A Tad Behind, But Here Is Our Native American Writing!

We spent more time that I thought we would on our Native American unit. There was just so much to do and my students were really enjoying this! (And isn't that the whole purpose of teaching a unit!) By the way, most of what I used can be found in my Native American Writing Unit on TPT. There's a huge sale tomorrow and my entire store is 20% off, plus the 8% TPT gives you. So that is almost 30% off every item in every store on TPT that is participating! 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Native-American-Writing-and-Craft-Unit-Vocabulary-Graphic-Organizers-1544013

We made canoes and teepees. My students love using markers and I usually don't let them because the colors bleed through on paper. This activity was great. The idea came from Pinterest! The original idea just had a canoe and painted paper plate. We used the grass and a teepee to add a little more to the activity. I also used a blue paper plate instead of painting the plate. Gluing these with the glue gun was a difficult task! You  had to hold the canoe till the glue set or it would fall over.

After reading a few books and watching Scholastic news, I had my students use this anchor chart to show what they knew about Native Americans. I have to give my students background information at the beginning of a unit before they can start their Know/Wonder/Learned charts. They know a lot more than they think, but it has to be sparked a little!

I think my students loved the headbands the best. They spent a lot of time on these. I let them wear these headbands the entire week when they were writing or crafting! (Not on the carpet though, too many little ones couldn't see!) We also made paper vests and wrote sentences using the words in my Native American Writing Unit on TPT. In art students made patterned bracelets that were colored in using construction paper crayons. Love these!

We made our Anchor Chart. We had read many of the books and studied using Scholastic Online's Thanksgiving Unit with videos of Native Americans. I give my students post-it-notes and they write/draw and color what they are learning. They love this! 

We used the writing from my Native American Writing Unit on TPT to complete our writing about Native Americans. 

These were hung outside our room for all to see! We try and hang up writing samples from our classroom since we are focusing on writing and academic vocabulary this year. 

There's a lot more included in my Native American Writing Unit. I didn't take pictures of the Emergent reader and Teacher Read Aloud. There are vocabulary picture cards and so much more included. It would take two weeks of instruction time to go through everything included. I think with first graders, who already know how to read and write sentences, this unit could be completed in one week.

My students are working on writing what they are saying. This takes a while. We are doing a great job on coloring which is also an important part of being a Kindergarten student!

Well, now comes the Holidays! Hold on tight for this fast ride!

Veterans Day!

Veterans Day was an all day event in  my Kindergarten class. Having lived at the coast for only three years, I wasn't used to being in a non-military community for a holiday like Veterans Day. I took the time to talk about our military, to watch Discovery Education videos about our military, and to share some of my family experiences being a military 'brat.' I gave my students time to discuss and share with their shoulder buddies and also in front of the class. Most of my students knew about the military only from play and cartoons.

We wrote letters to my nephew, David Cody who has just joined the Army. I am so proud of him, but at the same time I am sad because I know what a sacrifice this will be for him as far as being away from family and friends.

With my Kinders they have to have some kind of connection before they can even begin to write. I was hoping our day of talking, watching, discussing, and sharing would prepare them for their afternoon writing activity.

I believe by coloring they are beginning the writing process. They are thinking about what they are doing and getting their thoughts together.

As they finished, I hung their work out for all to see.

Tuesday we started another activity and I took down their letters to my nephew, David Cody and got those ready to mail to him.

I thought they turned out great.

It is nice to see Kinders beginning to understand a little about the world around them.

They made connections to our military which was different than just TV shows or cartoons.

They thought about a real person, my nephew, wanting to help his country.

Some just thought about fighting, but we talked about helping children all over the world.

If you would like my Veterans Day Writing Activity, https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Veterans-Day-Writing-Craftivity-for-Kindergarten-1560777. It's $3.00 on TPT, but can be used for many years to come. On the pictures there is a year, that has been taken off.  Please leave me some feedback and consider following my TPT store for new product notification!

I've Been Nominated for the Liebster Award!

Thanks for the Liebster Award!

I've been nominated by Jamie at Thrills in Third Grade for the Liebster Awards.

You may find yourself asking, "What in the world is the Liebster Award?" I know that's what I said!  It's pretty simple.  When a person is nominated for the Liebster Award, first they answer 11 questions about themselves.  Afterwards, they nominate 11 additional bloggers with fewer than 200 bloggers for the award.  It's like a chain award designed to help new bloggers* (see #1) become acquainted with the blogging world.  here are my answers to the 11 questions:

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging?
       About two years ago I started blogging. I wanted a place to talk about teaching and to connect with other teachers world-wide. I figured blogging was a good way to do this.

2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
    I think my students are the heart of my blog. Everything I do is for them. I am always researching new strategies for teaching and implementing them into my daily lessons. I love my students and that is why I teach!

3. Is there something you learned late in your blog journey you wished you knew before?
    I am learning constantly. I am sometimes amazed that I can even get a blog up and going! I look at other blogs, ask questions, and then try it out. I will tell anyone to just jump in there and try it. You can always deleted your post if it doesn't turn out right.

4.  What is your favorite thing to do other than blogging?
      Knitting, being with my family, sitting on the beach and watching the ocean. I love to make new products for my students to try. I like puzzles, eating with my hubby, and my grandsons!

     5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog?        Not many! This year I have been caught up with getting my Master's in ESL and trying to keep up at work with all the changes. Hoping to change this!

 6.  What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?       I love reading other blogs and looking at the pictures. Sometimes I won't have time to read the blog, but I will always go through and look at pictures! I like the crafty type teaching blogs. Those are always fun to look at and dream about making these things with my students if there was TiME!

     7.  Where does your blog inspiration come from?

        Definitely other bloggers and my students! My students accomplishments make me want to do more each day!

     8.  Which post that you've written are you most proud of?

         Probably the one on the dodecahedrons. That was the most colorful!

     9.  Is there any post you've been planning to do but have been postponing?

      Oh yeah! Many, many! I guess I should just start writing them and then go back and edit and add pictures later. Did I say I never have enough time!

     10. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?

       Knowing that I am part of a huge group of teachers that want to connect! 

     11.  Which recipe, project, or idea on my blog would you most likely try yourself?

   Jamie I like your Currently blogs! I want to try this. I like to read about other bloggers and how they deal with everyday life!

The Rules:
Now that you've been nominated, here are the official rules for accepting:

1. In your post, link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and "shout out."

2. Answer the 11 questions I answered above.

3. Nominate 11 blogs that have fewer than 200 followers each.  Have them answer the questions above.

4.  Let your nominees know they've been nominated and provide them with a link back to your post, so that they can accept.

5. Send your nominator a link to your post so he/she can learn about you.

That's it! Have fun!

Here are the bloggers I am nominating!

Jodie at Sugar n' Spice!

Angela at A Special Kind of Place

Jenn from The Primary Pack

Min Ah Kang at Primary ESOL

Sherry at Dr. Clements' Kindergarten

Carla at Comprehension Connection

Freebie! CVC Word Work for Rotations, Stations, or Centers!

I still call them Centers. I guess it is just stuck in my head. I know a lot of teachers call them rotations or stations. Some like them, some don't. I love centers! Centers keep my students moving and they are practicing what they have been taught. Centers free me up to work one on one or with small groups.

Centers also let students choose how they are going to complete their work. This is from a Daily Five, read to self rotation. I like the way he found a spot that he felt comfortable in. 

Sometimes an entire table is working on one center. This may not be their table, but I put the graphing on the RED table. I like the pencil boxes because all the tools students need for each center is in that box. (Please just overlook my messy room!)

This is from my American Symbols Unit on TPT.

This is one of my Black History centers. We call Black History, Shades of Color in my K room because when students color a picture of themselves they were coloring their faces black. I told them to really look at each other's skin color. We are all shades of some color. I am not white, but actually pinkish. Someone else is a little tan mixed in with a brownish color. It helps them realize that we are all different colors as well as shapes and sizes. We are so fortunate to be living in the USA where a man of color, a black man, an African American man was elected President! I guess when Obama is replaced in 2016, I'll add the new president, but I will leave him in my packet.  Now when a woman of any color is elected, that is when I will jump up and down and Woo Hoo for the USA!

Finally my Freebie! This is the 'at' family part of my CVC Word Work Collection. This freebie contains all the pages that have to do with the 'at' family. In the complete unit I have 27 Word Families represented and a little over 105 picture cards (I put some new ones up.) 

There are several reasons I like to make units like this... one is that they keep my students engaged and learning what I want them to learn. They are not boring. The main reason is selfish, I will not have to keep on telling my students what to do. I take the time with the first family to explain everything, and I help them fold and go over and over what to do. The next family I might have to go over a tad, but it is familiar to them. After that they are good to go and can do this all by themselves. What teacher doesn't like that!

Here are some videos that explain how to make the products included in this Unit. 

This video shows how to assemble the little 'hotdog' book.

This video shows how to make the Scrambled Letters book.

This video shows how students use the four square activity. My dear co-worker explains things so nicely! Her blog is Sugar~Spice & Everything Nice! Jodie's research projects are great. I use them all the time and I feel my students are learning more than just information about bears and all. They are using their brains to think! Try some of her freebies (you will be glad you did!)

I think this is all I needed to add. If you read down to here, THANKS! Hope these videos help! Pam

Are You Stressed About Looking Good In Your Classroom?

This is just a short post about over doing things. I know some teachers are getting very stressed out lately about what looks good, what sounds good, and how they are comparing to other teachers. I think sometimes we get carried away. There is nothing wrong with getting carried away once in a while, but if it becomes burdensome.... stop it! You are still going to be a wonderful teacher and your students are still going to love you.

This is one of my sweeties on her birthday. She colored her birthday headband and chose a stuffed animal to carry around with her all day. She was thrilled, all of my students love this. It isn't fancy or hard to set up, easy peazy, and I have a happy student. I know I won't get accolades for this, but my students will always remember their special day. 

The headbands are for sale in my TPT store, but you can make your own. I printed out 20 (number of students I have) and when it is their birthday, I just take an already stapled together headband out. It is easy to take out, make them feel special, take a picture, give a hug, and then I go on with my Common Core teaching day. 

Centers ~ Love 'em or Hate 'em - What's A Teacher To Do!

I've read quite a few blog posts about centers and how a few teachers dislike them intensely. I can understand what they are saying because I would really dislike working with a small group of children and my other students were playing and making all kinds of noise in another area of my room. I wouldn't like that either. In fact, I couldn't teach with that going on.

I can teach with noise, the kind of noise where you can walk around and hear students talking about their work and what they are learning. I can't teaching with what I call "Noise Pollution." Nope. I will stop my class in a second if I hear talk that isn't related to learning.

There are times when talk is fun and students are just happy murmuring away about whatever strikes their fancy. Those times are usually at recess, the cafeteria or free time during the day. I hear this sometimes when students are reading to a stuffed animal in the room. They are retelling a story and getting sidetracked about their experiences. I usually let this just happily end with the story.  I expect centers and carpet time to be learning time. They can talk, but I tell them it has to be "Academic Talk." Yes, Kinders know what that means if you explain it.

I enjoy centers. I like the whole process. Finding center work that is engaging and meaningful, which means my students are having fun learning, is not easy. Once you have your centers in place, and the students know what to do, it is really not work at all. I don't add everything at once. Especially since I started the Daily 5. Word Work is next for my class and I am looking forward to this.

One of my centers for Word Work is my Sight Word Cut And Paste. I have this for Pre-Primer, Primer, and First Grade Words. I also have the 100 Fry Sight Word Word Work product  that was requested by a teacher. This does not have as many graphics and the students can focus more on the academics. Either way, all the work is done for you. It is easy for students to understand after the first few days of instruction.

           

As usual, thanks for visiting my blog! Leave a comment and the link to your blog so I can pay you a visit!