Here's What's Going On...

Here are some of the math & literacy centers that I am using this week...



This is an addition center. They write down how many ice cubes each penguin has & then they add them together & record their answers. Great Center!



Measuring Center~ They are finding things in the classroom that are taller, shorter & the same size as the penguin.

This is another measurement center where they are using standard & non-standard measurement. They measure their penguins & then record the measurements on the sheet.

This is a center where they put the penguin/ polar bear coins in the cup, spill it out, count how many of each they have, record their answers, & then circle the one that has more.

This is a counting/ number writing center. They count the fish on the penguin card & then record the # on the sheet next to the correct penguin #.

This is a closer look at the pocket chart sheet.

Pocket Chart Center. They make & read the pocket chart a few times. Then, they complete the sheet.



This is an ending sound sorting center. They sort the pictures onto the correct mat according to the ending sounds. When they finish they get list paper & write the words.



This is a rhyming puzzle in the puzzle center.



The class made books are always the favorites in the reading center.



I am loving this non-fiction center! They learned about penguins last week & in this center they are filling in facts that they know about penguins. They are aloud to use the tree map that we made together to help them spell.

Blend Center~ They are learning about the /ch/ blend. They cut out the pictures that begin with the /ch/ sound.

The writing center is always fun...I am getting ready to make some exciting changes to it in February.

Sorry that the pictures kind of posted a little wacky. ;) At least they are all right side up!

This & That

Here are a few things that I worked on in my classroom today. Yay for teacher workdays!

These are the penguins that we painted on Friday.

The students always do a great job on these!

These are my potato heads. I saw on pinterest a teacher that took pictures of hers put together & then her students had to remake them according to the pictures. I LOVE this center (and so do they).

Mr. Winter Head

Puppy Potato

Spidey!

Mrs. Potato Head

Mr. Crazy Head

Mr. Nerd Head :)

Santa!

Potato Teen

Kitty  Potato

Baby Big Mouth

Kid Potato

The last thing I did was to take all those broken crayons & melt them down to make these cute little heart crayons. I am going to give them out as part of my Valentine gift to my students.

This Week's Center Time...

Here are a few of the fun things that we are doing during center time to enhance our reading & writing skills...

This is my ABC magnet center. Here they make the words that are on the snowmen with the magnet letters. When they finish they write the words that they made onto the list paper.

This is a labeling center. They have to label the parts of the snowman. (Sorry the picture is so light)

This is a syllable sorting center. They have to sort the pictures by 1, 2, or 3 syllables. They are getting really good at this one.

This is a winter clothes book that they have to read & color according to what the words say. I like it because the words change from page to page so they really have to attend to the text. His says "I see red mittens".

Her page says, "I can see my orange scarf". I love that the words change and that the kids have to pay attention to what they are reading.

A winter time book for them to read/ listen to in the Listening Center.

This is a lot of my students favorite center. They have the choice to write a story, list, or card. There is an "I can" chart on the wall to remind them of their choices.

This is my write the room center. They have to look around the room for words that begin with the letters in the word mitten.

My pocket chart this week is reading environmental print. They were super excited to get their chance to go here. They love some of the print that I found.

This is not a center, but I had the picture so I thought I would add it to this post. We are learning about penguins during our science time. Today I read some non-fiction texts about penguins and tomorrow we will begin to make our tree map about them. We also love to watch the penguin web cams!

I think that's just about it...have a great rest of the week!!

New Rug!

     In the fall there was a company in our area that was offering $500 grants for teachers. So, I took a shot and wrote a grant for a new classroom rug. Well, right before we got out for Christmas, my new rug arrived for my classroom!! I was super excited about it and so were my students. Now everyone has their own square with plenty of room. There are no more arguments about being squished or someone touching someone else or wondering where to sit during carpet time. It is absolutely perfect!! Check us out sitting on our new spots!

Our rug came from Lakeshore Learning and it has seating for 30. They love having a spot that is all their own!

Now for a little silliness!! :)

Thank you to Omnova Solutions for giving my students this great new rug! We absolutely Love it!!

Back to Business

The first day back was not too bad. Everyone was a little tired, but ready to be back at school. Here are a few of today's winter themed math centers. In my class students only visit one math center per day.

In this center they have to match the number side of the mitten to the dot side.They loved this center, as you can see! :) I printed these from Childcareland a couple of years ago.

This is just a closer view of the mittens.



This is a spatial visual center with winter themed shapes. She is working on making a polar bear. I should've taken a better shot of this...sorry!



This is a favorite center. They draw a colored card, count the snowmen on the card, and then they color the corresponding number on the snowman paper. They love to get their turn in this center.

This is another counting center. They look at the number on the snowman and then they add that many buttons to him.

Can you tell that we are working a lot with numbers & number sense? I am really trying to make sure that my students have a firm grasp of reading numbers, writing numbers, & counting! So far I am pretty pleased with their progress! Tomorrow I will post some of my literacy center photos.

 

A Couple of Things

Here are a few things that I made today to get ready for when I go back on Monday....

Here is a bear tree map that we will be making.

Here is the "I can" chart for the writing center.

Can you believe that I actually got the pictures to rotate?!? Ok, that's all for now!

Happy New Year!

     So, I went to school today to drop some stuff off, run some copies, & make sure that I am totally ready for next week. I don't usually step foot in the school when I am on a break, so this was very rare for me. I'm glad I did though because I was able to put my mind at ease for the rest of my vacation that I am ready to go on Monday!

     I am starting the new year off with my bear unit. The kids usually get a kick out of learning about bears. I have lots of fun stuff planned so I will be sure to post pics when everything is done. I will end the week with them bringing in their teddy bears, yikes! I don't usually like for them to bring distractions from home, but I am going to see how it goes this one time.

     Until then, I am going to relish in what is left of my time off!!

What's the Weather?

Okay, here it is, the weather science booklet that the kids made during our weather unit. Each day we learned about a different type of weather & made a page to illustrate the weather type. 

Here is the cover, kinda boring...GOTTA fix this!

Sunny: they had to trace a circle and then add tissue paper to represent that the sun is made of fire.

Cloudy: they had to trace a cloud shape & then add cotton balls.

Rainy: they had to trace & cut out a gray cloud. Then, they added fingerprint raindrops.

Snowy: they had to trace & cut a snow cloud. Then, they added Q-tip snowflakes. Of course, we added glitter just like with the winter tree!

Rainbow: This page was pre-drawn & all they had to do was watercolor paint it. We talked out the color order of the rainbow during the lesson.

This is another unit that I love to teach. We also go outside everyday to see what the weather is. Luckily, this week, we had every type of weather except snowy! The kids really had a good time learning about why we have each type of weather & how we get each type of weather.