July 30, 2024

Boho Minimalist Reading Rotation Cards

 


I can't believe I've been on TpT since I started teaching back in 2011! OMG. I have loved seeing how this community of teachers has grown over that time - and some of it I miss....like, the pre-teacher influencer phase....but that's another post for another day...

...this summer I've been taking a peek around my shop and noticed that I haven't updated quite a bit of resources. I love a good purge and refresh and that's what I'm doing as I prep my store for TpTs upcoming Back to School Sale!

So, what's getting a refresh?? Let's take a peek!

Literacy Center Rotation Cards 


NEW! These literacy station rotation cards have a brand new look and are just $1! I took a peek at my old set and they were just so representative of the time I made them, lol. Now, they've got a new look and keeps literacy station rotations simple.


I love the Daily 5 and I love seeing that it's still being utilized - even after all of these years. My new cards continue to represent the various stations included with Daily 5. These stations include:

  • Work on Writing
  • Library Station
  • Word Work
  • Write the Room
  • Technology Station (great for learning apps)
  • Meet with Teacher
  • Guided Reading
  • Read to Self
  • Buddy Reading
  • Listen to Reading (can be a listening station or reading apps like Epic Books)
  • Book Club (can be for upper grades)
  • Creation Station (a craft/art station related to earlier read aloud, seasonal, etc.)

As always, if there are any stations not included, be sure to email me: littlefoxteaching@gmail.com and I'll be sure to add it!

Be sure to grab your copy today!




Happy teaching!





Read post

July 29, 2024

Classroom Setup '24

 


Welcome to my classroom!


This upcoming year I am inheriting a brand new classroom at a new campus, in a new city, and a new (somewhat) grade level. There have been a lot of transitions this last month, but ones that are exciting. After our move from Texas this summer back to San Diego, California, I was excited to be able to get into my classroom early and begin unpacking and setting up.


We all know that inservice week brings time in classrooms, but most of that week is prep, planning, and meetings. So, to have this extra time to build my classroom is a gift.


Arranging Furniture

First things first: gotta sort through what the previous teacher left behind - or in my case the long-term sub - and begin arranging the learning spaces.

This is often the most overwhelming compared to entering into an empty room. However, I am grateful that certain pieces of furniture have been left behind. After some time, I was able to sort of organize the big pieces of furniture into spaces I imagine will get the most use. I did peek into my teammate's classroom just to get an idea of how she uses her space - which was helpful.

The main areas I want to focus on are: 
  • meeting area near TV (which is where I plan to have us spend the most time together)
  • teacher desk with access to small group table
  • student desk arrangement (18 students)
  • classroom library
  • writing materials area





I am in need of a few more student desks (so, nevermind the random desk and chairs in the middle). I will have a total of 18 students this year, which is so manageable! But, when arranging the classroom the big thing to keep in mind is how much space these 2nd graders need and how they'll use the classroom throughout the day.

I want to keep table groups to 3, so that means 6 students at each table group. We'll see how that works out once students arrive. A lot of this year will be a test-run of a lot of things! Thankfully, the room arrangement can always be adjusted once the school year starts and I get a feel for how we need to change and adapt things!

Small Groups

Here is my planned small group table where I will meet with students throughout the day. I wanted this space to be easily accessed from my desk area and give me the best view to monitor my class. I will also have a homeroom teacher that comes in and assists with students (how amazing is that?!) and this will also be a great space for her to use when working with the kiddos.

In this space I plan to use the bookshelf behind the table for my small group reading and math materials. I love the plant that was left behind, so I have that right there, too. To the right of my small group table I plan to have writing materials and a kind of writing area. That's the goal, at least.


Future Sound Wall

Coming into this classroom I quickly noticed this massive word wall. This wall is the only real wall space I have in my room (mostly due to the large windows I get!) and it will become my sound wall. I do plan to incorporate words from this list onto the sound wall, but it will be generated by the class as we unlock sounds and introduce words.



I loved getting to use my sound wall at my previous campus in kindergarten and I can't wait to incorporate one in 2nd grade. My plan is to condense the sound wall into just a few panels, so I can utilize the rest of the wall space to other things. My new campus uses the UFLI curriculum, which has a lot of the same components to what I've been trained in previously. 

Here's my new wall!




I used butcher paper and picked up these cute "Everyone is Welcome" border from Lakeshore Learning. My sound wall is from Natalie Lynn and can be found here.

As far as these amazing counter tops over the cubbies, I plan to have various bins for student work and materials. But, for now I'll keep them bare and utilize them as we unlock certain learning spaces when students come.

Classroom Library

I am so grateful that my new campus provides so many amazing book choices for our classroom library. However, with how I want to arrange my room I need more shelving to house those books. At first, I made this space a little small only because I'd want my students to be able to read wherever makes them comfortable. Then, I quickly realized just how many books I have to organize....and not to mention, 2nd graders are bigger than kinders...so there's that.




I am planning to expand my library space and add more shelves thanks to Facebook Marketplace. I want to make this reading space a welcoming environment and open for students to be comfortable while reading.

I added this wall space for anchor charts and continued organizing the library itself. There were a lot of amazing chapter books and series hiding in one of my closets! I set out to get them organized and I'm happy so far with how the classroom library has come together.





We'll, for now that's what I've been able to do in my classroom over the summer. I look forward to August where we'll be heading back officially and things will really start to come together. I can't wait to get my class list, prep with my team, and get a feel for how the first week of school will feel.

Being new has me with the school-year-scaries...but it's a good feeling. I always say that if you no longer get the butterflies before a new year maybe it's time to transition out of the classroom. But, this year feels really good. I'm feeling confident and I know I have a great team to support me. There's a lot of new things heading my way this year being at a new school...but I can't wait to get started!

A final note...


Feel free to follow along this journey with me here, but also on my Instagram and Facebook. I know a lot of this online/social space has become filled with teacher influencers...and I am definitely not one of those. I love the "old school" way of documenting and sharing my adventures in the classroom in a way that's authentic and helpful to other educators...at least, that's my hope.

So, I hope you'll stick around and I would love to connect with you here or on the socials.

Happy teaching!

Take a sneak peek into my 2nd grade classroom!





Read post

June 7, 2024

Goodbye Kindergarten...


...and hello, SECOND GRADE!


...not only that, but our family will be moving once more. This time, back to the sunny west coast in San Diego. It's a bittersweet moment because the last four years have been filled with so many memories. I was pregnant with Olivia - who happened to bring with her arrival a snowstorm that wiped out Texas for a week (snow like this hadn't happened since the 1980s!). She had so many firsts in our home. And speaking of home, we became first-time homeowners here in San Antonio, too! Just looking back makes me realize how much this place provided for our family when we needed it most.


But, like many other times in our life as a family, things shift and change. With that change comes new opportunities... 


So, here's a bit of a long post that shares what leading us back to San Diego!


Shifting Feelings in 2024

This move back to San Diego didn't fully reveal itself until the 11th hour. It all kind of started with this school year and the shifting of feelings I was having professionally.

If I'm being honest, this was my year where I wanted to leave the classroom.

Why?

Because there's nothing worse than feeling as though day after day my tank becomes empty due to the ever evolving demands of my profession...so much so that I have absolutely nothing left to offer my family...my kids...when I get home. My work life was beginning to dramatically affect my home life and that was something I knew had to change.

I flirted with the idea A LOT and even began making moves towards a career outside of the classroom. There were a multitude of factors that lead to this, but being who I am, I sat with these feelings and reflected a lot throughout the school year.

I absolutely love what I do. I have always felt like being an educator was a calling - something that added a value and purpose greater than me. However, this year in particular, I found myself questioning whether the classroom continued to be the place where I felt the most fulfilled and where I had the most impact. I know other teachers were feeling the same way - not just at my campus, but everywhere.

Yes, teaching is hard work. Yes, you just have to adapt and carry on. 

But, there just seems to be this normalization that happens where we, as teachers, make things okay that aren't okay. These things lead to other things and eventually you find yourself in a space that doesn't bring you the joy you once had. This was where I found myself this year.

So, I did what others in this place would do...and that was to look for my next opportunity outside of the classroom. 

Leaving the classroom...


I began to educate myself on careers that would hire former teachers - careers where my educational experience could be leveraged and utilized...you know, those "transferrable skills." Throughout this process, I kept coming back to curriculum development. I began to feel excited about this switch and felt it was a natural progression in my career - teacher turned curriculum developer. It meant I could stay in education, but give back in a new and impactful way.

However, it would never be.

No matter how many resumes I sent out or interviews I had, no one was hiring. The talent pools were so large and I found myself competing with people who had way more experience in the field than I did. Also, I quickly learned that my years of teaching experience didn't quite transfer the way I would have hoped.

On top of experiencing the feelings I already had, this next career dream of mine was deflating with every copy-and-paste recruiter rejection email that landed in my inbox. I found myself so frustrated with the process and questioned even more why I was experiencing what I was. 

I felt like a mess. 

I was a mess. 

I didn't have direction and every step I took towards something, it didn't come to fruition the way I wanted. 

That's when I sat back with and realized that leaving the classroom wasn't the answer for me...

What's Meant To Be Will Find a Way



Over the last decade or so I have lived with a sort of mantra that says: "what's meant to be will find a way."  This quote is my way of making sense of the things that happen in life...and the things I can't control. It's a mantra that helps me be at peace for the way things work out - even the difficult or disappointing.

Everything about finding my place at my campus was mean't to be...for that time. Sitting today, I knew I had to make a change. But that change didn't necessarily mean away from the classroom.

As I began to let go...things somehow began to take shape and I found the direction I was so badly seeking.

Back to Cali...

How did San Diego come to be after all?

Well, it took a bit of time and for opportunities to present themselves. Both my husband and I sat down and discussed what our options were and where we both wanted in our careers. My husband's work will always dictate our moves/relocations because of the nature of what he does. We planned for various places like Austin. For a moment it was even North Carolina. In the end, my husband has various opportunities for career advancement in San Diego so that was a natural top choice.

We had just lived there and absolutely loved it. So, when the opportunity came up we immediately jumped on it!


Now that San Diego was in view...

I knew I wanted to try and have a job lined up before we moved. Every single move we've done I've always had to quit, move, then find work. And it's always worked out. However, this move I wanted to be able to have the peace of mind that I'll be able to work right as the new school year was beginning.

I applied to a variety of schools and was able to land a few interviews via Zoom. From there, I took a quick, less-than-24-hours, trip to San Diego to meet and tour these schools in-person (which I absolutely fell in love with). Although exhausting, I'm so glad I took that trip because in the following days I received a call and an offer! 

It was this opportunity that helped me regain the joy and excitement I had for teaching. It was the people I met along the way, the community I would be serving, and the school itself that helped me rediscover the passion and love I have as an educator.

Second Grade

In this new role I will be heading back to 2nd grade - a grade I haven't taught in ages. However, everything about this new opportunity fell into place in exactly the way it needed to. Even though I've been a primary teacher in kindergarten for the majority of my teaching career, there's something I'm so excited for in teaching the bigger kids. The curriculum is fun and the kids are still at the age of curiosity and having fun in their learning. 

A big change is coming for our family this summer - and even for me professionally. I look forward to what this new year will bring for us and I'm excited to share in that journey with you all here!

Happy summer, all!

Read post

May 27, 2024

J is for JEEP Day!

 


In kindergarten, we love to celebrate in style! Each year we countdown to the last day of school along with the alphabet - but, we go backwards! From Z to A we have themed days for the kids planned and so far it's been such a great time and it's something that helps keep the kids engaged right up to the last day.

Today, we're celebrating with the letter J and it's a JEEP drive-in! The idea took a minute to come to fruition, but I'm so glad my teammate suggested JEEPs for this day. Here's what we're up to!

Planning for JEEP Day

A few weeks after sharing the Countdown to Summer calendar with families (it outlines all of the themed days for the final 26 days of school), I sent home a separate flyer that gave student families the directions to creating their cardboard Jeeps along with ideas to get them started. Giving families enough of a heads up is vital and helps with participation.

This is our first year doing this and I have to say how impressed I am with the JEEPs that came in!

JEEP Day

To start, I designated an area of the classroom a "Parking Lot" where the JEEPs can be stored and kept safe. When it was time for our movie, I arranged the JEEPs so the kids could see without being blocked. I decided

JEEP Duckies



The phenomenon that is "getting ducked" by JEEP enthusiasts is something I shared with the class. I wanted to give them some background knowledge about the duckies and where it started. I found this news segment that explains the ducks and keeps the explanation short and sweet for my students.





We chatted a little afterward about the significance of the ducks and how the act of "ducking" is out of kindness to strangers - and how it took off to be a global movement!





Next, I gave students a blank duckie template where they designed their own JEEP duckie. When they finished coloring, they cut them out and glued them to their JEEPs.

It ended up being such an easy way to take part in the fun that is being a JEEP owner!

Fun Jeep Read-Alouds

Of course we can't have JEEP Day without fun read alouds! Here are a few of my favorite titles to read:

Sheep in a Jeep


My Daddy's Jeep

This is a fun story that explores vintage Jeeps all the way to more modern models through storytelling from around the world. The reader gets to see how Jeeps have evolved over time and enjoy seeing them go on different adventures!


The Little Jeep Who Couldn't Beep

This is a special story inspired by real US Army Jeeps that were driven during the war in Vietnam. After the war, and the Jeep's job was done, it was left to rust in a cold, dark shed....that' is until someone rescued him. It's such an endearing story and one I enjoyed sharing with my students.



There are so many cute ways to bring JEEP Day to life and I'm so happy with how it turned out! Here's to just 7 days left of school!



Read post

May 25, 2024

Graduation Directed Drawings

 


As I prepare for our end-of-year kindergarten graduation, I begin to prep all of the things students will be presenting to their parents on the big day. There's a writing portfolio I assemble using work samples from throughout the year, their monthly self-portraits and name writing, and other fun pieces from the year. 


In addition, students create watercolor self-portraits of them in their caps and gowns. This is an activity where I direct them (no YouTube required) and each year they come out so well! I display them in the hallway for a couple of weeks before I laminate them and present them during our class party.


Why Directed Drawings?

All year long I guide my students to become familiar with themselves. Call it a little SEL mixed with identity. The reason why I incorporate this activity each year is because of a moment in time when students would draw themselves, but not the way they actually looked. Everyone's skin would be "peach" regardless of their actual skin color. Hair would be drawn straight even if they had big curls. Or students would omit things like their glasses.

Flashback: While teaching kindergarten at the French school a few years ago, I was enamored with how my French colleagues (from preschool through elementary) emphasized drawing human forms (known has "bonhomme"). This showed me just how capable students were when given opportunities and direction.

Since then, self-portraits and directed drawings have become a mainstay all year and eventually become something the students present to their families on graduation day. 

BOY Directed Drawings

Since the beginning of the year is all about welcoming students and beginning those classroom community lessons, self-portraits are a great way to get students to begin seeing themselves as they are. In kindergarten social studies, students even learn the concept: "I am alike, I am different." This lends so much to what I love to build within my students!

I use personal handheld mirrors (provided initially for phonics/sound wall time) for students to observe their features. During various lessons we use them to focus on things about ourselves that make us alike and different. For example, we all have eyes...that's what makes us alike. But, our eyes can be different shapes or colors...that's what makes us different. We continue with this for a few lessons and then begin practicing self-portraits.

Graduation Directed Drawings


For this activity I model for students each step to creating their directed drawing. We all begin with the same features, then I tell them to add their own to make their pictures reflect what they look like.

General Guide:

  1. Draw a large oval for the face
  2. Add straight lines for the neck, a curved line connecting the sides of the neck
  3. Add diagonal lines to shape the shoulders to the end of the page. Add additional lines to make it look like a graduation gown
  4. Add facial features such as: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, eyebrows etc.
  5. Draw a triangle shape at the top of the head. This will be part of the cap
  6. Guide students to drawing a slanted square as the top of the cap. Add an optional tassel to the side

From there, I guide students to think about how they would draw their own personal features such as hair. Are they wearing earrings or glasses? They are to add these things to their own pictures.

Then I have them use skin-colored crayons to color their face and neck. Crayons also help keep the watercolors from bleeding onto the areas of their skin. When ready, students will finish off their drawings by coloring with watercolors. I tell them their cap and gown has to be blue, but they are to color everything else how they want. Finally, they are to pick a background color and done!



Each year our class receives so many compliments on their graduation drawings. They also make for such a cute keepsake for families. It's fun to see how students incorporate the different illustration skills they've picked up from various directed drawings throughout the year (those "cute" eyes!). I'm always so impressed in how they've all grown as illustrators and it's my hope they'll continue this growth throughout their educational journeys.

I hope this was a helpful and fun idea for your own end-of-the-year celebrations! 
Read post

May 20, 2024

End of the Year Reflections

 



It's almost time to say goodbye to this year's group of kinders! I can't believe how much time has just flown by, but I'm very excited for the summer ahead (and so are they!). So, to get in the summer spirit in these last couple of weeks we spent a moment thinking about what we're most excited for.

I found this cute sunglasses template online and created a quick worksheet. After reading our story (see below), we brainstormed the various things we're excited to do over summer break. Many students thought about the traveling they'd do or simply being able to sleep in. From there, they drew pictures in the frames reflecting those ideas.


I did a quick modeling of how to turn the body template into features of myself. Luckily we've done a ton of self-portraits this year, so students were very familiar with how to do this. 




And Then Comes Summer

The read-aloud I chose for this activity was the story And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner. It is such a beautiful story about a group of kids and their experiences during the summer break. Simple things like enjoying popcicles from the ice cream man, playing tag, or going to the beach. It was a great way to help students visualize their summer plans and make connections. 



This was such a simple activity and perfect for those end of the year days with students. I hope this inspires you as you enjoy your last moments with your own class!

Read post

April 17, 2024

Researching in Kindergarten | Part 2



Welcome to part two! In this post I'm going to share with you how the researching stage of this unit looks like in my classroom. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my last post where I discuss how I introduce the research unit to my class.

For this part of our unit my class will begin their research to answer the following questions:

  • what does my animal look like (diagram)
  • where does my animal live?
  • what does my animal eat?
  • what is an interesting fact about my animal?

They will utilize the various sources that we've introduced and explored. These sources include NF books from the library, Epic Books, and an online database called Pebble Go. I typically have students spend one day for each of the questions they must answer. This allows them to have ample time to locate the information and copy it onto their planning sheet.




Once their planning sheets are complete, students are now ready to begin creating their published non-fiction books. This stage is completed during our reading and writing blocks because we focus on both reading and writing TEKs.

Diagrams


For this lesson, students have the opportunity to review key text features of non-fiction/informational texts. The one feature we focused on was diagrams. We explored different texts and reviewed how diagrams help the reader understand the parts of something.

I found this awesome video that explores diagrams, too (although, we didn't watch the whole video). It was a great supplement to my lesson. I loved how it included various examples of diagrams and made planning this lesson easier.




Student-Made Diagrams

Now, students were ready to explore Epic Books or the books they checked out from the library to hunt for diagrams of their animals. I provided them their publishing paper where they were to copy the diagram from their source and include at least three labels. I was so proud to see them navigating their sources with such ease.


Preparing for misconceptions or confusion...

One aspect of this lesson that I had to make sure students understood was that they were not so much reading to find information, but rather perusing the pictures to find a diagram. I also wanted them to know that not ALL non-fiction books include diagrams. This meant they would have to look through a variety of books to find this text feature. Luckily, they were pros and were able to find some pretty great examples of diagrams to use for their books.


In part three of our research unit, I'll share how students transfer their information from their planning page to their final non-fiction books. This will be a 2-3 day process where students complete a page that answers the questions: what my animal eats, where they live, and their interesting fact.


Feel free to get my full research unit on TpT!




See you then and happy teaching!


Read post

April 16, 2024

Introducing Research in Kindergarten | Part 1

 


One of my all-time favorite units in reading/writing to teach is research. Year after year, my students find it to be highly engaging and I see them gaining so much confidence through each of the components. By the end of this unit, my students have truly become experts in their chosen animal and the best part is they've equipped themselves with a multitude of research skills. These skills include:
  • identifying what sources are/their use and logging into those sources
  • guiding their research through questions
  • recording their findings with a graphic organizer
  • sharing their findings with a culminating writing project and poster

It is always a joy to see the benefit of this research unit and just how engaged students are. Here's what our research unit looks like in my classroom!

Introducing Research

The first week of this new unit our class spends a lot of time building up their schema around the foundations of research. We discuss things such as:
  • The purpose of research
  • Steps to research
  • Facts vs opinions
  • Sharing our research with others

This helps students begin to conceptualize what research is and how they'll be moving through this process throughout the unit. 

Exploring Sources

This year I changed up my introduction to research to include a day where students get to explore different sources. We discuss what sources are and how we plan to use them throughout the unit. The sources we use in our class include:

I spend a day or two for students to engage with and explore these different sources. At this point we haven't jumped into research just yet, but rather giving students the chance to explore and get excited about the work that's coming ahead.


We discuss the features of each source and students get a feel for the source they prefer and discuss why.

Pebble Go 




PRO: In kindergarten, we love using Pebble Go (our district has a subscription) because it's an online source that's easy to navigate and the site reads to the students.

CON: One of the downsides to Pebble Go is that there is a username and password. For my kinders, this is tricky because they're only beginning to read/write. To help with this, I print our username and password for each student and tape it into their supply boxes. This helps me a lot because my more capable students get really good at logging in themselves and that frees me up to help my other students to log in.

So, after I model and they practice logging in, students have time to explore around the Animals section to decide on the animal they're most interested and excited to research about. By the end of this lesson, my students have chosen their animal and have experience logging in to the source they'll be using most often during this unit!

Asking Questions to Guide Research

Building upon their understanding, students then learn all about the steps to research: planning, researching, recording, and sharing. I simplify it into these steps to provide an easy-to-follow outline for my students. Furthermore, I explain that as they become experts they will be researching to answer four main questions:

  1. What does my animal look like?
  2. Where does my animal live?
  3. What does my animal eat?
  4. What is a fun fact about my animal?

First, we discuss how we already come to our research already knowing a little bit about our animals. We take a moment to share out one thing they already know. After this, students then begin to think about the questions that will guide their research in the four areas outlined above (a diagram of their animal, its habitat, its diet, and a fun fact).

I love sharing this video with my students which covers this exact topic:



Now that students have a strong understanding of the purpose behind their research and have guiding questions, they're ready to begin!





I use a simple graphic organizer that helps students track their research. This organizer is already broken into sections for each question students will answer. I collect this organizer after each lesson and pass them back out the next day for the next lesson. 

Check out my next post to see what the researching stage looks like in my classroom! And feel free to get my full research unit on TpT!









Read post

February 28, 2024

Kindergarten Writing Portfolios

 



In kindergarten, it's so exciting to see the growth each child goes through within a school year. It's one of the most treasured moments I have year after year. One way my students can show off their growth and success is with their Writing Portfolios!

I love incorporating a writing portfolio each year because it's one of the easiest ways to track their progress and having these work samples available also makes for great references during writing conferences (or even parent conferences). I remember when a student of mine was so discouraged and didn't think they were writing as well as their peers. But one look at their work and how it's progressed over the year gave them the confidence to keep going. Such a powerful moment!


Storing Portfolios



I have a black crate that I use with hanging file folders for each child and I just keep it tucked away in my classroom. There are so many different ways you can use to store your student's writing, but this has been a system that has worked for me. I've seen teachers use binders or folders...either way, just find a system that keeps your student's work organized and easy to access.

Monthly Self-Portraits



One of the skills that I love building in my students is their sense of self. I stock my classroom with skin-tone crayons and markers and we spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year discussing and drawing ourselves. I love using personal mirrors (used for phonics when learning how to make the correct mouth formations) so they can notice the different qualities about themselves - often for the first time!


We notice how we're alike and how we're different (Social Studies objective right there!), what our skin, hair, and face look like. We notice our hairstyles and eye color. We have discussions around these concepts and students are given plenty of practice to draw. We also discuss how we can draw using different shapes and lines. Curved lines for our faces, spirals for curly hair, lines for straight hair, and circles for eyes. With all of this foundation laying, students are ready to begin their self-portraits for their portfolios!



I heavily model how to draw a self-portrait at first. It takes quite a bit of scaffolding and practice for something so simple. Students first watch me as I bring their attention to different features about myself as I draw. Then, we add color - this is an awesome time to introduce those skin-toned crayons! Finally, they begin to write their names.


Each month students will continue this process all the way to the last month of school! You'll notice that they'll need less and less support as they get more comfortable drawing themselves. You'll also start to notice them applying these skills to other people in their stories during writing time - which is also very cool to see.

End-of-the-Year Gift

When it comes to the end of the school year I love presenting parents and families with their child's hard work. After our kindergarten graduation ceremony, parents return to our classroom where they're presented with their child's portfolio and other keepsakes. 


Parents are always so excited and proud of their child's hard work because their portfolios give them a snapshot of where they started and where they're ending the year! Plus, as a teacher, this gift is completely FREE and very meaningful.





I hope you find writing portfolios to be a successful addition to your classroom this year or upcoming year!

Read post

February 25, 2024

Gingerbread Composing Activity



One of my favorite concepts to teach my kinders in math is composing and decomposing numbers. If you're not familiar with the term, it simply references how numbers are made by combining different quantities. It's foundational number sense that builds over the school year to eventually being able to add and subtract (or join and separate).


What I enjoy about it is that you can see how students begin to make connections and for them to demonstrate how numbers are created. At the beginning of the year, we begin with composing numbers to 5, then to 10, and at the end of the year we jump up to 20. It's very cool to see how this progression allows students to become little number experts and truly understand how numbers represent quantities and that we can manipulate those quantities in different ways.

...but anyways...


One activity I enjoy doing with them around the holidays is this gingerbread composing craftivity!


Gingerbread Composing

Sorry, it's not a great photo, but here's an example of one of my student's work.

I use this activity after we've spent a lot of time building upon the understanding of number sense to 10. We spend weeks learning how to represent, count, compare, and write numbers in different ways. Then, as a means to have students show off what they've learned they complete this fun and engaging craftivity!

Students are provided a set of 10 gingerbreads that are both boys and girls. They are to select a quantity of each to compose numbers of their choice from 5-10. I encourage students to think about the different "number pairs" or "number partners" that we've discussed in previous lessons when composing. It helps them stretch their understanding beyond the easy peasy number pairs like 5 and 5 make 10. 

Words vs Symbols

To finish, my students must complete the solution statement that describes the number they're composing. In my district, we use the phrase: "____ and _____ make ______" and not the symbols. We move towards working with the symbols at the end of the year as to make the link between building numbers to addition. 

I see a lot of great resources on TpT and other teacher blogs, but rarely do I see "and" and "make" being used. So, I've included both versions just because I know different classrooms use different verbiage to describe composing. 



I've seen teachers get super creative with this activity by adding foil to the background to make it look like the gingerbreads are baked on a cookie sheet. So cute!


In addition to the gingerbreads, I've also included marshmallows to represent the same concept of composing to 10. Simply choose the activity that best suits your learners.





Read post

Sprouting Seeds: Living & Non-Living Science

 


One of my favorite science units to teach in kindergarten is our unit on Living and Non-Living! We spend a few weeks building our knowledge around what makes an object living or non-living then explore the differences between needs and wants.


What's more, this unit is a wonderful opportunity to expose students to non-fiction texts if they haven't learned about them already. I highly recommend digging through your school's library for some NF texts on living and nonliving things to have students read and explore. Epic Books and Pebble Go are other great virtual resources as well!


Week 1: What is Living/Non-Living

This introductory week allows students to develop a strong understanding of what makes an object living or non-living. They will use key vocabulary to describe objects (tying in their vocabulary from a previous unit on attributes/properties) and sort them based on what makes them living or not.


Week 2: Needs of Living Things: Animals & Plants

This week students build on their understandings and focus on living things as plants and animals. Students begin to identify the certain "needs" of living things and how they require these things to survive. This is a great opportunity to discuss needs vs wants...which ends up being a bonus discussion about accepting no. 


I really enjoy using this resource from Kindergarten Creations. It has a lot of great visuals for this unit and for the student work pages, I size my copies down so students can glue their work/thinking into their science journals. 


And who doesn't love a good Cookie Monster moment?? This is a fun video to share with students to drive concepts home about the basic needs of living things.



Week 3: Seed Sprouting Lab

In this week our class begins to apply what they've learned to a lab where they sprout a lima bean seed! 


This ends up being my favorite week because students get the opportunity to sprout their own seeds and observe the beginning of a plant life cycle! In our class, we use lima beans (nice connection to our read-aloud A Bad Case of Stripes) and place them inside Ziplocs. You can use any type of bean (I've used some pinto beans from my sensory bins before!) as they all begin sprouting relatively quickly. I found this cute greenhouse cover where students write their names and decorate them. Afterward, I tape them up to our window and the watching begins!


It ends up taking a week or so before students can begin to see changes in their seeds. I place 3 inside their greenhouses to give them a greater chance of sprouting something. 


Pick up this FREEBIE over at my TpT store so your students can begin sprouting their own seeds in a classroom greenhouse!




Read post
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Latest photos from @littlefoxteaching

© Little Fox Teaching. Design by Kate.