November Learning

These past two weeks in kindergarten have included some new hands-on activities that the students are loving. We have been learning about shapes, and the students cannot get enough of these personal light pads that come with a set of translucent tangrams.

Students had the option of building using the templates or creating their own designs.

I have also created an activity for Morning Exploring that utilizes these personal light pads. Students use translucent letters to identify the beginning sounds in words, matching the letter to the picture that I have printed on a transparency. Using the personal light pad makes everything so much more FUN!

So many of the students asked me to share the information for these light pads that I thought I would write a post. Below is a link to the light pad we used in class. I will also link a different version of a small light table that comes with many different options for playing.

Transparent Letters and Numbers

Geometry Light Pad

Small Light Table for Kids

Another new activity we did this November was perfect for fine motor development. Students created ears of corn using colorful pony beads. We took four pipe cleaners, wrapping one of them around the middle of the other three. Students then beaded each of the eight “arms”. We left a little of the pipe cleaner exposed at the end of each “arm” and then pulled all the pipe cleaner “arms” up and twisted them to make the shape of an ear of corn. The student absolutely loved this beading project.

The end result is beautiful ears of corn that will add a fall festiveness to any space!

We have been writing in our Gratitude Journals daily. In addition to this, students created a placemat that highlighted one thing they were grateful for. Students used a Sharpie to draw their pictures. Then they used watercolors to paint the border of the placemat. I was very impressed with the way students were able to control the paintbrush and successfully use the watercolors to create crisp, clear, and vibrant colors.

I love the quality and color choice of these watercolors.

Another activity we have been doing frequently is writing uppercase and lowercase letters. I will say a sound and then the students write the uppercase and lowercase letter that makes that sound. We sometimes use sand trays or sensory bags for this activity. Recently, we have been using these really fun writing tablets.

Writing Tablet

Finally, students have been creating their own alphabet puzzles. They are really enjoying illustrating a picture of each letter of the alphabet. We hope to finish these this week so that students can bring them home to use over the break.

DIY Puzzles

Each of these activities gives students multiple opportunities to strengthen fine motor skills in fun and engaging ways!

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November 5

Apple Picking

Our first field trip of the year was apple picking! This was a joint field trip with the fifth-grade class. While the kindergarten class is learning about trees and seasons, the fifth-grade class just finished reading the book Esperanza Rising, which follows a young girl who must move from Mexico to the US and become a farm laborer to support her family. Ms. Carney, our fifth-grade instructor, likes to give her students an opportunity to go into a field to pick fruit and experience the hard work of being a fruit harvester We thought a field trip apple picking would be the perfect way to have a cross-campus activity and engage in a service-learning opportunity, as we plan to donate the fruit we pick to the Santa Barbara Food Bank.

We began our journey bright and early! Many of the fifth graders were dropped off at Lower School and enjoyed some playtime before we loaded onto the bus. Once we arrived at the ranch, I showed the students how these apple trees are being trained to grow along a wire instead of straight up.

And then we got to work!

After we picked more than 500 pounds of apples, it was time to take a rest. Each student was offered an apple (that I had picked and washed over the weekend) to snack on while I read a story aloud.

After the students finished with their apples, they got to throw their cores off the side of the hill!

It was a special morning for sure!

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September 20

New Friend Friday

We have an incredible new school counselor, Ms. Shankel! I told Ms. Shankel that I wanted to help foster new friendships in our class. We brainstormed some activities and New Friend Friday was born! First, we paired up returning students with new students. Next, Ms. Shankel came to kindergarten and shared with them an activity she had created where the new friend groups discovered each others’ superpowers. We set aside some time during lunch for the new friend groups to draw a picture together of their superpowers. Students were encouraged to talk to each other first to decide what they would draw, ensuring each friend was equally represented. The final challenge on that day was for the new friends to decide together what they would play during recess. Ms. Shankel and I modeled the process, showing the students how to compromise and take turns. The result was incredible! The returning students took their leadership roles seriously and eagerly followed the steps Ms. Shankel and I had outlined.

We were most impressed with recess! The new friends really did play together! And they played new activities and games! It was so exciting to see! After lunch recess, we connected, and I shared with the students what I saw….friends taking turns deciding what to play, friends including others, and friends sharing laughs!

Ms. Shankel and I decided to take New Friend Friday one step further. We agreed that Ms. Shankel would return to kindergarten and teach three mini SEL lessons dedicated to friendship and courage. What a success this has been! For Day 1, Ms. Shankel led the students to discuss courage and friendship. She had them role-play different scenarios to practice asking a new friend to play or compromise with their plan. She also shared a story about a child named Benny.

“Once upon a time, there was a kindergarten student named Benny. Benny loved recess and always played soccer with his best friends, Mia and Jason. They were so good at soccer; that was all they did every recess.

This school year, there was a new student named Alex. He usually spent recess sitting on the bench, watching the other kids play. Benny noticed Alex, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He liked playing with Mia and Jason and was a little nervous about change.

But then, Benny remembered something important. His teacher had talked about courage – the bravery to try something new – even when it feels a little scary. So Benny decided he would be courageous!

Benny took a deep breath and walked over to Alex one recess. He said, “Hi, I’m Benny! Do you want to play soccer with us?”

With a big smile, Alex said, “Yes!”

They all started playing together, and guess what?! Benny had so much fun! Afterward, Alex and Benny talked about things they had in common. Benny and Alex are going to have so much fun this year!!”

The students loved the story and eagerly shared what Benny learned. Each child shared a way that they could be courageous this week. Ms. Shankel and I immediately noticed a positive shift in the kindergarteners at recess. Those who had been observing recess asked friends to play a game! Those playing consistently with the same friends reached out to new friends and asked them to play! It was exciting to see the children practicing what they learned from the lessons!

On Day 2, students worked with their new friends to create a giant puzzle piece that depicted ways to be courageous in friendship. Again, students were asked to plan their projects with their new friends.

We completed the series today with time for the groups to share their puzzle pieces.

After each team shared their piece, they tried connecting it to add to the puzzle!

And we did it!!

A huge thank you to Ms. Shankel for her hard work creating these activities and the kindergarteners for being so courageous and trying something new!

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September 13

Phonological Awareness

The school year has begun and the kindergartners are already building a strong foundation in pre-reading skills. One of the very first skill sets that we begin working on is phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the foundation for reading: recognizing and manipulating sounds in spoken words. This important concept prepares emerging readers with the prereading skills they need to be ready to decode, blend, and ultimately, read! You may remember my previous post on the activities related to the book, “The Hungry Thing.” Here is that post again to refresh! (Click on the underlined words to take you to my Amazon Associates links.)

The Hungry Thing

The Hungry Thing

I loved the project we did last year, that I had to do it again this year. Look how cute our Hungry Things are:

We have been focusing on several areas of phonological awareness, including orally segmenting sounds in words, identifying the number of syllables in words, identifying the number of words in a sentence, and changing the beginning sounds in words. Here are some of my favorite tools to use to practice these important skills.

Pop It Blocks

These super cool Pop It Blocks can link together! So, I can quickly change up the number a student needs. For example, if we are orally identifying sounds in the word pan, I would give the student a row of at least three Pop-It Blocks. Then, as they say each sound, they pop each block…/p/ /a/ /n/. Students can’t get enough! These can be used to pop syllables in words and even identify the number of words in a sentence.

Play-Doh:

Just like Pop It Blocks are a great way to practice phonological awareness, using Play-dough provides a kinesthetic learning experience as well…and using play-dough strengthens fine motor skills! To practice counting syllables in words, I have students roll some little play-dough balls. They then say the word, butterfly, for example. As they say the word, they then squish the corresponding number of play-dough balls. Squishing play-dough balls can be used for orally identifying the sounds in words and identifying the number of words in a sentence.

Another way to make practicing phonological awareness fun is to use a light table.

LED Table for Kids

I have copied sound boxes onto old overhead projector transparencies. Students choose a CVC picture card and then move a fun, acrylic manipulative into each box to represent each sound. Or they can map the sounds and break apart each sound they hear by moving a transparent magnetic chip into each sound box. Then, students can use a magnetic wand to scoop up the chips. They LOVE this!

Transparencies

Fall Acrylic

Transparent Magnetic Chips

Magnetic Wand

Phonological Awareness is a skill we will practice every day in Kindergarten! I will be sure to share some activities you can do at home in a future post.

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September 10

A Magical First Week!

We finally had our first week of school! It was exciting to welcome our new class. We enjoyed a one-hour orientation on Tuesday. During this time I read aloud the book, Our Class Is a Family. This beautiful b0ok shares how a family isn’t just your relatives, a family is anyone who accepts you for who you are! We then took a few minutes to introduce ourselves. Each student held a magic Energy Stick when they shared their name. The stick made a little buzzing sound or lit up for a second when each student held it. I then had the students hold hands. I held one end of the stick and a student held the other end. Watch what happens when we work together!

The next day, students returned to campus for their first full day! On their tables were trays with magic beads to make a bracelet. (UV Beads and Chenille Pipe Cleaners

I found this cute idea on TPT: Magic Bracelets. Included in the lesson is a sweet poem:

So once the students made their bracelets, we headed outside to see if the beads would change colors.

Our beads changed color, so three cheers for a magical year!

This week, students also were introduced to our play-doh tubs. Play-doh is a great way to strengthen the fine motor muscles needed to write, color, and even cut! (Play Doh, Extruders)

Then we had our first Friday Fun of the year! They painted a special project that families will receive on Back to School Night as well as did a Pokey Pin of their name. Students enjoyed the listening center for the first time this year, and they did a sticky, gooey craft project with me based on the book Elmer the patchwork elephant.

Elmer the elephant is bright-colored patchwork all over. No wonder the other elephants laugh at him!

If he were ordinary elephant color, the others might stop laughing. That would make Elmer feel better, wouldn’t it? David McKee’s comical fable about everyone’s favorite patchwork elephant teaches readers to be themselves and celebrates the power of laughter.”

For part one of this project, students used tissue paper squares and glue to make a beautiful patchwork background.

Later in the day, we did a self-portrait directed drawing activity using just white card stock and a pencil. After their drawings were completed, students used a Sharpie to trace over their lines.

I just love the finished product!

This week, we will continue building our classroom community as well as start our Literacy Centers. Students also will engage in Morning Exploring tubs and our new math curriculum. Stay tuned for more….

(Be sure to click on my Amazon Affiliate links for products featured here.)

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August 30

Sensory/Calm Kits

We are always looking for ways to meet the needs of all our students. Near the end of last year, I met with local Occupational Therapist, Michaela Gordon. I have had the pleasure of working with Michaela over the last ten years, and I have learned so much from her. (https://www.michaelagordon.com/)

Michaela walked through our learning spaces and gave suggestions on small changes we could make that would make our classrooms more inclusive. I mentioned wanting to create a sensory kit or calm kit for each teacher to have in their classrooms, and Michaela shared some of her favorite items for sensory-seeking children. Look at what we came up with! (You will find affiliate links for the items featured in this video below.)

Mindful Maze Set

Fat Brain Simpl Dimpl Fidgit

Marble Mesh Fidget

Liquid Motion Bubbler

Noise Canceling Headphones

Calm Strips

Kick Bands

Watch me make the kits!

Viola!

I presented these Calm Kits during our in-service week. In addition to learning about how to support students with sensory needs, we welcomed Michaela Gordon to campus where she presented on the topic of self-regulation. She has written a wonderful children’s book where she shares the concept of an energy bubble. Take a peek:

Zoey and Her Amazing Energy Bubble

This book is well suited for children ages 5-9 with ADHD, Autism, Sensory Processing Challenges, Anxiety, and the Highly Sensitive Child. However, children develop regulation skills over time and interact socially with other children, so this book would be helpful to all children.

You may be familiar with the terms self-regulation and emotional regulation, but have you ever heard of sensory regulation? If you haven’t, you may not realize that regulating sensory information plays a part in helping us manage our emotions, helps us engage in goal-oriented tasks, and supports our ability to cultivate meaningful relationships. This happens because your thoughts, emotions, and the sensations you physically experience, all work together to help you adapt and respond appropriately to daily situations.

Some children struggle to regulate themselves during their daily activities. This can show up as hyperactivity, inattention, impulsive decision-making, strong emotional reactions, and a lack of social awareness. Parents, teachers, and adults alike can feel frustrated and at a loss when it comes to addressing these concerns. Finding the right tools to help children learn self-regulation skills is crucial to their developmental growth.

Zoey and Her Amazing Energy Bubble was written to help children understand how their thoughts, emotions, and felt sensations cause their energy levels to change. Zoey’s Grandma Rosie, teaches Zoey and her brother Milo about energy bubbles, which change in size and color. They learn about how the size of their energy bubble can cause other people to feel a certain way when they are around them, especially when the bubble gets very big. Grandma Rosie then teaches them about the energy bubble dial, which can be used to make their energy bubble smaller or bigger, depending on the situation.

Zoey and Her Amazing Energy Bubble is a great read for children of all ages, and I am excited to implement this concept into my classroom this year!

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August 27

New Supplies and Materials for 2024 School Year!

Ohhhhh, did I get to order some exciting new teaching and learning tools! Below are some of my favorites! (Click the link Amazon Associate Links for more info!)

I found these versatile Magnetic Lowercase Alphabet Chips that can be use for letter recognition, word building, phoneme isolation and more! What makes the alphabet chips so fun is that they are MAGNETIC! That means they can be magically swiped with a Magnetic Wand! Quick and easy cleanup!

Another activity that kindergarteners love is working with Perler Beads. Perler beads help strengthen fine motor skills. But, disaster can strike quite easily when using perler beads…creations can break easily if they have not been fused (or ironed!). Containers of beads can spill, creating a giant mess! Fortunately, there is a Perler Bead Sweeper Vacuum. This makes cleaning up fun! (warning: the sweeper is SO fun, that sometimes I notice perler beads spilling more frequently!)

Look at these bright Faber-Castell Neon Gel Crayon Set – 6 Twistable Gel Crayons. The colors are incredible! I can’t wait to see the artwork the students create!

These Translucent Letters will work perfectly with Lakeshore Light Up Activity. My plan is to use the Lakeshore portable light up center with the translucent letters during our Word Work Center. Students will love identifying beginning sounds or spelling CVC words using these learning tools!

Wikki Stix are a fun sensory activity that can be used in many ways to support learning.

“Wikki Stix are excellent for learning letters and numbers. And they can be pressed together for 3-D creativity too! With Wikki Stix, there is no right or wrong way to play!
Wikki Stix are a calming fidget toy, soft and pliable, easy for young fingers to manipulate for early learning and quiet times between activities.”

Hand2Mind Reading Rods are cubes with letters on them…red cubes represent vowels and blue cubes represend consonants. Students can spell words using these hands-on cubes.

I replenished my Mad Mattr supply. This kinsethetic sand is GREAT for strengthening fine motor muscles! And it cleans up easily.

These Shrinky Dinks bring me back to my childrood. I LOVED shrinky dinks! This is a package of plain shrinky dink paper….so the students can design ANYTHING they want….and then I can shrink it! I plan to have them design and color a dinosaur during our Dinosaur Unit….imagine an enormous, ferocious dinosaur shrinking down to 20% of it’s original size!

Soooo much good stuff!! I can’t wait for the year to begin! Keep an eye out for the new books I will be reading aloud this year!

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July 14

Summer Slide is Real: Here are Dozens of Ideas to Help!

You may have heard about the dreaded summer slide- children may experience learning loss when they are out of school for an extended period. The good news is that research also shows that students who read at least six books over summer break tend to maintain their reading level. So, keep reading, but let’s set our young learners up for success by providing them with play-based activities to engage them and develop the whole child. Below are some of my favorite activities and affiliate links, should you be interested.

Chalk. Chalk can be used for so many activities. Make a hopscotch and add numbers or letters in each box. You can create addition equations, work on number sense, or even letter/sound recognition. Have your child use chalk to practice letter writing. To help develop motor skills, you or your child can use giant chalk to make a track. The track can be for toy cars or large enough for your child to ride their bike, scooter, or skateboard. Chalk honestly can provide hours of entertainment and a variety of learning opportunities.

Chalk

Pretend Play. I love pretend play! Whether playing with puppets, dolls, critters, or dress-up, pretend play allows children to role-play and use their imaginations. Recently, I added this ice cream shop to my class Choice Time activities. The children LOVE it! They pretend to take customer orders, make the ice cream, serve it, and even make change using a mini cash register.

Ice Cream Shop

Building Activities: Magna tiles are the best. They can be used for so many different things. Children can build structures, like a garage to house their toy cars or a bridge for their vehicles to drive across. I even saw a child make a skeeball game on their staircase using magna tiles and ping pong balls. Have your child use a light table as the base for their magna tile construction for even more fun!

Magna-tiles

Portable Light Table

Fine Motor Strengthening Activities: So many engaging activities strengthen fine motor skills. From wood-building kits to sewing kits, your child will never know they are exercising and strengthening their finger muscles. Numerous games have fun manipulatives that your child will love playing with. And playdoh?! Playdoh is the ultimate tool for strengthening fine motor! Set up a Play-Doh station outside, and I promise your child will be entertained. One summer, my girls spend days making a bakery. They used some of my mini muffin tins, cake stands, and cookie cutters to make baked goods.

Wood Building Kit

Sewing Kit: Woodland Animals

Sewing: Dog Stuffie Kit

Play-Doh

Play-Doh Kitchen

Play-Doh Fun Factory Tools

Play-Doh Hair Stylin’

Play-Doh Ultimate Baking Set

Dinosaur Matching/Tweezer Set

Magnetic Marble Sort Board

Pluffle

Word/Spelling/Reading Practice. Maybe your child wants some more traditional letter/sound learning activities. Grab a cookie sheet and some magnetic letter chips. You can even use the letter chips on the portable light table! Your child can identify the beginning letter of items around your house. They can spell CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. They can spell their name. And then, they take the magnetic wand and swipe it across, collecting all the magnetic letters in one quick swipe! Take a look at these word-building rods as well. These incorporate word-building skills as well as fine motor development.

Magnetic Letter Chips

Magnetic Wands

Word Building Rods

Decodables. Your child may be beginning to read. For beginning readers, they must have decodable books to read. Decodables are books written using words that can be read using specific sound and spelling patterns that students have been explicitly taught. Here are some that I recommend:

Junior Reading Decodable Books

Starfall Reading

Benchmark Readers Decodable Books

Orton Gillingham Decodable Reader

Charge into Reading

Tonies. Have you heard about Tonies?! A student of mine last year first introduced me to Tonies. Tonies are figurines that, when placed on a Toniebox, tell a story or sing a song. There are soooo many to choose from. I just purchased a Toniebox with Peppa Pig. There are 60 minutes of Peppa Pig stories. Plus the figurines are fun to play with! And, you can record yourself reading aloud a story! Tonies make listening to stories independent. I definitely wish Tonies were around when my own children were little!

Tonies National Geographic Starter Set

Tonies Disney Starter Set

Tonies Disney Princess Starter Set

Games. Playing games encourages social-emotional development…like taking turns, waiting patiently, problem-solving, playing fair, and winning and losing. Below are some of the games my family has loved playing over the years:

How about writing? There are so many ways to encourage your child to write and to make writing fun. The Happy Me journal has been a hit in my house. They now make a journal specific to different age ranges. My son was eight when he first got him, and my oldest daughter was 18! They love the Happy Me journal so much that they are on their second set!

Fine Tip Smelly Markers

Pencil Sharpener for Large Diameter Pencils

Silly Sentences Handwriting Practice Book

Happy Me Journal

Lined Paper Roller Stamp

Doodle Board

Outdoor Games: It wouldn’t be summer if we couldn’t spend time outside enjoying our beautiful weather. A sand and water table with built-in shade is a MUST! The bonus to many of these outdoor activities is that they keep your child physically active. The Ninja Warrior Climbing Course was in our backyard for three years…my son LOVED climbing, swinging, hanging, twirling, and more on this course. It always tired him out!

Toss and Catch Set

Pop and Catch Set

Sand and Water Table

Ninja Warrior Climbing Course

Balance Board

So, with about a month and a half of summer left, I hope you find some fun, creative, and engaging ideas to keep your child actively learning!

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May 4

Ocean Glow Day!

It was Ocean Glow Day recently! We invited families to come explore our underwater habitat for the first part of the morning. Take a peek at what the classroom transformation looked like!

Each family was greeted with some special items on their tables, including a glow in the dark coral reef with a few critters attached, and a rock fish that student created after listening to the story, Only One You.

Students shared their ocean animal research reports. This project was a fun collaboration with our art specialist, Mrs, Guay. After each student chose an animal to research, she helped them draw and paint their animals. I then used the app ChatterPix to make their animals talk! Look at how great these turned out!

Killer Whale

Coral

Cuttlefish

Tang Fish

I used glow in the dark puffy paint to outline the animal paintings so that they would glow a little more. There are so many great colors!

Glow in the Dark Puffy Paint

After the presentations, the families left the ocean, and we began our glow learning centers. Here is how I had them organized:

Station 1: Color by Code: Students read CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words and colored according to the code using glow in the dark crayons.

Glow in the Dark Crayons

Station 2: Sea Creature Measurement: Students measured sea creatures with glow in the dark rulers and recorded their answers using different colored highlighters. The students couldn’t believe that highlighters glow in the dark!

Highlighters

Station 3: Write the Room: This is always a hit! Students took their clipboards, an orange highlighter, and a recording sheet, and walked around the classroom looking for pink sea creatures with images they had to spell. These orange highlighters worked perfectly!

Orange Fine Point Highlighter

Station 4: Geoboards: Another exciting station….here students used glow in the dark rubber bands and geoboards to make ocean creations!

Geoboards

Glow in the Dark Rubber Bands

Station 5: 3D Shapes: Students put their 3D knowledge to the test, as they named and identified the number of faces and vertices of 3D shapes. Then they got to build those 3D shapes using glow in the dark play dough!

Glow in the Dark Play Doh

Once we completed all five stations, students enjoyed creating ocean-themed glow in the dark perler beads!

Glow in the Dark Perler Beads

Perler Bead Ocean Templates

Perler Bead Ocean Templates 2

I painted all the backdrops using neon paint and black plastic table cloths. Next year I plan to add a fun jelly backdrop as well as use Better than Paper bulletin board backing to recreate some of the backdrops that are tearing. I also hope to purchase another black light or two to make the classroom glow even more!

Jelly Backdrop

Black Better than Paper

Black Light

Ocean Glow Day is always such a fun, learning-filled day!

Interested in the items I used for Glow Day? Click on the bold, underlined words to find my Amazon Associates links.

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