Patterning Fun

I have fallen in love with bulletin board boarders!
When I find fun patterned boarders I buy them of course and then I cut them apart.

 The children then make patterns using the pictures.

I love finding boarders to go along with seasons or units I am teaching.

Or just plain old fun patterns.

Meet Room 3

At the beginning of the school year I have the children make graphs so that we can learn about each other. The first day we make a boy/girl graph. We then make graphs for hair color, age, what hand we write with, eye color, if we have brothers and sisters and so on. I have several objectives here, first name writing. Every morning the children write their name on a card to put on the graph. Second, to understand how to answer a question. And third, to learn how a graph works and how to gather information. I then display our graphs in the hallway.

After we have gathered information we make a glyph and display them with our graphs. If they are a boy they have a rectangle body and girls have a triangle body. If they write right handed they have square hands and left handers have circle hands. Blonde haired children used yellow paper and children with brown hair used brown hair.Five year olds have green feet and six year olds have orange feet. The children enjoyed comparing the glyphs.

Working at Sorting Stations

At the beginning of Kindergarten we work hard on learning to sort. We have learned about sorting by color, shape and size. We will continue to sort in many different ways in the upcoming weeks. We will sort buttons by number of holes they have. We will sort bears by how they are holding their arms. We will sort golf tees  by what they are made of (plastic or wood). The children are enjoying these sorting activities. These activities will progress into making patterns. I have included some fun pictures of some of the sorting stations.

 These children are sorting pegs by color.

 These students are sorting bears by color.

 These students are sorting mice by color.

 These students are sorting animals by color.

 These students are sorting pattern blocks by shape.

 These students are sorting foam cubes by shape and color.

These students are sorting rings by color.

Kindergarten Paradise! Meet our Friends

We had a great beginning to the school year! Below is a slide show so that you can meet everyone in the class.

Another digital slideshow by Smilebox

Enjoy the show.
Check back next week to find out what we are doing in the classroom!

Three For Thursday!

I have favorite fonts but do not know how to use them :(
I joined lettering delights but do not know how to download and use the fonts. I am planning on getting my daughter to help me!

Bolgs that are a must look at every day are...
http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com/
http://kindergartencrayons.blogspot.com/
http://larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com/

Great sites that I love to visit and get great ideas from are...
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/
http://www.fcrr.org/index.shtml

Where it all goes down Wednesday!

We have Welcome Night on Monday Night! Tuesday is a workday and the little darlings start on Wednesday.  We have a third of the children come on each day that first week of school so we only have about 6 children each day. The parents come with them for the first hour so that we can introduce all the "school stuff"  and answer any questions. The parents then leave and we show the small group around the room and school and run them through the daily routines. So I am excited to get started on Wednesday and I think my room is ready, take a look!

Book Buddy bags are hanging and ready to be filled. Each day the children take a book home to read and bring back the bag and book the next day to get a new one.

The reading center is ready for children to grab baskets and look at books. The bathtub is to read in or they can sit on the carpets to share a story. Off to the side is a taperecorder so they can listen to books on tape.

The sand table is filled with sand and seashells to start the year. And the art center in next to the sand table . Children paint at the easel everyday.

This is where many of my math manipulatives are housed. At the beginning of the year we sort and work on patterns. All the tubs are filled with fun little items to practice these skills.

And this is the group area. We sing songs, read stories, work with the calendar and have lots of learning fun in this area.

So I believe I am ready! I can't wait to meet the children at Welcome Night on Monday!

Teacher Talk Tuesday

My advice to First year teachers?

!. Stay positive and flexible. There will be times that things do not go as planned.
2. For those times always have songs to fill in. You can never have too many cds. Young children love to sing and move so put on a cd and make up some movements it will make everyone happy!
3. Try new things. Visit blogs and other websites. Also share with the teachers you work with!
4. Be a good listener, to the students, parents, and staff.
5. Most important...Have fun!!

Click the button to find more first year advice!