Getting To Know You

We've been getting to know one another in kindergarten.  We just completed week 3 (teacher inservice day tomorrow) and are settling into a routine.

Our current them is "I Feel Amazing, I Feel Fine".  I wanted to do a little introduction to Project-Based Learning (PBL) but it had to be easy and not very time consuming as time is limited at this point!

I partnered students up with a same-sex classmate who I don't normally see them interact with.  I wanted students to "meet" someone new.  The question they had to answer: "What can you teach us about your partner?"

Students started off by taking a picture of their partner using the iPad.  This was quite an adventure!  Many students had used iPads prior to this, but holding the iPad and taking the picture while standing was a new experience.  We had a couple retakes, but they did got it.

Next, I brought each partnership over with me one group at a time.  The partners "interviewed" each other.  They practiced asking one another questions about things they liked.  I recorded their answers for them on dry erase boards.

Then I opened the app WordFoto.  Students first had to find the picture they took of their partner in the camera roll.  After adding the photo to the app, students began typing their partner's favorite things into the app.  The trick is one word per line.  Things like "mashed potatoes" had to be typed with no spaces so they stayed together.    The app takes the words you entered and covers the picture in the words- similar to a Wordle.  Once the words were put in, students went and got their partner to show them the finished product.  They saved the completed projects to the photo roll.

After school, I printed the photos to our color printer and laminated them.  Students then shared what they learned about their partners with the class.  I hung all their creations on the board along with copies of their names that they decorated.  These will be up to share with our visitors who come for Open House next week.

The kiddos LOVE looking at these and are so proud of their work.  I'm proud of us for completing a project, and I enjoy hearing them reference what they learned about their partners.  I learned some new things about each of them through this project as well.  That is a success in my book!

How do your students get to know one another?  How do you get to know them?

Wordless Wednesday {September 10}

I'm linking up with Miss DeCarbo for Wordless Wednesday.  I love this linky, especially when my week gets hectic!

Do you teach your students how to type?  If yes, how do you do it?

I'll be back in the next couple days to write about this little project he's working on.

Have you entered my 200 follower giveaway?  You can win a Classroom Friendly Supplies pencil sharpener and a TpT gift certificate.

200 Follower Giveaway

It is time for another giveaway.  Troy from Classroom Friendly Supplies generously offered to give away another pencil sharpener here on the blog!  Make sure you show his Facebook page some love.  I asked him to wait until the blog hit 200 followers, and I'm happy to say we are there on BlogLovin!

You can win a pencil sharpener in the color of your choice (black, blue, green, pink, red) and a $10 TpT gift certificate.  If you have not seen or used one of these sharpeners, you are missing out on something wonderful!  You can read my review from last month here.

Thank-you for following and your kind comments over the past 2 years!  I look forward to sharing more with you this year!

The winner of the giveaway must have a US mailing address.  The winner will be announced Monday, September 15.  Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beginning Writers

I always struggle with writing at the beginning of the year.  I want my kiddos to progress more quickly than they do.  I forget what beginning of the year looks like sometimes.

After attending a couple sessions about Writers Workshop at I Teach K, I decided to start with working on some good illustrations.  Over the summer, I picked up a packet on directed drawing.  There is one picture for each letter of the alphabet.  I also picked up a handwriting set with hidden pictures.  Best investments!

My kiddos are loving writing time!  Some of their stamina gets lost once they get to the coloring part, but they are doing a great job.  We start out with the drawing "lesson" for the day.  I model on the SMARTboard how to draw the picture following the directions at the top of the page.  Students then go to their seats and complete their own drawing.  This week I started asking them to try to write a word to tell about their picture.  Many of them chose a color word to describe their picture.  I'm ok with that at this point because we have been focusing on our color words.  A few have been a little more "adventurous" and have been attempting describing words or labels.

When their directed drawing pictures are finished, they turn to the back and practice writing the upper and lowercase letters.  After writing the letters, they circle their best one.  Finally, they use their color word knowledge to color the mystery picture.

Five For Friday {September 5}

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five For Friday.  I'm excited join in the fun; it has been a while!

1.  We are loving HeidiSongs! We've learned our color words other than white (not ready for the word "underwear" with this crew yet) plus "am","the","my","we".

2. We've been working on our color words.  I found these flipbooks on Pinterest.  After each color word was written, students drew a picture of something that is that color.  They loved these!

3. They are enjoying writing names and making lists at the writing center.

4. GoNoodle makes us happy! "Let it Go" made me smile when they belted it out.

5.  I made Playdoh to use at our literacy centers during the first couple weeks.  The only requirement I had was that the kiddos had to make some letters.

"I love you."  

We've finished two weeks and are starting to get into a routine.  I'll be back to share more about our writing later this weekend.

Wordless Wednesday {September 3}

I'm linking up with Miss DeCarbo for Wordless Wednesday.

This is a picture of my teacher table (which doubles as my desk) this morning.  It has never looked like this after 5 days with kids.  It is normally covered in piles, lost and found items and anything else you can imagine.  I have a feeling this current state might be short-lived.

How do you keep your teacher area neat and organized?

First Week Highlights

We had our first week of kindergarten last week.  Our district tried out a staggered start this year, so students with last names A-L came Tuesday, M-Z came Wednesday and everyone was there Thursday and Friday.  I also had an assistant Thursday and Friday.  We do not normally have assistants.

It was a tiring week, but I thought it was pretty productive.  I have 19 kiddos this year, which is the smallest class I have ever had in my 11 years.  I'm pretty pumped about that.  I have a "high ability cluster" in my room, meaning that a group of kiddos who are already reading were intentionally put together in my room.  It is going to be an adventure for sure!

We did a lot of routines and centers to keep them engaged.

We worked on building color words.

We learned how to use the iPads.

Using a magnifying glass to find color words hidden on the monster and record them.

Playing at Housekeeping.

Go Noodle = Love!  Yes, I only had 7 kids on M-Z day (2 are finishing up a center).

We had a productive week last week. Can't wait to build on it this week.  Looking forward to sharing our year with you!