Sunday, December 16, 2012
Around the World: India- Diwali lamps
To finish my classes trip to India we celebrated Diwali. This included making our own diwali lamps.
We used Crayola air dried clay and then painted them. Next year I will use the terra cotta colred kind, it would look more like the lamps.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Around the World: India
Our next stop on our journey around the world is India. India was big hit with my class last year and this year was the same, they loved it! They loved learning about Diwali, peacocks, hendi tattoos, and so on. To start off here was my display for India:
I had two saris, a stuffed peacock, a doll dressed in a sari, peacock feathers, a neat book/kit on Henna tattoos, a little Genesh statue, a diwali lamp, and an elephant figurine.
One of the things the kids liked the best were the rangoli designs. The students loved seeing the beautiful rangoli designs I found on the internet and we then went outside to do our own. We used sidewalk chalk instead of rice or sand and the kids had fun. Here are some pictures of them:
One of the things the kids liked the best were the rangoli designs. The students loved seeing the beautiful rangoli designs I found on the internet and we then went outside to do our own. We used sidewalk chalk instead of rice or sand and the kids had fun. Here are some pictures of them:
I will update with more pics later. Next up- Holidays around the world!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
50th day of school 2012
We had our 50th day of school this last week. I didn't have as many dress up this year, but we had it after a long weekend so many of the kids forgot. We still had fun though with hulu hoops, fifties toys, and a sock hop/ coke floats in the gym. Here are some pictures.
Next up on my around the world is India with rangolis, peacocks, and Diwali!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Around the World: Chile Rain Sticks
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Organizing handwriting
At my school we do Handwriting Without Tears, http://www.hwtears.com/hwt . The school adopted it last year but myself and another teacher piloted the program the year before. I have really liked it and I think it has been a big help and improvement over years past handwriting. In the program the students have books they write in but they also have chalk boards and wood peices to make the letters. The wood peices come in boxes and there are enough wood peices in each box for about 3-4 kids, depending on the letter you are doing. I had the boxes labeled with a number and the pieces in them with the same number, but it still took a lot of time for the kids to get out pieces. It was the same for the chalk boards, once you got out the boards, chalk, sponges, and rags it took time. This year is different. I go the ideas for organizing my handwriting from one of my fellow teachers and it is working wonderfully. The wood pieces are out of the boxes; they are still labeled but now there are bags for each student with enough wood pieces for any letter. The bags are in tubs for each table. The boards are in containers with the chalk and rags for each table. I did the same for the workbooks. Each tub and container are labeled for each table. So far it has cut down on pass out time considerably and is much more organized. Here are some pictures:
Here is the shelf with all the tubs for the books, wood pieces, and chalk boards.
These are the containers for the chalk boards
Inside look
The bags with the wood pieces
Around the world: South America
My next stop on my around the world tour is South America, looking at Brazil and Chile. Both are new this year and I am really excited for both. We just started and the kids are really liking it. Here is my display for Chile and Brazil:
It contains a guiro rasp, Easter Island statue head, hat, rain stick, llama, parrot, carved bowl, both flags, and a cute brazilian jungle play set I found on amazon.
We started with the Amazon rain forest. We learned about the 4 layers to the forest and the animals found there. For an art project the kids made their own forest pictures. The used tussue paper for the tree leaves, yarn for vines, and I found these cute frog and monkey shapes at Hobby Lobby. (The frog is too big but looked cute.) The kids really liked making them and did a great job.
We started with the Amazon rain forest. We learned about the 4 layers to the forest and the animals found there. For an art project the kids made their own forest pictures. The used tussue paper for the tree leaves, yarn for vines, and I found these cute frog and monkey shapes at Hobby Lobby. (The frog is too big but looked cute.) The kids really liked making them and did a great job.
More to come on including Easter Island statues and rain sticks.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Around the World class decorations, study
I have done an around the world study of countries with my class for the last two years. I really enjoy it and the kids love learning about the other countries. I found a lot of lesson ideas online but I also found this great book http://www.amazon.com/Children-Around-World-Countries-Languages/dp/1933052376/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1347768211&sr=8-10&keywords=field+trip+around+the+world that gave me great ideas and a jumping off point. I also used these books for ideas: http://www.amazon.com/Around-World-Coloring-Dover-History/dp/0486439836/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1347768170&sr=8-8&keywords=around+the+world and http://www.amazon.com/Around-World-Art-Activities-Continents/dp/1885593457/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1347768170&sr=8-15&keywords=around+the+world .
This year I decided to have a decoration theme to my room. I have seen so many teachers do and I never did, but this year I decided to do it. I have had a bulletin board of kids around the world but this year I added to it and made it bigger:
I gotta say finding around the world stuff was difficult; the places I looked online and in the stores nearest me had pretty much nothing. I have seem tons of frogs, lizards, and weird monsters but not around the world (or fairy tales, my other favorite but that is another post :)) I found the larger kids on Amazon and the smaller kids were an old set my mother had. The little world was found at Knowledge Bound.
For my students hanger name cards I decided to try and find something world themed but had no luck. So I took plain white index cards and put some passport type stamps on them that I found online. ( I do not remember the site at the moment but I will try and find it.) I put two on each card and then wrote the child's name on them.
It has a nutcracker, flags, a cuckoo clock, hat, and lederhosen for the country. I will update for each country.
For our back to school night each teacher always has some sort of display outside their rooms with the students names. I tried to find something around the world that I didn't already have up but no luck. So I made a poster of a world with poster board, blue paper and continents I printed out that said Welcome Worldwide Learners! on it and had the children's names on little passports I copied from my Children Around the world book above on different colors of paper.
This year I decided to have a decoration theme to my room. I have seen so many teachers do and I never did, but this year I decided to do it. I have had a bulletin board of kids around the world but this year I added to it and made it bigger:
I gotta say finding around the world stuff was difficult; the places I looked online and in the stores nearest me had pretty much nothing. I have seem tons of frogs, lizards, and weird monsters but not around the world (or fairy tales, my other favorite but that is another post :)) I found the larger kids on Amazon and the smaller kids were an old set my mother had. The little world was found at Knowledge Bound.
For my students hanger name cards I decided to try and find something world themed but had no luck. So I took plain white index cards and put some passport type stamps on them that I found online. ( I do not remember the site at the moment but I will try and find it.) I put two on each card and then wrote the child's name on them.
When I do my around the world study with my kids I like to have a little display for the country we are studying. I am slowly building collections for each one and right now some are better than others. We are on Germany at the moment (new this year) and it is small but I hope to add to it. It is on one of my shelves next to one of my maps, here is an example:
For our back to school night each teacher always has some sort of display outside their rooms with the students names. I tried to find something around the world that I didn't already have up but no luck. So I made a poster of a world with poster board, blue paper and continents I printed out that said Welcome Worldwide Learners! on it and had the children's names on little passports I copied from my Children Around the world book above on different colors of paper.
I also had two welcome banners outside of my room that had flags of the world all over them; one said welcome in English and the other said welcome in different languages, I found it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004X0QI1S/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00 . I think they are outside banners bu they looked fine and fold up nicely for next year.
New year, new folders: My World Folders
I decided this year to do an organizational folder with my students. One of my fellow kindergarten teachers did MOOSE folders last year and they worked so well in her class. She showed us her book and some links of what a MOOSE book was. I spent some time this summer finding out about the books and what I would like to do.
I decided to do WORLD folders since I am not really into MOOSE, STAR, OR BEE stuff. On the site http://www.jbonzer.com/WorldNotebookbyjudybonzer.JPEG I found an organizational notebook cover for WORLD, or Workers Organized & Ready for Learning Daily. I thought the World one was perfect for me since I do an around the world study with my kids all year, so the world one fit perfectly. (Though I was tempted to do fairy tales, but it seemed too long.)
I decided for my first year of this to do instead of binder to do the plastic folders for my WORLD folders. One for cost (I thought of doing this after we submitted classroom supplies for the next year so all of this was out of pocket cost) and if they would hold up. Looking at some sites some teachers used notebooks and some used binders, both had pros and cons and which would hold up best. I decided this year to do folders; in August I found out two of my other Kindergarten teachers are doing organizational notebooks; one is doing 1/2 inch binders and the other is doing 1& 1/2 inch binders. We decided this could be an experiment of all of us to see which will hold up the best for the year. For my class I went to my local store and bought the plastic folders that have the three metal prongs in them to hold papers. I got different colors so that it would be easier for the kids to recognize their folder. I couldn't use the cute WORLD cover on the outside of the folder so I put that in the folder and on the outside I put these around the world kid stickers I bought from Oriental Trading: http://www.orientaltrading.com/kids-around-the-world-foam-shapes-a2-48_9088-12-1.fltr?Ntt=around+the+world . I put four of the kids across the top and the world sticker in the middle. I wrote My WORLD folder in the middle and the child's name at the bottom. They came out pretty cute:
The inside of the folder goes in this order:
1. Front pocket- bring back to school. This pocket is for homework and papers that need to be brought back.
2. Class newsletter and lunch menu. I update my newsletter every week, sometimes every two weeks. These are in a sheet protector since I take them out every week.
3. Class handbook. I have always had a mini handbook that I gave my parents at the beginning of the year but this year I also put one in these folders. It contains a class schedule, dismissal plan, behavior chart explanation, and other class information.
4. Behavior chart. I have done the color behavior chart with my kindergartners for years and it has worked well for them. They and their parents understand it. For their behavior the students color in a calender that I printed out with the color they are in that day. The charts are in these binder pockets I found at the store: http://www.walmart.com/ip/14926496?adid=22222222227000548399&wmlspartner=wlpa&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=13689420310&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem
So far they are working well, though some of the kids have a hard time getting the paper back in.
5. Communication log. I have some notebook paper put in the back of each folder where I and the parents can write notes to each other. In the binder version it would be a notebook, but that would be too big for the folders so I just put in notebook paper.
6. Back pocket of folder- keep at home pocket. This is where the kids put the class papers and school note that need to go and stay home.
So far the folders have been very successful, the kids are bringing them every day and they are not getting torn up. The parents seem to like them as well, they have been good about using the log and looking for the folder. Before school started our school had a back to school night and I was able to speak to my parents about my classroom and the folders. I feel this was very helpful in the success as I was able the show the parents what they were and their importance before they were sent home. I also have the parents and students sign a compact for the folders.
Links about the organizational folders (most commonly called MOOSE folders)
http://www.jbonzer.com/miscprintables2.html
http://www.jbonzer.com/miscprintables.htm
http://www.cape.k12.mo.us/blanchard/hicks/Parents%20Pages/Tiger%20Notebook.htm
http://www.smithsroom.com/moose.htm
http://jmeacham.com/bee.book.htm
http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com/teacherresources/classmanagement/classmanagement.aspx#organizationfolders
http://www.mrsdryzal.com/moosenotebook
http://www.msvines.com/beebook.htm
http://teachingheart.net/moosebooks.html
I decided to do WORLD folders since I am not really into MOOSE, STAR, OR BEE stuff. On the site http://www.jbonzer.com/WorldNotebookbyjudybonzer.JPEG I found an organizational notebook cover for WORLD, or Workers Organized & Ready for Learning Daily. I thought the World one was perfect for me since I do an around the world study with my kids all year, so the world one fit perfectly. (Though I was tempted to do fairy tales, but it seemed too long.)
I decided for my first year of this to do instead of binder to do the plastic folders for my WORLD folders. One for cost (I thought of doing this after we submitted classroom supplies for the next year so all of this was out of pocket cost) and if they would hold up. Looking at some sites some teachers used notebooks and some used binders, both had pros and cons and which would hold up best. I decided this year to do folders; in August I found out two of my other Kindergarten teachers are doing organizational notebooks; one is doing 1/2 inch binders and the other is doing 1& 1/2 inch binders. We decided this could be an experiment of all of us to see which will hold up the best for the year. For my class I went to my local store and bought the plastic folders that have the three metal prongs in them to hold papers. I got different colors so that it would be easier for the kids to recognize their folder. I couldn't use the cute WORLD cover on the outside of the folder so I put that in the folder and on the outside I put these around the world kid stickers I bought from Oriental Trading: http://www.orientaltrading.com/kids-around-the-world-foam-shapes-a2-48_9088-12-1.fltr?Ntt=around+the+world . I put four of the kids across the top and the world sticker in the middle. I wrote My WORLD folder in the middle and the child's name at the bottom. They came out pretty cute:
The inside of the folder goes in this order:
1. Front pocket- bring back to school. This pocket is for homework and papers that need to be brought back.
2. Class newsletter and lunch menu. I update my newsletter every week, sometimes every two weeks. These are in a sheet protector since I take them out every week.
3. Class handbook. I have always had a mini handbook that I gave my parents at the beginning of the year but this year I also put one in these folders. It contains a class schedule, dismissal plan, behavior chart explanation, and other class information.
4. Behavior chart. I have done the color behavior chart with my kindergartners for years and it has worked well for them. They and their parents understand it. For their behavior the students color in a calender that I printed out with the color they are in that day. The charts are in these binder pockets I found at the store: http://www.walmart.com/ip/14926496?adid=22222222227000548399&wmlspartner=wlpa&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=13689420310&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem
So far they are working well, though some of the kids have a hard time getting the paper back in.
5. Communication log. I have some notebook paper put in the back of each folder where I and the parents can write notes to each other. In the binder version it would be a notebook, but that would be too big for the folders so I just put in notebook paper.
6. Back pocket of folder- keep at home pocket. This is where the kids put the class papers and school note that need to go and stay home.
So far the folders have been very successful, the kids are bringing them every day and they are not getting torn up. The parents seem to like them as well, they have been good about using the log and looking for the folder. Before school started our school had a back to school night and I was able to speak to my parents about my classroom and the folders. I feel this was very helpful in the success as I was able the show the parents what they were and their importance before they were sent home. I also have the parents and students sign a compact for the folders.
Links about the organizational folders (most commonly called MOOSE folders)
http://www.jbonzer.com/miscprintables2.html
http://www.jbonzer.com/miscprintables.htm
http://www.cape.k12.mo.us/blanchard/hicks/Parents%20Pages/Tiger%20Notebook.htm
http://www.smithsroom.com/moose.htm
http://jmeacham.com/bee.book.htm
http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com/teacherresources/classmanagement/classmanagement.aspx#organizationfolders
http://www.mrsdryzal.com/moosenotebook
http://www.msvines.com/beebook.htm
http://teachingheart.net/moosebooks.html
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