Mother's Day

I have been trying since I started teaching to come up with a somewhat unique Mother's Day craft that moms might keep out a little longer than the average "I made a hand print for you" gift. Moms love the "hand print" but, I have noticed more of my parents are more modern and have even admitted to me that they often throw out artwork. I wanted to find and do something a little different, so I combined a few ideas I have seen.

The Forever Bouquet of Flowers

Materials (all bought at a discount - let's face it, we're on a teacher's salary here)

- $0.99 pack of green pipe cleaner stems
- $2.00 150 pack of cupcake liners (fun designs to add a pop)
- $4.99 pack of 6 floral Styrofoam cut into halves (I have a small class)
- $0.99 box of glittery Styrofoam balls (Easter closeout at Michaels)

Total : $ 8.97 with plenty left over for next years class and possibly the year after.

 

 

We started by bending the green pipe cleaners to create a "stem" with a leaf.



 

Then we cut cupcake liners to look like flower petals and insert stem into bottom of cupcake liner.

 

 

Bend pipe cleaner on top of cupcake liner then glue center piece on top - some kiddos added buttons or glitter stickers to make center of flower pop more.

 

 

We put the little glitter Styrofoam balls on other stems to mix up our flowers a bit. Then the kiddos had a blast being their own little flower arrangers sticking the pipe cleaner stems into the floral Styrofoam. 

 



 

Place in a clear glass container or cover with construction paper for the flowers to be in a pot, then the kiddos and parents are free to enjoy their cute little "Forever Bouquet."

Sight Words

There has been debate over spelling test and whether they are effective or not. Whatever I may believe on the subject, I believe that above all, students really need to see the words in action, make words fun, have them jump off the page so the kiddo can say, "Hey! I've seen that word before and I know it!"

In order to make sight words fun in our classroom I decided to go with the high five method. Allow me to explain....


There are words, that are very common when reading and we come across them often, these are sight words. Sight words do not always follow phonetic rules and can confuse the kindergartner when trying to teach. In order to have the kiddos I teach still focus on the phonetic rules and yet learn every day sight words, I made it a game.

Before we leave the classroom to go to music, lunch, home, etc., the kiddos are required to high five the sight words by the door before we head out and they love it!

 

As an alternative, I call out a sight word and they have to high five it as fast as they are able. Sometimes we also have two players with fly swatters to work on the quickness of our word recognition.

 

I also made  Reading Center "Sight Word Slap" folders that are easy for the kiddos to play together.

 

 

It is the same principle as "Slap Time" however using sight words.

 

The kiddos enjoy the challenge and the healthy competition. I adore when they get so excited when they connect a sight word in a book they are reading and the same sight word on the wall. They are incredibly proud for reading all by themselves and I feel that I have done my job!

 

Number Detective

OH NO!! Mrs. Hall needs to count from 1 to 20, but she seems to have lost some numbers! Can the students help her find them and put them in the correct order?

In Kindergarten we work a lot with missing numbers all year. In the beginning it's 1-10, then 1-20, then towards the end we go 1-120! It's a lot, but this is a way to get the kids more hands on and visually see where numbers should or should not be placed.

Total project cost:$8 (I also did one with the ABC's, so that's where the other $8 went, so $16 for two projects with extra left over)

Materials: Project board
                 scrap paper to spruce it up
                 cut out numbers/letters
                 velcro

First thing I did was cut my project board in half so I could have two "Detective" boards - numbers and letters.

Then I added a little paper for the background so it wasn't boring.

 



Next, I measured out spaces for 20 numbers so it could look sharper. Then I started laying out my numbers without gluing yet.

 

After my numbers where laid out, I picked up eight random numbers to go onto the "lost" side and glued them on a cardstock paper. After, I glued the rest of the numbers down.

 

 

 

All glued down, then added velcro to missing numbers side and velcro pieces to the main 1-20 area and we are set for play!

 

 

Can not wait to use in the classroom!

 

 

Open House - Welcome to Kindergarten!

I don't know about you, but I feel that Open House at a school is incredibly exciting and nerve wracking, all at the same time. We want families to get the information they need, we want certain things to be talked about and discussed, and we want to make sure little hands are not idle.

My first two years of teaching, Open House was a mess. I was trying to put my best face forward, let the parents know I am here for them, I want their child to feel safe and secure in our classroom. But every time, students would be pulling out things they maybe should not be getting in and parents had to chase after kiddos who decided school was too much for them. At the end of the night, I would almost feel defeated. I was not clear in what I was saying and there were too many distractions. These events had me thinking, how am I supposed to keep EVERYONE engaged? I needed to get certain information to parents as well as keep the students occupied. I have been asked to host a "What to Expect in Kindergarten" night, where kiddos from all around the immediate area will be in my classroom and they don't know the rules I have set forth - hence this post and my thoughts on open house.

This is what I came up with, a scavenger hunt for our kindergarten classroom.

By giving everyone who comes through my classroom door this paper, I am saying to the kiddos that they have responsibilities and can stay busy by looking at things, but can not take out all the toys and play with them. Parents can help their children go around the room and learn about our classroom with their kiddos. This also frees me up to speak with parents if they have any questions or concerns so it's not just chaos in the room. People are free to come in, take a look around, get to know the room, and get to know me.

 

 If you noticed, I made sure to put myself on the scavenger hunt so I can make sure I meet everybody personally!

 

I would like to say that this is not my original idea, it is only my adaptation/ compellation of things I have seen.

 

My heart, mind, and sanity are at rest now for Open House!