Mrs. Kelly's Kindergarten

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Giveaway at Patton's Patch

Patton's Patch is having a giveaway since she has 100 followers! Click here to go to her blog and sign up Patton's Patch .

-Stephanie

Humpty Dumpty isn't a fairy tale but I squeeze him in with my fairy tale unit. Here I am helping Humpty Dumpty fall off the wall. We had him land on a bed of felt, cotton balls, paper towels, and last, the floor. The kids then recorded if he broke when landing on the various items.

Super Important: I hard boiled the eggs!

He only broke when we dropped him on the floor (I had a few backups just in case). Enjoy the pics of me being a super dramatic teacher (maybe I should have been an actor!)

Here is one of my kiddos proudly displaying his recording sheet.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Fairy Tale Math Stations

Last week and this week we are studying fairy tales. Our math centers are tied to this theme. Here are the centers that we did last week.

Jack and the Beanstalk- Adding Beans- the students do the addition problems that are listed on the recording sheet. The work mat has 2 baskets where the students place the beans. I store all of our math centers in blue bins that I purchased at IKEA for $1.50! I have these bins all over my classroom. I use the little Gerber baby food containers to store math manipulatives.

Jack and the Beanstalk- Measuring Beanstalks- The students measure beanstalks that are on the recording sheets with plastic kidney beans that you can buy at teacher stores.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears- Sequencing the story- Students are given a sheet with 6 scenes from the story. They color the sheet, cut it apart, and sequence the story on a long sheet of construction paper.

The Three Little Pigs- Pig Subtraction- The students are not using manipulatives for subtraction yet. Instead, they cross off the number of pigs to solve the problem.

The Three Little Pigs- Huff and Puff Measuring- The students have a recording sheet with items that they must try to blow. After they blow an object they measure how far they blew it with a tape measure and then record it on the recording sheet.

Meet The Teacher

The First Grade Parade is hosting a linky party so I thought I would join in! I am new to the blogging community and I am loving all of the great ideas that I have found.

Here is some info about me...

I have been teaching for 3.5 years. My first year I taught special needs preschool and then I graduated on to kindergarten. I taught half day kindergarten for 1 year and then our building transitioned to full day kindergarten. I am currently working on obtaining my masters in literacy. I am 1.5 classes away plus a research project. I hope to be done by December of this year.

I grew up in a small town in northwest Ohio. I have 3 sisters and 2 nieces and a nephew. After high school I went to college in Dayton, Ohio. Right after that I married my high school sweetheart, Ben. Here is a picture of us at my sisters wedding.

A year after we bought our house we adopted this cute pup...Sandy! She is the best dog ever!

Now for the Q & A

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a teacher?

A: I would love to be a professional organizer...is that even a job?

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: Reading, blogging, working out, scrap-booking, playing with my pup

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A: There was never any doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be a teacher...I always knew!

Q: What are your guilty pleasures?

A: McDonald's Diet Coke, Starburst Jellybeans, Sour Patch Kids, Dorothy Lane Market Cookies...all yummmm :)

Q: What is your biggest fear?!

A: Tornadoes. Also loosing ones who are close to me from an accident or illness.

Q: When you’re on vacation, where do you like to go?

A: Hawaii. We went there for our honeymoon and hope to go back next June for our 5th anniversary!

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

A: Do what you love!

Q: What do you value most in others?

A: Reliability

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world….living or dead…who would it be?
A: My aunt Tammy who passed away 2 years ago :(

Now tell us one random thing about yourself:

I teach 5 year olds and I eat like a five year old! You will not get me to try veggies...except corn and green beans. I love pizza, chicken nuggets, and mac and cheese! Everyone makes fun of me but what can I say, I'm a super duper picky eater!

Literacy Work Stations

My kiddos love literacy work stations! I love them because the kids are busy having fun and learning while I get to do guided reading...another favorite! Here is a picture of my lit stations board. We do three rotations, each lasting about 15 minutes. I have lots of stations so that my groups can be small which really helps cut down on the craziness!

Here are some of my current stations and materials...

Making Words Station

I found these little bottles and I put letter beads and glitter in them to make popcorn words.

The kids use "foam dough" which I found at the teacher store to make popcorn words.

The students read the recipe card to make popcorn words.

ABC Station

The kids use ABC stamps to make popcorn words.

Fine Motor Station

The kids use tweezers to pull out ABC beads and sort them by color. I got these letter beads at Walmart.

The students work on these little puzzles that I found at the Christmas Tree Shop for 89 cents! They come in a cute little tin as well.

The kids use tweezers to pull out ABC beads and sort them by letter.

Handwriting Station

The kids use these sticks to form letters.

Exploration Station

At the exploration station we are exploring money. We have lots of coins for the students to look at up close with a variety of magnifiers. The students can also record their observations on a recording sheet that is at the station.

Name Station

The students use Wiki Stix to make their classmates names on a piece of black laminated paper. We have a name chart visible at the station that includes the children's pictures.