Anchor Yourself

So, please bloggy friends tell me that you are in the throws of report cards, assessments, parent teacher conferences, and who knows what else at this point? And nevermind I am still teaching. You know, that side job that I do during the day? Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Okay. Now that this is out of the way!!! I am currently in the process of thinking/planning/creating for 4th quarter and anchor charts are one of my favorite things to use and make. There are so many great ways to use them - what's important is that you actually use them. Last year, I had charts all over the place - but my kiddos couldn't really tell you about them...

This year, I've made a conscious effort to create ones that I will use and that will actually "anchor" their learning. We refer to our charts all of the time. Pinterest has some great ideas for charts. They don't have to be fancy-schmancy either - it's what you feel comfortable with. Again - the whole idea is that kids can actually use them and refer to them to help with their learning.

So today, when I should have been filling out conference forms I took pictures of some of my favorite ones from this quarter and began to think about 4th quarter (don't worry, the thought that 4th quarter almost equals summer did not cross my mind one.little.bit.)!


Remember when I said they don't need to be fancy-schmancy? This is my 3-D shapes chart that we used when learning about shapes. Simple but a nice visual for them to refer to.

If you haven't checked out Fran @ Kindergarten Crayons, please do. She has practical ideas, offers good teaching tips and just plain.knows.Kindergarten. (I don't even know her - but her blog is seriously awesome!)

When we did out Teen Numbers Unit, my kiddos did the teen number book that Fran gave as a freebie. I took her book and made it into a chart that we still use daily!

 Kindergarten Crayons Teen Numbers Book

3 Ways to Read to Self (um, please ignore the lovely view out my classroom window...). There are tons of these on Pinterest too - so you can make it to fit your needs.

Story Structure Chart: Another Pinterest find. We use this to tell all about the stories. What's nice is the visual reminder that it gives. It helps all of my students remember story elements (just in case their little brains are on overload!!)

We learned about Fairy Tales/Folk Tales this quarter. And don't be surprised - saw one like this on Pinterest and had to make one similar. 

We compared the Fairy Tales and summarized the characteristics of each one. Post-its are a great way to "write" on your charts and reuse your anchor charts year to year - without having to worry about wiping off marker. 

We've been learning about non-fiction and recording our learning about Space. I love the schema charts. One way I keep the kids interested is by asking if I can write their name on the post-it. I make a big deal that the Principals/Administration love reading who is learning and what they are learning. It (usually) helps keep them focused and interested!

Reading strategies - good readers visualize. Don't be jealous of my mad illustration skills. 

We use the Phonics Dance, so I made smaller sizes of the picture cards and made a chart of them. Easy-peasy. This is displayed close to their desks - and they can refer to it when they need to during Writer's Workshop. 

From the beginning of the year - still up and displayed by the classroom library. Parts of a Book chart. I used a book that was familiar to them so it would help them to remember the parts better.

Some stay up all year, some come down depending on what we are learning. Good rule of thumb - if you haven't referred to it in a month, take it down. I'm sure we can all find something else to put up on the wall right?!? What do you do for anchor charts?

Seuss-hausted!

We had a great day yesterday - but it was definitely exhausting!

We started the day reading the Cat in the Hat and doing a fun color by letter from Living Live Intentionally :

We read Green Eggs and Ham and learned what a recipe is. The kiddos were super excited to make green eggs and ham - and seriously thought it was the best recipe ever...um okay...haha!

We went to lunch (which was amazing to my kids - because they were in awe that they got 2 lunches that day - Green Eggs and Ham and regular school lunch haha).

We did a fun real/nonsense word sort from Kindergarten Lifestyle:

In the afternoon we read One Fish, Two Fish, made aquariums and had a fun snack:

Followed up by a reading of Fox in Socks and playing a hilarious game. The kids took off one shoe (this in itself was super funny to them...love my kiddos!) and then got ready to play. Each student had 30 seconds to put on as many socks as they could. We had a mix of socks ready in a pile at the carpet.

After the timer went off, we graphed how many socks they were able to get on their foot! Check out my previous post for the graph headers if you want to grab them for next year!

We calmed (tried to anyways!) down by playing a fun roll and cover game from Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives.

Finished the day out with a real and pretend animal sort from Living Life Intentionally:

So.much.fun.!

The other for real fun part of the day was our door decorating contest. And I am serious when I said the competition.was.fierce. I am lucky to work with such a great group of talented teachers. The kids loved the doors and it made for great conversations throughout the day!

Here's a peek at the doors:

2nd Grade Team:

The kiddos are listening in the pics...sooooo cute!

Kiddos with hats on in the pics - adorbs!

One Fish, Two Fish...Check out those waves and fun fish!!!

 1st Grade Team:

Seuss was definitely on the Loose! Love the trees!

How can anyone not love the Lorax? Love it and this door!

Kindergarten Team:

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! How adorbs is the cake?!?!

One Fish, Two Fish cute.ness! Kids hand prints into fish - love!

A.ma.zing.

 I'm pretty sure Dr. Seuss would have been proud. :)

Seuss on the Loose!

I'm super excited about Dr. Seuss Day tomorrow! Pinterest is seriously a source of inspiration and a breath of fresh air! It can be a little overwheming - but I love having so many ideas to choose from.

Tomorrow's plans are ready to go - nothing like last minute!
(click on the picture to grab the document)

All of the activities (that I can share) have links with them! Sorry the font doesn't come through. There are some awesome activities available. :)

Last year we played the Fox in Socks game and my kids loved it - so I made some graph headers.

Technically I don't have my graph ready - someone forgot to bring some chart paper home - whoops! I laid it out just to make sure it would work - I can't wait!

Our K-2 team is having a door decorating contest as well - and the competition is FIERCE!!! We have our 3rd and 4th graders come through the hallway and vote. They tally, bar graph and analyze the results - which is a fun tie-in.

This year I did "Horton Hears a Who"! It turned out sooooooo cute. I painted the kids hands (all while questioning my sanity...haha) and they made the little plants at the bottom.

I'd love to hear what you are up to! Check back this weekend for pictures of our celebration and the door decorating contest. Happy Seuss Day!

Sound Spy

Sometimes I lie stretch the truth with my K kiddos. There I said it. Like when I make up really cheesy names for games that are *stop the press* learning games. But it's all about the presentation - so when we play "Sound Spy" it is amazing how many kiddos are engaged. This isn't a new concept/game - just has a fun name...

We are working on beginning sounds - sorting words, creating words with that sound, etc. Normally we do 4 sounds a week, but on Fridays we play Sound Spy - which focuses on a variety of sounds - not just the 4 we are practicing for the week.

Student papers look like this:

My paper looks like this:

To be Sound Spies, students first have to count the letters with me and

then pick that many crayons out (in a *cough cough* timely manner...ha). 

Then we become sound spies. All of the picture clues are covered (I use sticky notes).  (Please use your spy skills to turn your heads...because Blogger is being difficult with pictures!

I use my document camera (which I adore) and have the kiddos pick a clue to uncover. We uncover one picture at a time. We decided what sound/letter the picture starts with, find that letter and color it in.

It's a fun, easy and quick way to practice sound skills. My pages below are just for beginning sounds, but this could easily be adapted for ending sounds as well!

Sad note - these pictures are from the Sound Sorting Menu at this school website.
It's not valid anymore - the site looks all new...so hopefully they will upload and correct it soon. :(

Happy note - I have "Snowmen", "Winter", "Scarf", and "Mitten" ready to go for you. :)

Winter

Snowmen

Scarf

Mitten

Happy "Spying"...!

p.s. I'd love for you to "like" my FB page! 
Ketchen's Kindergarten

Anchors Away!

I love anchor charts - last year I had them, but didn't use them. This year, my goal is to actually refer to them (easier said than done!). I'm hoping that if I get in the habit of making them and using them, it will continue to get better.

The Writer's Workshop has the steps students follow during our Writer's Workshop block. They really like the "Warm Up Your Brain" step!

Writer's Workshop Anchor Chart

One of my favorite professional books is Debbie Miller's Reading with Meaning. It has a lot of good and practical info on how to teach comprehension strategies to elementary students. It's funny hearing my 5-year-olds talk about their schema...but they definitely understand it!

The pictures on the right are student drawings after reading a book about kids playing. For this particular one, I asked them to visualize the page about having fun dressing up with red items (can't remember which book I read though!).

Reading Strategy - Visualize Anchor Chart