A Peek at our Week!

Well, it is definitely raining! It has been absolutely pouring all morning, just about the heaviest rain that I have ever seen, and just when I think it's clearing it sets in again.  Time for me share a few photos of some of the activities we had fun with during group work this week!

Let's start with fine motor morning groups.

Using pieces of pipe cleaner as worms and clothes pegs as bird beaks is a very easy way to work on developing those little hand muscles and fine motor control.  Just cut up the pipe cleaners and provide some sort of container to work as a nest.  Kidlets use their bird beak to grab a worm and transfer it to their nest.  It would be very easy to make this activity much cuter, but my kidlets have always bought into the bird idea so I just leave it as it. :)

We love feeding Mike! You can find out how to make him in this post.

Kidlets squeeze open his mouth and feed him beans - or anything you have. This activity is quite tricky for some little ones during the beginning of the year, but as we work on muscle strength and stamina it becomes much easier.  Strong muscles mean no more "I can't write anymore, my hand is sore!" after only a few words on the page and much better pencil control. :)

Felt chains - the perfect quiet activity. :) Find out how I made them in this post.

We had lots of fun during literacy groups this week, but being with my Guided Reading group makes it very tricky to take photos!

I did manage to get a few snaps of this group playing Tower of Power!

This version is the letter recognition one - just write letters on plastic cups.  Kidlets take turns choosing one from the top of the stack, saying the letter and adding their cup to the tower.  We also play this with sight words later in the term.  The perfect storage solution for this game is an empty Pringles container!

These gorgeous girls aren't in my class this year but they came to visit one afternoon and played a game of 'Up, Up and Away'. This was the letter recognition game we played at the end of Guided Reading this week.

My kidlets love this game because of the superhero theme - and the sound effects they can make along the way! :) It's in my store in both Queensland font and standard font.

This week was our first practice with 'Write the Room'!  I love these activities because they make even the most simple concepts so much more exciting!

All you need are some clipboards.  This week I made up some picture cards and kidlets had to write down the number shown on each.  They loved sneaking around as 'spies' to find the cards.  You can find heaps and heaps of Count the Room/Write the Room packs on TpT.

A little more counting practice with some numeral and number recognition thrown in.  Kidlets loved counting buttons onto their snowman to match his knitted hat.  This part of a freebie in my store. :)

Lucky last... 

This activity is super simple to make.  Just use some masking tape to label pipe cleaners with numbers.  Kidlets lace the correct amount of beads onto each one.  

Turns out I took more photos this week than I thought. I'm trying really hard to make sure they are good ones, but you know how it is in the classroom!  I don't want to stop kidlets as they are working, and Preppies sure are wriggly.  Hopefully you found an idea or two you might be able to use. :)

Gorgeous Group Work... and one proud teacher!

I rely very heavily on group work to provide differentiated tasks for my Preppies.  I love small groups for practising skills and for teaching concepts with more teacher support.  At the beginning of each year I am always prepared for a few weeks of chaos management... you know the drill: kidlets wandering around, forgetting instructions, arguing, getting finished quickly and not knowing what to do next etc.  This year I've had my socks knocked off by a group of gorgeous kidlets who have taken to group work like ducks to water. :)  

Usually I would tailor group work activities so that week by week they became more independent. We focus on a new concept each week: stay with your group, do the activity as instructed, don't interrupt the teacher, ask your friends for help, move onto a 'Fast Finisher' task if you're done early.  After a few weeks we are all set for smooth sailing.  I am so proud of my Preppies this year because all of those things have happened in just a week of group work! (I'm vey lucky, I know!)

I organise my class into ability based groups.  We have group work 3 times each day, once first thing for  'Morning Groups' and then again for Literacy and Maths groups. One group works with me, one with my teacher aide and three independently.  Here's a peek at what we got up to during those times last week!

'Morning Groups' go for about 10 minutes and focus on fine motor skills.  During this time one group also changes their book box.  This week we started with lacing, using tongs with pom poms, cutting, tracing and 'Jumping Frogs' (a game I got for $1). Book boxes start next week. :)

Dr. Seuss lacing cards.

Tongs and pom pom patterns.

Literacy groups always have Guided Reading with me and last week we also had letter recognition, a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom name craft, sight word hopscotch and Letter School on iPads.

As a practice for group work this activity was amazing.  As a craft to display in the classroom... not so much! Kidlets had to cut out the leaves, glue to palm tree pieces down and arrange the letters of their name in order.

Sight word hopscotch.

For this letter recognition activity kidlets chose a card from the pile and coloured in the matching circle on their recording sheet.  The cards and worksheet are from Kindergarten Smorgasboard.

After reading our book during Guided Reading with me we played my letter recognition game, Beep, Beep!

During Maths groups we played 'Gone Buggy', made robot number lines, went fishing, worked with playdough mats and played 'Bugs & Numbers' on the iPads.

Linking up numbers 0-10 with plastic chain links. I love an activity that incorporates fine motor!

Playing 'Gone Buggy'. Kidlets have to collect 10 bugs in their jar.  Keep an eye on my store for this one!

I love playdough mats! These are from my Numbers 1-10 pack - they have picture clues so are perfect for independent work!

We went fishing for numbers 1-10 using my Gone Fishin' pack.  This was the favourite activity of the week for sure!  On Friday I was exhausted and thinking of scrapping Maths groups when I heard one precious kidlet say "I can't wait to go fishing later!".  We put the cards in a plastic boat with strips of blue cellophane. Attaching a paper clip to the mouth of the fish makes them magnetic - the rods have a magnet hot glued to a piece of rope.

Each team worked on their activity at the level that they were able to, with lots of smiles and laughs. Let's hope that next week goes as well as last! :) Do you love group work for your kidlets? I'd love to hear about how you make it work in your classroom! :)

Getting Set for the Sale!

Hi friends!  Are you as excited as I am for the back to school sale TpT is hosting on the 4th and 5th? I can't wait to grab some bargains! I've already got quite a few things on my wishlist, but need to whittle it down a bit before I check out.  I know some of you check out multiple times during big sales... but I get shopper's anxiety and usually make one big purchase in the last few hours! :)

I wanted to share with you all a few of my products that might come in handy as you head back to school (or further into the school year if you're here in Australia!).  My products are pretty much all hands-on activities or games, perfect for small groups, centers or fast finishers!  Click on each picture to go see the listing.

Let's start with the hands-on stuff! These guys are my best seller:

I made these two hands-on math activities to use in my fine motor and math rotations - I'm really proud of them because the kidlets LOVE them!  I love the fact that as they are working they talk about their thinking with their friends.  You can grab Link It Up with either numbers 0-20...

...or 2D shapes.

If your kidlets love sorting activities, they might like these guys:

Now for the games!!  I have lots of sight word and reading fluency games in my store.  They are used almost every day in my classroom, either in Guided Reading groups, as a center activity or because the kidlets have chosen to play them in free choice time.  Here's a few of my faves:

(If you're in the market for some reading fluency card games, the best value is the BUNDLE!)

Thanks for sticking with me through this shameless plug post!  I hope you find some really great resources to use in your classroom during the big sale, either from my store or one of the many others offering great discounts.  :)

Two for Tuesday!

How great are holidays! Tonight I'm staying up late to watch a movie! It's the small things. :) Stopping past real quick to share a few products in my store that I've discounted by 50% for The Teaching Tribune's Two for Tuesday!  They would have to be the bargain of the century - $1.25 each!!

First up is my newest product - a letter recognition card game called Beep! Beep!  This super cute game is perfect for your kidlets who need a little extra practice in fluently identifying lower and uppercase letters.  (If you've purchased the bundle of reading fluency games, this one will be added to that very soon!).

Sticking with the theme of lower and uppercase letter recognition I've put my A-Z Three Piece Puzzles on sale too!  

Although it's technically a third product, I marked the Queensland Print puzzles down too. :)

Back to movie watching for me!  Be sure to check out The Teaching Tribune for some more bargains. Happy shopping friends. :)

Meet my Monsters!

I thought it was about time I introduced you to the two most popular members of my class.  Please say hello to the Number Monster and the Alphabet Monster!  These guys are the star of the show any time they make an appearance, and I use them every week for teaching new concepts, revising old ones, and practicing those skills that we need to go over regularly.  My monsters have been the single best teaching tool that I have used in my classroom in the past few years - they make those repetitious activities exciting and engaging every time!  Keep reading for ideas of how to use them in your own classroom. :)

I made both of my monsters from old boxes.  The Number Monster is a baby, he was made from a Kleenex box.  I spray painted it and added some dot stickers, googly eyes and card teeth and tongue.  The Alphabet Monster was a wine glass box (!) and required a bit of cutting to make the teeth. I painted him and glued on some scrapbook paper dots.  The eyes are supported at the back with craft sticks and are made from more scrapbook paper and card circles.  I've seen other DIY monsters made from plastic bottles and little swing-top garbage bins, but I've had mine for years and they have never needed repair even though they are only cardboard.

We usually use the monsters during carpet time, we sit in a circle and I hold them as they are fed (don't tell the kidlets, but it's really me making the "nom nom nom nom nom!" noise as they eat!).  I either give each child a card/object or place them in the middle of the circle for the kidlets to choose from.  I tell them that "The Alphabet/Number Monster wants to eat..." and they choose the 'correct' food.

The Alphabet Monster eats:

*Letters during letter recognition or phonics activities - either magnetic letters, beads, or cards.

*Sight words

*Picture cards or objects during phonics activities - initial/medial/final sounds, rhyming work or based on a word family.

The Number Monster eats:
*Numerals, ten frames, dot patterns, number words - during recognition activities.
*Numbers more than/less than.
*Two numbers that add to another.
*Shapes

But really... they can gobble up just about anything!  I love to have a basket of 'Monster Food' (scrap paper cut into squares) so that the kidlets themselves can draw/write to make the type of food the Monster wants to eat.

The most important thing to remember when using the Monsters is that the more 'alive' you make them seem, the more engaged the kidlets will be when you use them.  Each Monster should have it's own voice and personality.  Our Number Monster is a baby, so he is very quiet and shy.  You have to be quite careful when you feed him so he doesn't get scared.  My kidlets love to give his head a pat when they've fed him.  The Alphabet Monster is much more confident, his voice is louder and his mouth moves - if you're not quick enough when feeding him, he bites!  Whenever we begin a monster activity, I always begin by saying 'We haven't fed the Number Monster in a few days, he must be so hungry!' or, "The Alphabet Monster was telling me how much he felt like gobbling up letters for lunch today!"  Then the kidlets are participating in the activity to please the monster, not me - it adds another personality to your teaching team. :)

I hope you can use this idea in your classroom, too.  Feeding monsters is so much fun, your kidlets will love it and best of all they will be learning as they smile and giggle!

Lauren

I Think It's Tuesday Typography (and a product update)!

Oh, the glorious joy of waking up (and not to the 5am alarm!) and not even knowing what day it is.  I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays as much as I am. :) I'm definitely not envious of all the US/Canadian bloggers who have been sharing the busy-ness of the beginning of the school year in their posts... but at the rate the year is flying past, that will be us Aussie teachers before we know it!

A quick product update - after a request I added starting dots and direction arrows to my Queensland print Alphabet Playdough Mats  so they can be used more effectively for handwriting practise as well.  I also have a set in a generic print (with no arrows), and mats for numbers 1-10 with simple directions and picture clues to use playdough for counting practise. :)

Double Duty Alphabet Mats - For Playdough or Handwriting!

Before I head off to snooze on the couch while watching Dr. Phil, here's some gorgeous typography as a little Tuesday inspiration!

Source

Lauren

ABC Playdough Mats!

Hi all!  Just a super quick note to let you know about a new product I just posted to my TpT store.  I couldn't find a set of alphabet playdough mats to use with my class that I liked (mainly because I wanted the font to be the one we use in our handwriting work), so I made a set!  I'll be printing the coloured mats in Queensland font for my kidlets - I'll be using them for fine motor skill development with playdough/pipe cleaners etc. and also for handwriting practise using whiteboard markers.  There's a pack in a cute print (not the Queensland font) as well, and both have the colour and black and white slides in the pack.

Alphabet Playdough Mats - Queensland Font

Alphabet Playdough Mats 

It might seem like an odd time of our school year to be making resources like this, but I'm trying to make things for January as I think of them... which is really just procrastination from all the work I should be doing for the coming week! :)

Happy last week of school to all Queensland teachers - can we make it 5 more days?!

Lauren