Five for Friday

Once again, I'm linking up with Doodles Bugs for a Five for Friday linky party.  

1.  Yay!  No school today!  (Don't get me wrong... I love kindergarten, but an extra day off now & then sure is nice.)  We had today off because it was one of our built-in snow days.  We only had one snow day - which was made up yesterday - so today was a day off!  The really nice thing about today was that it was really nice outside!  Not that I did any yard work or anything,  (Some of you may have read in earlier posts that I really dislike gardening:  too much dirt, too many weeds, far too many creepy crawlie critters, etc.)  I did, however, take advantage of the beautiful weather to try out my new running shoes.

2.  Yes, I now own some running shoes!  It wasn't really that long ago that I didn't own any athletic shoes of any sort.  When I taught preschool I subbed for the local elementary schools on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Once I got a call to fill in for a PE teacher, but had to turn down the opportunity because I didn't own gym shoes!  (I do, however, have a bunch of cute heels!)  Our school nurse has organized a 'couch to 5K" program for the staff.  Wish me luck!

3.  Here is my new Decomposing Dinos Number Sense game.  I made it to give my Kinders practice composing & decomposing numbers to 20 using five and ten frames.  We recently read If the Dinosaurs Came Back in our reading series, so I thought it would be fun to have a dinosaur game for our Math Station.  Of course, I had to give it a *clever* name.  (Feel free to groan!)

 PS  Be sure to have your kiddos roll a die on each turn or it will take forever to finish the game.  I forgot to mention this in the instructions.

4.  In addition to working on composing & decomposing numbers with five and ten frames, we spent time working with number bonds this week.  Here's a little freebie for you!

To help my Kinders understand "whole" we put students in Mrs. Teddy's class.  Part of them went to work with Mrs. L. and part of them went to work with Mrs. S.  This really happens - part of the kids leave to work with different people all throughout the day, but they are still included in our whole group.  We aren't done yet with the concept of part-part-whole, but they are understanding the concept!  What lil smarties I have!  :-)

5.  I just finished reading Bowled Over, a cute mystery in a new series.  The next two books I have in queue are Sleeping Arrangements  and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.  I'm not sure which to start.  I love both authors!  All three books are real books.  I have both the nook & Kindle apps on my ipad, and sometimes purchase books to "e-read."  But, my sister and I often trade books, so I am more inclined to select the real deal.  Which type of book do you prefer?

Swimming with Number Sense

I do lots and lots of activities designed to help my Kinders to develop a strong sense of numbers.  One of the basic principles of Singapore math is to work with manipulatives, practicing skills until mastery.  My kiddos really love math!  In order to keep their interest and enthusiasm up, I like to create fun themed activities.  Here are some pics of one of my newest TpT offerings.

Under the Sea Number Sense Activities available on TpT

 After making five in different ways using counters (darn - I wish I had taken a picture...) the Kinders colored their fish and arranged them onto light blue paper to create a fish tank craft. 

I read Memoirs of a Goldfish earlier, inspiring many of the fish tank designs! 
                                            

 Seven seahorses swimming in the ocean.  Two are hiding behind seaweed, five are not hiding.  We had fun acting out number stories with paper seahorses & seaweed.

 Students worked in pairs to create seven in different ways using two sided foam counters on a work mat, and then recorded their combinations onto this number bond page.

  Octopus Eights.  An octopus is the perfect sea animal to use when making eight!  The cute sea creature clip art is from Teacherlisasclass.blogspot.com   http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lisa-Parnello

Kinders Gone Buggy!

We had so much fun learning about bugs this past week.  We did a number of activities based upon The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  (Check out my activity set on TpT)  We read and retold the story, discussed reality & fantasy, compared this book to a nonfiction book about butterflies, learned about the life cycle of a butterfly, wrote about caterpillars, and made beautiful caterpillar and butterfly crafts.  Whew, that was a lot of activities based upon one book!  I'm not sure how many times I read it this week, but the Kinders enjoyed hearing the story every time!  Here are a few pictures of our week.

Add caption

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Very-Hungry-Caterpillar

Our hallway bulletin board is very busy!  Beautiful painted butterflies flutter above caterpillars, caterpillar writing, and labeled life cycle diagrams.

This next picture isn't a butterfly activity, but I wanted to include it in a buggy post.  I found this cute bug word wheel in a older issue of The Mailbox and wanted to make a record sheet to go with it.  Well, one thing lead to another, and I made a little -ug Family activity for TpT. 

Buggy for -ug Family words

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!

Easter Bunny & Caterpillars

Happy Easter!  The eggs have been dyed, filled & hidden.  The ham will go into the oven in about 30 minutes, and I'm hoping the eggs will peel properly so that I can make deviled eggs.  (We usually end up with egg salad because the eggs never peel without falling apart!)  We have our holiday parties in the late afternoon so that my girls can have a meal with their in-laws.  I don't mind waiting - that way I don't have to rush around getting everything ready early.  This year I hid eggs and little gifts around the house for Isabella to find.  Now that she's three, she will have fun searching for goodies.  She will be in charge of finding color-coded gifts: pink for her, purple for baby sister Olivia, and yellow for her cousin to be Amelia.  It will be so much fun in a few years when all three little girls are running around the house!

It's back to school tomorrow.  Our reading lessons revolve around insects this week, so I have been busy making buggy activities to use with my Kinders.  I like to carry a theme throughout the day whenever possible.  Tomorrow we will read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so I created this activity pack to retell the story and work on some writing skills. 

Dental Health

We recently had a visit from some local vocational students who put on a nice presentation about dental health.

The Kinders had fun flossing giant marshmallow teeth!

 Chunky variegated yarn makes flossing fun!

The vocational students made a fun sorting activity featuring healthy and unhealthy snack choices.

New Buggy Activity Sets

On my To-Do list for Spring Break was to work on my Buggy Activity sets.  I finished my addition set, and made a set for patterns, and one for sorting & comparing sets.  All are now available on Teachers pay Teachers - and on sale until Sunday!!  Check out my store for other items on sale.

Buggy for Patterns Set

Two work mats

 Pattern strips, label strips, bug cards to extend patterns

One of the two worksheets that are included

Buggy for Sets

Sorting jars & lots of bugs

One of the two worksheets that are included