Counting 1-100

It can be random what items a teacher will have when they start in a new classroom.  Sometimes classrooms can be bare with nothing in them.  Sometimes your room ends up being the one where all the "extra unused" teaching supplies and old textbooks are.  This year I got lucky, and had a classroom that is furnished with many centers.  (My classroom also doubles as a before/school after school daycare).  One of the finds in the room was a felt board with many felt shape cut outs.  I combined these items with a card game that had numbers 1-100 listed on them.   Students pull a card with a number then place that number of felt cutouts on the felt board.  Many of the students also create patterns as they are counting out the items.

Playdoh

Ah, nothing screams childhood fun like playdoh does.  One of the most popular centers for reading or math is the playdoh center.  For reading, students use to the playdoh to spell out sightwords written for them on notecards.   For math, students use flash cards then represent the problem visually. 

tip: Instead of math flash cards, students could also use a math worksheet to generate math problems.

Easy reusable addition centers

In my math centers I used a template from Kim Suttons book "Dynamic Dice" and placed the workpage into a sheet protector.  Students use foam dice to roll numbers, then record the numbers using a dry erase marker.  The nice thing about using the dry erase format is that it requires less teacher prep for the center.

tip: I prefer to use foam dice... as they bounce less on surfaces and are much quieter than normal dice.  I also prefer to have this center on the floor... it decreases the amount of time students spend chasing falling dice vs actually solving math problems.

tip:  No dice?  Try substituting dominoes instead. 

Money mats

I've been looking for a way to teach my students the money value of objects and reinforce beginning money counting skills.  I've made what I call "money mats" for a center.   I cut out items with prices from our local grocery store / walgreens ad and pasted them on to card stock.  Then I traced our play money onto the map to show how much money is needed to buy the item.  Students are then able to compare items to see which items cost more or less than each other.

Passwords

There are many ways to teach sightwords to kids, among my favorite is through the use of the classroom "Password".  Simply put, post the vocabulary you want your kids to practice on a paper a post the list on the inside of the classroom next to the door at their level and the outside of the classroom.    When both entering and exiting the classroom my students are asked to read the words on the word list.  For my class, that means we practice our sight word list 46 times on average in one week alone.

The kids love the passwords and many of them have been making up their own passwords for their own bedrooms at home.   By the end of the week, most students have memorized the words on the list.

tip: Throughout the day, change the order in which the students read the words, to prevent them from simply "memorizing" the words and saying them without looking.

tip: Passwords can be math problems, vocabulary words, short sentences, or even questions for test review.    You can have as few or as many words as you want.  This year I have 5 students and use a longer word list.  In years past i've used 2 or 3 words with larger classes, or had kids rotate on reading different words from the list at random.

Introduction

Okay, so i'm not sure where to start exactly... a blank website is much like an empty classroom you have just been given.... so much excitement, so much work to do, but not really sure where to begin... I think i'm going to start with a walk through of my classrooms or centers.

Hello world! About me

Hmmm...  writers block is such a terrible thing.  A blank page can be so intimidating.  I've always wanted a way to give back to the profession and help other teachers out... in the past I designed a website, but it didn't just seem to be what I wanted it to be - I felt a little isolated.  I like how blogger allows teachers to connect to other teachers and follow their bogs to get ideas.   So here goes the start of something new.  :-)

About me:

My name is Jessie and I am 30 years old.  I have been married to my husband Chase for about a year and half, and we have a 5 month old son Matthew.  I graduated from high school in 2000, and received a BA in elementary education in the fall of 2004.  When I graduated, Kansas had just been hit by the recession and elementary teaching jobs became extremely scarce (2000 applicants for each posted job).  I have worked 3 years as a teachers aid (5th, 6th, and 8th grade), 3 years as a special education teacher (Kindergarten-fifth grade), 1 year as a substitute teacher (pre-school - 8th grade), and currently work this year as a Kindergarten teacher for a private christian pre-school.  In 2007 I went back to graduate school to study ESL, adaptive special education, early childhood, and curriculum and instruction.  In May of 2012 I will receive my masters in curriculum and instruction.

My life dream:  I love teaching Kindergarten - second grade.  I prefer to have my own classroom verses a resource room. 

My teaching style: I am a very hands on teacher.  I believe students learn best when they can see, hear, talk about, and manipulate the curriculum.   I also believe that teachers need to add as much science, social studies, and art into the curriculum as possible.  Teaching these subjects are what inspires our students to want to learn how to read, write, study, and create.  Give a child a simple book with simple words to learn to read and most of them get bored... give a child a dinosaur book with simple words that teach them about dinosaurs and it gets them excited and makes them WANT to read more to learn more.

Hopefully this blog will allow you to see into my classroom and find tips that you can use in your classroom or at home with your own students.

Mrs. Jessie Fishel