Our Farm in Action...

The kids LOVED the farm theme in the classroom this week!!  The Duck Pond was a huge success, but so was the Chicken Coop.  I was surprised at how much fun they had in the chicken coop.  They loved collecting the eggs, gathering veggies from the garden and milking Bessy the cow.  It was so sweet. 

 

 

 

We added slime to the mix this week also.  It was just a little science experiment that we had wanted to try for a few weeks, and we finally got to it this week.  Slime, along with some farm animals = FUN!!!

The Duck Pond in action!!  Although the slide was a little steep, the kids loved it and kept most of the water in the water tables.  I was surprised at the precision they had when transferring the water the from one table to the other. 

 

The dry erase boards were temporarily moved when we made room for the farm areas, and the kids have LOVED using them in the dramatic play area, where the chicken coop and milking cow are located.  They are really practicing their writing and drawing.  It is so much fun to watch.

Here is the actual coop :)  The kids love it!!!

Since we are TK we do a lot of differentiating.  I have students who are still working on learning letters and sounds all the way to students who are reading and writing stories.  So, we have been doing a lot of writing activities that go along with our farm theme.  One of our first writing activities was drawing a picture of what our job on the farm would be, and them writing what our job is.  I loved the one that said, "My job on the farm is riding the chickens."  and also, "My job on the farm is helping the animals."  So cute!!!   We also wrote about what we get from cows.   We received a lot of "milk" responses, but we did get a few burgers, meat, and butter.  I was proud of them. 

The Baby Chicks finally made it to school too!!!  More pics to come!!!

Night at the Museum, we're almost there!!!

It's been causing some anxiety, sleepless nights, and at least one panic attack, BUT... it is finally coming together!!!! 

 

The TK Farm at the Night at the Museum!!!! 

 

 

Our "Duck Pond"
I know, it doesn't look exactly like a duck pond, but every time we visit a children's museum there is always a water feature for the kids to play in.   So this year I decided to add one!!!  I know that it isn't like the awesome sensory tables that I find over at Sand and Water Tables, but it is my first water sensory table and considering... I think it looks pretty good ;) 
(and yes, I totally think the slide is a little to steep... live and learn)

Chicken Coop... almost done, but I forgot the chicken boxes, so that will be finished tomorrow. 
And of course we can't forget Bessy the Cow!!  She is pretty much done, we have to hook up the "udders" and attach her tail and then she will be all set to play with.  She is always a favorite!!!

This is our veggie garden!!!  I am so excited.  I have seen it on Pinterest every time  I search farm theme and I have always wanted to make it.  But last year I had the chicks and veggies to sew, and I had to make a new Bessy last year too, so I never got around to it :(  but this year, I did grabbed some things I had around the house and busted it out!!!  WooHoo!!   I

I LOVE IT!!!!

When we have the whole space up and running I'll try to get some action photos.  I know it will be another great Night at the Museum!!!!

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!!

Circus Theme

Last week was a busy week for TK.  We learned about the circus, specifically what we see at the circus.  You see we have been talking about animals... winter animals, hibernating animals, migrating animals, and even animals that adapt.  So, I was hoping that we could really delve into the animals that we see at the circus.  How do they adapt to their environment, what are some difference we see about animals in the wild and animals that live with the zoo.  We DID talk about them, read some book, made some hypothesis', and created some art work... BUT... if you have ever taught kids, no matter the age, things don't always go as YOU planned. 

 

 

 

We focused on clowns, silliness, roaring lions, beautiful elephants...

but what excited us the most, was the prospect of seeing, and maybe even eating...

 

COTTON CANDY!!!

 

 

Yup... we couldn't wait until Friday when we got to visit the circus and see if we could convince our Mom's, Dad's, Grandma's or Grandpa's that a circus is not complete without a bag of cotton candy!!

 

Now, I heard it was a fun trip to the circus, but I unfortunately wasn't there since I was lucky enough to go to the SDE Pre-K Conference in Greensboro, NC.  I'll save that for another post... but it was fun and I can't wait to bring some of the information back to our classroom!!!

 



Happy New Year

It is officially 2015 and I know that it is the time to make all those resolutions that everyone expects.  Last year I wanted to blog more... hah!!  didn't happen!!  I think I have blogged more in the past few days than I did in all of 2014.  I will blog more, but not because of a resolution, but because I have decided that I need it.  I need that diary of what I do because I forget and next year I don't do it ;) I did some great things with the kids, had some awesome bulletin boards (both regular and interactive) and even had some great moments with my co-teacher!! Did I take photo's, you ask?  Some... another thing I have learned, being the lead teacher doesn't give you a whole lot of time to take photos. 

 Ok... here are some that I did take :)

Our TK version of brainstorming

We loved this game... I found it on Pinterest but it didn't lead me to a link, so I just improvised to suit our needs.

Everyone loves a good book... especially when someone else is reading it ;)

We have been using our phonetic skills in learning to write...this little guy wrote "hape" and then his name... we are still working on the spatial awareness of print, but no need to get hung up on that this year :)

We LOVE to use non-standard measuring in TK... we have done apples, blocks, pumpkins (big and small) and even each other.  It is a great skill to play with!!!

 

We love Halloween!!

Each year the other TK teacher creates the Candy Witch at our school. She is a huge hit and gathers all that unwanted candy that we do not want our kids eating from Halloween to New Year's.  She puts her out about a week or so before Halloween and then the families of our school put their candy in, then about a week or so after Halloween we drag her to a local dentist office who PAYS us per pound for the candy.  They then take all that yummy candy and send it to our soldier's who are fighting for our freedom all over the world!!!  What a great thing right!!!

Building, Building, Building



This year's TK group LOVES to build!!!  We build all the time, every day, and with what ever we can find.  The building center is a favorite and causes most of our "patience" & "turn taking" teachable moments!!!

I love animals, so when a family in our school was leaving the country, we decided to get a few pets for the classroom!!  The kids love them and they love the kids, plus all their apples, carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce!!!

I know you have all seen the experiment of microwaving Ivory Soap... well, my co-teacher thought it would be a great and fun experiment to do with the kids.  So, we bought the soap, put it on a plate and away we went...

WOW!!!  We weren't really ready for this!!!  It smelled interesting, and we weren't sure how long to let it grow...

The looks on the faces of the kids were great!!  The Ohhhhs, and Ahhhhs were so cute. There were a lot of the holding of noses, the smell was pretty strong.  Also, we didn't leave it in long enough and their were little rectangles of the soap left... but we showed the kids how the soap began erupting from the INSIDE of the soap and then put the pieces back in and watched them grow some more.  We took it all back to our classroom and put it in the sensory table... 1 tip I have for you... Don't!!!  It made almost all my kids sneeze, cough, and eyes water.  The watery eye's were not from putting soap in their eyes, it was the dust from the soap as it broke back down.  It was interesting.  Our sensory table is near our door and as soon as you walked in, you could taste the dust.  So, it didn't last long in the table.

More building... this little guy made NYC and the subway going through it... see the skyscrapers, he named most of them. I was totally impressed with him and had to find a NYC book to put in the building area.

Ok, I left this photo in on purpose.  I know it is blurry... but we did Frosty the Snowman for our Winter Production, and this guy was an awesome Frosty!!!

Learning about the dreidel. We learned a lot about Holidays Around the World, but I have to say spinning the dreidel was by far a favorite!!  It also caused lots of tears for those who didn't have the motor skills to get it to spin right away.  We worked on it until everyone could spin it to some degree.  We will have them in the classroom when we get back from break and I think it still will be a favorite activity.

That brings us back to today!!  I am working on my Home Office and purging a lot of things that I haven't used in a long time.  It is SOOOOO hard for an Early Childhood teacher to get rid of ANYTHING!!!  We look at just about anything and say... I can use that for SOMETHING!!!  But, I have not had any kind of organization, so when I go back to look for it, yup, you guessed it... I CAN'T FIND IT!!!  Now... I am going to be able to find things (as long as my own children don't move it, which they have a habit of doing too)

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, I hope your resolutions, goals, and dreams come true!! 
My blog won't become my life, but I will be back to keep you updated on my
Journey into TK
 



Almost a New Year

A new year is almost upon us.  It is the time of year I try to assess what we have done up to this point and where will we be going.  We will continue working with my Little's that still need help with their alphabet and sounds, and also stretching those who are ready for making words from all those sounds that they have learned and have been practicing in the beginning of the school year.  I enjoy watching them really begin to understand that letters make sounds and if you put sounds together then they can make words. 

 

 

Above you will see one of my past Little's writing the word "Egg"

"Penguin"

 

When we come back to school from our winter break, we will begin to restructure our routines by adding in to our center time work baskets.  These baskets will be geared to number sense work and also literacy activities.  There will be lots of beginning sound work, letter matching, and even CVC work.  Usually, the Little's are given free rein over their center choices in the morning, with only having 1 teacher directed activity each day.  Now, although each activity will be a fun game, it will be geared more towards what we are learning.  There will still be many open child centered centers, where they will be able to play and explore in their own way, but there will be at least 2 or 3 work baskets that they will have to rotate through. 

 

This week we will be going into school to sort through all of those unorganized areas that I have accumulated since the beginning of the year.  I have to regretfully say that I am an unorganized mess!!  If it wasn't for my very organized co-teacher, I would be left with a hopeless mess that I would have to spend a lot of my after school hours managing instead of working on my lesson plans, curriculum guide, and creating the wonderful centers that are expected in an early childhood room!!  So, into school I go tomorrow.  I will take some before and after pics so I can post, and if anyone has any idea's for organizing I would LOVE to hear them!!!! 

 



Funny How Fast it Goes!!

Funny how fast the first part of the school year goes.  The summer seemed to be full of travel and getting ready for the new school year, then it was getting everything ready for parent night and conferences, and then our Thanksgiving feast and low and behold it was time for our Winter play... Which went off beautifully!! Now the next few months will fly by and it will be Summer again! How does this happen??
I guess the older we get the faster time moves, my boys are growing up, the twins are driving... ACH!!! I guess that's why I love TK, I am in perpetual childhood mode.  The kids move on to be replaced with who they were just a year before, it keeps me young.
I had always wanted another child, a girl (having 4boys will do that to you ;)), but now I think about how a baby would fit into my life.  I LOVE my job and can't see ever giving it up, but if I had a baby, I would.  That's just me, I know I could work too, but I know myself and I couldn't do both well.  So, working with my littles gives me the fulfillment that I craved with wanting another child.  Plus, I get a lot of the best and only some of the worst ;)
Before break one of my little guys, which I have 12 this year with only 2 girls, said to me, "Ms Michelle, I know I love you, I don't just think it."  This is the same sweetie that tells me everyday how beautiful I am, how lovely (yes, he says lovely) my voice is, or how much he likes the clothing I am wearing.  I needed this break after such an exhausting holiday season, but that little statement brought me the desire and anticipation to head back to that classroom in a weeks time to bring joy and learning to all my little friends.  
Not that I won't enjoy every last minute up until that moment ;)