Flip the Switch on Classroom Interruptions!

We've all been there - you finally get your kidlets settled and started working on a whole class test when there's a knock at the door and a group of Year 6 kids arrive to talk about student council.  Or maybe you're a few pages into the text with your guided reading group and another student taps you on the shoulder to ask if they can get a drink.  Perhaps the worst of all - the precious ten minutes you have to do some one-on-one intervention work with a struggling student is lost when Susie from next door arrives to borrow some blue paint.  Today I'm sharing a super simple (and cheap!) trick to stop those annoying interruptions during important activities.

First of all you need to visit your local hardware store and grab a battery powered light.  Any will do  - the one I have is called a flip light and was $3.99 from Bunnings. 

The light acts as a signal to others that your students are working on a task that can't be disturbed - put it on the wall near your classroom door or your small group table.

Flip the light on whenever you need to - anyone tempted to knock and interrupt your teaching will see it and come back later!

I've popped together a few posters to display beside your light - click on any of the images below to download them for free.

Testing in Progress - perfect to put beside the door:

 We are working hard - put this one beside your small group table to let the rest of your class know that important work is happening:

Do not disturb - use this for parent teacher interviews etc. when you're having a meeting:

I hope you try this easy trick to stop those annoying interruptions while you're teaching!

St. Patrick's Day Number Fun! {FREEBIE included}

I'll be honest and say that I don't theme a lot of my maths and literacy activities to special days and holidays.  I like to be able to use resources whenever my students need them, not according to the time of the year.  I tend to do themed activities in subject areas like art and writing, where I don't have to prepare laminated resources and can display the work on a bulletin board to get maximum bang for my buck. :)

In saying that.... there's something about St. Patrick's Day that inspires a bit of fun!  Is it the leprechauns?  Maybe the rainbows?  Who knows - but I do have some cute activities up my sleeve that I love to use in March.

I love to use 'Roll and Cover' as a familiar activity with my kidlets because it's so easy to differentiate.  I start the with number recognition and move on to addition and subtraction as the year goes on.  All you need is a mat per child (I like have my kidlets play this game in partners during math center time) and some dice.  You can use counters or cubes to cover the numbers, or grab some gold coins from the party section of your local dollar store.

For 'Roll & Add' or 'Roll & Take', children roll 2 dice and use either addition or subtraction skills to figure out which number on their mat to cover.

By printing in blackline you have a different activity - choose 'Roll & Color' either to save ink or to use as a recording sheet for your kidlets to glue into their math workbooks.

Click on any of the images above to check out the resource that these pages come from! 
One of my all-time-fave games to use in math centers is 'Race to 20'! In my TpT store you can find 3 of these for free - one of which is St. Paddy's Day themed!  

This is a super simple game for children to play - they simply roll the die and add counters to the tens frame on their game board.  The first to collect 20 is the winner!  You can either use regular counters or gold coins.
If you're not in the mood to create laminated resources to have some St. Patrick's Day fun in your classroom, there's a few easy props you can use instead!  Use gold coins or rainbow pom poms instead of counters, print worksheets on green paper or pretend that a naughty leprechaun has 'hidden' things or turned them upside down when explaining activities, or allow your kidlets to use rainbow colors in their workbooks. :)

Five for Funday!

It's been soooooo long since I linked up with the Five for Friday party! Today I thought it was time to get back into it... even though I'm two days late. 😃

1. Our household has been bitten by the Christmas bug already!  We celebrated early with part of the family because we won't be together during the holiday, and because we hosted it made sense to put our decorations up!  The girls wore their new dresses for our family lunch - long enough to pose by the tree before they jumped in the pool.  Instead of swapping presents this year we made (or bought) festive costumes to wear during the day - you can see how gorgeous we looked below! We've also posted the girls' letters to Santa - we got the postcards from the post office and posted them into the special box.

2. Speaking of the Christmas season, I saw this image on my Instagram feed and haven't been able to get the idea out of my mind!

It is so easy for kidlets to get caught up in the 'gimme!' attitude that comes along with Christmas time.  Every day there's treats, cookies, candy and gifts galore - it's easy to get selfish and greedy.  I absolutely LOVE the idea of a 'Classroom Kindness Challenge'.  Each day a challenge card is revealed and kidlets complete the act of kindness. What an easy way to encourage children to think of others during the materialistic holiday season.  You can start any time and could even use the challenge at home with your own children - maybe alongside 'Elf on the Shelf'! Click on the image above to see the pack. 

3. We had another reason to dress up this week! (And yes, the girls wore their same new dresses.)  We spent a lovely afternoon in the hinterland at a wedding.  

4. Being out of the classroom this year has left me really missing the hands on work of teaching.  I was beginning to feel like my days of impacting kidlets were over - and then I received this feedback on one of my resources: 

It really warmed my heart to know that even though I'm not face to face with students each day, I can still do my little bit to help here and there. 😊

5. Some of the oldest products in my store were in desperate need of a makeover!  The past few days I've updated one of my all time fave freebies - counting snowman buttons or marshamllows, and my Christmas playdough mats. Click on the pictures to go to each resource.

That's all from me today.  I'm off to grab some ice cream and to read the rest of the posts in the Five for Friday linky!

Repeat After Me: A strategy to save your sanity!

Ok, I know we've all been in this situation: 
Children are gathered on the carpet, where it appears that they have been listening carefully to the instructions for the next task that you've spent time clearly explaining.  Before sending them off to get started, you check to make sure there are no questions or clarification needed.  Everyone nods that they are all set - instructions remembered, eager to get going!  As the kidlets move to their desk or work space you (prematurely) congratulate yourself on your clear and concise directions!  And then it begins... "What do I do first?" "Do we draw or cut after we write our name?" "Am I supposed to use crayons or pencils?" "I can't remember what to do after I colour my picture!"  You then spend the rest of the lesson explaining everything again, to each child individually, mentally pouring yourself the glass of wine you'll need when you get home.
A few years ago this was me - all the time! - until I stumbled across a simple strategy that literally saved my sanity.  I'm going to share it with you today, along with a free resource that you can use along with it. :)

When I said this strategy was simple, I really meant it!  It simply uses repetition, connected with a verbal and physical response, to help little learners remember instructions.    

The first step is to explain the task as you usually would - perhaps you have a craft example already made that you refer to while giving instructions, maybe you demonstrate on the whiteboard how to complete a worksheet, or you might move around the workspace pointing out resources that your kidlets will need.  Once you're done with this process, it's time to use 'Repeat After Me'!

Let's imagine I've just explained a craftivity in detail to my class, perhaps these 2D shape icecreams:

I then say "repeat after me" (which my kidlets are familiar with!) and go through the steps one by one one using my fingers to number them, with children repeating my phrases and holding up their own fingers.  For this craft it would go something like this:

(1 finger) "Name the back of the cone in pencil." 

(2 fingers) "Cut out the coloured shapes."

(3 fingers) "Glue the pieces together."

(4 fingers) "Glue on the shape names"

Then we repeat the steps again - this time with less words:

(1 finger) "Name"

(2 fingers) "Cut"

(3 fingers) "Glue"

(4 fingers) "Glue"

Using this strategy I don't ever ask if there's any questions - I send my kidlets away to get started straight away, with the instructions still fresh in their minds! :)

During the repetitions I'll also point to the visual instruction cards that I use  - they have the same numbers and one word direction that we're saying and also a simple picture.  I just stick them to the board and point as I speak.  Even if kidlets forget the next step, or whether they colour with crayon or pencil, the numbered steps remind them and the graphic specifies the material they need.  I've prettied these up a bit for you and uploaded them to my store where you can download them for free - just click the pic below! (Spelling for colour & color included.)

Although using 'Repeat After Me' works really well for more complex activities like crafts, I use it for most tasks.  It might seem obvious that kidlets need to name their worksheet before they start, or to write before they colour their picture... but the fact is that for little learners at the beginning of their school life, it's not! To help them achieve success by completing a task as instructed, I use this strategy to help them establish good independent work habits.  Of course, there will always be a few students in your class who will still forget or become confused completing multi-step tasks, but this strategy should help most. :)

Click this image to grab your freebie (and leave some feedback if you can!):

Valentine's Day Inspiration - with a freebie!

Looking for some easy peasy ways to celebrate all things Valentine's Day with your little learners? You've come to the right place!  Today I'm going to share a few simple ideas that I've made with my little ones this weekend, as well as some links to a few other great activities.  I've just uploaded a new freebie to my store too, so keep reading to the end to grab the link. :)
First up is a super cute footprint craft that I made with Little Miss Two today.  We painted her feet red and printed them onto some pink paper. I made up a template for her to glue the heart onto, but you could easily use this idea for Valentine's Day cards made by older children - and of course it doesn't have to be for Daddy. :)

Taking a little more time (and patience!) was this gorgeous collage craft.  It only took Miss Six about 10 minutes to glue the paper pieces down to the template.  I'd cut the paper for her, but this would also be great as a paper tearing activity.

I've also got plans to make these super cute and simple 'Love Bug' headbands on Valentine's Day.

Hopefully we'll also have time to make these cute Valentine's Day leis, made from wool, paper hearts and pieces of pink straw.

During the week we'll work on these gorgeous cupcakes - a freebie from Mel at From the Pond!  I love that these are so simple but really give kidlets a chance to share about things that are important to them.

This simple name puzzle would be perfect for kidlets who are still working on recognising the letters in their name and spelling it correctly.  I made mine with clipart, printed and laminated it, but for a whole class I'd just use a marker and pink paper before chopping the names up.

I love this counting activity that's perfect as a DIY! Just write numbers on paper hearts and provide kidlets with pom poms (or anything cheap'n'cheerful!) for them to count with.

Last (but not least!) is a number puzzle freebie that I've just uploaded to my TpT store.  Click on either of the images to download 'Broken Heart Number Match' - numerals and number words from 0-10. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Back to School - Classroom Management Tricks!

One of the most important things to think about before you start a new school year is the techniques you will use to manage behaviour and routines in your classroom.  What's great about teaching Prep is that you can have lots of fun while keeping your kidlets motivated towards reaching behaviour goals and working responsibly with others.  

There are of course many ways to track student behaviour and to reward kidlets who've made great choices - clip charts, sticker charts, Class Dojo, table points - and to be honest it really doesn't matter which of these you use.  Just make sure you choose something that will be easy to manage during busy days of teaching.  I personally like using a clip chart, with each child having a peg to move up towards 'Super Kid' status or down as a reminder that they've been warned about a poor behaviour choice.  It only takes a second to move a peg and they love the visual to keep them on track.  More important than what system you use is that your expectations are very clearly set right from the first day of school so that kidlets know what is and isn't appropriate in your classroom.  For years now I've been using this awesome (and free!) pack from Growing Kinders - it's called Monster Manners!  On the first day of school we read the cute little story about the monster who went to school and just wasn't quite sure how to behave nicely.  Then we spend time together deciding what choices are above the line (helping, raising your hand, sharing), below the line (lying down during carpet time, interrupting), or bottom line (hitting, yelling).  The colourful display stays up all year and I can refer back to it whenever we need a reminder about classroom behaviour expectations.

Another technique I use within the first few days of Prep is called 'Self Control Bubbles'.  We often talk about using self control to make good behaviour choices, and this easy activity gives little ones something real life to refer to.  We start by sitting in a circle outside and I explain that I will be blowing lots of bubbles in the air.  The first time, kidlets are allowed to pop them to their heart's content (I usually stipulate that they must stay seated to limit the chaos).  I blow lots of bubbles and we have lots of fun popping them.  The second time I blow the bubbles, kidlets must keep their hands in their lap and not touch any - even if one lands right on their nose! I explain that they will be using a feeling called self control to keep their hands still.  This time when I blow the bubbles, everyone sits very still.  We then talk about times in the classroom or playground when we really, really want to do something that we shouldn't, and connect the feeling of self control to those situations.  You can repeat this activity at the beginning of each term or one-on-one for individual students if needed. Click on the pictures below to grab a free pack with a label for your bubble bottle and some response worksheets. :)

                

When you're working with little learners you will probably want to have some sort of reward system in place for when they reach behaviour goals each day/week.  I used to have a prize box which was slowly sending me broke - not to mention the fact that prizes were often left behind at the end of the day or broken before they even left the classroom.  Last year I ordered some business cards from Vista Print (I got hundreds for less than $10) to use as 'take home tokens' when kidlets had reached the 'Super Kid' level on our clip chart, or when they had done a particularly good job of being a 'Bucket Filler'.  I would write a very short note on the back to let parents know what their child had done well that day.  Although I thought the novelty would wear off, it turned out that even at the end of the year it was still a huge excitement to take home a Super Kid card - children would run to their parents at home time and eagerly talk about what they had done to receive one. No more prize box for me!

 

On the Vista Print website there's an option to upload your own design - I just used some cute clipart in PowerPoint and then saved it as a jpeg. :)

Let's be honest - no matter how well you set up your expectations and classroom routines, there will be days when you just need a little bit of magic to keep your kidlets on track.  One of my favourites is 'Quiet Spray' - to be misted into the air when it's time to settle down and work quietly.  The ideas I saw on Pinterest were just an empty bottle, so the 'Quiet Spray' was just air, but I use water with a few drops of lavender oil.  In summer I keep it in the fridge for an extra cool treat after play time.  Whenever it's sprayed in the air kidlets magically calm down and work quietly. :)

                           

I also have a class set of 'Quiet Critters' made from pom poms and craft foam.  I bring them out from time to time when we need some practice working nicely.  Quiet Critters are very shy, so they will only sit on your desk if you are working sensibly.  Whispering is ok, but loud voices scare the Quiet Critters away.  Obviously most of the time in Prep we are working in groups, playing games, moving and having fun - so Quiet Critters are a little extra motivation for those odd times we're at our desks. :)

                                     

Another management tool I find very helpful is 'Handy Helpers'.  Having a chart of classroom jobs seems pretty inefficient to me - you spend most of the day trying to figure out who's supposed to be doing which job, who the line leaders are, who's not there because they're taking the tuckshop etc. To solve this problem I write each of my kidlets' names on a foam hand and have two helpers each week.  They are the line leaders, they do any jobs that need doing and they take the tuckshop.  So simple and easy!

                          

I hope this post has given you a new idea or two that you might be able to use in your classroom this year!  I'd love to hear if you try one. :)

Division for Little Learners!

This week we've been working on the concept of 'sharing equally' in maths.  As with all number concepts, there's lots of hands-on practise to be done to make sure each kidlet really understands how do divide objects into equal groups.  I wanted to share with you a very quick and easy idea that you might be able to use with your class! (There's a link to a freebie file towards the end of the post, too.) To start off I read the story of 'The Three Little Pigs'.  We then gave each child a piece of paper with three little piggy images, as well as one of a wheelbarrow.  I explained that the three pigs would all be working together to help build a house of sticks.  We then used matchsticks to solve division problems! :) I would choose the number of sticks for children to load into the wheelbarrow.  We used craft matchsticks.

We would count our sticks together to make sure everyone was starting with the correct number.  Then we'd share the sticks equally between three pigs.

We'd check to make sure each pig had the same number, and then one of my kidlets would give the answer in a sentence. E.g. Twelve sticks shared into three equal groups leaves four sticks in each group.

I even introduced the idea that not all shares can be equal. We tried to divide seven sticks between the three pigs and discovered that we would have one left over.

This activity is so easy to adapt depending on the resources you have in your classroom.  Last week we used little rubber ducks from the dollar store and divided them into two groups using blue paper for a pond, and next week we will use teddy counters and 'picnic rugs'.

If you'd like to do this with your class, I've uploaded the file to my TpT store as a freebie. :)