September Writing

 

September Writing

 

Writing is one of my favorite subjects to teach kinders.  Showing them hand over hand how to write a letter, how to write a word and then having them do it......priceless.  Watching them master this task that you have been showing them.  Having them look up at you with their little faces and smiling saying...."I did it".  There is nothing better than that. 

 

For the most part most students in kindergarten are still learning the concept of print during the early weeks of kindergarten.  They are learning how to form the letters correctly. 

 

Pictures are a big part of writing for kinders.....for anyone.  This is a good time to get across "details" in the pictures.  They may draw a stick person and say they are finished.  Explain details to them.  Hair color, eye color, ears....clothes.  Are they inside or outside?  Is it hot or cold?  Details are important factors and a good tool for writing.  They may not be able to write out their story yet, but they can tell you about their story and draw their story. 

 

Ideas for writing topics for September

My name is_________.

I ride to school in a __________.

My favorite apple is__________.

I have ____ letters in my name.

I ate ________ for dinner last night.

I have _______ people who live in my house.

I have _______ pets.

My favorite color is _________.

 

If you have other September writing ideas leave them in the comments to share with others. 



Letterland Thursday 9-12-13

 

It's Letterland Thursday

 

 

Today we are going to meet

Bouncy Ben

 

 

 



Bouncy Ben is the character for the letter b.  He is a bouncy bunny who lives in a burrow in Letterland.  Can you guess what his favorite color is?  Your right....blue.  He really loves to bounce a blue ball too.  

Outdoor Classroom

The Outdoor Classroom

 

Face it, kids these days lack Vitamin D.  Typical classroom setting is indoors and then when they go home they are indoors doing homework. Outdoor time is limited to children these days. 

 

Take advantage of the outdoors to utilize in an extended classroom setting for your students.  Kids love being outside!!  Just a walk around the school can be a lesson.  If your school does not have an outdoor classroom yet, use what you have to modify one.  One thing I know for sure.....teachers are creative.

 

Here are a few pictures of outdoor classrooms to get you thinking

During writing take your students out (with all of the supplies they will need) and have them write or draw what they see.  Even better, what they see, hear, and smell.

 This would be a great spot for reading, either whole group on independent reading times

The picture above and below have to be my favorite spaces.  An extended space from the main building.  The picture below is an example of what the space could look like.  LOVE IT!!  This would make a great science lab area.

 

 

Above shows another great area for water tables.



This structure is a great private classroom setting.  Think of doing a social studies unit on communities out here. 

 

 

Whatever your lesson, get creative and take it outdoors.  Take advantage of the vitamin D!!

Always Let Them Try

It is hard to watch little ones struggle.  As parents, it's hard to watch our children struggle....no matter what age.  We want to protect them and help them.  It is somewhat easier just to do it for them.  If we do it for them though, how are they going to learn to do it for themselves.

 

 

Kindergarten is all about learning and trying new things.  We assume because of their size they cannot do as many things as most.  Lunch time is the biggest area where I see so many adults "doing" for students (and not just the little ones). 

 

First, model the task at hand.....show them how you do it.  Next, help them by putting their hands in place to do the task (example, opening a milk carton).  Guide their hands with yours to complete the task.  Then next time, have them try first without your help.  Continue to help them until they have mastered the task.  ALWAYS, let them try first!!  



Apple Theme

Apple Theme for Kindergarten

 

It's apple season....especially in kindergarten.  Of course teachers choose their themes differently, but for most September is usually when we talk all about apples.

 

This one activity carries on for writing, science and math.

 

Writing:

My favorite apple is____________.

This activity has two parts, one for science and one for writing.  You will want to do the science part first.

Write this on enough pages for each student at the bottom of each page.   Have students write what kind of apple they like best after tasting.  Have the words written somewhere that the students can see and find easily to copy.   The students will then draw and color the apple on the top portion of the page.  Remember names.

When students finish.....collect and write their names and the year on the back.  Turn into a book! Which apple do you like? would make a cute title.

 

Science:

For a fun science experiment have parents donate different types of apples for a taste testing.  Three or four different types would be suitable for this age.  You can customize to fit your need.  I would use Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Fuji and Golden Delicious.  This way you get a variety of color, textures, size and tastes.

Talk about each apple and the components mentioned above.  Cut a slice of each apple for each student.  After you talk about each apple pass around that apple slice.  It is a good idea to have a paper to pass out for each student to identify these apples by.  Easy way of doing this......take a piece of paper and draw a vertical line down the center of the paper.  Write the word yes on one side and no on the other side.  Use numbers to represent the apples.  If they like apple one then they write a one on the yes side...if they did not like apple one then they write the number one on the no side and so on and so on until they have tried all the apples.  Remember four should be the most they try.  If you are using the writing activity above....have the students to keep trying the ones that are in there yes side until they have picked a favorite. 

 

 

 Feel free to use this worksheet



 

 

Math:

Of course the most fun way to incorporate math is graphing.  At this early stage of kindergarten this is a great activity for the those first few weeks of school.  It also goes right along with our apple theme.  You can also use this when you are working on your science lesson.....math and science all there together.  If you have a SmartBoard this would be a fun way for the students to be involved as well.  You will need to make a board with the types of apples listed at the top that is going along with your science lesson.  Provide an apple in the same color that matches (make sure it can duplicate).  Have the students graph which apple was their favorite.  Count how many there are in total (should equal number of students).  Which had the most? Which had the least?

 

 

 

Sign language is considered a foreign language.  If you have time in the day for this, this makes a great lesson.

 

Craft:

There are countless ideas for crafts that you can do.  Pinterest has many apple themed crafts.  Comment below on your favorite craft using apples.

 

 

 





Letterland Thursday 9-5-13

 

 

It's Letterland Thursday!!

 

Today we start meeting the characters (letters).

 

Many schools learn the characters (letters) in different patterns.  They may learn them in alphabetical order or in a different order.  The school in which I worked, we taught in the order of how the letters were used in reading....the use.  I somewhat remember that order, but for the sake of getting something mixed up....I am going to stick to alphabetical order.

 

 

 

Annie Apple

 

Meet Annie Apple!!  Our leader of the Letterland Alphabet Parade.

 

It is obvious that Annie Apple is indeed an apple.  She is red with a green stem.  She lives in an apple tree.  Annie Apple makes the short a sound.

 

The mark above the a is called a breve, which represents the short a sound.

A few CVC words with the short a sound:

bat, cat, flat, sat, mat

 

One way that teachers like to introduce Annie Apple is by having them picture code.  Picture coding is the first introduction of all the letters.  It helps the students to identify the character and letter).

The student then draws or colors Annie Apple exactly to how she looks in Letterland.

 

 In our classroom we would choose several students pictures to place on our "apple tree" on our Letterland bulletin board. 

(Letterland Bulletin Board is a whole other post in itself....I feel inspired for a new post).

 

The Letterland Curriculum has many different tools you can use to go along with your lesson.  There are songs, books, and SmartBoard programs to help in your lesson. To learn more about this program and where you can purchase the materials visit the link below. 

 http://www.letterland.com/

 

For helpful tips to others please leave them in the comments below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Take Home Folders

 

 

Each classroom is different when it comes to how they handle daily/weekly folders.  They may be called different things as well.  Your child's teacher should explain this to you during the first few days of school. 

 

Some teachers send home folders daily, while some just send home weekly things.  Or, you may have days where homework is sent home daily and then on Friday's all the papers collected for the week are sent home.  Rather school work or school and community related papers. 

 

We, as parents sometimes forget or get busy and do not have a chance to check folders daily.  It is the students responsibility to always share this with the parents.  However, being a kindergartener, this responsibility is still in learning stage.  It is a good habit to check your child's folder nightly for any papers or homework that may be sent home.  It is also a good habit to clean out your child's folder and return any paperwork as soon as you can. 

 

Teachers, here is a cute label to label those folders to help parents with knowing what stays at home and what goes back to school. 

 

another example

 

The last picture I just think is just really cute......

 

Please share any folder suggestions in the comments below.