Five for Funday: Parties, Playtime and Pirates!

Whoops! Late to link up again! :) I had a super busy week, but as a result had lots of photos to choose from when choosing my 5 random moments for Five for Friday.

1. We had lots of fun with hands-on maths activities this week!  I've been loosely theming our work with our Science unit (Seasons) so we had some beachy/Summery fun counting and comparing shells and playing Pirate Treasure Ten Frames.

For this activity, kidlets scooped some shells from the bucket and counted them.  They then practised writing the numeral or showing the number on a ten frame. They compared who had more/less/the same amount of shells.  This was extra fun because my TA took each group out into the sunshine to work!

I blogged about this cheap'n'cheerful pirate themed game earlier in the week - everyone loves pirates! :)

This activity didn't get to be beach themed - but kidlets got a chance to sort shapes, animals and fruit/veges (from Home Corner!) in different ways.  We talked about sorting by colour, size, shape and type.  I always love to see the creative ways that the fruit and veges are sorted.  One clever kidlet sorted into 2 groups - things that can go into a fruit salad, things that can't.  :)

2. Last Sunday I travelled home to Mum and Dad's place for an early Mother's Day lunch.  My nephew was having a great time playing on the clothesline!  I remember that my brother and I were never allowed to do this, because it would make the clothesline crooked (we did it anyway!) but it seems that the rules are different for grandchildren. :)

3. If you read my Five for Friday last week, you might remember that I was going to pick up some new furniture.  I had originally planned to paint the dresser, but when I picked it up, the finish on it was too nice to ruin with paint so I ended up just sanding and varnishing it.

I ended up painting an old bedside table, just because I really wanted to use some gorgeous drawer handles I bought from Anthropologie.

My favourite furniture store was having a sale, so I also bought a new occasional chair!

4. It was my best friend's birthday yesterday.  A group of us spent a few hours on a pontoon boat cruising up the river having a BBQ lunch to celebrate.

5. Saw this pin during the week and it made me smile.  I love those times at school when children get the chance just to be little.  Sometimes my kidlets do things that remind me that they are just babies... I really hope that I provide them with lots of chances to experiment, be creative and test the boundaries of their comfort zone... Although I wouldn't necessarily encourage the consumption of too much paste! :)

This pic linked back to this Etsy store.

Happy weekend everyone!  

Lauren

Pirate Treasure Ten Frames! A DIY game your class will {love}!

Don't you love those moments?  The ones where you tell everyone what they'll be working on for Maths and the response is "Yay!!"  I've been having those moments this week when I tell each group that it's their turn to play Pirate Treasure Ten Frames. :)

I think I've blogged about this game before, but it's worth another quick post just in case.  To play, each child needs a ten frame (you could use two to play with numbers up to 20 if you wanted).  Just print and laminate a grid.  I use a pocket die - I change up the numbers in there all the time as the year goes on.  To start with, I have dot (jewel) patterns for 1, 2 and 3.  At the moment, it's the numbers 3, 4 and 5. I also use numerals or number words depending on what we need to work on.  Children take turns rolling the die, placing that number of jewels on their ten frame.  My 'jewels' are from the garden section of a hardware store, they were about $2 for a big bag.

When their ten frame is full, kidlets trade their jewels in for some Pirate Booty to put in their treasure chest!  Be prepared for elation when this happens! :)  I use plastic coins and treasure chests from the party section of the dollar store. I laminated the treasure chests and have been using them for years.

The best part about this game is that as the kidlets are playing, they will be working on counting, number/number word recognition and ten frame skills.  I leave them to play by themselves, and when I pop past to check on them I ask questions to get them thinking.  Depending on what they need, I'll ask how many jewels are on their ten frame, how they see the number, how many they would have if they added 1 more, how many more to make 10, who has more/less/the same amount of jewels etc. 

You can decide on a winner by seeing who has the most coins in their treasure chest, but I find that the sheer joy of collecting the treasure is enough fun! 

There you have it - a cheap and cheerful game that I promise your little ones will be mad for.  I'd love to know if you try it. :)

Lauren

TpT {loves} Teachers! Teacher Appreciation Sale Time!

It's that time of year again!  TpT is having a sale!  Stock up your wishlist and get ready to buy up big on 6th & 7th May.  My store will be 20% off during this time, and with the promo code TPTXO you can grab an additional discount when you check out!  

You can pop over to visit my products here - with those discounts some of them will be as cheap as chips!  If you are a Prep/Kinder teacher and need some colourful and fun activities that your kidlets can work on independently during group work or Daily 5 time be sure to check out my sight word card games and sorting activities for syllables,  letters/words/sentences and number of phonemes.  My favourite product is still Playdough Mats Numbers 1-10 with picture clue directions! One of the first in my store and still my best seller. :)

Don't forget to leave feedback on products you buy from any store - you earn TpT credits that you can redeem on your next purchase!

Time for me to make another coffee and spend an hour or so window shopping on TpT... Can't wait for the sale to begin!

Lauren

Five for Fraturday... Better late than never!

Friends, I am exhausted!  I had the seemingly brilliant idea of tackling a couple of DIY furniture projects today and it was tougher than I thought!  I'll have to come back in a few days and share some photos of my handiwork, but for now it's time for Five for Friday!

1. The phonics program I use in my classroom introduces only phonemes (sounds) in Term 1, with the graphemes (letters) that represent them taught for the rest of the year.  I'm so impressed with the phonemic awareness that my kidlets have this year - they can segment, blend and isolate sounds like champs!  As we revisit each phoneme this term we'll also discover which letter/s are used to represent each sound.  This week was m and short a, so we made monsters and alligators!

To make the alligators I gave the kidlets strips of paper and an example that my TA had made.  They had to figure out how to cut/assemble the paper to make the alligator.  Everyone was successful... although some became more frustrated than others. The occasional problem solving lesson now and then is handy for them. :)

We completed the monsters as a directed drawing activity, and then painted them with watercolours.  I love how each little monster reflects the personality of whoever drew it.  Directed drawing is so great for setting kidlets up for success while allowing them to express their own creativity!

2.  Every second Tuesday we spend half an hour in the Kitchen Garden.  The kidlets plant, weed, water, harvest and cook all sorts of fruits and veggies.  This week they made corn fritters with beetroot cream. Makes my heart so happy to see them learning such important life skills.

3. Group work was back in full swing this week after our Easter break!  The kidlets worked so beautifully in their teams that I was able to stay with my Guided Reading group the whole time.  Perfect for teaching, not so perfect for taking photos as I rush around to check on them. I snapped only a few...

Sight word work was a choice between magnetic letters, writing on the whiteboards or typing words, but these clever cats set their equipment up as an office so they could do all 3 options at once!

Happy teacher moment - one of my reluctant writers had this at the end of group time one day.  She's written 'It is 8 more sleeps'.  Not all sight words, but who can concentrate on them when your birthday is so close! :)

Now that we're working on graphemes it's time to break out the creative handwriting activities.  Shaving cream letters were a hit!

4. During outside time on Friday I asked these two where they were off to:

Their answer? "We're taking our baby to the Blues Festival!"  Oh... of course!

5.  I shared this on my Facebook page earlier this week.  It was saved on my desktop and I've taken to looking at it at least once each day just for a giggle!

Well folks, that's it from me.  I've got a big night of folding laundry ahead of me... doesn't that sound fun? ;)

Lauren

It's Currently May... Linky Time!

I need to get this posted quick smart before Friday night fatigue sets in... So before I get way too comfy on the couch, here's my Currently for this month!

Listening: There are 2 daggy home and garden TV shows on here on a Friday night.  They are perfect background noise for catching up on blogs and Pinterest!

Loving: As you can probably tell, Friday nights for me are a chance to wind down and completely veg out.  Tonight I grabbed a glass of wine and my book and spent some time soaking in a hot bubble bath. The weather is finally cooling down here and this weekend we're supposed to get have a cold snap so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to break out the snuggly PJs for winter!  Now I'm planted on the couch with my laptop.  Yep, I'm a party animal. :)

Thinking: On Sunday I'm heading to my parent's house (they live about an hour away) for an early Mother's Day lunch, so tomorrow I need to make sure that I get my housework and grocery shopping done so that I'm organised for the week.

Wanting: I've been wanting to get a dresser to put in my bedroom for a while now, so this week I bought one and will pick it up tomorrow!  It's an old solid pine one that I'm planning on sanding back and painting a gorgeous green colour.  I bought some handpainted drawer knobs from Anthropologie on the holidays that I'm going to use.  Very excited to get started!!

Needing: I'm the world's worst gym-goer.  I need to get back into routine!

Surprise: There are so many blogs that I love, and one of them is Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together.  I've grabbed so many amazing, hands on activity ideas from Carolyn.  Pop over and visit!

While you're blog hopping, be sure to check out the other Currentlies on Farley's linky.

Happy weekend everyone!  :)

Lauren

Getting Personal...

                                   

I'm having 'one of those days' that might just be 'one of those weeks' that I'm afraid to admit even could be 'one of those years'. You know, the ones where motivation is low and everything just seems too hard.  When the hours of planning and preparation go seemingly unappreciated by children, parents and admin.  When at the end of the day, it's easy to look back on the day and feel that you have failed as a teacher. 

Last year, I had a great year.  My class was eager to learn and revelled in being at school.  They loved any and all activities I planned for them and their smiles and enthusiasm made each day fulfilling.  Their parents were supportive and appreciative - many of them would thank me daily for all I did for their children.  I worked long, long hours to make sure that each of my kidlets left me at 3pm excited about something they had done and bursting to tell mum or dad something they had learned, achieved or created.  I was always searching for new ideas and innovative activities for my kidlets to try.  Was I a perfect teacher? Nope, but I was doing the best I could and it was enough.

This year... Not so much.  Don't get me wrong, my kidlets are divine.  Yes, there are quite a few tricky characters but I love them all the same.  I look into their eyes and want to be an amazing teacher for them - but day after day I feel like I've let them down.

Is it me? Is it that I'm not quite understanding what they need to be engaged and eager learners? Am I letting the demands of school get on top of me and dull my love of teaching?  Am I just being a big baby? Whatever it is, I need to snap out of it.  My gorgeous kidlets need more from me.

I'd love to hear from you... Words of encouragement, links to amazing Pinterest boards or blog posts that can reignite my teaching fire, quotes, images, anything.  If there's one thing I've learned from being a part of the blogging community it's that sometimes it can be the greatest support system.

Thanks in advance friends.

Lauren

Read Alouds: Reminiscing and my favourites!

Today I broke out my all time favourite read aloud.  Of the hundreds (thousands, more likely!) of books I listened to at home, school and on 80's TV shows like Romper Room and Play School, this is the one I remember most clearly.  There used to be a presenter on Australian Play School who was known as Funny John, but his real name is John Hamblin.   He was absolutely hilarious, engaging and warm.  My memory of him reading this story is so vivid!  Have you heard of 'The Elephant and the Bad Baby'?

It's an old one, but when I read it today my kidlets were enthralled. The Elephant carries the Bad Baby all through the town, collecting up treats (without asking!) and and various store owners along the way.  When their journey (rumpeta, rumpeta, rumpeta!) finishes, the Elephant is very concerned that the Bad Baby never once said please!  Don't worry, it all ends happily when they have tea with the Bad Baby's mummy.  I don't read it as well as Funny John did, I'm sure, but I still try to make my voice sound just like his each time the Bad Baby says "Yes!" :)

It struck me as I was reading that if I remember this story so well many years later, my kidlets will be absorbing each story that I read to them and (hopefully!) being affected by them as much as I was.  Remembering the language, the expression, the repetitive patterns, the images....

If you're searching for a few new read alouds to share with your kidlets here's a few of my favourites:

If you don't know this book you might think this one is mean, so here's a page from inside so you get a better idea!

And the list could go on, and on, and on, and on....!  I read at least one story to my kidlets each day - more if I have time - and they love listening to and talking about all of them.  What are your favourite read alouds?  I'd love to have a few new ones to share with my class! :)

Lauren