This Week's Literacy Stations & a Little Bit More

I really do want to post more than once a week, but here I am linking up with Five for Friday with my only post for the week.  Not that there's anything wrong with that... (Seinfeld reference)  I do have to say that this is one of my favorite linkies.  I really enjoy reading everyone's random posts! 

This week seemed to last f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  I've been on meds for sinus & ear infections this week.  As any teacher knows, being sick adds another ~ not so fun ~ dimension to the classroom.  Anyway, here are my five:

1. Literacy Stations for this week.  We spent a lot of time this week working on the alphabet & sight words.

 Playdoh letters

 Alphabet Arcs

 Lakeshore Learning file folder activities (not pictured is a worksheet from Teacher's Helper)

 Sight word spelling with magnet letters

Listening Station

2. Pete the Cat.  My Kinders LOVE Pete!  We read books, and watched them on You Tube.  It's so cute when they sing along! Some of the little cuties really get into it!  *smile*  Here are some cute Petes wearing some rockin' shoes!

3. Chevron Daily Schedule Cards by Kinder Cakes.  My talented daughter. Sarah, made these cute schedule cards.  I have them mounted on polka dot ribbon with Velcro.  The kiddos can tell at a glance what we are doing, and how many activities are left in the day.

4. Minnie Mouse ~ I mean Amelia Grace.  I love her little smile!

5. All About Numbers posters are now available for purchase!  Please click HERE to buy.  Today I forgot to silence my phone and finally heard the CA-CHING of a sale on Teachers pay Teachers!  Around 8:00 this morning the TpT app informed me that I had a sale!  So, if you are reading, Thank you for buying my Decomposing Dinos game!  (As exciting as it is to hear the ca-ching, I really do need to remember to put my phone on silent for the school day...)

Using Music as a Tool

In my Kinder classroom we can often be found singing.  Kinders love music, and are very forgiving of my less than American Idolish voice.  (I'd be in the blooper reel...)  Our classroom is filled with tools for my students use in their quest for knowledge, and I often see *hear* them using songs to help them to figure things out.  We recently got our six boxes of Jolly Phonics and have been having fun with the cute songs and motions.  I can't wait to use Jolly Phonics next year beginning on day one!  I can see already that it will prove to be a smart purchase!

In addition to the kindergarten standards, we sings songs to learn how to spell words, remember classroom rules, and understand math skills.  When we were working with ten frames to make numbers to twenty, I came up with this little ditty:  (Sung to She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain)  When a ten frame is filled up, you have ten, when a ten frame is filled up, you have ten, when a ten frame is filled up, when a ten frame is filled up, when a ten frame is filled up, you have ten!  Very catchy!  I think we sang it about twenty times one day.  (The following day several kiddos said that they had it 'stuck' in their heads - YAY!)  Another song-tool that came to me one day was to sing the "Story of Five" to the tune of Are You Sleeping? 

I wanted to create a visual to go along with my "Story of..." songs, so I made this Growing Number Sense bulletin board set.  (Available for only $2.00 on TpT)  I am pretty excited about it because I made most of the clip art in it!  (Title page artwork is from www.mycutegraphics.com)  I still need to figure out how to make the background transparent, but I think it's pretty good for my first attempt. 

For a really great article on using songs as a teaching tool, go to Heidi Songs.  Her blog gives readers tons of information and ideas for using songs to help students learn to spell.  Be sure to check it out!

How Many Ways Can You Make Ten?

Our corporation's math series is modeled on the Singapore method of teaching math.  I had never heard of "Singapore math" until we adopted this series two years ago, and I must say I am a fan of this methodology.  Lots & lots of hands-on practice with a variety of manipulatives really does help Kinders to learn and to understand math concepts.  This past week we worked very diligently on making ten in a variety of ways with... a variety of manipulatives.  Here are some pictures of my cuties hard at work.

In the top two photos the students used our trusty number bracelets, two-sided counters, and ten frames from Sparkle Box to make ten in different ways.  The pictures below show students counting on from a given number and hopping to ten.  Get this in my Buggy for Addition set.

 
 These pictures show Kinders using the bug jar work mat from Buggy for Addition and counters to make ten (some in the jar & some out of the jar).  They recorded their number bonds on this Number Jars freebie.

 Here they are using linking cubes on the caterpillar work mat from the Number Jars freebie and a number bond page from Building Number Sense to continue practicing making ten in different ways.

I'm so proud of my little kiddos!  They worked very hard all week long As a reward for their diligence, they got to enjoy playing a favorite game:  Seahorse vs. Fish WAR!

...Speaking of this game, I am linking up with Teaching Addict for their Ultimate Freebie Celebration.  I was tickled to see my little seahorse - fish game mentioned on their guest list page!