Just a few things happening in TK

It has been some very busy weeks in TK!!  It has been one thing after another... 100th Day, Grandparent's Day, and Ground Hog Day.  With all that, they have a Night of the Museum evening scheduled for next Thursday.  ARGH!!  It seems that we have no time for any fun or even learning in between practicing for performances, creating "gifts," or getting ready for something or other.  How do you do it??  I'd love to hear how other teachers get things done when there is so many other things that tug at your teaching time!! 

 

We did have some fun though....

 

 

We have started to add these signs on tables for the kid to practice their sight words and help with new words they don't know.

10 cups with 10 blocks.... we think ;) 

This was one of our favorite activities!!  The kids loved, loved, loved coming up with words and then writing them.  I wrote down the first 35 words they came up with.  Using all the techniques we have been learning to sound out a word.  Listening carefully to the sounds we hear, tapping them out if we think it is a tough one, asking a friend if they hear any sounds they didn't by checking the word and using the resources around the room to find the correct spelling of a word.

I loved that they used words they found on the paper :)

They went back and forth all day filling in the words.  I was so proud of them.

Each child had to read their word to a partner after they finished writing, it helped us figure out the word sometimes ;)

At this point in TK most of the kids are able to memorize some sight words and use some easy emergent sight word books to read to me or their parents.  But we spend a lot of time on hearing sounds in words, blending sounds to make words, and deciding if a word is real or nonsense (a huge favorite of TK!!)  I know sight words will be memorized in Kindergarten so even though parents are sometimes crazy over sight words (which is a whole nother post!!), I want to help give my TKer's a solid foundation of phonics and phonemic awareness, so I spend more time on that.  Having them write out all those words (some sounding out, some from copying from a source) gives me more information to their growth than any assessment could. 

Just a few Valentines Day hand paintings... the kids loved it!!!

Oh, it's time for our Night at the Museum theme... FARM!!! 
The pink slime... just an added bonus of sensory play in TK!!!
 

I am excited to be a part of a blogger book study being kicked off by Elizabeth from kickinitin kindergarten!!!  I am so excited to be doing this, I always wanted to get a book study going in my school, but no one wants to spend their time reading professional developmental books, they would rather read fiction-best selling stuff.  I'm the nerd who can't get enough of professional books, conferences, or information.  I feel that the day I feel I can't learn more, that's the day I need to get a new profession.  So, head over to kickinitinkindergarten, or to where I found out about it at Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connection and learn more about the book, Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites, by Marcia L. Tate, and the schedule of who will be leading the weekly discussion.  I'm very excited!!