DIY Pocket Chart Calendar

Man oh man! It has been a busy summer. I moved from one city to another, from one kinder class to another sweet kinder class. What a change!!! I am handling it so far so good. :) I have been in the Target Dollar Spot so many times that I can say my theme this year is "Target!" Haha!

 I just love all their rainbow and Dr. Seuss items! (I use a lot of exclamation marks because I am so excited)

I found this awesome Dr. Seuss calendar for a steal at $3!!!!

Eek!!! I got to looking at it, and I figured that it wouldn't hold up as well as I would like. I have used pocket chart calendars my entire school career, and knew I wanted to make this one as well. I looked it up on Pinterest, found one, ONE, post about how to make a paper calendar into a pocket chart. But I found a way that is even easier than that one, so I am going to explain that here. Okay, here we go.

Materials:

Vinyl

Marker

Scissors

Double-sided tape

Straight-edge (large ruler)

Calendar

Procedure:

Measure your calendar and figure out how much space you want for the number pieces. :) 

I wanted mine to only go 3/4 of the way up on each number square for easy number change.

Use your Straight-edge and marker to make lines on the vinyl to cut.

Cut on the lines.

***Now you're ready to assemble. ***

Get your double sided tape and take a piece that is the length of your calendar.

I stayed as close to the lines as possible. 

Then you add your vinyl pieces (bottom of the vinyl will have the tape, sides and top will not!)

Once you have the bottom of the vinyl secured, cut the excess from the sides, and secure it with tape. 

Continue until the calendar is finished. 

I am so stinking happy with the way this turned out! It's absolutely adorable, and durable. :)  

Here are my other projects that I have been working on for my Dr. Seuss themed kindergarten classroom. 

My $3 yard sale bookshelf

Made over with Target dollar spot shelf contact paper. Love!!!

My $5 student mailboxes that I have had for 2 years. I FINALLY refinished them. 

They were ugly and business-like, so I put my touch to them :) 

Thank you for reading! 

Happy refinishing! 

Homework Folders

If you send homework home each night, you may find yourself in a paper war. It can get overwhelming to see who sent what, back. It was overwhelming for me. I couldn't stand it! I finally came up with a solution to my problem,  and I think I have a perfect product for you.Click the link to go to my TPT shop Homework helper!

Here is my folder set-up.

I have a pocket for homework and a pouch for pencils, sight word flash cards, and money.

The homework helper is right behind the pencil pouch.

The helper helps to alert parents that their child's homework has been turned in, and their child's behavior for the day. I like that part because you can see a trend in behavior for documentation purposes. 

Explanation:

1. You need to add the dates for the month and then copy/hole-punch for entire class.

2. Write the student's name to the top. The student can color the start and stop and the top of paper, if you choose.

3. The behavior circle is colored the day of behavior. Meaning... Today's date is when the red behavior is happening, so you color today's circle red. 

 4. When checking homework you will ALWAYS be a day behind. Meaning you sent homework home last night, and they turned it in today. Put a sticker in yesterday's circle. 

Today is 4/8. Circle is red. Student turned in last night's homework. sticker goes on 4/7.

5. When a child doesn't turn in homework, I write a simple note on the sticker sheet... When the homework is finally turned in, I put a sticker over the note. if it never gets turned in, I have documentation.

6. When the month is done, move to the next sticker sheet. You can file the sticker sheets away for reference. 

Other parts of my homework folder include: A parent communication area...

A pocket for graded work to be sent home...

I also include a reading log for the students to complete daily. 

I suggest using the poly plastic folders to stand up against backpack wear and tear. The parents have responded well to the homework folders, and look forward to them when their child gets home. They are handy in so many ways. 

Thank you for reading! Enjoy! 

My Writer's Workshop

I was very interested in having a daily group writing activity because I have never tried it before. I am a beginner, and I wanted to share with other beginners on how I am incorporating writing into my daily routine. 

I started with Kindergarten friendly prompts, and I hole punched the paper, and trained my students on putting their papers in their binder. This is what their binder looks like. 

I have a 30 minute time slot set aside for the students to write then share. 

I also have writing goals set for my students based on their last entry. Here is my goal wall.

As they continue to improve their writing, they will all end up at the bottom of the goal wall. YAY! 

Procedure: 

1)The students sit at their table and listen to the prompt.

2)Once the prompt is read aloud, I start the relaxing music, and they start to draw a picture to go with how they answer the prompt. 

3)They have to pay attention to their goal, as they write.

4)Once they are finished writing and drawing their picture they put their head down for a break.

5)I scan the room for students who are not finished, and take a mental note. I give 5 more minutes. 

6)I let the students use their own resources to complete their work. (I do not hover)

7)I use our 'Random Name Selector' on our SmartBoard for Share time. 

8)Students stay at their tables.

9)The students read their complete sentence.

10)I write what they say, with a marker, on their paper.

11)The students applaud for their friend.

12)The student puts their paper in their binder, as the next person is called to share.

13)Everyone shares, and we all clap, and then we go to Specials. :) 

Share:

I have had this karaoke machine since 1998! I even had the microphone stand to go with it. (My parents are the coolest!) I decided that it would be the most awesome share experience for my Kinders. Here is our set-up.

They love it!!!

 They take this time very seriously. :) 

Once they are finished with everything, they store their binder neatly in their chair pocket, ready for the next day. 

I am so excited to finally have a Writer's Workshop! With experience, I hope add small group instruction for just writing. (That would be ideal!) 

Happy Writing!!

Interactive Notebooks

I can't tell you enough how much I love these things! They are so fun, targeted, and creative. My students even love to color with designs. :)

I chose these Simply Kinder Interactive Notebooks because they are predictable. My kinders are able to do these with no problems. There are 5 pages for each letter, so my class does one page a day. 

My Procedure: 

After my students complete their morning work, they color a page of the notebook that they will cut later. They get their pages from their "pouch." I put the papers in their pouch in the order I want them done (morning work in the front, then Interactive Notebook page, then their morning center)

I even have time set aside in my daily schedule for interactive notebook stuff. :)

I also have all my Glue Sponges out for my kids to use. They make gluing all the tiny pieces easier. 

When 1:55 p.m. comes around, I have the students finish coloring and then cut their pieces. I show them where in their notebook to glue, and then they glue their pieces in their notebook together. 

Organization: 

I have Notebook Helpers at each table. They are responsible for keeping the notebooks nice and neat. 

Here is how they are kept on the tables:

As we learn about a shape, word, letter, or vowel sound, we put it in our notebook. There is no order to them, in my class. Although, I did find a rubric for free on TPT :) I can't wait to see the Notebook full! 

Here are some additional examples of the notebook pages (I love Kindergarten work!):

Happy Notebooking!!! 

Daily and Small Group Schedule

I have had many questions on what my daily schedule looks like. How is my day broken up? How do I get to everything I need to get to?

Well, here it is.

I also set alarms for EVERY transition. Yes! It does get annoying, but when you stick to a schedule, your day just goes smoother. Sometimes students don't function unless you stay with a schedule. Sometimes students hate transitions. I just go with the flow, and they eventually fall in line. They even tell me what each alarm is for, when it comes on.

My small group schedule is also simple. I found the idea on Pinterest one summer evening.

Here it is.

Supplies are: 1 piece of poster board, a brass fastener, and a paper plate. Super simple to make. All I do is turn the plate, and centers are changed for the next group. Don't mind all my clutter hahaha. I have a blog post planned for my small group time, so I will just focus on the schedule aspect of it at this time. 

If you have any questions about my daily schedule or small group schedule, please leave a comment below. 

Thanks for reading!!! 

Morning Meeting

Hello all! It's Blogging Tuesday, and I am talking all about my Morning Meeting.
The previous post was all about my Morning Routine. I end my Morning Routine with cleaning up centers.

So, let's dig in!

I have my tables organized by color, so when the students clean up after centers, they have a seat and wait.
Once I call their table color, they stand up, push in their chairs, and go to their carpet spot. I am very structured, and I stick to routines because that is how I function in the classroom.

Our carpet (please excuse the Sharpies, I was excited to have both the carpet and Sharpies delivered to my classroom. SHARPIES!!!! :) :) )

Once to their carpet spot, I start with the days of the week. I move my "Yesterday was, Today is, and Tomorrow will be" cards. "Okay, what day of the week was yesterday?" The students answer with the day of the week. "And today's day of the week is?" They answer. "And then tomorrow has to be?" The students answer. Once I get through that part, I ask "is it [insert day of the week]?" They all say "NOOOO, it's [insert the RIGHT day of the week]!" So, I change the day of the week card. (top right of picture)  Then it's time for the number day. I ask, "yesterday was [date], so that means today is what?" They answer with [the right date]. Once answered, I flip my numbers (as you can see, I use 2 different number circles). Then I change my digital date to reflect the actual date.

Time to recite! We have hand signals for almost everything. The hand signal for recite is both my hands up and down like I am picking up a box, then putting the box down. They all say "today is Monday, January the 11th, 2016 (as I am pointing to each of the areas of the calendar)." 

Q&A: What are the 3 white circles at the bottom of the calendar used for? They are used to segment CVC words. 

What do you use your 10 frame for at the bottom of the calendar? I use it during math for making 10 or other addition or subtraction problems.

After this we recite our alphabet chart (it came with our reading series). 

My kids know this frontwards and backwards, so we added sign language to the mix. So the way it starts is... I start with "get ready and show me letter A." So I scan and make sure we are all using the right hand. and so we all start... "A-A-Apple, /a/-/a/-Apple, B-B-Bear, /b/-/b/-Bear", and so on. Once we reach Z, we sing the alphabet song while signing. 

Then we recite our Digraphs and Blends. 

We also talk about our Learning Targets. Mine are shown here. Our school implemented PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support), and I found these cute reminders on TPT. The ELA targets include the letter of the week, blend/digraph of the week, and the sight word of the week. Also, the math target of the day. 

Now for the Math Meeting Portion!!! We start with the Base-10 blocks. 

I start by saying "Yesterday was number [insert number], but today is happening so I?" The students say, "Add one more block!" So I drop a block in, and ask what the number is again. Then I move to the Piggy Bank.

"Is the number [insert old number here]?" Students "NOOO! You add one more penny!" Then we count our coins starting with the quarters. When we get 5 pennies, we trade up, and same for other coins. Then I ask, "How much money do we have?" Then they say, "[insert correct number here] cents!" Then I ask if the Base-10 and money numbers match? They should all say "Yes!" :) Then I move to our 10-Frames. 

This is how we also track our days in school. Teacher, "Does this match the other numbers?" Students, "Nooooo!"Teacher, "So I?"Students, "Add one more circle!"

Then I ask for a weather prediction. My kids know the word prediction from the first week in school, as a part of our routine. I put their prediction at the top of my calendar. 

So to check to see if they were right, I check my phone's weather app. I also check the temperature and ask them what color the 10-Frame circle is going to be.  

Based on our thermometer colors. The thermometer is from our math series. 

As I am coloring in the circle the appropriate color, I start reviewing, by asking about our number of the day. "How much money do we have?" "How many blocks do we have?" etc. 

From here we go into our reading series lesson. 

I do reading meeting in the morning and math meeting in the afternoon. My morning would go on and on if I added number of the day in the mix too. :) Time is precious! 

If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below. 

Thank you for reading! Teach on friends!