Parent Volunteers

I am blessed to have a great number of parents that have expressed an interest in volunteering in our classroom.  I have a variety of ways that parents can help.

1.  The Play Dough Maker's Club
     These parents sign up to make an assigned color from our classroom play dough recipe.  We have a variety of allergies, so I prefer that parents make the play dough by the recipe.  My sister (a first grade teacher) mentioned to me that she preferred store bought play dough, but I thought that this would be a nice project for both parent and child.  We will use the play dough for letter formation practice and number formation practice.

2.  Writer's Workshop
    The second half of our Writer’s Workshop takes place immediately following lunch.  Students will be writing in their journals at this time.  Parent volunteers would be guiding students during their writing, encouraging students to write the sounds that they hear, and writing what students dictate as being their journal entry.   The time commitment for this would be on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3.  Reader's Workshop
     During Reader's Workshop, I am making a special time in my schedule on Fridays for a Mystery Reader.  The Mystery Reader will come in during our Reader's Workshop with a special book to read, either from home or from our classroom library.  I welcome parents with younger children to come during this time.  As long as the younger sibling can sit on the carpet and enjoy the story, we are happy to have them as guests in our classroom.  Those that can volunteer without a younger sibling with them are welcome to stay and assist through our literacy workstations immediately following Mystery Reader time.

Here's a freebie download of my Volunteer Opportunity form.

Google Doc of Volunteer Opportunity Form

Homework in Kindergarten

During my first year of teaching, I sent home worksheets for homework.  Not my best moment, I know.  ALTHOUGH, I'll add that some of them were actually kinda neat that required interactive help from a parent.  

Since then, I've taken a new approach to homework.  Most of my homework assignments are not worksheet based.  For example, the homework on the first day of school was to bring in 3 things about you.  The kids loved sharing what they put in their bag!  It was also a great way for me to get to know them.

Homework on the second day of school was for the students to tell their parents about their day at school.  

Homework gets more serious from here on out.  There will be reading, word study, and math practice.  We'll kick off Book Buddys this week.

Journeys (aka Journals)

We began writing in our journals on day one.  I had to giggle when my new friends called the journals their "journeys."  Oh, how wise they are- their journals will truly be an example of their journey through kindergarten.  That's exactly why I like to begin writing in journals from day one.  When we look back, it will be so neat to see growth.

I've tried a variety of methods for keeping journals organized.  One year, I gave each student a binder clip as a bookmark.  This summer, I came across this ingenious idea from Jaime at What's The Buzz In First Grade.  A ribbon bookmark!  SO SMART!

So, first I scrounged around through my craft stash, and then through my mom's craft stash for ribbon.  We had ribbon from my wedding five years ago and ribbon from other projects.  I showed my wonderful paraprofessional the idea and she took care of business and added a ribbon bookmark to each journal.

Another part of the journaling process is making sure that each page is dated.  This is important for documentation purposes.  One year I begged a date stamp from our school librarian.  She no longer used it as the records were now kept in the computer database and not in the card catalog.  This was easy for me to do and I may do this again.

But to start off the school year, I printed the writing prompt and the date on a mailing label.  This solved the problem of having a writing prompt to accompany the journal entry.  My next step in the journaling process will be inviting parent volunteers to come in and help me during writer's workshop.  I'm so excited- I have many parents that have expressed an interest in volunteering in the classroom.  This will be a great opportunity.

M is for Marshmallows, Moose, and Mice!

We will be kicking off our study of the alphabet with the letter M.  My hubby asked a common question- "Why not start at the beginning of the alphabet?"  My response was.... well, it's kinda like Wheel of Fortune.  You start with the most commonly used consonants and then gradually fill in vowels.  Once you have the most commonly used consonants and a few vowels under your belt, you can begin to build words.

Our reading series begins with letter M.  In my previous school division, we had to use the core reading series with fidelity, meaning we couldn't deviate from the series.   We could supplement, but not replace the instruction suggested in the series.  Currently, I'm planning on using the reading series for my reader's workshop whole group instruction.  My literacy work stations will take place during small group instruction in reader's workshop but will not be guided by the reading series.

After the week is over, I'll give a report with photos of our fun with the letter "M."  For now, here's a sneak peak of some of the books we'll be reading this week.

Mathematician's Chair

Math instruction in my room includes a variety of methods.  I use hands on manipulatives with a whole group, followed by small group hands on practice.  I also use math journals with my students.  I haven't decided when the math journaling should take place, at the beginning of our math time to activate math thinking or at the end of our math instruction, to act as the closer.  Any suggestions? 

I'm giving math journals a revival in my classroom.  I tried them my second year of teaching and wasn't able to stick with the routine.  One of my new school year resolutions is to give math journaling a second go.  While browsing the internet, I found a great resources from Mrs. Wills Kindergarten- a freebie download of math journal labels, 5 writing prompts, and an example of her use of math journals in the classroom.

The night before school started, I created a "Mathematician's Chair."  While back to school shopping in my parents' storage above the garage, I found an old plastic patio chair.  I thought this would be a perfect addition to my classroom (mostly because it was free).  I originally was just going to spray paint it and call it a day.  But when I committed to having math journals, I knew my math journaling time would conclude with a time of sharing.  I found a combination of foam sticky numbers and shapes and wood chip numbers and used fabulous E6000 glue to attach them to the chair.  Then I spray painted away with one of my favorites- SILVER spray paint!  It looks splotchy in the picture but I promise it looks better in person- it's just difficult to get a good picture of it.  

As I intro math journaling, I'll be taking my time with it- I want to be successful and I know that in kindergarten, if you start things slowly and habitually, it becomes routine.  I'll keep you posted on my adventures in math journaling!

I Survived!

That's right, I survived the first week of school.  While it's technically not a full first week of school (Labor Day), I did it!  Everyone got home okay every day!  WOOHOO!  (My mom considers that to be a success.)

I had forgotten the craziness of the first day of school.  When I put the last kid on the bus... I was drained.  I had forgotten what it was like to have 20 kids with varying levels of "school" experience.  Some have no experience with the routines like walking in a line, using a classroom bathroom, sitting in a chair, practicing good listening, eating in a cafeteria...  But as the week continued, we learned about our classroom expectations and consequences.  I sent home my monthly behavior calendar on day 1- students colored in an apple to indicate their day.  I started my clothespin management system on Day 2.

We also practiced those routines.  I cannot express the importance of modeling and practicing to perfection the expectations for the classroom/school routines.

I took notes on the advice from KindergartenKindergarten and spent two or three days practicing the cafeteria routines.  First I modeled the expectations (as well as what not to do), then we returned to the classroom and made a chart together of the good and bad choices that can be made in the cafeteria, and then we revisited the cafeteria the following day and reviewed the chart and made that super cute lunchbox.

Each student has a 3 digit long cafeteria number that they must enter to buy lunch.  In the beginning of the school year, we just write these numbers on a popsicle stick and the students hand that to the cashier.  But our end of the year goal is independence, so my kiddos will need to learn how to enter their own number. Hubby is going to make me an outline of the keypad for my students to use.

It's going to be a great school year!

Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse

All teachers feel the crunch of these tough economic times.  I've tried to limit what items I purchase with my own money.  There are just so many really useful things that can make our lives easier as teachers.  From IKEA, to the famous Target Dollar Spot, to the great penny deals at Office Max and Staples, the small items that teachers purchase can really add up to make expensive bills.

I am making an effort to go green (somewhat) in my classroom.  I want to reduce waste and reuse items.  I began by trying to find items for my classroom by "shopping" in our house and storage.  My classroom had some recess equipment that I knew would need to be contained in some way, shape, or form.  I found this green tub from one of my sister's college days.  I used some leftover vinyl and my mother's Cricut machine to personalize the tub. 

Teachers (especially kindergarten teachers) are hoarders.  Let's just get that out in the open.  There's always something that can be used again or in a different way.  I saved all of the crayon stubs from the last time I taught kindergarten.... three years ago.  My mother and I sorted all of those little itty bitty pieces of crayons into a muffin tin and made some cool, multicolor crayons.  My next attempt with "crayon making" will be to create the crayons in fun candy molds.  

This next picture needs a caption to tell the story.  This brown wrapped package contains 100 brown paper bags. You know, the perfect size for paper bag puppets, mini books, and just perfect for the kindergarten teacher/hoarder.  Any time I wanted bags during my first year of teaching, I would go to the dollar store or WalMart to purchase them.  One of the veteran kindergarten teachers on my team shared her secret with me.... which I shall share with you.  Go to your neighborhood ABC store (if you're in VA) and ask the friendly salesman if they could donate paper bags to your classroom.  It works!  Apparently, if you call the main office, they even have coloring books that they will send you for free.

We are also saving and reusing plastic bags in our classroom.  This plastic bag holder is just right (purchased at IKEA for a small fee) but I have also used an empty tissue box to store plastic bags.  There are always things that need to be sent home in a plastic bag...  I'll let you use your imagination to fill in the blanks.

Go Green in Kindergarten!