Kid Photographers in the Classroom

I've known about kids's using cameras for a long time... like, I remember using Polaroids! Here's a five point report on more recent use!  Thanks to Doodle Bugs for the Five for Friday Link-up!

1.  Find one:  I admire the blogging teachers who talk about handing over their smart phones to kids to take pictures, but I know I would be too upset if a student broke a camera quite valuable to me.  I wanted a lower risk/lower responsibility option, and I wanted them to be able to use it on their own. What worked for me was a good scrounge through a bin of electronic stuff we had at home which unearthed an old family digital camera. It still focuses like a point and shoot, but doesn't zoom in or out any more. It is a bit bigger and chunkier than current cameras– perfect for little hands. If I hadn't come across it, I would have asked my kindergarten parents if they had an old one to donate. If your kids have access to ipads, then of course, you are all set, but our district doesn't have them yet.

2. Give it a home:  I went to the dollar store and found a brightly colored padded case for it– not a case I'd ever carry, but the kids love it. I wanted the camera to be easily accessible and in plain view, and our fireplace mantle turned out to be the perfect spot. (Yes, I have a "fireplace" in my classroom, but that's a post for later.) There's nothing else for kids to touch up there, which lowers the chances of it getting knocked off accidentally. Also, a quick glance tells if it is where it belongs– I don't want to lose it or have it kicking around the classroom.

Isn't that case a beauty– complete with sequins no less!

3. Make the rules short and sweet: You can take up to three pictures at a time in one day. When you've taken three it is someone else's turn, or you can put it back. Pretty simple, but it worked for all of us.

4. What I found:
• This was a hugely social activity! Tons of conversation, cooperation and sharing of the camera, and collaboration to get the best shot. I don't know of an activity that got kids more excited about working together. And I found it was not just the "usual" groups of kids. Everybody got involved and naturally worked with kids they might not have played with otherwise.
• Kids really did follow the three picture limit. Once they had the camera in their hands they took their three shots pretty quickly because it was so much fun to take the photos, which meant there wasn't any long term hogging.
• Kids take terrific pictures– shockingly so. I wish I could share with you here on the internet the great photos they took of each other. Up close and group shots with expressions and poses they might not have struck if I had been behind the camera. Some of them even ended up on our end-of-year DVD.
• I couldn't print many of the pictures because of cost, but knew it was important to share them. I found the easiest way for the photographers to see their work was to download to my laptop, and then take a look when I was hooked up to the projector.
• The kids loved seeing their own shots and what others took, too. They remembered who took them most of the time. It lead to terrific discussion about what is important to us.  There were lots of shots of each other,

Taken by a kidperson

shots of art and block creations,

Taken by a kidperson

and even shelves of materials, which kind of cracked me up... I mean, the shelf of sidewalk chalk?? When we looked at this particular picture the photographer said he took it because we hardly ever use it... beware guilt trips!

You never know what is important to them

Looking at the photos together also generated great tips on how to take a good pic.

• DO take a look at the photos before you show the kids though- one little kidperson caught another little kidperson cutting our tablecloth! The photo was not staged, but a caught in the act shot. It provided good talk between me and the guilty party, but I wouldn't have wanted the others to see it.

5. Next year I hope to expand our picture taking:
• I am going to get my hands on another camera.
• I am going to get more bang for the learning buck by providing cut pieces of cardstock to make labels and captions for their creations. They can prop the cards so they appear in the photos.
• I am going to do both individual and whole group writing based on the photos. I didn't do this this year because we got the camera late in the year, and because not everyone took photos on a regular basis.  Next year I'll pick a time to do a project and provide a checklist so that everyone takes at least three shots over a few days. We'll go through the shots and pick the one they want to print up. Then we'll write while the picture taking is still fresh in mind.

Hope this post provides inspiration! You have a whole summer to mull over how you are going to get your hands on a camera and put it to good use in your classroom. I highly recommend it!

Now head on back for more great ideas in Five for Friday!

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Build It! A Great Science Book

Thanks to Deanna Jump at Mrs. Jump's Class for this week's great Let's Talk About Books Linky!
It is one of my favorite linky parties to peruse... I always make new discoveries there. Hope my choice is new to you, too.

Build It! Structures, Systems and You by Adrienne Mason and Claudia Davila is a great book addition to any physical science construction unit in kindergarten.

A  terrific addition to your constructions unit

With clear definitions of what structures are, this book is oh so useful in expanding a young child's thinking around structures around only buildings. This book explores structures of all sorts, manmade and those found in nature. It also talks about materials and how parts are connected, and includes some really good suggestions for simple hands-on activities and experiments to demonstrate the concepts to kindergartners. My kidpeople love testing the strength of structures built different ways, and making a simple moving part bird puppet.  The book itself is also a great example of the non-fiction genre, with clear illustrations and organization. I couldn't teach our construction unit without this book.

There are quite a few other books in this series by Mason and Davila, and I'm betting they are equally as good. Check out your school and public library, or favorite book buying venue and you'll find them.

While on the subject of construction, I have several science videos to round out this science unit that you can find on my Pinterest Science Video Board. Clicking on the cartoon me below will take you there.

My Science Video board on Pinterest has lots of good science videos on a variety of topics

Do you know Build It!? Do you like it in other ways? Be sure to leave a comment and share.

Now hop on over to Deanna's Linky by clicking below and you'll find all sorts of other great books... that's what I'm about to do!

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Meet Me for the First Time

Well I decided to link up with this friendly idea and see if I can meet a few new folks.  Thanks to The Teaching Tribune for the link-up!

I teach kindergarten in Michigan, and I teach teachers whenever I can. I have been teaching teachers since I started teaching little kidpeople, and can't imagine not being in front of adults at least sometimes. I learn from teaching the short people and the tall ones, too. Teaching at many levels keeps me on my toes and current with what is going on with education.

I have just this week to go and I'll be out! I almost always have to go back in on Saturday to finish packing up the room, but this year I'm aiming to be out by Friday evening. I am quite ready this year for the change of scene and change of pace that summer brings.

I watch the fish in my pond whenever I can. I pestered my husband for years before we finally put it in three years ago and it is one of the best things we ever did. I love the tranquility of the water and the sound of the little waterfall. The wildlife is terrific, too, whether it's the fish, the frogs and tadpoles, the snails, the variety of bugs, or the birds, cats, and raccoons that come to visit– for good and bad :) I love to sit each morning, feed the fish, and contemplate life in some stolen quiet moments. It hasn't been hard to maintain. We leave the pump going all winter– even last winter, the mother of all winters, with several feet of snow covering the pond for weeks on end, that pump kept going, the waterfall kept flowing, and we didn't lose one fish. I was truly amazed. Here it is.

My backyard pond

We live in an old house, about 120 years old.  We have done two major additions, umpteen smaller renovations, and endless projects. The old hot radiator heat is not conducive to central air, so we stay comfortable with a couple window units and a large attic fan. We have the windows and deck doors open as much as we can and I love being aware of the great outdoors and what the neighborhood is up to. This evening is a particularly pleasant one.

I am an avid reader, but there was a period in life when I sort of forgot that because I just get so busy during the school year. I rediscovered the joys of regular reading as a cure to insomnia (after trying just about everything else.) If I wake in the night now, I grab the book I'm in, and before my mind can get working on the latest school project (or anxiety), I am far away in some other place and time. It usually only takes a few minutes before I'm back to sleep again. So for you fellow insomniacs out there, stay in a book and keep it at your bedside.

I'm a professional storyteller.  It brings me great joy to have kids and grown-ups deep in a belly laugh or on the edge of their seats in suspense. I am a founding member of our local storytellers' guild. We put on Tellabration each year and use the funds to bring in nationally known storytellers for our schools. I enjoy attending and giving workshops and am continually honing the craft. The school year finds me pretty busy so I'm lucky to fit in one public gig, but my own classroom audience of kidpeople enjoy all sorts of stories. This summer I'll be telling for preschoolers a couple of times, and hosting a book club... more on that book in another post.

And here's a bonus "I do" that I have to get used to saying– I DO write for a children's magazine! It is launching in a couple months. It is called Lilybell and is for elementary aged girls. If you are a writer with a middle grade bent and would like submission guidelines, just email me and I'll give you the scoop. It's gonna be grand, though challenging, and will keep me busy all summer.  Yippee! Something new to do!

All for now. Would love it if you'd leave me a comment. I'll be checking out some of the other bloggers at The Teaching Tribune and you should, too.  You can go to the site by clicking on the image below.

Hope you'll leave a word. Would love to get to know you!

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Currently June... and I Should Be Doing Something Else...

Okay, in case anyone is interested... you can have a glimpse into my warped personality. I have NINETY MILLION things I should be doing... That's approximately eighty million more things than usual. I AM in the last days of school after all. But what am I DOING??? Choosing to post instead. My favorite form of procrastination is to find OTHER work to do! It doesn't help that so many of the bloggers I stalk are posting neat Currently posts, and that most of them seem to be out of school... sigh.

So here goes... Hugs and Kisses to Farley for her June Currently Link-Up. This is only the second time I've done this, so I am one step better at powerpoint... nothing like stretching the old techie talents.

Currently Listening...  It is a sunny evening her in old Michigan, and a pleasant 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Basically a perfect evening NOW, after a gloomy, gray, and rainy day which caused our penpals from my best teacher friend's class at a nearby school from visiting, which made me very grumpy. We're going to try Skyping next week... hmm. I am sitting with the deck door open and thinking I should be singing my own bedtime song.

Currently Loving...  Only six and a half days left of teaching... or as my school colleagues are fond of saying, only seven more wake-ups.  I say "days left of teaching" because there will still be PLENTY of work to do in the classroom after the last bus pulls away. Kindergarten is "stuff intense" as my husband says, and it takes a while to pack it all up for the summer.

Currently Thinking...  My report cards are almost done... they have been "almost done" for days now. My brain is on overload with all the info coming in and going into those reports. Comments are about the only thing left, but they take the longest.

Currently Wanting...  Really... how much longer can I make these reports take... procrastination has become my middle name.

Currently Needing...  Oh. Summer. I. do. LOVE. thee.  The time of relaxation, rejuvenation, and reading– the 3 Rs for teachers. Teaching is such an intense, going, going, going kind of profession. Sometimes it's truly 24/7 as I wake in the night with inspiration (or anxiety) about something that I simply must do for school. If it weren't for summer, I would never get to be the well rounded human I want to be.

Current Summer Bucket List (which will definitely get longer...)  When summer DOES come, oh, so much new stuff to be busy over. Many people don't know, but I'm a closet children's writer.  I have several manuscripts– a couple for picture books and one for a middle grade chapter book. All have been in stall mode for a while, but something recently came up which I think is going to kick-start the old creative juices again. I'll keep you posted.

Yes, I am SO overdue for regular exercise. The dog will love me, and the doctor too, when I again start my days with crack of dawn walks. Wonder if last summer's screech owl family will be around...

Samuelina is doing an internship at Boeing in Seattle and I'm GOING.  It will be so good to see that daughter of mine.  She's only been out there for four weeks but I do miss her. And by the time I go it will be eight weeks. Thank goodness for the miracle of Skype.  On the way to Washington I'm looping through Colorado to visit the bros and their families. This trip is WAY overdue.

My office, the laundry room, the pantry, the garage.  Pick any spot in the house and it needs my best organization skills. sigh. Every summer. sigh. HOW does it GET that way...

And it wouldn't be summer if I didn't do some craftsy DIY projects. Have plans for a mermaid collage for the bathroom and some garden signs... we'll see what magic happens when I pick up a paint brush.

Well, I guess I have procrastinated all I can for this evening. Still time to work on the report comments. I do love those little kidpeople but it will be good to wrap up the year and think about something else... for at least a while.

Now just click Farley's icon to find more great Currently posts. Fun!

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Pencil-less!

Can I do it two days in a row?  Two posts, two days, both under 45 minutes?

I recently had a conversation with a teacher friend about her classroom pencil system. She had some good routines in place for handling pencil issues. She was surprised to hear how I do pencils because I. don't. do. pencils. At all. Pencils just don't work for me for a bunch of reasons. Many years ago I switched to retractable clicker pens like these from Staples.

Clicker pens are the way to go!

They cost $11.99 for a bin of 50. I get them for less than that by shopping the back-to-school sales. I bought two bins the first year I left pencils behind and only one bin each year since then, and I always have plenty around. They last a looonnnng time. They come in black, blue, and red. I put out the black and blue, and keep red for "special" uses, such as revision in writers' workshop. They are retractable, which means no lids to lose, and pen cups stay clean because the retracted tips don't leave ink spots. And  they come with a nice rubbery grip built right on to the pen... good for little fingers and mine, too. I have been more than pleased with how they work, surprisingly.

We use skinny markers a lot as well.

I use the classics– no washables for me!

The kids write with markers for the first month of school, then skinny markers are used for some drawing and certain kinds of writing as we switch over to our clickers starting in October.  I get Crayola skinny markers (and fat ones, too) when they go on sale at Target for $1 a box at back-to-school time. (And no washables for me! The washable marker ink comes back off the paper too easily and makes a mess of kids' hands and their papers. The regular Crayola markers wash out just fine and stay on the paper.)

The rest of our writing comes from dry erase markers (see previous post here.) And we also use a variety of crayons, special markers, novelty pens, etc, etc. There is an abundance of writing and drawing that goes on in the classroom.

Perhaps most important of all, there is an added bonus to kids' learning when it comes to clicker pens and markers– you can't erase. Kids don't lose all that time in erasing. They learn to be more purposeful in their writing. They learn to correct mistakes with a quick strike out (yes, I teach them that term) and they learn to keep on moving along! No obsessing over mistakes– life moves on and so do we with our work.

Yes, yes, there are a few pencils in my room, but they are not used by kids unless the project really calls for it. I use them for running records mostly.

Give it a try. You might be surprised to join the ranks of penciless classrooms!

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Interrupting Chicken– A Fav!

So happy to have "an excuse" to do a quick post on a book my kidpeople love– Thanks to Deanna at Mrs. Jump's Class for the great linky! Do you know Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein?

This great Caldecott Honor book features a little chicken who can't quite control herself from interrupting stories with how she thinks the story should end. All my kids loved the predictability and "kid wins in the end" element to the story. No matter if you are looking for bedtime books, books to talk about blurting, books that highlight classic fairytales, or just a really good and funny book, Interrupting Chicken is it!

And after you read the story to your class, let them enjoy my favorite rendition by Tickletales– love the expression!



I have eight and a half days until school ends. I'm dashing out the door! This wins as my fastest post ever!-- under 45 minutes!

Now be sure to click on Deanna's link to find more great books!

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Five Fun Filter Ideas

We are busy, busy, busy in Kidpeople kindergarten with so much to do and teach in these last weeks! But I hang on to those early childhood roots and squeeze in the "good stuff" whenever I can. A bit of the good stuff is arts and crafts. I don't need to tell any of YOU about how it teaches fine muscle coordination, spatial awareness, color appreciation, sense of accomplishment, and good old JOY.

This time I decided we were going to spend some time with coffee filters to bring spring in! In this one week we had temps in the 40s and in the 80s. Yep, it's spring and it's Michigan.

1. Materials: The best part about coffee filters, in addition to the fact that they're cheap, is their weight, texture, and that they absorb so well. You can color them with crayons, of course, but markers (followed with water to make the color run), watercolor paint, food coloring, and bingo dabbers are all worth experimenting with. For this go-around we used markers with water, and the dabbers, though the dabbers turned out a lot better. Dabbers bring quick coverage, you can make cool patterns, you get some blending for that tie-dye look, and the colors are intense and gorgeous. We experimented with folding them up before coloring and got some neat symmetry, too. Everybody made at least four to start with. I went to the dollar store and Meijers to spruce up my supply. They're cheap and last a good while. I gave each child a tray to work on so the mess was contained and easily rinsed away.

I used several brands and they all worked great

2. Flowers: I used the free flower craft from Michelle Griffo's TPT store to help the kiddos make flowers. I made stencils out of the flower shape- the kids traced it on to the dried filters, then cut it out. They worked pretty independently to put it together and label it... literacy and science snuck in a bit :)

Tie them to science

3. Butterflies: We made two kinds. The first one used wooden, one piece style clothespins. Kids colored them with fat dry erase markers for intense black bodies. They slid the filter up the slit in the clothespin, scrunching it to make it fit. Then they wrapped a small rubberband (the kind that come in a million colors and are used in the current bracelet making craze) around the end so the filter couldn't slip out. I cut a supply of chenille stems to a length that worked to make antennae to wrap around their "neck" by giving a twist.

Clothespin version on the left, popsicle stick version on the right

Butterfly Number Two- We colored two popsicle sticks with the black marker, then using two of the small rubberbands, one at each end of the popsicle sticks, we sandwiched the filter in between, fluffing the wings out a bit. I cut more chenille stems, had the kids bend them into a 'V' and then slide them under the rubberband at the "head" end. Googly eyes finish them nicely.

Pretty simple- 2 sticks, 2 bands, 1 pipe cleaner, 1 filter, and don't forget the googly eyes!

4. Display TIPS!!!  I don't know how I have followed so many blogs and missed what must be known by other teachers: MAGNETS STICK TO THE FRAMES OF DROPPED CEILINGS! How did I not know this?? I sat one day staring up, then had Jonathan climb a step stool– his extra inches let him reach the ceiling– and sure enough, the frames are steel. Yippee! This opens up all sorts of interesting display options. I used it for the first time here in this picture by attaching magnets to the butterfly bodies... kinda looks like they are flocking to the windows... or would that be swarming... I have this long handled gripper thing and by standing on the step stool I could hold the butterfly up close enough to the ceiling for the magnet to stick to the frame.

Magnets make 'em stick to the ceiling tile frame!

Butterflies all around

5. Color Pops... that is what one little guy called our filters on the windows. Even on gray days the light shines through to show gorgeous color.  Love 'em.

Filters add a "Color Pop" to the windows even on gray days

Hope you enjoy these coffee filter ideas. Let me know how you use them! Happy Spring!

So nice this post fit in beautifully with TWO great blog link-ups at Doodle Bugs Teaching:

AND No Time for Flashcards:

Click on their icons above for more great ideas!

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