OCTOBER~ Teddy bears, changing leaves, and pumpkins, oh my!!

O-C-T-O-B-E-R, October is in the fall!

Wow, we've been in school for 38 days today. It's hard to believe the first 9 weeks of school is almost over! The K kids have been enjoying the changes of fall here in Oklahoma. We've been watching the leaves begin to change and we are enjoying the cooler fall weather! We've also been working hard at school. We've been making lots of fall crafts. Today we started making a paper plate pumpkin. We use the small paper plates and then use our fine motor skills to squish up little pieces of tissue paper to cover the pumpkin. Then we cut out a stem to finish our pumpkin off. On Friday, we are going to do a BIG task, painting leaves for our fall leaf wreath. This is one of my favorite fall crafts! One of our great Mom helpers cut out 8 leaves on the ellison die cut per child. We are going to set up at the table in our "Learning Corral". In trays we are going to have several different fall colors of paint. I have some really cool rollers from Lakeshore that the kiddos can roll into the paint and roll onto their leaves. :) The same great helper Mom is cutting out the middle of a regular sized paper plate. The kids will glue their 8 leaves onto the plate once the leaves are dry. It makes a very fun colorful fall leaf wreath! I posted some pics of the ones we did last year last Nov. too, so you may have seen them before. :)

At the beginning of this month, we had a Teddy Bear Picnic! Such a fun time! Each child brought their teddy bears and we went outside on a BEAUTIFUL fall day and had yummy snacks with our teddy bears. The kids made teddy bear ears so they would be in disguise. For the teddy bear ears, we cut the circle out of the middle of a small paper plate and left a sort of tail on the bottom so we could glue it around a headband. Then the kiddos colored the background of their ears and glued yarn pieces all over the ear. We use Aleen's tacky glue for our craft projects, and I love it!! Their headbands turned out cute. :)

Well, I said last time that I would share my love for phonics! :) I've taught 3 grades at our school, Pre-K, K, and 1st. 1st grade was my longest trek, and I saw SO many benefits from a strong phonics curriculum. We use ABeka phonics at our school. It starts with the basics in Pre-k and then builds each year. In K we begin using blends to make and read words. We drill those blends each day! In Jan., we will begin doing reading groups and the blends they have drilled really begin to hit home. :) I'm already so impressed at how well my students are making and reading words. In first grade we build a little more. They have phonics charts with special sounds for words to help them read and spell. Many of these special sounds help us to even read sight words, so the Dolch word list becomes very small! It's exciting to see these kiddos take off and use the rules and sounds they practice. It's even more exciting to see them become GREAT readers and spellers. I LOVE phonics!!

Okay, another soap box this month. We work hard in our K, but we play even harder, and that balances it all out. :)

Enjoy the changes in your seasons wherever you are!!

Poetry and Play Important in a Kinders Day!!

Three years ago I moved from first grade to Pre-K/K. I did Kindergarten in the morning and Pre-K in the afternoon. I knew when I moved "down" that I wanted to have a developmentally appropriate enviroment. In college I spent the majority of my time in our lab school in Pre-K and K, so I re-visited many of the ideas I'd learned there. Again, I'll put a plug in for my favorite college text book by Mary Mayesky "Creative Activities For Young Children". I poured over this book the summer before I started teaching Pre-K/K. So many great ideas for a developmentally appropriate classroom. She discusses classroom set up, importance of play, ideas for crafts, cooking, and TONS of poems and songs. My book is the 4th edition. It was a great help in beginning my program.

I love to hear the kiddos as they have some "free" play in housekeeping or dress-up. They are able to use their imagination and build their social skills with each other. At times these centers are something special like a resturant, store, or bakery, but other times it's just a place where they can explore. Last year we did a unit on Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales. Our dress up center had a stage and the props were things to act out the Nursery Rhymes and Fairty Tales we'd studied. It was so cute watching them use their imaginations and play!

Below is a quote from Dr. Jean's website about poems and I would say songs too.

"Children forget many things, but when you put a rhyme in their hearts it will be there forever!

Here are eight great reasons for integrating poetry in 2008:

Poetry develops oral language.
Poetry develops auditory memory.
Poetry helps children make print connections
Poetry develops phonological awareness (rhyme, rhythm, alliteration).
Poetry enhances fluency.
Poetry develops vocabulary.
Poetry sparks children’s interest in reading.
Poetry helps children fall in love with language.
According to the National Institute for Literacy, “Poetry is especially suited to fluency practice because poems for children are often short and they contain rhythm, rhyme, and meaning, making practice easy, fun, and rewarding.”

Okay, I've been on a soap box today! :) Next time I'll tell you about my LOVE for phonics!! ;) I've added some "play pictures" for you to enjoy!

Oh, by the way, another fun and rewarding learning experience is cooking. We put this in our curriculum at least once a month. A creative way to incorporate science and math!! On Monday, we begin our study of apples. We are going to make Crock Pot Apple Sauce. We'll be using an apple peeler/corer which is always fun for the kids to use.

Learning is fun! Let's keep it that way!

Faux Cow Rug and Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom Tree

I had this picture in my last post. When I found out that I was going to have a "Learning Corral", I really wanted a faux cow rug, but didn't want to spend the $ on one. I mentioned it to my Mom, who is also a teacher, and she said we can make one! She'd seen on a design show how they'd made a faux rug out of some vinyl flooring. Mom is very crafty! ;) So, we were on the hunt for some cheep flooring. The piece we got we found at Lowes. We tried to get it for free with the "poor teacher story", and we did end up getting it discounted, but not free. :) Anyway, Mom used a box knife to cut it out. Then we painted the back white, the front was wood patterned, and put the black spots on it. I LOVE it!! It's so fun in my reading center.
In my other reading center, in "Center Ranch", I have a Chicka-chicka Boom, Boom tree. My friend Stacie helped me make that. I have a green bistro umbrella as the base. Stacie put a large paper tube over the pole, a carpet tube works best but we didn't have one. Next she tied several paper bags with twine up the pole. She cut out leaves to put on the bottom of the umbrella. I love it too! Great friends and family have been such a great help in making fun things in my classroom!



There are days when I'd like to curl up with a good book in either of my reading centers! Hope you have a nice place to read too!

Happy Day!

New Adventures In The New School Year!

The first full week of school is done! What a busy, but fun week. ;) Isn't teaching fun?! It's the job that never gets old! Each year we get a new group of kiddos to love! This year's kiddos have really been enjoying singing the songs on the Dr. Jean c.d.s. They sing them while they work and while they are at centers! It's fun to see that they are loving it!

Our classroom has been redone this year. Due to an increase in size in our K program, the school put a door in an adjoining room so we would have more space! This room is "The Learning Corral", and the old room is "Center Ranch". It gives us SO much more space to move!

The first day of school was an exciting one! We made Smart Cookies to start our year out right! Go to Dr. Jean's website and go to the monthly activities for the recipe. One little boy said, "These are the best cookies I've ever had!" This group has a ton of enthusiam and a love for everything!

Hope everyone has a great year!! I'm ready for fall and all the great fall projects ahead!!

Happy Learning!

It's summer, why am I thinking about school! ;0)

We are out of school and what do we think about, sitting on a beach, sipping cool drinks, or soaking up the sun? No, we are thinking about what will be happening the next year at school! Every time I go into Mardels during the summer, I find myself looking at all the new decorations, posters, banners, borders, and games in the school section! I even found a lot of cute things 1/2 off recently!

I found out this week that we'll be expanding our K a little next year. To have room for a larger class of K kiddos, my aide is now going to be a team teacher with me and we are going to be using another room for some of our work. So, now I'm thinking of ideas for this other room! I've decided to call it "the learning corral". I'm thinking that I'll put some type of fence up to give it a corral feel. My classroom has a cowboy theme, so this will go great with that. I think another trip to a few of my favorite teacher stores will be in order soon! I'll post pics as soon as I start working on the new space. I'm hoping that there will be a door installed in the wall so we can have easy access to this new room. It will be a great new adventure!!!

Hope your summer days are not flying by too quickly! ;)

It's over...

Summer is here! Hope you are enjoying your time off. My K kids ended the year with a wonderful graduation program. We shared some of our favorite poems and nursery rhymes with family and friends! One song that is a favorite to sing at the end of the year is "Leaving Kindergarten". It is sung to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies~ "Come and listen to a story 'bout what we did this year.
We've been working very hard, and we think it's clear.
We've learned a lot of stuff, and we've made some real good friends.
Now we're leaving Kindergarten but the learning doesn't end!
First Grade,
Bigger numbers,
Bigger words,
All day!!
That's all,
Bye Folks,
See ya later!!"

I hope everyone enjoys their time off! More updates soon!

Handprint pillow case and Mother's Day card

Here's our keepsake pillow case. ;) It took two days! My aide painted hands and then I got all the names on them. Whew! They turned out cute. ;) The Mother's Day card was another craft from the Mailbox big book of arts and crafts. Love that book!!

We are down to 10 days! Graduation is coming fast! Better get to work soon!

Counting down...