Disney lover I am, I added the popular Inside Out characters to make it a little more fun. My students were introduced to the Zones at the beginning of the year and have these posters up in their calm-down corner of the classroom.

By giving my students the vocabulary they need to express their emotions, I have seen a major improvement in students who easily get over-excited, sad, and angry. Download these posters as a FREEBIE for your class!

We are embarking on learning about cultures from around the world. We are also learning about the people that sparked and drove the Civil Rights Movement. Today we ,made our hallway bulletin board with pictures inspired by Rosa Parks. She knew that everyone had a right to self respect. If we can teach this in Kindergarten, we will inspire our kids to know that they are just as important as every other person in the world.

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.”

-Rosa Parks 

 

Mystery Science

Recently I was introduced to a program called Mystery Science. What I love about this program is that it follows all of the Next Generation Science Standards and makes it relevant for both teachers and students.

Mystery Science revolves around a man named Doug. He narrates the slide shows and includes stories, videos, and activities right into the slide show. The slide show even has directions for the kids to watch on HOW to do the activities. We have only completed the first couple of lessons, but I really wanted to share this site so that other teachers can check it out.

Right now it is free for teachers. I don't know if they will start charging at some point, but I suggest signing up.

It is a K-5 curriculum with 6 lessons in each unit.

There are a total of 3 Kindergarten units:

Weather Watching

Force Olympics

Plant and Animal Secrets

and a total of 3 First Grade Units:

Spinning Sky (Space)

Lights and Sound

Plant and Animal Superpowers

There are also seasonal lessons. Check it out!

All of the resources are directly in the program. Nothing costs extra. Check out our start on the Weather unit. We have become Weather Watchers and are learning how to check the weather.

Our 4 questions are:
1. What is happening in the sky?
2. What is the temperature?
3. Is it windy?
4. Is it raining?

My students really understood the direct instruction provided to them. We went outside and applied these questions to our learning. While you might think they just watch a video, they don't! The slide show consists of video portions and teacher read-aloud portions, movement and team talk portions, as well. Definitely engaging!
Check out our observations!

As you can see, it was 1) cloudy 2) cold 3) windy and 4) raining. I appreciated my students having the questions right in the corner of their paper to remind them what to look for.

We also created some art to go along with the second weather lesson, which was about storms. I chose to have the students paint, although Mystery Science suggested other activities as well.

While I am just getting started with Mystery Science, I have to recommend it to all who are looking for a good science curriculum. I will keeping you updated on how it goes.