Hoods, Hacks, Hoots, a Sequel and More

Okay, so Happy Friday again! This is another post, the real post, for this Friday. You know with me it either NEVER rains, or it POURS when it comes to blog posts. Oh, to be one of those bloggers whose life never interferes with their posting schedule. Thanks to Kacey at Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday. Here's five.

1.  I have often said that I should have been born an octopus. Between needing to rein in hold little children and carry seventy two LOTS of things to school everyday, I could always use more arms. Here's me coming to school the other day.  Can you relate?

2.  The day I was schlepping all that stuff was my teaching assistant's last day. She was only there to help launch the school year.... waaawwwww! I wish it could be all year. The kids and I made her some special little momentoes– the kids made cards and I put together a piece of special artwork... I use the term artwork loosely. I wanted the kids to be featured. I share it to give you some ideas for your own goodbye gifts.

Yes, it took a while to cut out all those little heads, but I think it turned out pretty cute, and she loved it. It will hang in her home office. We miss you, Chris!

3.  Did you see my earlier post about my Paint Drying Rack Hack? You can see and read about how it works if you click the picture.

4.  Okay, now this is the REAL purpose of today's post– a new favorite book review! Amanda Noll and Howard McWilliam teamed up again to create Hey, That's MY Monster!

Hey, That's MY Monster is a companion to I Need My Monster and furthers the adventures of Ethan and his monster, Gabe. This time Ethan's little sister Emma joins in the fun.

What is going to happen when Gabe has to make somebody else go to bed? Everyone needs their own scary monster to help them go to sleep, but why does it have to be Gabe??

Great illustrations accompany this monster tale, from cover to cover... I mean LOOK at this fresh crop of end paper monsters... monster drawing lesson, anyone?

And look at the adorable little sister...

There's just the right amount of shiver to hook five year olds right in. We read it fifty seven many times, with "Again!" following every reading. I am always interested when books strike just the right note with the Littles and this one does. Going to bed in the dark, with monsters or without, is a fear that is pretty much universal, and this story helped the kiddos deal with that fear in a lighthearted way.

You can read two posts on the first book, I Need My Monster here and here. The posts contain a freebie to use with the kids and a link to a neat video.

Some classrooms do monsters only at Halloween, but in my classroom, monsters are regular characters in our daily drama. Our favorite monster puppet Ten-Ten Twenty helps us do math (click to read previous post) The rest of the monster gang provide good sports when we need to act things out– little monsters CAN be naughty, you know, SORT OF like five year olds.

I highly recommend both I Need My Monster and the new Hey, That's MY Monster. I thank Flashlight Press for sending me the review copy. I can honestly say it is adored by my monster loving kidpeople AND their monster loving teacher, too!!  You can check out both books at your favorite bookstore and Amazon. You can see a complete list of Flashlight Books by clicking below. They are a consistently high quality publisher and every teacher should know about them.

5.  Last but not least, it's time for

So my kindergarten colleague and I were sitting on the teacher bench at recess when one of her kiddos came up and gave her a truly beautiful, red maple leaf. She thanked her little person and said,

"We've been learning about all sorts of leaves in our classroom, haven't we? Can you tell me what kind of leaf this one is?"

Her kiddo was thoughtful for a moment then said, "Dead."

A quick, gleeful glance exchanged between us two adults said it all, "The kids are the best part of this job!"

Click on back to Doodle Bugs for more teacher news.

And if you hoped over from Small Victories, take a leap on back to continue reading this week's favorite posts!

Hope you got a grin or two this time. Have a TERRIFIC fall weekend! Oh, and do check out my new wink below... that husband of mine...

 

Grin, Win, and Three More on Friday

Yes, this is a Saturday post, but that is okay. Some of you will be happy I posted no matter the day because you get to be the last people to slip into the HUE Animation Studio Giveaway....

Thanks to Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for her always great Five for Friday linky!

1.  It's been a while, so here's a quick one.

Student A:  I'm in love with my mom and dad.
Student B:  (in smart alec voice): Are you going to marry them?
Student A: hmmm.... no, they're already married.... but I can still be in love with them.

Sweetness all the way.

2.  Isn't this the CUTEST bracelet for a teacher! Especially a kindergarten teacher. Love.

Yes, Mischief Managed comes from Harry Potter– it's part of the spell that makes the Marauders' Map work. However I say, managing mischief is what I do all day! hee I got it from Etsy. I'm not going to recommend this actual one, though. The silver is too thin and soft and it warps out of shape really easily. I'm not so sure how long it is going to last. I think it is a great idea, but you might want to look for a sturdier rendition.

3.  Nothing like having writing workshop at the bus stop! What better time to record a small moment from a field trip than when you're still on it.

4. Regular readers know I'm into little monsters. I thought this art project was especially good.

The teeth stick out of it's mouth because the mouth is a separate piece made like this– Draw the oval. Draw the rectangles. Color the oval red. Cut the whole thing out on the outer edge. Glue down the oval and fold down the rectangles.




Simple, brilliant, 3D teeth! These monsters must be in kindergarten because their toothy smiles are a lot like the ones I look at all day, with wiggly teeth just about ready to fall out. grin. You can see the post on Krokatak HERE.


5.  Last but not least... QUICK enter to win a HUE Animation Studio!!! Don't know what a HUE Animation Studio is? Well, it allowed my students and I to make these animated movies.

I posted about the projects HERE

And I have a free downloadable tip sheet available HERE

Follow, enter, and WIN! You can follow my blogging buddy Stephanie at Forever in Fifth Grade for another chance to. But HURRY. Only one more day!

OUR GIVEAWAY IS OVER :( CAROL D. IS THE WINNER!

Now click on back to Doodle Bugs learning and see what others have going on in life.

See you around! Thanks for stopping by!

Hats, Hats, Tree Pins and a WINNER!

Everyone looking forward to April? I am. We start the month with a break, and then Spring comes breezing in with all it's blooming splendor. Yippee! Here are three pins I'm going to use this month and thanks to the pin pals Marissa at the Inspired Owl's Corner and Lisa at Pawsitively Teaching for the linky party– one of my favs!

Aren't these hats adorable? I love making hats with the kids and we do it quite a few times during the year. This one comes from a recycled paper bag and the directions are in the video. Doing it!

Such a cute learning idea. I'm saving this one for the week of Earth Day when we read The Lorax. The kiddos will get good cutting practice creating the tree tops and it ties right into our word family practice.  

Yes, another hat. I told you I like them. And you know, testing season is right around the corner... what do hats have to do with testing? After we do a testing session we run back to the run to counterbalance the badness by doing something really fun and creative, and oftentimes that is hat making. (No, I don't tell the kids the "computer activities" are bad. They just like doing fun stuff anytime.) What could be sillier than this monster hat where you just add google eyes and anything goes?? I love little monsters and we have fun with all sorts of monster stuff in the classroom. And if you want to give it a spring theme, just make those 3D bouncing doodads on top flowers! Check out my monster board while you're there though, cause there are lots of neat ideas!

And now...

dum dada dum!  (That's some big drum bangs....) the winner of the blog giveaway of the book Hammer and Nails is Michelle M.  Michelle should look for her copy of the book, courtesy of Flashlight Press, in her mailbox soon.

Adn don't forget, more giveaways coming up in the next few weeks- a Hue camera/animation kit and a great "see thru" book from Usborne. Follow so you're in the know!

Click away to find more great Pins. 

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Thanks for stopping by and see you next time!

A Cozy Chat and Some Monstrous Ideas

Hello Everybody! I hear some of the hardest weeks in school are these that we're in right now-- the honeymoon period is over, so much stuff is going on with parent-teacher conferences and assessments, and Thanksgiving break is still only a far away speck on the calendar. I'm busy, but loving my class and taking each day as it comes. Thanks to Kacey at Doodle Bugs for her Five for Friday link-up to share with you what I hope are some helpful ideas.

1.  I'm gearing up for the bulk of my parent-teacher conferences next week. A photo might not be the first way a teacher thinks of to share about parent-teacher conferences, but for me, the details of the setting are the first important detail.

Let's have a little chat!

I very much want parents to feel the conference is a conversation, so a comfortable setting is crucial. We meet in front of my "fireplace" looking at each other. I have a small side table available to hold my notes and handouts. There is space for parents to sit together on the couch, if both parents come to the conference.  And just as crucial there is a third chair to form a triangle when separated parents come to the conference as the couch might be too cozy in some cases. And yes, I pretty much insist that separated parents come for one conference. It's not twice the time that I must give for two conferences that is my concern, but that both parents hear the same information from me.

On that little table, I always have some handouts for parents to go away with. Tips for practicing math concepts or letters, sight, or rhyming words. I also suggest a good read– Lucy Calkins' Raising Lifelong Learners. This is not a "parenting" book, per se, but one that talks about how parents can support their child's learning from pre-K through high school. It is a fantastic book that I recommend all teachers and parents read. I copy the chapter on raising readers to give to parents as a tease. (Copying one chapter of a book for educational purposes is allowed.) Many parents end up buying the book, and I have a few copies to loan out as well.

Another important detail of my conferences is my opening line. "I have lots to share about your child, but we'll start with what you most want to know about. Don't worry, I'll fit all I have to share around that." I think it is important to share control of this meeting– parents and I are partners in the education of their child, after all. Sometimes parents respond by saying their preference is for me to start with what I have. Sometimes parents think a minute and give me an answer. Sometimes they know immediately what they want to hear about. Another reason my opening line is important to a good parent-teacher conference is because I know people have a hard time listening when they have a pressing question in mind. Much better to satisfy that so we can move on to cover everything else. And how horrible is it to come to the end of a conference, with the next parent waiting in the wings, and be asked a question that could have been easily discussed if you had known that was important to the parents!

Teachers sometimes ask me if I can still get in all I need to say if I allow the parent to begin. My answer is yes. I basically structure my conferences into two equally important parts– academics and social/learning behaviors.  I start with student strengths in these areas, then move on to concerns, though I do not see the standard parent-teacher conference as the time to discuss these fully.  I usually share what I see, giving examples, and then talk about the ways I work with the student on these points. I always tell parents I will follow up further, usually after the first report card comes out.

What elements of parent-teacher conferences are important to you?

2.  Oh, how I hate the clean up that happens at the end of the school year! WHY am I thinking of that NOW? Because this last year, for some reason, I lost so much stuff! Among the items that still haven't resurfaced is a very neat laser pointer. It was also a clicker, allowing me to click on my computer remotely when using it with a projector. I used the laser all the time in class to point out resources in the room to kids. It is important that kids remember to use the word wall, or our anchor charts posted around the room. When I'm working with a child that needs to look at something specifically, it is so useful to be able to use a laser pointer to show them where to look, so neither one of us has to get up to see it. I finally couldn't stand being without a pointer any more and decided to buy another. They are surprisingly pricey at office supply stores, but our trusty ACE Hardware store had a BARGAIN! A laser pointer that is also a LED flashlight AND a pen for only $3.50. At just an ordinary pen size, it is really portable as well. Yippee!

It looks like an ordinary pen but it's a laser pointer!

3. Well, aren't I crafty! I made a moveable number line! I took a meter/yard stick (a little longer than a regular yard stick to give more number room) and covered it with bright green masking tape. I wrote numbers every 1.5 inches, as every inch made the numbers too close together to be easily read. I then ran a strip of press-on magnetic tape on the back  Voila!

Number lines are important tools in math and we learn about numbers, number order, counting, addition, subtraction, etc.  And I can move it into and out of prime student viewing space on the white board as needed. So much easier than drawing or using masking tape for the line on the board. WHY didn't I think of it before?? I put a bit of magnet on the back of a little car, some little animals and lego guys, and of course, some monsters, to use as place holders when I move around on the line. "If the monster made three hops, and then he made two more, how many hops did he make?" Always keep it fun!

4. Do you use Phone-a-Friend in class? I find it helps kids control blurting and gives think time when playing learning games. We started with parent centers this week and parents are teaching it to the kids. Eventually they'll be able to do it on their own with lots of different games.

If one student turns over a card or lands on a spot, and can't do the task- say, read the sight word- they can "phone-a-friend." They hold their hand up to their cheek and says "Ring-ring, Sam" or whoever they choose.

Like my model child? I was too busy at schools to get a photo!

The stumped child knows who to call on because the kids who know the answer put their hand on the table in the "phone position."

It those kids do any blurting, like "me, me, me!" they can't be called on for help. This ability to signal that they know the answer keeps all the kids engaged through everybody's turn. Sam holds her "phone" to her ear and says the answer. The child who didn't know, then learns and gets to go on playing. The kids really like to use this element in games, and I love that it gives everyone think time, keeps kids engaged, and teaches the ones who need to know what we're working on. It also deemphasizes competition and puts a positive spin on helping everyone get the answer.

5. Tis the season for monsters... well, for me it is always the season for little monsters, as I've posted about numerous times before. I have a monster pin board that has everything from food, to art, to clothes, to toys, to learning activities-- and all MONSTER! You want to check it out, especially with Halloween just a week away.  Click on the Pin Board pic here.

And I'll leave you with this little video– I think it was around when I was a kid, so we can call it a classic. It will have you all bopping around the room for some Halloween brain breaks.

Scooch on back to Five for Friday for lots more fun!

Here's to a great week-before-Halloween, Everybody!

The post A Cozy Chat and Some Monstrous Ideas first appeared on KidpeopleClassroom.com

Monster Math, Germs, and Funny Kid Friday

Happy October! Well, five weeks of school have come and gone. Hard to believe. There is NOTHING like the beginning of the year in kindergarten and I have lots to share. So happy that I can link up with Doodle Bugs to share five things and Always a Teacher & Forever a Mom for Fabulous Freebie Friday. And I include my monthly Funny Kid Friday tale. And shop-a-holics beware, there is great stuff to know about as well as freebies to grab, too.

1. Our new math curriculum suggests that we have a classroom math mascot, and this fit in perfectly with what I already do. I've had "monster math" for a long time– monster themed math bulletin board, fun little monsters that help us do math, this insane monster hat that I wear every once in a while to give us a dose of happy.

Okay, so I can't believe I put that picture on the internet, but the kids love it– his ears... or are they his arms... go up and down when you squeeze the flaps hanging down. I have another fuzzy monster hood style hat, which smooshes my hair down a little less. But hey, kindergarten teachers can't be vain, so I wear them both.

You can see either hat if you click the captions under the hats. Be sure to look at the adult style in the second version as that's the one that's nice and roomy. You can't go wrong with either one for about $12. And if you don't use it for math, you can use if for Halloween. Hurry. They'll go fast.

Flipeez Peek-a-Boo Monster Action Hat

monster hoods

Here is our math mascot– a monster puppet who brings big personality to our math lessons. Keep it engaging to enhance learning, right?  His name is Ten-Ten. Ten-Ten Twenty... the kids wanted him to have a last name. You can click on the caption to find him for sale. He is brilliant and the kids are in love!

30" Monster (Green)

If you don't use puppets in your classroom I encourage you to try. You only need one to get started. You don't even need to make them talk. I have a puppet, Baa Baa Black Sheep, who is very shy. Only I can hear him when he whispers into my ear. The kids know what he says by the way I respond to him.

Ten-Ten has a low voice because I had a cold when I first introduced him. He is easy to manipulate as he rests on my lap. An arm stick helps animate him- he points to objects we are counting, and he shows his heart is pounding when he gets excited over how smart we are. Not hard. And let me tell you the kids LOVE him. They would have him come out every day. I limit him to math, and sometimes he just watches us. That is allowed, you know, if you just don't have the time, or aren't in the mood.

2. I would be amiss if I did not share a GREAT DVD that I found.  It's called Monster Math Squad. I don't know how I hadn't heard of it before. It has 30 episodes, each about twelve minutes long. Each one highlights a different math concept. We've done numbers to ten, shapes, size, and pairs so far. It is a great way to begin or recap a lesson. The kids love the monster characters and little stories, while I love the math emphasis the videos bring. I have surprised at all the kids retain. Again, highly engaging stuff to fire up those neurons.  You can get it for just five bucks now, about half of what I originally paid for it.

3. The folks at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have come up with a great info graphic poster... well, not great in that it shows there are a LOT of germs hanging out around school! Yikes! It is definitely something you'll want to see and share. Click on it to go to their site. They are planning on making it downloadable soon, so leave word in the comments and bookmark the page. I'm going to laminate mine and make a display in our main hallway.

4. And while on the subject of germs, how about a FREEBIE from my TPT store to help your kiddos wash their hands better?  It includes several posters, a song, and even a bookmark for the kids to take home. Click on the picture below to download it.  And if you want to hear how the song goes, click on this previous post to get the idea.

5.  And last but not least, my funny kid story.

It occurred to me several times this month that perhaps I was caught on the set of a Three Stooges movie. When you step back and watch newbie kindergartners you just have to smile. I watched one little tyke clear up after a special snack. She took a stray mini-chocolate chip to the garbage. Then went back and took a crumb to the garbage. Then went and took her napkin to the garbage. Then back she went to take her juice cup to the garbage... she eventually made it to the carpet with the rest of us.

At another point I called one little guy to come over and get something for his table. He got up and headed toward me, followed by everybody else at his table. Instead of going through the main traffic path, they all headed between two chairs which barely allowed one to pass, let alone five. They were sort of like pinball steelies trying to get down the shoot at the same time. I opened my mouth to give direction again, but then it struck me as so funny that I just sat chuckling and marveling until the five made it to me. The biggest marvel was that there was no angry pushing involved, just bounce, bounce, back-up, bounce, try again, until there they were, standing in front of me, happy as larks that they had made it, and ready to do whatever I wanted.

I'm chuckling again as I relive these video snippet memories in my mind. There is NOTHING like teaching kindergarten.

Now it's time for you to share your kid tale. Just grab my pic up there and use the in-linkz button to link up. Be sure to link back so everyone can find more. This will be up all month, so you can jump in any time. You can leave a tale in the comments, too, and bloggers leave your link so we can check you out. So many ways to share the fun.

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Monsters, Relationships, Technology, and Tales

It's FIVE for FRIDAY... and as I write this late Thursday night, there's only FIVE more mornings before kidpeople march in the door for the new school year! I'm psyched! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs to highlight some of the things I'm thinking about, and I have more goodies in the Building Relationships Series.

1. Okay, my daughter thinks these are creepy, but I think the kids are going to love counting by fives using these mini-hand finger puppets.  There are all sorts of useful goofy things at Archie McPhee– just click on the photo to find!  5.. 10.. 15.. 20...

2.  Arrggghh. Ever feel you are a slave to technology? All district teachers got new computers about a month ago now. I was very happy to get mine. It really is the next best thing to a second brain. New technology does not come without frustrations, though. I worked and worked to get all my mail into the mail app... only to be foiled again and again. I finally asked my daughter to lend a hand. I don't know whether it's because she's in the engineering school, or whether she's of the generation that just naturally "gets" technology faster, but within seconds, she had it working! And how? you ask... she simply closed the app, then opened it again... arrrggh.  I know to do that, but I sure didn't think to do that!

I wonder if it works like this... hope somebody remembers better than I do :)

3. To get over my wasted evening working on email, I clicked on a favorite song video. By now most teachers know this Minion video version of Happy by Pharrell Williams, but if you don't, now is the time to check it out. It never fails to bring a smile to my face. It is a great song that sets an upbeat mood. I use it in the classroom as a brain break and a clean up song. For easy, fast access to all my brain breaks, dance music, and kid vids I pin videos to my Pinterest boards then go there for fast viewing on the screen with my kiddos. You can visit my Pinterest Boards by clicking here

When you find good videos on You Tube and you want to have fast and easy access in the classroom, click "share" down below where the video plays, then click the P for Pinterest and you can pin it to your boards from there.

4. I don't have one particular theme for my entire classroom, but I do give our math activities a monster bent. I use these little guys to designate which math stations kids should go to.

If you click on the image you'll go to Oriental Trading's Monster search. I just shopping carted (can you use that as a verb...) some colorable monster magnets for kidpeople to keep math references handy on their fridge... and I think I need that Sully hat...

I also use this book the first week to launch our math discussions for the year. The monsters are adorable and there's lots of counting! Click to have a look inside.

5. Here is this week's Parent Relationship Builder Idea.

Each year, either before school starts or during the first week, I have a Work and Mingle Night.

Parents come to cut, tape, glue, staple, and assemble materials that the kiddos will use all year. This evening serves several purposes. First of all it really helps me get a lot done. If you do the math, ten parents, working for two hours each, equals twenty hours of my time saved! It also helps kindergarten parents, often new to our school community, get to know each other. And it allows parents to get to know me and why I do things. Parents ask lots of questions and I try to give lots of answers. I also use my time to describe all the ways parents can help the classroom all year by coming in, and by doing work outside of the classroom. We play music, munch, and generally have a great time!

If you think you'd like to try this, I've made it easy by posting my flyer for you to download. It might give you ideas on wording.

And here's my list of Parent Jobs. Over the years I've gotten pretty creative with ways to get parents involved with classroom life. Do you have these jobs?

Parent Center Helpers- for both literacy in the morning, and math in the afternoon

First Fifteen Parents- parents who come in with the bell and do some fast extra practice with kids

D.E.A.R. Parents- one day a week a parent reads aloud instead of our independent D.E.A.R. time

And for parents who can't come in:

Communication Parent- a parent who sends out reminder emails, most importantly to our weekly fresh produce parents. If you don't know how we get fresh produce for snacks click here.

Monthly Play Dough Maker- sends in a fresh batch of play dough the first week of every month

Book Club Parent- sorts and bags up to send home purchased books

Party Suppliers- I send out a list of stuff we need a few times a year and they bring it in

Field Trippers- parents sign up for specific field trips, but these folks are my in-a-pinch go-tos

Book Doctor- I send home a roll of tape and books to repair as they land in our BooBoo Book Bin

Now of course I don't always get someone in all of these categories every year, but I come close. Handing out the list and discussing it on Curriculum Night let's parents know they are really wanted. Parent involvement not only helps me– research shows kids who see their parents with a role in school DO better in school. It's all about the learning!

Last but not least, here is this week's Funny Kid Friday tale.

With this story I move Funny Kid Fridays from weekly to monthly. I'm just too busy during the school year to commit to weekly posts. Look for a tale on the first Friday of the month now. This week's is another from the first day of school.

One year I had this little guy who looked at me earnestly when I finished our very first read aloud on the first day of school and asked, "Are we going to do that again?"

"Well, yes," I said, delighted that he was having such a grand time as he subtly pointed out to everyone else that reading was a GREAT activity.

After art, he asked me again, and after snack, and recess... in the course of the day he asked me a dozen more times! Never doubt routines are important! He finally stopped asking when he realized that he could rely on regular, on-going fun in kindergarten every day! Isn't life grand!

Link-up below with your tale. You can link up all month now. Don't forget to grab my button up there to link back. And, of course, feel free to share your tale in the comment section below, too... in fact, readers out there in blog land, I'd love for you to share ANY love you have in the comments :)

Special thanks to Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday, thee place to go for great blog reading. Click to find more!

An InLinkz Link-up