Plants and Daily 5

Friday, September 26, 2014 No comments
Oh kindergarten...
Learning routines is taking longer than I had anticipated.
I just want to press fast forward!

This week we learned about plants.
First we learned about the different parts of the flower.
I found a cute parts of the plants YouTube video from Dr. Jean with the 
tune of heads, shoulder, knees, and toes. 
This really helped my kinders remember the parts of a flower.

We then did a free activity to label the parts of the flower that 
I found on Teachers Pay Teachers from The Crazy School Teacher.
They turned out good! 
They had a lot of fine motor practicing as they cut everything out and glued!




The next day we talked about what plants need in order to grow.
I found this super cute free interactive science notebook 
on Teachers Pay Teachers from All Students Can Shine.  
I loved this interactive page!
It was a little tricky for my kinders when it came time to glue
and fold them into their notebooks, but they turned out great.



This is the first time I am doing Daily 5...
I really wish I could somehow magically find a website all about Daily 5 in kindergarten.
If you have any suggestions about the Daily 5 in kindergarten I would truly love to read it!

We have been doing read to self for the past few weeks.
The majority of the students can sit in one spot and read quietly, 
but they don't all read the whole time because of their stamina.
But we have been able to make it to 9 minutes!

BUT I have ONE student (my barometer student) 
who constantly makes noises and doesn't read the whole time. 
It is very frustrating, because the rest of the students can't build their stamina.
I did give this student a small basket with a sand timer and a lego car.
When the time is up, the student could switch the timer and play with the car.
Then when the time is up the student would switch the timer and read.
This would continue until the student would run out of stamina.
But I would sit next to the student to remind them...and this might take a while.
Today I noticed this ONE student is sometimes just looking at the timer waiting for it to run out...suggestions?!

Here is my "barometer" student in their own space.

Here are some of my students reading in my library and one in a basket!
The basket was a hit!

Here is my Read to Self I-Chart

My Stamina chart



New School Year

Sunday, September 7, 2014 No comments
Wow did this summer fly by!

This summer I received my Masters in Education and 
I went on the most amazing trip to Portugal and Italy! 

I have lots of family in Portugal, and it was so nice to see them. 
The last time I was in Portugal was 7 years ago!
I also went to the island of Madeira for the first time, 
and that is where my husband's family is from.  

After being in Portugal for a few weeks, 
my husband and I also went to Italy, because why not! 
It was truly a once in a lifetime experience 
as we went to Florence, Venice, and Rome. 

I LOVED this amazing trip and I cannot wait to go back!

I have some pictures below,
but the pictures doesn't do the beauty of these places justice.

Madeira, Paul Do Mar, Portugal

Lagos, Algarve, Portugal
Hands down the most BEAUTIFUL beach I have ever seen!!!


 Fuseta, Algarve, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

 Florence, Italy

Venice, Italy

Rome, Italy
This was inside the beautiful Vatican, which is the most BEAUTIFUL church I have ever seen.


I started school this past week and I am teaching Kindergarten!
I am happy to say that I survived my first week!
Last year I taught a Kindergarten/First Grade combination class,
and the kinders are much different than the group I had last year...then again every group is different.
This year I need to really go over procedures many times throughout the day!

Here are some pictures of my classroom (chevron/hungry caterpillar theme):

My Word Wall

Where our work will be displayed 

Birthday Board

Here is my daily 5 board
I am going to try the daily 5 for the first time this year!
I started Read to Self and they didn't do too bad, 
but I have one student who likes to make noises...which makes us stop.
If you have any tips on the Daily 5 (especially in kindergarten) please let me know!

My personal board

My Whiteboard