Alphabets

Last year I couldn't find an alphabet that I liked that also matched my classroom color scheme.  

So I ended up making my own.  

I absolutely LOVED it!  

This year I'll be making one using Schoolgirl Style's Hello Sunshine theme.  

Since I'm using her templates, I won't be able to post it.  

Two of my co-workers this year wanted to update their classrooms and asked me to help them.  

Now I have two new beautiful alphabets to share with you!  

They both wanted simple, cursive alphabets, since they teacher upper grades.  

I absolutely LOVE how beautiful and simple they are!

I also just figured out how to add custom categories in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.  

Now you can find all three of my alphabets in one place!

Great news!  

All of my alphabets are on sale this weekend!

Enjoy!

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Terrific Tuesday!

Today we read this book

And then completed this worksheet I made to go along with it. 

Here are a few examples from today. 

We also played an ABC Kooshball game on the smartboard.  Each child took a turn throwing a Kooshball at the smartboard.  It then opened up a page with a letter on it.  They told the class the letter name and sound.  I make a lot of different Kooshball games.  The children LOVE them! 

(I'd be more than happy to email it to anyone who wants it.)

 

And we did "The Wheels On Our Bus" from Mrs. Jump's Literacy and Math Fun with Names Unit. 

It was a fun, successful day!  :) 

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Workshop

Workshop is what I call the time of the day where we do centers/stations/small groups/one-on-one/parent helpers. I hope to explain this in the least confusing way possible. :)

We have specific rules for Workshop. They are:
1. Always be working.
2. Finish the must do first.
3. Whisper voices.
4. Don't interrupt the teacher.

Each child has a star at their desk with their name on it. If they have a question, they are to ask everybody else first, then they bring me their star and move on to something else until I am able to help them.

Workshop lasts for about 30 minutes. All the children start out with a “must do”. This is usually some type of worksheet that reinforces a reading/math skill previously learned. They are supposed to do this page independently. When they are finished, they turn it into the basket and move on to their “next do”.

I have about 10 of these activities. I assign 2 children to each activity. Since we have an odd number of students, one child is by themselves. I usually pick a higher student who is okay with being alone. For now, River said she didn’t mind being by herself. I change the partners every 6 weeks or so. I have about 15 different stations I use all year. The activities stay about the same, with the exception of changing the book for listening center, adding new games, etc. The children get to stay at their “next do” for as long as they want.

Here's some of the next do's in action:

Read Around the Room
They simply read any of the letters/numbers/words they can. When we have more sight words up on the word wall, this will become word wall. Then they will only read the sight words.

Listening Center

Pocket Chart
This changes throughout the year. For now, it is putting the alphabet in order. Other activities include sorting words by spelling patterns, putting a sentence in order, etc.

Spelling
They are to stamp the spelling words. But until we start spelling, they stamp sight words.

Handwriting
I have a few different mats to practice handwriting.

Caterpillar
I have several boxes with different counting and alphabet caterpillars for them to make.

Pattern Blocks
I got these wonderful pattern block mats from PreKinders.

Computers
Right now we are just playing Starfall. But soon we will start Math Facts in a Flash and some of the other sites under my Favorites to the right.

When they are finished, they get to move on to a “may do”. These include activities like going to the library, writing in journals, using the reading phones, taking AR tests, etc.


While everyone is working, I pull back groups or individual children to work on various reading/math skills. Parents also come in to work with the children as well. I have parents play learning games, review letters, sight words, numbers, math facts, etc.


We've spent a month really learning how to do workshop properly. Parents are starting to come in this week. I'm really hoping the class remembers the rules and works well. I'm sure they will! Workshop really is our favorite time of the day!

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Play Dough Fun!

I decided I needed to try out the play dough ahead of time, to see how it looked, how much it made, whether it did stain hands, etc. I had so much fun testing it out with my friend’s sweet little Max!

He’s a little younger than my intended audience… but just as cute and fun!

I’ve seen play dough mats on a bunch of different websites, so I decided to make my own. I only made a couple to demonstrate with Max, but I plan on eventually making some with numbers, letters, shapes, sight words, and names. I’ll laminate them after they are all printed and cut out. Then, the children will roll the play dough into little snakes, and form the words/shapes/numbers on the cards. I made them with the DJ Inkers font DJ Stitch. I couldn’t decide which font to use. I love all their cute fonts!

Mickey Mouse! Created by the super talented, Michelle!

Kool-aid Play Dough

Mix together:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup salt

2 pkg kool-aid (unsweetened)

2 tablespoons cream of tarter

Add:

2 cups boiling water

3 tablespoons oil

Mix 3-4 minutes or until cool enough to mix with hands.

Knead and store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

The play dough turned out great. I used fruit punch kool aid and it turned a really nice red and smelled delicious! I didn’t notice it to stain my hands, unless it did but was no darker than my actual skin color. I figured I will need to make 2 or 3 batches for the first day of school activity.

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Caterpillars

I have been so excited to make these activities ever since I saw it posted on Mrs. Cooley's blog. She used water bottle lids for hers. My mom, wonderful person that she is, brought me hundreds of little lids from the lab she works at. They are the perfect size! I used labels from Walmart – the garage sale circle kind – and small letter/number stickers from Michaels. I’m going to use a cricket to finish the rest of the number ones, since they are pretty limited on those sticker sheets. I think they are so so cute, and will make perfect workshop activities!

Ideas to use these lids for:
-ABC order with words/the children's names

-Patterning (use different colored stickers and have children create certain patterns - AB, ABB, ABC)

-Alphabet match up


-Alphabet caterpillar (put the letters in order)


-Counting caterpillar (put numbers in order, 1-10, even, odd, 5's, 10's)



She also brought me these little containers to store them in. Perfect fit!

I'm going to put a paper like this with each one.


After they make the caterpillar, they can write the numbers/letters/words on and decorate him! This will help hold them accountable during workshop.

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