Five Fav Things to Share

Well, hello there on this Friday when I have Five Favs to share. Thanks to Doodle Bugs for the weekly linky.

1. I am just finishing a week of break, and what did I do? I went into school for some spring cleaning. Here is the before pic... well, actually, the during pic.

And yes, that fuzzy creature in the midst of the mess is Popeye. See her? She loves to come to school to "help." No matter where I moved a bin, there she was. I didn't even know she was there until I went to take the picture. sigh. At least I wasn't lonely.

There are four sections to this stretch of shelf where I keep math and science materials. These items are mostly those that go with a particular unit, so I only need to get something out every two or three weeks. I keep these shelves covered with a cloth curtain which I love because it cuts down on visual clutter and provides a backdrop for student art display. Here is a pic from a few months ago. The blog post about how I attached the display strip can be found by clicking on the photo.

Problem is, when I lift the curtain to get things out or put them away, I can see only one little section. Over time, I forget what goes where and because I never have enough minutes in the day I shove don't take the care I should in putting things where they belong... stop judging. You know you'd do that, too. Anyhow, pretty soon pet supplies are with a set of magnifiers, measuring tools are with a box of magnifiers, human body parts are with a few random magnifiers, and planting supplies are with a bin of, you guessed it, more magnifiers. And when I need magnifiers, none are to be found. ugh.

So I took everything off the shelves. Then I sorted and regrouped and rebagged and rebinned and matched one kind of item with the space that they needed, keeping in mind which items need easier access than others. And now it looks like this. Ta-da.

In my mind's eye these shelves were going to be full of matching bins all labeled with cute color coded stickers. What really happened was that so much of this stuff was of odd shapes and sizes it would have been really difficult to find matching bins to hold it all. To say nothing of the expense of all the lovely matching bins if I could have found them. And sometimes it will just be handier to pull an item off the shelf without taking out a bin to rummage through. The curtain is there to hide mix-matched stuff anyway, right? I won't win any classroom decor awards for these shelves, but they will do the trick.

The best detail of all might be that I made a little map for myself. It shows the four sections of shelves and what things are on each. I'll keep it nearby for easy reference. NOW things will stay neat and tidy forever for a while.

2. I hope you didn't miss my Monday Made It!

These are DIY math manipulatives that I posted earlier this week. They are great for lots of kindergarten math, and they also have a very satisfying feel when you slide the beads with just the right amount of pressure. They can also be used as a fidget for kids who need to keep their fingers busy to keep their mind engaged. They are easy and inexpensive to make and you can read all about them by clicking on the photo. Oh, and there is a freebie to go with it :)

3. I spent a good bit of break working on various school projects. One of the projects was searching for new center activities. Not just new kinds of resources on TPT (though I found some of those, too), but new activities that can be done repeatedly and which we haven't done before. And. I. found. one. I am most excited about this– the Message Center.

This idea comes from Kristin at A Teeny Tiny Teacher. She has kids rig up clothesline between two chairs, then gives each one paper and a clothespin. The kids write messages to each other, clip them to the rope, then pull the rope across. Talk about incentive to WRITE!

My guys are gonna LOVE this. I can hardly wait! Kristin gives all the details on how she does the activity on her post, actually several posts. You can find all when you click on her button below. THANKS, Kristin. It's just the kind of thing I was looking for.

4. I gotta share... new FitFlops for me, again. Whoot, whoot! I don't usually post about clothes, but these shoes are less about fashion and more about comfort. I have bum knees that give me periodic issues... but not if I wear FitFlops. I wore FitFlop boots all winter, but as it started to warm up I needed a transitional pair of FitFlops before I could slip into their sandales. I chose the Shuv clogs.

No, Silly, they don't come two colors to a pair, and I don't wear them this way... though I suppose I could... I teach kindergarten, after all, and it's not like I haven't seen mixed up shoes before. While shopping for the black patent pair, which I found on sale, I also found the red patent ones, on an even better sale, so both went into the cart. I've been wearing them for about a month now and it is LOVE! I can wear them with socks, or without.

They have the same feel and support as any of my other FitFlops. Click on the pic of the boots to read about them in an earlier post.

I highly recommend checking them out. They have TONS of cute styles for summer. I'm contemplating the sneakers next... hmmm.

5. Pop quiz! What are these?

They are the most adorable little shovel spoons I've ever seen! They come from Orange Leaf– and I'm not talking about autumn foliage. Orange Leaf is a frozen yogurt spot. Really good frozen yogurt! Really low cal, low fat, good for you, good frozen yogurt. The entire place is done in ORANGE. Like, you could never think you were in any place other than an Orange Leaf when you're inside. It is orange to the nth degree– ours even has an orange Christmas tree inside... where did they find an orange Christmas tree?? I just discovered them, but they have been around for a little while.

And the BONUS for teachers are their little spoons. SO CUTE. I have no idea WHAT fantastic project I'm going to think up yet, but I'm definitely taking them to school. They'd be great fun in the sandbox for working small, or for digging something out of a sensory bin at a center, or for making finger puppets, or... or... I'll let you know when I figure it out. For right now, building my collection is the reason I'm going into Orange Leaf on a regular basis... okay, the spoons are another reason. If there is one near you, I suggest you check out the fro yo AND the spoons!

AND I'm not the only one who loves the spoons... I tell you, this place was made for teachers. They have a whole special page on their site about the SPOONS! You can submit pics and projects and stuff. Great fun. Click on the photo below to go there!

Whew. That seemed like a lotta stuff today. Hope you found some useful tidbits. Head on over now for more Five for Friday. Thanks, Kacey!

Hope to see you around next time!

Bead Sliders for Math and a Freebie!

Whoot! It's Monday Made It. Thanks so much Fourth Grade Frolics for this month's linky.

Bead Sliders Math Manipulative

My kids love these! We call them bead sliders. They are great to use in math to provide concrete practice of counting, number combinations, and composing/decomposing. You slide the beads over to separate them into two groups, like you do on a rekenrek. However, these bead sliders have an added bonus– they feel really great to manipulate. When you pull the bead to slide it along, it gives not-too-hard, not-too-loose pressure for smooth movement.

Here's how you make them. You'll need plastic gimp stringing lace– the flat kind. It comes on spools of 100 yards for about $3... you'll be able to supply your whole school with gimp :) You can find it in craft stores like JoAnn's or Michael's, and it comes in many colors. Click on photo below to see.

I use a different color lace for each bead slider of a particular number to make it easy to grab the slider I want. However, to save money, you can buy just one roll of one color. You'll also need wooden beads of about an inch diameter with a small hole.

Take two pieces of lace. The exact length depends on the size beads you use and the number of beads you want to put on. Use two long strands to start with and adjust as you do more. Knot the lace securely. I keep the lace smooth when knotting and use needle nose pliers to pull it tight. I haven't had any trouble with them coming undone. This is the knot I use.

Then string one lace through the bead in one direction and the other lace through the hole in the other direction. Pull the laces through so they are even and the bead is square to the knot. Then string the two laces through the next bead, in opposite directions again.

It is important that you keep the lace flat and not twisted when you string the beads. The beads won't slide as well if you don't. It's not difficult, just something to be aware of.

Put on as many beads as you want that slider to have. Then to end the slider leave about the length of a bead before knotting it off. You want there to be room to make a gap between beads so kids see two groups as they slide beads over. Knot securely again, and cut it off.

Students slide the beads over as they count/compose/decompose the same way they do on any rekenrek or counting stick.

Now for the Freebie! You can use these bead sliders for many math activities that you already have, but I put together two new sheets just for composing number families. Kids choose a bead slider, write the number of beads on the top of the list, then write the number sentences that match the bead groups as they slide the beads over one at a time.

You see the short list version in the photos, but I have a longer list if you want your students to find all the ways to decompose larger numbers. Both sheets are in the freebie. Click on the photo below to get it.

You can find another type of bead stick in last week's post. This chenille stem style is easier to make, but doesn't have the same tactile input when kids move the beads. I use both kinds for variety. Click on the photo to see post.

Hope your kiddos have fun while learning, and you do, too! If you liked these ideas and freebies, please PIN! Thanks.

Head on back to find more great DIYs for the classroom and life by clicking below. Thanks Tara!

Whew! Five posts in four days– how did that happen? And a freebie or two on almost every one. It's either feast or famine with me, I guess. If you've missed any of the last six posts it might be worth your while to cruise back and grab some easy activities. Thanks for stopping by! See you next time for Five for Friday.

Sunday Scoop in April

I'm here linking to The Sunday Scoop this week. I've read the bloggers who linked up before me and am impressed by all we do on in a day or plan to do in a week. I am inspired every Sunday when I read through. I love getting a glimpse at others' lives.

This coming week I'm on spring break. The most important thing for me is that I feel accomplished at the end of break when I head back for the last ten week stretch of school. I find it so easy these days to be overwhelmed by all there is to do. People say to relax to recharge. My recharge comes when I get things done, and have a plan of action and less to do when we kick into full swing again. It will be a bonus if I can do that in a leisurely way this coming week. I'm almost happy to see many days of rain ahead in the forecast as it will help me stay busy inside and not be coaxed out. And with milder temps, surely we won't see any snow!

Click below to go back to the Sunday Scoop Linky. Thanks to Teaching Trio for this party.

Thanks for stopping by!

Read This Currently!

In my head:

Listening– No. Shoot. It's the dog's tags.

Loving– Who doesn't?

Thinking– Duh.

Wanting– All bloggers want this.

Needing– I'll try bribes incentives.

Name– Will anyone know what this post is about?

Wondering– Does anybody read this?

THANKS! Farley! 

Now click on Oh Boy button to go on back to linky.

April's Pick Three Pin Party

Well, can I post twice in one day?? Sure I can. It's been a crazy week with the arrival of a new ELL student who doesn't have any English yet, presenting district PD for K/1 teachers, and being flexible as our building is without guest teachers TOO often- the substitute teacher shortage is really peaking right now and we are all hanging on for the ride as we scramble to cover and lose our planning time. Yikes!

BUT the good news is today starts our spring break!. Bring. It. On!  One of my favorite things to do is write and post and that's how I'm gonna spend today– I even have a third post started but I promise to wait until at least tomorrow to put it up ;)

I'm linking up this post with Pawsitively Teaching and Inspired Owl's Corner's Pick 3 Top Pinterest Picks. I've already tried two of my three Pinterest finds this week at school, so you can gain from my experience.

This one is a Freebie from Kindergarten Smorgasbord.

Greg explains how he uses plastic eggs to make a match-up word game. I didn't use plastic eggs with my version. I colored two sheets of these eggs by hand– imagine! On one sheet I colored just the egg outline, and on the other one I underlined the words. My two sets of eggs give me two center activities– just a little variation and it's a whole new thing for the kidpeople. Then I laminated both pages and cut out all the eggs. I buried a set in a bin of shredded paper and had the kids go digging for egg words. When they found one they used a marker of the matching color to write it on my word list paper. They were to star the words that they could not read by themselves, then figure out what it said with the help of a tablemate. When their list was complete with ten different words, they were to read the whole list to three different tablemates. Each table partner put their initial in a "read three times box" found at the bottom of the list. 

My list paper is available for FREE in my TPT store. I have several versions of list papers in the set. The boxes for starring words and the prompts for reading the list three times are right on the paper itself. I use it all the time for all sorts of activities. At FREE, you really can't go wrong and there are lots of freebies at my TPT store.

Click on the photo below to go to the list paper, and click on the egg paper image above to go to Greg's original post to learn about his activity and grab his freebie while you're there. Thanks Greg!

This one comes from Liz's Early Learning Spot. She calls it Battling for Sight Word Treasures. You'll go to the post by clicking on the Pin photo below.

I saw this and instantly wanted to try it with my kiddos because I fondly remember the old Battleship game from when I was a kid. This version has dropped the war theme and added a reading component. Liz explains how to play on her blog post. I simplified it a bit for my kinders. To assemble the game I ran each copy on different colored paper and laminated with my home laminator to make it sturdier and completely encased in plastic. I hook two game boards together, back to back with paperclips– I found this cut down on cheating because it is a little less likely anyone gets a sneak peek while the boards are being moved around separately. We don't use the coins, but simply add up the number of words found.  I write the word wall words on the bottom grid with a Vis-a-Vis pen before I give the boards to them, changing it up as I see fit. And I give my kiddos an Expo marker to mark their guesses on the upper grid– an X for an empty square, and the correct letter when they guess it right. This means they can erase the board in between rounds while the vis-a-vis words stay put. 

Note where I put paperclips
at the bottom sides and at the top

All my kids love playing the game– so much so that one of my parents asked for the link to the game because her little guy talked about it nonstop. My better readers do a better job of playing, but even my lower readers enjoy guessing letters, though they find fewer words. I was most surprised when after just a few lessons with an adult they all got the hang of the grids and how they worked. When I got it out yesterday it was to a chorus of "Yaaay!" I recommend you give it a try. Oh, and did I mention it's free? Yep. Whoot! Click on the first image above. Thanks Liz!

My number three is one I'll do when I get back the week after next. In April I focus on taking care of the earth, which always includes the water cycle. I thought this evaporation activity would tie in nicely.

This little science observation comes from E is for Explore. You outline a puddle on the sidewalk with chalk. Then you come back later to see if the puddle has changed any. Where did the water go? Simple, yet powerful, I think. And unlike the experiments where you watch a glass of water over several days or weeks, you get pretty fast results if you make a puddle on the sidewalk on a sunny day. You can read the original post by clicking on the Pin photo above.

Well, that wraps it up for me. If you'd like to see what other goodies are on my Pinterest Boards you can click right on this Pinterest Profile button. You'll find lots of goodies and might even consider following. I like to follow teachers who follow me.

Now scroll on down to see lots more favorite teacher pins in the link-up below. And link your post, too. Hope you enjoy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Five for Fools with a Freebie, Too!

Whoot!  Today is the first day of my spring break. I love my job... and I love getting away from it to renew, even if getting away is to my own comfy house where dozens of projects await me. Here are five things from this week. Thanks as always to Kasey at Doodle Bugs for her Five for Friday linky.

1. How about starting off with this week's Freebie! 'Tis the season for bunnies and eggs and candy and carrots. I picked up several packages of the clear plastic "carrot" eggs that are in the dollar store this time of year. Whoever thought of expanding the egg theme to chick, bunny, bee, and carrot shapes is brilliant.

I took two sets of eight carrots, labeling one set with capital letters and one set with lowercase ones
A-H. You can label any way you like, including writing directly on the eggs with Sharpie, but I used painter's tape around the stems.

Into each of the carrots I then put between 0 and10 little green "peas"– this year I used green counting cubes, but you can use marbles, beans, dried peas, etc. When I explained this "peas and carrots" math center to the kiddos, one of my little sweethearts said, "Mrs. Wright, those aren't peas. Those are cubes." I asked, "What shape are peas?" She replied, "Spheres."  Math language everywhere. We moved on.

I put the carrots into a bin of shredded paper. I'm going to keep my eye open for brown shredded paper for next year to be more dirt like. Or dried black beans would do the trick, too.

The kids dug through, found a carrot, put the cubes out onto their own little tray (more dollar store goodness) and filled in the Subtracting from Ten sheet I made up– gotta love Jonathan's cute little peas and carrots border.

I also have a Making Ten and Making Teen version in the set. There are two of each of these sheets, either designated A-H or a-h, so you get six different activities from your two sets of carrots. I gave each student a paper copy, but you can always slip them into dry erase envelopes (found here) and save paper.

And did I mention they are FREE. Just click on the image below to download. But do it fast. This freebie is designated to be part of a complete packet with both math and reading activities, at which point they'll come off the blog and on to TPT, and you'll need to pay a small and reasonable fee. Right now, you can't beat free.

Pssst! If you missed last week's freebie, click on back HERE to see what it is!

2. Did any of you notice those little bead counting stems that the kids are using in the photos above to help take away from ten? They are from complete sets that I made years ago, long before the round bead "bracelets" came out in our math curriculum.  I organize them on a binder ring.

Sometimes I give the kids a whole set on a ring, and sometimes I take them apart so they have just the bead stem they need. Easy peasy to make with chenille stems and pony beads. I used neutral black stems and a different color for each number of beads. Color coding helps the kids when they are working with several stems at once, and helps me grab the right stems when I need just one number. These are very old and have had lots of use, and yet they still look and work just fine. And you can't beat cheap.

3.  How do you say April Fools?  This is an old trick, but I think it's perfect for kindergarten. Here's how we do it.

At the end of March we talk about how April first is coming up and what April Fools' Day is.  Some kindergartners know about it, but certainly not all.  Then on the morning of April first, we talk about it again. Then at snack time, I tell them that the start of a new month is a good time to celebrate all the learning we've done in the month gone by, so I brought brownies to share– interject loud whoops of happiness here.

I pick up the brownie pan, conveniently covered with foil so no one can look in, and stroll around the room handing out brown construction paper Es from the pan. Their faces are priceless. I keep handing them out as they all gawk and gafaw, and I don't have to go to far before somebody gets it... I then hold one up and say it certainly is a "brown E" at which point everyone's lightbulb goes on and giggles erupt.  I do, of course, have real brownies in the pan as well– two-bite size from the bakery– so everyone gets a brownie along with their brown E. (I have dim memories of actually baking brownies for this day in an era long gone by...)

Later in the day, we stroll through the building looking for April fools to play our trick on again and again. Each year, I don't know whether the adults in my building enjoy getting the brownie or playing along more. What do you do for April Fools' Day?

4. I mentioned in the last post that I'd report on a little green thumb project we've been up to. You've heard of Chia pets? Well, we turned ourselves into grass heads!

Every year I do several green thumb projects. Good learning comes from watching things grow and some kids wouldn't watch plants grow at any other time in their life. I find the extra effort needed for plant care to be well worth what my kiddos get out of it. Most years we grow from seeds, bulbs, cuttings, and transplanting, too. I keep quite a variety of houseplants in the room, as well. At some point I'll blog about all of them.

This is the first time I've used kids' photos, though we have grown "hair" on drawn cup characters many times. Several Pins from Pinterest get the credit for this idea. I have to say I found the prep to be rather time consuming. First, I had to take up-close photos– most kids had no problem making their best goofy face. Then size their face in the photos carefully so they'd fit on the cup. After picking up from photo finishing I cut them out, laminated, and then cut them out again. It was important that the entire face be encased with laminate as they had to endure kindergarten watering for several weeks. I taped the faces to the cups with loops of clear packing tape, which held quite well.

As to timing of this project, I worried that we had left it too close to spring break when they'd have to go home, but thankfully the timing was perfect. We planted on a Monday and they took them home on Thursday, two and a half weeks later. I put the cups in a tray with a clear plastic lid, which did not seal as the cups were too tall.  The tray contained any mess from watering. I kept the tray on top of a seed starting heating pad (not the same as a heating pad used for humans!) I placed it by an eastern window for morning sun. We watered every few days. The grass grew to a great length in this amount of time– funny how our lawn never grows so well. The kids loved keeping track of daily progress. Some of the blades lifted up clumps of soil as they grew and we tried not to knock them off to see how long the clumps would cling.

The kids LOVED seeing themselves as grass heads. As you can see in the photo some styling was involved– wild, ponytail, buzz cut, pigtails, sideways haircut. This will probably be one of those once-in-a- teacher's-lifetime projects for me, as the prep seemed to drag on for days. It seems each year's students get some special project that future years won't get. Do you find things like that? Still, I encourage you give it a try, even if it doesn't become an annual project for you.

5. It is the first Friday of the month and you know what that means!

One day we were sitting on the rug for a lesson when I glanced at the clock.  With great enthusiasm I said, "Time for recess!"

As they happily jumped up, one little guy said to me with enthusiasm that matched my own, "Mrs. Wright, you're the MAN!" I've been called a lot of things before, but that was a first.

I live for funny kid stories! TPT's blog recently shared some and I was laughing out loud. Everybody loves what those little brains come out with. If you'd like to share some of yours, please leave in comments or post and link here any time this month.

Don't forget to go back to Doodle Bugs to find more blog joy.

I also linked with Allison at No Time for Flashcards. Click below to see what bloggers shared there.

Thanks for stopping by!  I have several more posts with freebies in the making, so see you real soon!

An InLinkz Link-up