"Get It At Target" Tuesday!

OMIGOODNESS!!



Look what I found in the dollar bins at Target! How cute are these?! Would you pay a dollar for them? Oh yes, you would, and I did, too! I knew the second I saw them that I would need to have them for the classroom! Who doesn't love this book?!

What? You wanna know what I'm going to do with them? Well...

First, I will gather all the copies of The Very Hungry Caterpillar that I can find, and we will read, read, read! And then I will add some special activities to our word work area. If you see these darling little paper mache buckets, snag them quick! And stay tuned, I'll have the activities posted in a day or so.

And one more thing... If your Target doesn't have these, never fear! I sent a good friend to her Target, and she couldn't find them, either. Just grab some of the little, metal mini-buckets. I've got labels for you, and they can be taped to the side of any container.

Happy "Get It At Target" Tuesday!

Ladybug Labels for the Classroom

Kindergarten teacher Kara asked for some happy and colorful labels for her classroom. She didn't have a strict theme going when she asked me to make the labels. She did have lots of things that were primary colors... and she loves red, and she collects ladybugs. Done!

...And you've just gotta KNOW that there will be more ladybug things coming soon!

CLICK HERE for Ladybug Labels!

I made this set just for her, but I'm sharing it with you now, too. The large labels are for different areas in the classroom. The smaller ones help students learn to read and write the words that they might use in their writing, and can be taped onto the appropriate items in your room.  And I included a set of nameplates, as well. Just because.

 

Red Is Best Student Book

After reading Red Is Best, each student can make his or her own book about the color they think is best. My book?! Oh, I would have such a hard time deciding. Pink? Maybe. Blue? A definite possibility! You and your students can choose to make every page the same color, and use that color in the title. Or you could write "Rainbows" or "Colors" on the cover, and students can choose a different color for each page. All the students will need to do is write the color word and draw the object in that color! Then they can *read*read*read* and practice those high frequency words!

I left one page at the end completely blank. Every year I have a student who wants to write something really creative and unusual ("But which page says, 'I like my gray school best?' because I really, really do..."  or  "Where can I put my orange kitty? Because we have fifteen cats, but the orange one is my favorite!") So for those students who are thinking outside the box... a blank page for an original idea!

Red Is Best Student BookAnd for my own little book (just to celebrate Friday, which is always a fun day with students!) I like my blue jeans best! I like my navy flats best! I like my cute new multi-colored top from the Gap best!

I like my brown coffee best!

And there... everything I need, and I'm ready for another great day!

 

Favorite Book Friday: Red Is Best

The beginning of the year is always a time when I'm teaching about colors. We explore all kinds of color concepts, and students learn to read color words! I always include this book in our studies. Red is Best, by Kathy Stinson, is a sweet story of a little girl and her favorite color. Best of all, the little girl gives reasons for needing to have everything be red. Red is Best is one of my favorite books ever! Click on the picture to find out more about Red Is Best.




Happy Weekend, Teacher Friends!

Hello and Welcome!

Happy Beginning of the School Year!

 



Let's just kick off this blog with something you can use! I made these three pages for the first days of school and a little assessing! I repeat the activities with the same pages in January and again at the end of the year. First, I like to have a record of each student's writing of their name and a little self portrait. The changes throughout the year are so dramatic with our young students. Second, I ask students to write numbers in the squares. This is so informative! I usually have some who start with one (or zero!) and write numbers in order. But sometimes students just write random numbers in random boxes in random order. Or they color. No matter what they do, I learn lots about them in this quick assessment! And the last assessment is for writing. I ask for the alphabet first just to see where they are. At the bottom of the page is a small space to write words. At the beginning of the year, many students leave this blank. But at the end of the year, students end up turning their papers over and writing more words on the back!

I put a border of rectangles around the edge of each page. It's always interesting to see what the students do with that border. I usually offer students who finish quickly the option to color the border.

CLICK HERE FOR ASSESSMENTS PDF

This is such an exciting time of year!