Apple Seed Counting Book

So I searched to find activities to go with our Apple Unit starting on Monday.  I found the idea to make a "book" for them to count and draw apple seeds on an apple.  After searching I could only find them in places where you have to pay a membership every year to be a part of their teacher website. 

With TeachersPayTeachers, there is NO membership fee.  You just log in and look around!  So I made my own apple seed counting book! There is a title page, a page for them to write their name, and numbers are from 1-10.  This gives them a chance to do number recognition as well as hands on 1to1 counting experience for your math centers.


You can get your copy on my teacherspayteachers website! Click the link or the picture to purchase this item!

Happy Fall! :)

Sensory September

The new curriculum we have been using this year has been shifting our focus a bit to be able to provide sensory learning experiences for our students.  Basically they are getting a 360 full senses experience.  They get to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste a variety of things each day. 


In our science center, I have made a magnet sensory box.  There are different things for them to touch and learn with to figure out which things are magnetic or not.  Inside the box we have: feathers, pompoms, paper clips, popsicle sticks, jingle bells, buttons, and binder clips. The plastic horseshoe magnets came from Dollar Tree! :)

 

In our actual "Sensory Table" we have dry noodles and foam magnet letters.  The pizza pan is one from Dollar Tree that has just been spray painted to look neat! The students actually had the chance to help me dye the noodles to add to the sensory table!  We did that project during inside recess one day! We used sandwich bags, 2 drops of food coloring, and 2 pumps of hand sanitizer! They got to shake the bags and watch the magic happen!  They loved getting to be a part of making their center!

The kids love and learn from activities that engage their whole bodies, not just their brains!

Happy Fall Y'all!

In the fall lots of exciting things happen! There is Grandparent's Night at our school.  The kiddos get to make special projects for their grandparents (we painted grapes with the saying "I love you bunches!") and the kiddos can bring their whole family in to school to see our classroom and all the cool things they learn with each day.  They made cute shape houses during our "home" unit and they did a reading comprehension bag activity with our story The Bag I'm Taking to Grandma's.

With the people that signed in to my classroom for Grandparent's Night, I had 146 people attend!
IT was AWESOME! :) 

 Fall is one of my favorite times of year to plan activities.  Our curriculum had a great idea to use leaves to pattern with.  I was able to find these awesome (and durable!) leaves from Dollar Tree! I also added some leaf  number cards in the bucket so they can either patter or count the leaves!

Today, we took a field trip Bennett Springs!  We went on a nature"Adventure" in the woods and became real explorers! We found all kinds of mushrooms, plants, and even a snake skin!  We walked the whole trail with my afternoon class! It was 3/4 mile and the kids did a GREAT job!  They really got into looking around and seeing all the things on our trail!

We have some more exciting projects we will be doing this week so I will post more pictures of our awesome projects as we get them done!

HAPPY  FALL Y-ALL! :)

Attention Getters

It's already that time of year. 
When the first attention getter has worn off and it's time to learn something new.

We have been practicing, "Criss Cross! Hands in Lap! BUBBLES IN YOUR CHEEKS!"  It was not only my attention getter but also a directive to learn how to sit on our rug.  VERY effective during the first month of preschool.

Now we know how to sit on the rug.  Now we have a friend that we sit by.  Now it's time for the teacher to get creative and teach them something NEW. 

I found this pack of printable attention getter sheets from http://firstgradecharades.blogspot.ca/2012/09/first-day-fun.html! It was free to me, so if you click the image above it will be FREE to you, too! 

Parents: These will work at home, too!  Pick some that might work for you and give them a try!  I would reccomend "Holy Moly! Guacamole!" ,"Macaroni and Cheese! FREEZE!" , and "Yackety Yak! Don't talk back." REMEMBER: you will have to teach how to use the phrase AND practice it. Also remember, these are to grab their attention! Unless you choose, "Yakety Yak! Don't talk back!" and that can be effective for redirecting them when they may be making sad choices with you.

So 3 pigs and a wolf...

Our newest unit will be about "homes."

So what better story to use than the 3 Little Pigs? 

Click the picture to see the story we will be reading in class.  That way you will know the story and can share the story with your child, too!

After we read this story today, I will be introducing some different versions.
Some of my favorites will include:
The Three Little Gators and the Big Bad Boar.
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.
The TRUE Story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.

Look for some pictures this week as well! We will be performing the 3 Pigs Play!