January Pick 3 Pins Linky

Oh, happy January! I'm gearing up for the month, and doing it in a terrific way– with the January Pinterest Pin 3 Linky. This is sponsored by Marissa at Inspired Owl's Corner and Lisa at PAWsitively Teaching.

I found so many good ideas last time that I've looked forward to this post AND reading everyone else's posts all month. All of my three pin picks are for activities we'll do in the classroom this month.

January is snow month for kidpeople kindergarten. I know many teachers in the northern states do snow throughout December. Although we talk about snow a bit as we anticipate its arrival, December is often snowless, so we don't jump into the snow theme then. Better to save it until we actually have snow, and kids are excited about it. As I write this in the first days of January we STILL don't have any snow, but it is simply not possible to have a snowless January, surely! I'll be ready!

For my first Pick I'm going to choose...

Click to go to The Very Hungry Preschoolers

an indoor snow idea! The kids love playing out in the snow and we'll do that as much as time and temps allow, but this will be a great indoor activity to extend snow exploration. I've taken food color paint outside most winters, but I've never used our watercolor sets this way before. It will be good for the kiddos to experiment using snow instead of water to make our paints work. It's also a relatively low effort paint set up for me, too– a bonus.

I've been selectively collecting snow ideas for weeks now on my Snow, Snow, Glorious Snow Pin Board. It includes crafts, art techniques, fine motor activities, science experiments, math connections, books, cooking and fun snack ideas, games, songs, videos... EVERYTHING snow! And if you don't get snow where you live, just make your own from directions on this board. Find fun for all by clicking on the board below.

For my second Pick I choose...

Click to hear this Teacher Tipster tip

Mr. Smith! I love this goofy man and his Teacher Tipster blog. Lots of good ideas here. The reason I'm choosing his Hallway Song as a Pick this month is because I'm gearing up for the transition back to school behaviors next week. Two weeks at home is enough time for our little short people to sort of "forget" classroom expectations. I've known the Hallway Song for a couple years now– as many of you know I love singing in the classroom– but I don't think I've sung it at all this year. Next week will be the perfect time to teach it. It's a fun way to remind kids that quiet hallway behavior is our goal.

I've flicked over my Behavior Tips Pin Board in the last couple days to refresh myself in the ways of the kiddos. You can't have too many tricks up your sleeve to keep the classroom running smoothly. You can find it by clicking on the pic below.

And for my third Pick I choose

Click to go to Laura's post on Luv My Kinders

an anchor chart for teaching digraphs! My friend Laura posted this anchor chart, and one for the 'th' sound a month ago and I loved her post. The kidpeople and I have covered these digraphs before, but this chart will help anchor their learning. I especially like Laura's design and I'm going to "steal" her idea for the good of the munchkins.

Laura's charts are on my Words/Letters Pin Board. My Reading and Writing Boards were getting crowded so I decided to start sorting them more specifically. Click below.

This has been a fun post... Jonathan just threw together a graphic of my mumblings as I work here- HEE!

That won't stop me from clicking and pinning more from all the posts below though!!!

Thanks Marissa and Lisa!

An InLinkz Link-up

Getting From Here to There– Learning to Line Up

I still have a month before school starts (I didn't get out until mid June, remember), but my mind is drifting toward starting school with my new kidpeople. Learning how school works is always so key in the early days, so I'm joining up with Five For Friday to discuss lining up.  Look for lots of little tips hiding in here :)

1.  Teachers have all sorts of ways to teach lining up, like talking about how cars go past the fast food drive-thru window in single file– this idea's from Leslie over at Kindergarten Works recently. It made me grin.

No matter how you transition your kids to the line, it is very important that instruction starts on the first day of school, the first time you line up. I tell my new kiddos that this is something we are going to do many times each day, so we need to become Line-up Experts. (The kids don't know it then, but they will be experts in all sorts of things by the end of the year.)  Experts know three things– we line up quietly, we keep hands off friends and walls, and we take the next spot as the line forms and stay there for that trip. I allow time to practice getting into the line several times, even before we leave the room the first day. Practice and high expectations goes a long way in achieving a smooth running classroom later.

2.  Part of my lining up instruction each year involves this friendly fellow!

Yep, the old Slinky Dog, who got a renewed following when the Toy Story movies came out. I use him to demonstrate how our line should move along. I show how there is space between the coils, but not too much space. And I show how his tail end slinkies up to catch up with the rest of him at certain points. Our classroom is on the far side of the building so we have several stopping points throughout the halls to allow for our tail to "slinky up" so we don't get too spread out. We have a Head of the line, and Arms (their job it is to hold the door open when we pass through.) These two kids wait until they see our Tail  bringing up the rear before going past our stopping points. The Tail makes sure they're the last one at all times, with no one behind.  Our jobs change weekly so the kids really learn it by the end of each week.

I keep Slinky Dog nearby all year so we have a quick visual reminder when needed. And while on the topic of Slinkies, don't forget to keep a couple traditional ones in your block corner to use when making ramps and stairs– they make for fun science related extensions.  They come in several sizes, too.

3. Speaking of gaps in the line, I made a sign like this one to post near our classroom door as another reminder to watch our spacing as we walk down the hall.

I loved hearing and seeing this phrase years ago when riding London's Underground, and I started using it this way at school when I got back. People need to notice the "gap" between the subway door and platform when riding the Underground, and kidpeople need to notice the gap between themselves and the friend in front of them when walking in a line. I printed up this sign, too, to pull out mid year if we need a little refresher... mine has the little crown on top though, that is missing from pic... I tell them it's there because I am the queen– ha!

4.  I have a musical wire wand like this one that I keep at the classroom door to help us get ready to walk in line down the halls.

I don't usually introduce it the first day, but as we need it. I give it one *ping* and we race the wand to see if we can become silent before it does. It works beautifully on the days when we are particularly excited about our activities and need a little extra prompt to be quiet. I posted about many sound maker transition helpers a few months ago, and you can read about them HERE.

5.  We sing this great song I learned on TeacherTipster.com...  I love Mr. Smith's sense of humor. We sing it as we line up at the door. We sometimes even whisper sing or mouth it as we move down the hall. It's easy to learn and worth a listen. Click on his button to hear it. Your kiddos will learn from it and love it, too.

Now that you know why we refer to our line as a Slinky, you'll get a kick out of a couple of kid stories that I posted just yesterday. Click on the button for a laugh!

Now head back over to Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday and find more good stuff!

The post Getting From Here to There– Learning to Line Up first appeared on kidpeopleclassroom.com

Ding! Humm! Toot! Getting Kids' Attention

There are lots of ways to get kids' attention in class. Teachers are always sharing sayings, motions, and claps, and I love learning new ones. They are fun, and great for helping kids focus.

I also have numerous devises that help kids attend without saying a word. I gathered these quasi instruments together for this photo, but they are kept in different places around my room-- spots where I usually am when I need kids to be quiet. They can all cut through the classroom chatter in an instant, especially as we practice a quiet response when I introduce each one during the year. And a bonus to a brain compatible classroom is that they are nicely melodious as they do their job.