The Three Little Pigs

More great folk tale fun today.

I honestly could do folk and fairy tales all year long. It is always amazing to find just how many students have never heard of story of the Three Little Pigs. At first, these students enjoy this story with simple thrill and excitement. The other students that are familiar with the story, are ready for deeper study, such as story elements, author's purpose, and character study.

Here are a few of the activities that we enjoyed today.

Dramatic Play

Read a CVC Word, but watch out for the Big Bad Wolf!

Shake a Pig. Which word will he land on next?

Making puppets for retelling at the art center.

Reading a leveled guided reader.

These activities and many more are included in this thematic unit.

 I am currently working on Folk Tales: Part Two. Watch for more Folk tale fun to come...

Jack and the Beanstalk- Interactive Writing Project

Today our writing prompt: "What will I find if I climb up a beanstalk?"

      

Jack and The Beanstalk, Abiyoyo, and Other Giants

I love teaching Folk Tales to kindergartners!

 We began the unit with one of my favorite books, Abiyoyo. Kindergartners LOVE this book, especially the slobbery teeth, stinky feet, and the dirty fingernails. There is a great short from Reading Rainbow that tells how the author came up with the story (another Common Core Standard taught, check).

The last two days we have spent on Jack and the Beanstalk, that other little boy, Jim and the Beanstalk, and Kate and the Beanstalk.

These books are great introductions for "The Land of Big and Small," also know as measuring.  Today we made cooperative BIG giants and posed for a SMALL version of us. These creations along with some stories about giants are now proudly displayed outside of our door.

If you work with any fables you may want to check out our unit, Giants, Trolls and the Big Bad Wolf. For more Fairy Tale Fun, check out both thematic units.

Art Education at its Finest

We are lucky to be a Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning School which is Coached by the amazing Art Coach Bruce Hucko.

Click on the photo to see our latest creation.

Waterford Early Learning Program

I am a huge advocate for the “Waterford Early LearningProgram.” I have been using this program with my kindergartners since the fall of 1999, so for 16 years now.

This program has been the greatest equalizer that I have ever encountered. It is very child friendly, individualized, and is rich in language, phonics, and phonological awareness activities. And the best part, it only takes a mere 15-20 minutes a day.

Parent Teacher Conference Reporting Forms and MORE

Take care of your parent teacher conference needs in Kindergarten.

You will love this easy form that will make reporting to parents practical, authentic and a breeze! 

Bonus! This packet includes Homework Intervention Packets in both English and Spanish. Send these packets home with parents to offer additional support for their child's academic learning.Time to report student progress to parents? 

Family Math Night

Kathleen in Idaho just completed their "Family Math Night." Here are a few of the activities which featured the number 100. 

Subtraction Worksheets

Subtraction is a crucial math skill. It is important that students understand that subtraction involves taking away or pulling sets apart. As they grasp the underlying concept of subtraction, students can solve problems and begin to learn the subtraction facts.

The materials in this packet progress from worksheets that provide support for young

mathematicians to worksheets that challenge students to independently solve problems.  And fulfills the Common Core Standard CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.5 Fluently add and subtract within 5.

Bully Behavior

Last week we read one of my favorite books, "The Meanies" by Joy Cowley, along with several of her other "Meanie" versions.

We talked in detail throughout the week the characteristics of a "Meanie."

Today, we took a twist on the book and talked about people. People can do mean things too. When people are mean, they are usually called bullies! What are  some mean things that people can do? From our conversations, we generated this list.

Tomorrow, we will continue our conversations about "Meanie" behavior as we talk about the brain and how we learn. This always brings some important insights into the lives of a 5 year old.

A Valentine Dice Game

Here is a great "candy-free" valentine that Lyndsey has created over at Mamma's Tots.

Each Valentine has 50 circles on the main heart. Children roll the die and fill in the circles. When all of the circles are filled, the child wins! The die is attached to the Valentine with tape, and what could be more fun to play with than a die!

Click here for a pdf version of the valentines that you can use non commercially.

And for more Valentine ideas, try this packet of fun activities.

Valentines Dramatic Play and Writing

Probably one of my favorite Dramatic Play opportunities of the year in our playhouse is The Valentine Post Office. 

I purchased the postman costumes years (and years) ago from Lakeshore. They are adorable, and consist of a jacket, a hat and a mailbag. If you do not have costumes, you can find many templates for postal worker hats online and simply make your own as a headband. Or, do the Post Office without costumes.

Next, fill the playhouse with TONS of writing paper. I have scraps of paper, paper cut as hearts, paper that is ran as cards, and so-on. Then add some markers, pencils, crayons, stamps, or anything else you can think of.

I then give the students one main rule. The post office is for writing letters! You  can add pictures to finish your writing, but you must write first!

This is when my independent writing moves to a new level, love it!

Hooray! It's the 100th Day.

Although to me it feels like day 360 (some years are like that you know),

 it is our 100th day of school! 

We had a great day of celebration. 

Here are a few of our activities that we enjoyed together.