Organization Week- Day #1 : Daily Materials

Mrs. Patton over at Mrs. Patton's Patch is hosting an organization week. When I saw this I was pumped! I love organization and all things involved!

Daily Materials

Today the topic is daily materials. In an earlier post I talked about my Lakeshore Teacher Organizer. I love this thing! My husband works in the city where they just opened a Lakeshore Store. Since he is there daily I begged him to go there for me...and he did :) He has been to Lakeshore and I haven't! I'm so jealous. I might have to take a road trip there sometime. Anyway, here is a picture.

At the beginning of the week I fill these buckets with all of my goodies for the week. What is great about this thing is that all of my books and most of my materials can be shoved into these buckets. At the beginning of each day I take out the bucket and set it in my group area. When I am teaching I have all of my materials at my fingertips. 

Looking Forward

I usually make my copies for my themes in advance. I keep my future copies in a file box with hanging files. I also make a ton of mini-books. I get most of my mini books at Hubbards Cupboard. These are stored in bins under my desk. Currently I have 3 bins under my desk of books that will last me until the end of the year. This system is not flawless but it's working for right now. I'm on spring break so I can't get you a picture of this mess (probably a good thing). If you have any suggestions for storing upcoming materials, I would love to heart them!

In Other News

Crazy for First Grade is hosting a giveaway. She is giving away 3 packets from her TPT store that are full of math and literacy centers.

-Stephanie

Donors Choose Help

I recently submitted a project to Donors Choose. I was super excited and made sure I had all of my ducks in a row which included all of the paper work, etc.  I haven't had any bites for the project. This seems like an awesome opportunity and I have heard many great things.

Does anyone have suggestions for me? I am wondering if my project cost is too much. What have you done to get the word out? I am considering submitting another less expensive project. Any suggestions or ideas would be awesome! 

Thanks!

Stephanie

New Week of Literacy Work Stations

Sorry that I have been MIA lately. Grad school and upcoming conferences have kept me super busy. Here are some literacy work stations that have kept the kiddos interest for the past few weeks...

Fine Motor Work Station

The kids used these number beads that I found at Wal-Mart and matched with number words. The tricky part- using tweezers instead of their fingers. Also at this station is a wooden shoe that the kids can use to practice shoe tying. I don't know about you but I am tired of tying shoes.

Magnet Letter Work Station

We have been studying word families so as we finish a word family I hang up the poster and the children practice making words from the posters

White Board Work Station

This is kind of a filler activity but the kids love it! The requirement- they must write popcorn words. They can write words that they see around the room or they can use the word rings and word lists that are with the boards.

Handwriting Work Station

I cut apart handwriting paper so it was in 2 lines. On the top line I wrote a sentence using sight words. The kids then trace over the sentence and then write it on their own on the next line. Also at the handwriting station the kids trace popcorn words that were printed on index cards. Click below for your copy of sight word handwriting cards. 

Sight Word Cards #1

Sight Word Cards #2

Making Words Work Station

Since we studied the ocean during this week, I incorporated sand into my lit stations. The kids loved it and were pretty good about keeping it in the container. Their job was to write popcorn words or word family words. This child wrote into.

Poetry Station

Here are two students reading from their poetry notebooks. The notebooks have poems that we have worked on throughout the year.

Pocket Chart Work Station

At this station there were several sorts that the children could choose from. This is a sort that I found at Mrs Wills Kindergarten. The kids sort by color words, number words and other words.

Name Work Station

Here the kid make classmates names with "foam dough." I actually don't know what its called. I found it at a teacher store. It is so much better than play dough though because it doesn't dry out as fast.

I also read a great post the other day that showed some great sight word games. Click below to check it out!

Mrs. Morrows Kindergarten

Enjoy! 

-Stephanie

Ocean Math Centers Round #2

We continued our ocean unit again this week. Here are our math centers.

Seashell Subtraction

The kids put shells into the pail and then took them out. After that, they filled out their recording sheet.

Octopus Number Words

The octopus had number words on each arm. The kids had to glue that many "suckers" to the arm.

Fish Addition

The students put fish into each fish bowl and then added them together.

Ordering Shells by 5's

The students had to cut out seashells and put them in order from 5 to 75.

-Stephanie

Ocean Math Centers

This week we are studying the ocean. Here are our math centers.

Fish subtraction- 

Students subtract fish from the fish bowl.

Order fish by 10's

The students cut apart the fish and then order them by 10's.

Fish measuring-

Students measure these cute fish that one of my teacher buddies drew for me.

Area/Perimeter of Fish-

The kids used decorative glass pebbles to measure the area and perimeter of fish.

Sea Shell Addition-

The kids added shells in the buckets and then recorded their answer on the response sheet.

-Stephanie

Pet Party

Ladybug Teacher Files is hosting a pet linky party. Click here to check it out - Pet Linky Party.

Yes, this seems unrelated to teaching...and it is in many ways...but this pup gives me tons of material to use with my kids. For example, when writing a story for Writers Workshop, I can always bust out a Sandy story. My kids think they know her. I get tons of pictures that the kids make me with my adorable doggy. So, without further delay, I present SANDY!

My husband and I adopted Sandy, our yellow lab,  from my parents when she was 3. She is now 5 but she acts like a puppy. She loves her toys and cuddling. I lovingly call her "Chubby" as often as I call her Sandy. When we got her, she was 105 pounds! With lots of forced dieting and exercise she is getting skinny :) She is still always super hungry and begs like it's her job.

I sometimes like to dress Sandy up.

 She thinks she's a lap dog. She likes to put her head in my lap when I am working at my desk.

Sandy got tons of gifts for Christmas :)

 

And thats my pup!

-Stephanie

Rainforest Math Centers

Last week we learned about the rainforest. Here are our math centers.

Monkey Addition- 

The students fed the monkey's "bananas." They were actually craft foam that I cut on the Ellison press.

Blue Morpho Butterfly-

Yes, I know this isn't math but I had to fit this in and it's an easy independent activity. The kids covered the butterfly with blue tissue squares and I hung them on the window.

Macaw Subtraction-

The students used feathers (construction paper) on the Macaw.

Measuring Rainforest Trees-

The students used unifix cubes to measure trees and then they measured with paper clips.

Order Frogs by 5's-

The students cut out frogs that had numbers on them and then but them in order by 5's.

-Stephanie