AB Pattern Necklaces

An oldie but beloved! The children adore this activity and never realize they are being assessed!  Woot!

 I begin by placing three different color of beads on each table.  I tell the children they are making an AB pattern necklace and can only use two colors. 

 I put small paper plates on the table for each child to gather the needed beads.

 If I see a child is selecting three colors - I note it and then talk to them about AB patterns.  I do not go further than one intervention.  

 I always tape down the necklace string.  I used a string I found at JoAnn Fabrics that was stretchy. 

 Here is a good photo of a group at work.

 The children loved their finished necklaces!  So proud!

Yes, a classic but never too old to be just the right thing. . .

Names, Names, Everywhere Names!

One of my first endeavors at the beginning of school is to fill the room with the student's names!  This helps the children feel welcomed and at home.  It is a comfort for them to see their name around the room.  Here are a few of the things I do:

 My first homework assignment is this name tag for their cubbies.  I send home a 5 x 7 index card and ask that the children find the letters of their name in magazines and create their name.  I put them on construction paper and laminate!

 Here is another one -so cute!!

 Here is peek at the cubbies and those name tags.

 I put up our Letter Posters. And check out the frames above the posters.  I put each child above their cubby.  It looks so endearing!  So guess where I found those cool frames?

 IKEA!!  Just $1 per frame (two in a package).  Oh how I adore IKEA!

 In honor of my sick daughter (who adores movies) - I used a "movie" theme.  I took photos of each child in black and white.  (Don't you just love the look of black & white? So cool.)

 I put each photo on black construction paper and used a gold paint pen to write their name and make a quick dot or slash border. 

 So sweeeeet!

 I have a chart paper with everyone's name on my front white board.  It is our "reference" sheet for names. 

 This idea comes from Mrs. Flynn (who is so efficient - love it!) - these are little name tags with magnets.  It is at the top of my white board and tells the children where they sit.  I changed the seating for two children.  They knew because they had looked!  Yay!

 These are my attendance/lunch tags (with a magnet).  The children move their name to the lunch board in the morning arrival.  The names remaining let me know who is absent.

Each child makes a birthday poster the first week of school.  I put them in order of dates and hang.  This is a great reminder of the next birthday.   

Another thing I do that is not pictured:  

• Every child has a name tent at their table.
• The first class book I make is a "Friend, friend, who do you see?" with a photo of each child and their name.
• The second class book is baby photos of the children (I type "I see Ethan." or whoever the baby is).
• The next class book is of family photos.

Beautiful Amazing Block Play

Today I was taken back, again, by the amazing learning opportunities in block play.  We are currently in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  In blocks I put black and brown bear figures, green and blue cloth pieces.  A group of four children began building a "cave" for the bears.  They worked on it for most of free choice.  Little busy bees they discussed, debated, made decisions about how to build this little universe for the bears.

 Here is one of the caves they built with the bear comfortably resting.

It reminded me of the immense power of block play.  It is a dynamic tool for constructing.  In this episode, there was an incredible amount of symmetry at one point in the building task.  This group seemed equally committed to balancing the construction.  There was an impulse to build the bear habitat long - adding cloth to extend the habitat.  The cave was created by the draping of the blue fabric.  There was little upset around these decisions.  It was wondrous as the work unfolded. . .  (I wonder what would be possible if Washington D.C. worked together like the kindergarten?)

A Child's Painting of a Sailboat

Here is a super easy painting for children.  This was a project I did with kindergarten aged children. I used economical acrylic liquid paint.

 STEP ONE:  Provide two shades of white for the sky and two shades (light and dark) of blue paint for the water.  Let your child swirl them together.   Use red for the boat which is a half moon shape.

 STEP TWO:  Paint a straight line with white paint.

 STEP THREE:  Paint two triangles for the sails with white paint.

 STEP FOUR:  Outline the entire boat and sails in a dark brown paint.

 STEP FIVE:  Optional - using oil pastels, add details.  For waves in water use white oil pastel and make swirls.  For wood on boat use orange oil pastel.  Add sun with yellow oil pastel.

With Deep Gratitude

I am so grateful to report to you that Lizzie is improving!  She has been home now for three weeks and we have already seen great progress!  It is amazing!  She has gone from being wheelchair bound to using a walker.  In fact, yesterday she held her father's arm and walked without her walker.  We were so excited none of us could sleep!

While we are seeing enormous healing - it is going to be a slow journey.  She still cannot be left unattended.  She needs someone with her to assist when her body tires and gives out.  Exhaustion is a huge issue as well as getting her feet to work properly.  She is on her way and it is nectar to my mommy heart!!

We went to a specialist on Thursday - a doctor who is a leading researcher.  He exceeded my expectations (and they were high!).  He is going to put Lizzie on a high powered anti-inflammatory drug that should give her body a must needed reprise from her nearly 6 month episode.  He did testing and discovered things about Lizzie's condition that even Mayo did not discover.  I found myself teary eyed with a deep and profound appreciation for a doctor with this level of expertise.  It is a treasure when you have a loved one in dire need of help!

I must warn you,  I have found a new level of challenge working and coming home to care for my daughter.  I am faced with finding a balance between work and home.  Being an over-achiever - this is not easy! Some nights I have fallen asleep before I could get to posting!  I have also found myself reading comments and then forgetting to respond!  Forgive me as I find a new relationship to time and commitment.  It reminds me of when I had babies.  AND our children are so worth it!

Mercy! How the blogging community is priceless!  Thank you for all the love and care.

Sally

Daily Alphabet Activities with Names

I am posting some of my first alphabet activities of the school year.  In my school, the kindergarten reviews the alphabet one letter a day (we started reviewing today).  Here are some of the things I do:

 Today we reviewed the letter Aa.   I asked each child, "Do you have any a's in your name?"  If the answer was yes, I asked, "Uppercase or lowercase?"  This really helps the children distinguish between uppercase and lowercase.  I use a large tag board to write this down - writing the featured letter in red and the other letters in black.  We count how many uppercase A's do we have?  How many lowercase a's do we have?

Next, we become "Letter Detectives."  We determine what kinds of lines are in the uppercase letters and the lowercase letters.  There are three basic straight lines used:  a sleeping line (horizonal), a standing line (vertical) and a leaning line (diagonal).  There is one basic curved line.  For example, in the uppercase A - there are two leaning lines and a sleeping line.  In the lowercase a - there are two curved lines and a standing line.

 Finally, we create an artsy alphabet!  (All the finished letters go into a small pizza box and will go home at parent conferences).   I found the wonderful Totally Tots blog with great ideas for this project.  For A, we made alligators!  We practice making the sound of A!

Working With Names:

I challenge the children daily to name as many children as they can.  We began by looking at our new friends.  Now we are looking at their names at the chart paper.  So far, one child could name 8 children! The first week of school I made a book of friends that I printed for each child to take home.  "Friend, friend, who do I see?"  I took a photo of each child and under their photo typed "I see ___ looking at me." with the child's name inserted.

My first two sight words are I and see.  I wrote  "I see ________." on the white board and asked each child to stand in front of the blank space.  Then we read the sentence, saying the child's name.  Again, I modeled pointing to each word and then the child (like they were a visual icon!).  So fun!  The children loved it!  By the fifth child, they read it without my help!

I try to incorporate the student's names into as many activities as I can in these first weeks of school.

Guest Blogger: Running With Glitter!

I'm Kelly, I have a fun little blog called Running With Glitter. 

My daughter is the luckiest Kindergartner this year. 

She has Mrs. Haughey as a teacher. I'm so excited! 

If could magically make up the perfect teacher she would be it!

Today I'm going to share with you a simple Play Dough Recipe. 

Mrs. Haughey had a sign-up sheet for play dough at Meet the Teacher day. I was really excited when I saw that we could make our own since she was not requiring the store bought kind! Coincidentally, the son of one of my best friends is in my daughter's class so we decided to have a play dough making party Friday after school! My favorite homemade play dough is Kool-Aid play dough. It has a surprisingly yummy scent and makes the dough a fun bright color.

Ingredients needed: 

Cooking Oil

Salt

Flour

Kool-Aid packet

Optional-food coloring if you want the colors richer

• Time for Fun! Add 1 packet of Kool-Aid, 1 cup of white flour, 2 tablespoons of oil. 1/2 cup of salt and 1 cup of boiling water to a large mixing bowl.  Mix with a wooden spoon at first because it will be hot! 
• When the dough cools enough, use your hands to knead the dough until the color is consistent and the dough is formed. 
• When finished, place in an air-tight container or baggie for storing.  We had a great time making this, and I'm certain all the kids will all enjoy this yummy smelling play dough in their kindergarten class!

Thank you Mrs. Haughey for having me on your wonderful blog!

Over at my blog you will find tutorials, family fun and a little dose of healthy living. 

If you get a chance I'd love for you to visit me!. 

(From Sally:  Thank you Kelly for sharing your great playdough recipe and blog!!  Love, love, love your photography!  It is so beautiful!)