Changes

Lots has changed since I sat down to write here. While I still love this, my teacher voice has wavered a bit.

You see, I began the school year without a classroom. For the first time in over a decade, I did not have a class. If any of you have experienced this before, you know, the emptiness one feels. The first day of school was one of the most emotionally draining days of my career. I was now, a Teacher on Special Assignment. 

Happy First Day of School. Today is a bittersweet day. I have a classroom ready but waiting. Waiting for enrollment to increase. So, today I'm reminding myself that everything is going to be ok.

A post shared by Mrs.Parker (@learningwithmrsparker) on Aug 29, 2017 at 6:30am PDT

Unbeknownst to me, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. At home, my father-in-law was gravely ill. As a family, we spent the next six of weeks traveling to and from work, home and the hospital. 

In October, I took over a fifth grade class while a teacher was on maternity leave. Unexpectedly, the teacher did not return. All of a sudden, I became a teacher of BIG KIDS. 

What I've come to find out is that changing grade levels does not define who I am as a teacher. Rather, it has affirmed my teaching philosophy. Now, more than ever, I see how students need engagement, novelty, play, and choice in their learning regardless of grade levels. That's what I've tried to bring into the classroom. While not always perfect, I am learning. 

Each day, I enter my classroom knowing that it is a blessing that I am their teacher. Perhaps, this was where I was meant to be all along; with them. 

I hope that you'll join me in my journey as I share what I've learned as a fifth grade teacher this school year. 

I don't know what the future holds. But, I do know that I can be the teacher kids need if I am willing to accept the challenge.

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Integrated Technology with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a timeless classic used by many in kindergarten and first grade classrooms.  

This year, I am adding a technology twist inspired by my reading of The HyperDoc Handbook: Digital Lesson Design Using Google Apps. 

I have created a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom hyperdoc which my students will use in Google Classroom. Students will watch a video of the story, sort letters in their name and even sing the alphabet song. This extension activity will be completed in small groups with me guiding them through the process as this will most likely be one of our first activities using Google Classroom and #GAFE tools.  

I am excited to see what other integrated technology lessons I create inspired by our learning.

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Read Alouds For the First Day of Kindergarten

A new school year is almost here.  These are some of the books I will read on the first day of Kindergarten.  I selected these books because they are engaging and kindergarteners can easily identify with the characters.

INTERACTIVE BOOKS
I want my kindergarteners to know that they are readers; even on the first day of school. These engaging, short interactive books get students to actively participating.

Fairly Fairy Tales by Esme Raji Codell is my favorite choral reading book. Within the pages, we find a little girl and her mother reading a bedtime story. Along the way, we discover a story that combines a mixture of questioning and fairy tale characters with a modern twist.

Photo Source

Press Here and Mix It Up by Harry Tullet have readers interact with the book. With each page turn students eagerly await what will happen next. This is a perfect book to use if you want to also teach carpet or rug expectations. Often, even my most squiggly of students, will sit up tall and raise their hand to have a turn.

The songs and videos of Pete the Cat books are just right when your students need a bit of movement and fun. It's all good when you have Pete the Cat by your side on the first day of kindergarten.



FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL BOOKS
I want to acknowledge my students feelings about the first day of school.  For many of my kindergartners, this is the first time that they have been away from home for an extended period of time. These books help to ease and comfort them.

Dad's First Day is a great read if you have parents in the room with their child on the first day. They will be able to relate to the mix of emotions Oliver's dad is feeling.

In I Don't Want to Go To School, Simon says "No way!" to going to school. But as he discovers, school is a fun safe place to learn.





CLASSIC KINDERGARTEN READS
I also make sure to share a few "classic" reads that students may recognize from preschool if they attended.  No, David!, Brown Bear, Brown Bear and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom are always within reach on the first few days of school. They are great for teaching many concepts and are timeless classics.

What are your must read books for the first day of kindergarten?

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Self Portraits in Kindergarten

Self portraits are perfect projects for anytime of the year. I love how they reflect the personality of the child but also teaches different types of art mediums.

Here are three different ways to create self portraits in your classroom. 

SELF PORTRAITS MADE EASY
For the past several years, I have been using this method for drawing self portraits.  Giving students a bit of a guide helps to create large portraits rather than small pieces of artwork. Once students learn this method, you can use them for other projects like this social studies lesson or this one.

We make Self Portraits Made Easy during the first week of school. Then, again at the end of the year.  Students are always astonished how different they look!

A photo posted by Mrs.Parker (@learningwithmrsparker) on Sep 23, 2014 at 3:49pm PDT

RECYCLED NEWSPAPER
For this self portrait project, you will need newspaper and markers. First, I prep the newspaper for my students.  Each student will need an 8x11 sheet of newspaper. I suggest that you use "fun" print like the comic section rather than the headline page. Students will draw their self portrait in pencil. Then, they will use a black marker to trace their drawing. Lastly, they will color leaving their face in print. Mount on a bright colored paper like AstroBrights to add a pop of color.

TODD PARR INSPIRED

For these Todd Parr Inspired Self Portraits, we read many of Todd Parr's books. We became familiar with his style of art. We noted that Parr used lots of bright colors. We also noticed that the faces were not the usually peach, tan and brown. Rather, people had faces of all different colors; even blue and pink! This got many students excited! Using AstroBright neon paper and construction paper from our scrap box, we made our Todd Parr Inspired Self Portraits. Adding them to a black construction paper gave them just the "pop" needed to stand out in the crowd.

These self portrait ideas are easy to prep and create any time of the year. 

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A New School Year: New Beginnings

We just completed our eighth day of school.  And, to be honest with you, I am exhausted.  You just simply forget how much goes into teaching; let alone teaching kindergarten.

This is one of my favorite bulletin boards.  (I hope to share more detailed pictures of my room later.)

We have been busy working on routines and procedures.  My class this year needs more direction so I am finding myself looking for new ways to effectively deal with classroom management and behavior.  First off, we are beginning our day with community circle.  During this time, we greet one another, share and work on creating our classroom community.  I am also using some Whole Brain Teaching Strategies to keep us focused.

Here are a few activities that we have used in our classroom; many are freebies.

1. We used beads and dry erase markers to write our names.  Find this excellent freebie here.
2. We read from our book boxes.  The book on the table is from my blog about school expectations.
3. We built number towers.
4. We love Pete the Cat!  We made these directed drawings from First Grade Blue Skies.

Overall, we've accomplished a lot in these last few days. 

Happy Teaching!

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It's All Good!

Wow!  It's hard to believe that we are entering our third week of school.  We have 10 days under our belt.  My class is doing great; all 23 of them.  This is one of the largest class sizes that I've had in over a decade.

I thought I'd pop in to share a few photos and a little freebie to use now or tuck away for next year.

While setting up my classroom, I decided to dedicate an entire white board space to math.  I am not a huge calendar fan but do use our calendar time to teach many math routines.  This trimester we are focusing on substizing  numbers from 0-6,  counting orally to 20, decomposing teen numbers, and showing multiple ways to make 5.

The monthly headers and papers above the calendar will serve as a timeline of our kindergarten year.  It was inspired by A Place Called Kindergarten.

I am in love with these Melonheadz Learning Objective Headers from Learning in Wonderland.  Although not required, during my summer course, I read about the importance of students knowing what they are learning.  These objectives will help me be more purposeful in what I am teaching and sharing that with my students.   

No beginning of the school year would be complete with Pete the Cat! We used I Love My White Shoes to review our colors. Each day, we would create a color anchor chart and share an item from home with that color.  This bulletin board display will hold my students' writing; their first opinion piece.  We also played this Pete the Cat Roll and Color game which my students loved.  

Well, as you can see, we've been busy.  But, it's all good!

Happy Teaching!

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It's All About the Details

I think one of the trickiest things about teaching is planning for classroom management and organization.  This is especially true when your audience is five year olds!

I want my kiddos to be as independent as possible as soon as possible.

Here are a few things that I do to help me and them.

First, each child is assigned a number. This saves me time from having to write the child's name on a myriad of supplies and items.

Another thing, I do is to assign each table a shape.  As students complete their assignments, they place their completed work into the "I'm Done" box based on their seating.  Students at each table are responsible for distributing the work at the end of the day to take home.

To save time and arguments at listening center, everything is labeled.

How do you keep your classroom organized? Share your teaching wisdom.


Happy Teaching

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A New Journey Begins

Tomorrow is the first day of school.

My classroom is as ready as it can be.  I am sure that I will "tweak it" as needed.

This is my door.  The name owls will later be used to display student work and the door will be used during Word Work.

This is the view as you enter the classroom.

Our whole group space is ready for lots of learning to take place.

Our alphabet chart and Letter Factory Cards are displayed just below our main white board area.  I am planning on adding our monthly words and our writing anchor charts here.

My tables are grouped in varied sizes.  These are the only supplies we'll use (crayons and golf pencils) until the others (scissors, glue, highlighter, dry erase marker) are introduced.  Those supplies will go in their Grab and Go Boxes.

Book Boxes and office supplies are ready to go.

Now, all that is missing are the children whom I look forward to meeting and getting to know over the course of the school year.

Happy Teaching!

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Organizing Big Box Curriculum

Do you have to follow a more "scripted" language arts program?  Has your district ordered new curriculum? Here are a few tips to keep you organized.

Well, once you've unpacked, I am sure you will realize that almost everything is bundled together and you will need to sort it.  This takes a considerable amount of time.

First, designate a spot where you will keep the items.  I prefer to keep the boxes because I lack storage space.

Next, organize the materials that you need the most first.  In my case, these were the Teacher's Manuals, Anthology Read Aloud manual as well as leveled and decodable readers.

Our language arts curriculum also includes alphabet and initial sound cards, key vocabulary cards, oral retelling cards, and Interactive Read Aloud cards.

Whew! That's a lot of stuff!

To help me keep organized and save my sanity for years to come, each week I organized a little at a time.  I used these file folders and placed all the items that I needed for the week inside.  Most of these were teaching items (vocabulary cards, retell cards, etc.).  I also added any other items that I used to supplement the curriculum including printables or items that I created.  I housed each of these file folders in a crate which I kept by my guided reading table.

Now, as I plan each week, I have my materials all in one spot for teaching as well as I have other materials that I may or may not use at my disposal.

How do you stay organized?  Share a tip.

Happy Organizing!

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Activities for Fine Motor Skills

I have compiled a list of supplies and activities which foster fine motor development.  Although, it may look like just child's play; in fact, it is the opposite.  This is all very serious work that young learners need.  As teachers, we have the challenge to embed these activities within our rigorous academic programs.

Lastly, here is a cutting activity that I use the first week of school with my students.  In my class, we think of our scissors as a car and we must stay on the road while cutting.  Click below to learn more.

Happy Teaching!


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A Sneak Peek...

I have been busily working on my classroom.  It is starting to finally feel ready for kindergarten.  Here is a look at my calendar.

My calendar is a mixture of old and new things.  The days of the week display is inspired by Today is Monday.  The months of the year are from DoodleBugs Teaching.  (Her stuff is so educational, creative and cute!) Inspired by her Brown Bear post, I made these color cards to go with my now Eric Carle calendar theme.

I  painted the white polka dots onto black card stock.  (It was an afterthought in design.) I purchased the graphics from KPMDoodles; a clipart artist and teacher.  Get these graphics here.  Better yet, the first three people who leave a comment and their email, I will send them the Brown Bear Color cards.  Otherwise, you can find them at my shop.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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W Is For....

This is part of Teaching the Alphabet blog party.

(I am posting this early since I will be out of town without my computer.  I wanted to make sure everything was working before leaving.)

I have the letter W.   

My inspiration was this book.

This story is appealing to younger learners but also very witty for older children.  

It also covers lots of standards; both Common Core Standards and California.

Included in this packet are ideas for math, reading and writing.  

Kindergarten students will probably do many of these activities in a whole group setting through interactive and shared reading and writing lessons. Whereas, first grade students will be able to do some independently after teaching modeling.

Click image for your copy.

I have worked hard to create this for my classroom and yours.  Please respect my work by not distributing to others, rather referring them to my blog.  If you do enjoy it, please leave a comment.  I would also love to see this in action.  Send an email.   It would make my day to see children using it!

Now it's your turn.  Below is a list of bloggers who have signed up to host a letter.

Thank you ladies!  :)

Click to see who is hosting.

Link up and add my button.  

Didn't sign up.  Don't worry.  You can join in the fun, too!  

I can't wait to see all the ideas!  

Happy Teaching and Learning!


Teaching the Alphabet

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