Five for... Friday?

I'm going to be really honest and say that when the first 'Five for Friday' post popped up on my Bloglovin' feed earlier there was a moment when I was totally confused.  I've been too busy enjoying my glorious Summer break and have totally lost track of time.  I hadn't thought about what day it might be since this time last week! Thank goodness for linkys to keep me on track. :)

In between pinning this week I ordered some cute business cards to use as 'take home' tokens.  The first for kidlets who have made it to the 'Super Kid' card of our clip chart, and the second for those who were caught filling someone's bucket.

I'm also excited for my self-inking stamp to arrive!  It says 'Checked by Miss Kuhn'.  Teaching Prep (Kindergarten) I don't mark my kidlets work with ticks and crosses.  I don't do a heap of worksheets and when I do, I ask kidlets to 'try again' if they are wrong.  If they end up getting it right I give them verbal praise (or a smiley face on their page if they've done a super job), but if they are wrong I don't put a big old cross on the answer they worked so hard to come up with.  I've seen Preppies become really stressed when their work is marked wrong.  This stamp will be a quick way to let parents know that I've seen each page.

I ordered the business cards and stamp from Vista Print.

My brother and nephew came to visit yesterday and we went to the zoo!

Mack loved this little wallaby almost as he loved the giant Boa Constrictor!

I loved this cute guy.

Earlier in the week I finished off a pack that I'd had in the works for a long time!  Read this post to learn about how I teach my kidlets to use 'Spaceman Spaces'.

Or click on the preview below to see the pack in my store.

I've been reminiscing about my fun 30th trip to Vegas with some lovely friends who I miss a lot.  

Australia to Canada is a long way to go for a catch up - I'm thinking we need to meet halfway in Hawaii!

How cute is this 'ant'onyms anchor chart that I pinned today!  I'm definitely going to use this idea.  The link goes nowhere though - bummer.  I bet whoever made this had a heap of other clever ideas.  Let me know if it's yours!

Now that I know it's Friday I'd best be off to watch the wedding shows on TLC, while reading the other Five for Friday posts of course! :)

Let's Use 'Spaceman Spaces'!

OK, let me start by sharing a painful memory from my childhood.  I'm a leftie (don't worry, I have very neat handwriting!) and spent my early years at school being taught to use 'finger spaces' when writing sentences.  Doesn't sound so bad?  Do me a favour - wherever you are right now, pretend to write with your left hand, use your right as a finger space and then attempt to do the yoga move you need to be proficient with to get your pencil over your finger, ready to write the next word.  Tricky, right?  Fast forward 20ish years and here I am giving my kidlets the same spiel 'use a finger space between each word'.  Apart from the leftie trouble, let's face it - that's a super boring way to encourage children to evenly space words in their writing.

That's why in my classroom, we use 'Spaceman Spaces'!

To get started with 'Spaceman Spaces' I do a whole class lesson that highlights the importance of appropriate space between words.  We test out 'Baby Steps', 'Giant Steps' and 'Spaceman Steps'.  Wouldn't you know it - 'Spaceman Steps' are just the perfect size!  Once that's established I introduce the 'Spaceman Spacer'.  Be prepared guys, this is a high-tech tool...

Look at those chubby fingers!

Yep, that's a picture of an astronaut glued to a craft stick!  Having the spacer right there as they are writing is a great visual reminder - and there's no twisty arm movements for right or left-handers so their handwriting isn't affected at all.  Each kidlet has their own, and I have some in the Writing Corner and at my small group teaching table as well.

To further encourage kidlets to consistently use 'Spaceman Spaces' I make a bulletin board, with an astronaut displayed for each child after they have independently used 'Spaceman Spaces' 5 times in a row.  They also receive an achievement certificate!  Towards the end of the year it becomes second nature for words to be spaced evenly, and spacers are no longer needed. :)

Please excuse the light and outlet right in the middle of my board. Honestly, who put them there?!

If you would like to use 'Spaceman Spaces' in your classroom, I've put together a pack with everything you'll need to get started (including an overview of the whole class lesson I mentioned earlier in this post):

I hope this is an idea that you'll be able to use in your classroom.  Let me know if it works for you! :)