Showing posts with label alphabet activities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alphabet activities. Show all posts

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Show and Tell


Show and Tell is a love/hate relationship for me.  The kids love it and I hate dread it.  

I try and make the kids stick to the focus letters of the week.  This week's focus letters were N and P.  Most of the time the kids DO bring things that start with N and P.  

But it never fails that someone will bring something totally unrelated.  
This week I had a key chain in the shape of a cat.  I tried really hard to think of a way for it to fit into our show and tell.  
I don't want to tell the kids they "can't" show something they are proud of!
So. . . we decided it was  "P" show and tell because cats PURR. 
 It's the best I could come up with. . . 

I feel like I do get a few standards covered with Show and Tell:

Reading:
Phonological awareness
2b Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

For each S & T we clap the syllables.

Speaking and Listening:
Participate in collaborative conversations with 
diverse partners about kindergarten topics and 
texts with peers and adults in small and larger 
groups.

a. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., 
listening to others and taking turns speaking 
about the topics and texts under discussion).

b. Continue a conversation through multiple 
exchanges.
4. Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.  Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and 
ideas clearly
The kids "Tell" us about their S & T and then they have a chance to ask questions about the S & T.




Math:
Counting and Cardinality K.CC
2. Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1).
We tally  mark and skip count.
3. Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).
Count to tell the number of objects. 
4. Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
a. When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object. 
b. Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the order in which they were counted.
c. Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.
5. Count to answer “how many?” questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1–20, count out that many objects.
Compare numbers.
6. Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., byusing matching and counting strategies.
7. Compare two numbers between 1 and 10 presented as written numerals.
We count and write the number in each letter group.  Talk about which group has more/less, etc.


So, when I think of the standards being covered it makes me dread it a little less.
Plus, like I said, the kids LOVE it.
And really. . . school is about them not me!

S week Show and Tell.



Sunday, September 23, 2012

Alphabet Exchange



Chrissy over at First Grade Found Me (adorable blog by the way!) organized the alphabet exchange this year. What a LOT of work!  Thank you Chrissy for getting this organized and keeping everyone "on task!"  

So far we've received 3 letters and the kids are sooooo excited about it!


We display our mail in the hall and keep track of where the letters some from using the map (picture at top.)

We also keep track on our smartboard:

We are super excited to get the rest of our letters. . . and for those of you in the exchange (Group 1) we are sending our D's out on Tuesday!

Thanks again Chrissy!



Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Mrs. Muncher!


Mrs. Muncher visited yesterday.  She is an oldie.  Her hair is falling out, her eyes are sagging, and at some point a few lovable children't tried to pull the letters off her tummy. The kids still love it when she visits though. . . probably because she always brings something fun to share with them!

Is it sad to say I've been teaching so long I don't remember where they original idea for Mrs. Muncher came from? We used to "feed" her while practicing sounds during centers but my genius coworkers introduced me to the "Mystery" game and the kids LOVE it. . .  so now she has a new purpose!

The kids have to guess what's in her tummy before she'll share with them.   I give a clue and the kids make some guesses.  Then I give another clue and they can guess some more.  I give 3 clues in all and HOPEFULLY by the 3rd clue we get the answer right.

Clue #1 today was "It starts with the letter T."

After a few guesses I gave clue #2 "It is brown."
(The crossed out words are words that were guessed that didn't make sense anymore after we heard the 2nd clue.)

Then clue #3 "You can eat it."
(We crossed off some more words but I forgot to take another picture.)

It's actually harder than it sounds. 
 They get off track on the 2nd clue and really off track on the 3rd.
I started to hear guesses like "chocolate, donuts, hersery's bar, etc."
(I don't write those answers down because we have to agree the answer "makes sense" before it's added to our list.)

I finally gave up today and gave a 4th clue "Sometimes they give them out for treats at banks."

Woo-hoo!  They finally guessed it!

Tomorrow she'll have rocks in her tummy!

Throughout the first semester she'll bring us something to represent every letter of the alphabet.  The kids get really good at guessing  what's in her tummy by December.
 (Then Mrs. Rist's Muncher Money is gone and she goes into hiding until next year!)




Wednesday, July 11, 2012

My Favorite Purchase


Isn't this digital frame awesome!?!   The white part is a magnetic dry erase board and there's a record option.  Kids press the green button to hear the message!  How fun is that!!!  : )


Confession:  I actually bought it LAST summer!
It was on my "to do list" to get pictures ready to put on it and use it in centers.  It stayed on my list.  It's still on my list.  I'm working on it. . . slowly.  I have M, R, S & T done. (I chose those 4 letters because it's the first 4 my kindergarten team teaches.)  

Here's what's done so far:
*MRST PowerPoint for my Smartboard
In the PowerPoint there is a "shout it out" section where the letters flip and the kids shout out the letters.  Then the letters slow down and the kinders graph the letters that come on the screen.  

*The recording sheets (2 choices):


*I also have the jpg images from the PowerPoint saved to be loaded onto the digital frame. 


Here's a screen shot of the Power Point (the same images are saved in jpg format for the photo frame.)

4 letters down. . . 22 to go!  




If you're interested in these files I am giving it away for free from my TPT store.  Click here to grab it and try it out with me!



P.S. if you're interested in the frame just click the picture to view it on Amazon.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Loving this Clip Art! (Freebie alert!)



Ever bought a clipart set and the ideas just started rolling?  I am just loving this clipart collection from Scrappin Doodles.  So many fun things to make without having to spends hours searching for a picture to represent each letter of the alphabet!  I just posted another packet to TPT using the same clipart I used on the A-Z intro pages.   If you're interested in checking it out click the picture above to go to my TPT store. Only $3.00! 


The same clipart was also inspiration for this I Have Who Has game.  Click on the picture to download your copy for frrreeeee (my most fav-or-ite word in the whole wide world!)




Oh. . .and fyi . . .teachers are a lot like real people and they make mistakes ( this will be our little secret!)  Soooo. . . .if you see a mistake in the freebie feel free to hollar nicely point it out!   : )    It has not been tested in my room yet and I'm always a little nervous to share things I haven't used yet!!


: )    : )    : )    : )    : )     : )     : )    : )



Thursday, May 24, 2012

Done and finally feeling normal!



This is my whole school.  Isn't it neat?  Every year my principal thinks of a creative way to take an all school picture and one of our very talented parents sets it up and takes it for us.  Love it!!  Can you find me . . .I'm the one in black.  Haha!  




I've actually been done for a week now but it usually takes me that long to decompress.  Sigh.  Feels good.  I've been reading, lunching with friends and running my kids to their activities.  It's WONDERFUL! 


I've even had time to add a product to TPT.  It's a collection of A to Z intro pages we are going to use this coming year and also some beginning sounds picture cards and upper & lowercase letters.  We are going to use them for a pocket chart center. 



Click the picture of the cover if you'd like to check it out!  Only $2.00!