Head on over and get some great saving for back to school!
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Hoarder or Teacher
I was cleaning up one of our extra rooms, that I opted to use as storage. When my daughter came in and told me I have a problem, I'm a hoarder. I disagree I'm a teacher:) and even worse I teach pre-k, I can find a use for anything in time!!!
What do you think, are we hoarders?
Friday, July 29, 2016
Partner Talk
II've never really been good at introducing partner talk to my students. So I have made it a goal this year. Yes we will be doing partner talk in pre-k:). Thanks to Kim Adsin at the I teach pre-k conference I have some ideas to use.
My favorite was the microphones. The kiddo holding the microphone is the one talking while the other needs to pay attention and listen.
So I set off to buy blowup microphones at the Dollar Tree and realized I have the lamest Dollar Tree ever:( So I put my little brain to use and came up with a plan.
First I had my husband cut a piece of PVC pipe. Each piece was 6" long he cut 12 total.
I spray painted them black.
Next, I took styrofoam balls and painted them a metallic gray.
After they dried I pressed the PVC pipe into the styrofoam ball to create a grove.
That I filled with hot glue and glued together, creating a microphone:)
Monday, July 25, 2016
Moose's Loose Tooth
Moose's Loose Tooth!
This is one of my all time favorite books to read to my kiddo's! So I could not refuse creating a clip art set! Click on the Tooth Fairy to get her for FREE!
Click here to get the complete set!
The Three Bears!!
A Slice of Pie on Me;)
Just finished my pie clip art!
Enjoy a slice on me:) Click the pie to down load a slice!
Click here to get the whole set!
Friday, July 22, 2016
Punctuation Super Hero's!
Just finished this cute little set of Punctuation Super Hero's!
You can grab your free set here!
This is a cute little anchor chart I made when I was teaching 1st grade. It was the inspiration behind these little guys!
Monday, July 18, 2016
Learning and Prizes Oh, My!!!
I won a free year of ESGI, I'm so excited. I helped my kindergarten teachers use this when I was coaching and feel in love with it!
Plus I won a Preschool Zoo-Phonics kit.
I'm so excited!
Can't wait for tomorrow:)
Saturday, July 16, 2016
I Teach Pre-K
I am so excited to be going to this conference, and the best part is that it's here in Las Vegas!
Whoot whoo!!!!
To celebrate I am giving a way a free clip art set!
Chapter 4 Text-Dependent Questions
Welcome back to chapter 4 of TDQ!
This chapter had a lot of A-Ha-Ha-Ha moments for me.
I really liked how the author said that reading is like a jig saw puzzle. We must simultaneously look at the pieces while imagining the puzzle as a whole. This statement really made me stop and think about how in the early grades we have so many piece when it comes to reading and that we really need to slow down and teach quality lessons. Which leads back to my battle of why it is important to teach one book a week and really look at the text, from all the different angles.
While I was reading this chapter I keep thinking about my long range plans that I have been working on and what books I plan to use each week.
Take a look at this list of books and resources that Mrs. Wills and Mrs. Jump put together for us. Thank you so much for doing this!
I am so excited, many of the books I planed to use where on this list! I can't wait to dive into this resource.
On page 101 there is a great anchor chart to go with No, David! I use this book at the beginning of the year to help establish classroom rules. I can't wait to add this beauty into my lesson!!
Even though author's purpose is not part of the curriculum in pre-k, I believe we can expose our kiddos to it. This chapter reminded me of the saying "If you build it they will come". If you expose and challenge them they will rise to the occasion!
The Questions for Determining the Author's Purpose, on page 112-114 provide many samples on how to help children dig deeper into the text. Pages 116-118 give examples on how to use other text and media platforms, to help children make intertextual connections.
As I said above this chapter was amazing, I could not put the book down!
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Chapter 3 - Text-Dependent Questions
Welcome Back!
I just wanted to say Thank You to Mrs. Wills for hosting this book study! This book is amazing the information not only conforms what I do in my closed readings, but it is providing me with so much more depth on how to beef them up. I only wish I would've found this book sooner!
Whenever I am reading a book, attending a class or conference, I always think about the way I was taught or the way my own children were and are being taught. What could the educators have done to help and make learning better?
We were expected to just get it, no explaining it, no helping, just understand it.
Things have changed a great deal in the lower grades and even in a few of the higher grades. Reading this book is giving me a real insight on how I can start this process with my pre-k kiddos.
Vocabulary
Teaching vocabulary has been a very big push in our district. It is also the hardest thing to get teachers to teach with meaning. Teachers tend to want to teach vocabulary in isolation, when in reality it needs to be taught within the text, this will provide a richer meaning and understanding of the words and phrases.
This is a big struggle in pre-K, our curriculum suggests we teach words in isolation, based on the theme we are studying. Coming from 1st grade and coaching other teachers to teach text within the close read, it seems second nature to me. My goal this year will to get our other teachers to see the importance of this.
In this chapter there are many examples on how the teachers help children understand "How the Text Works". I think it is so important to remember that not every child will get the text in the same way and at the same time, supports need to be in place to help this happen.
In pre-k we can began looking at how the text works by asking questions about the vocabulary. As stated in the book "If a reader knows the meaning of the words, the text is more likely to be understood". Second, asking questions about the text structure and identifying the different types of structures. Third, by looking at and understanding the author's craft, this will facilitate a deeper understanding of the text.
By reading the text more then one time we can take little pieces of the text and dive into it, helping the kiddos develop their thinking skills.
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Chapter 2 Text-Dependent Questions
This chapter reminds us that students must know what the text says before they progress to what the text means. Discuss the practices you currently use in your classroom. How might they change after reading this chapter.
I am guilty of front loading my kids with information before we read a text and even during the text, I tend to guide them through the meaning. A lot of my Pre-K kiddos have never had a book read to them let alone talk about the text. In the beginning my questions are more pointed, just to get them listening to the text and know what the text says. However, as the year goes on, we can progress to more meaningful dialogues about the text, instead of me just guiding them.
I really like the part about how close reading helps students become text inspectors, I found it so enjoyable as I was reading the Face book posts that many of the teachers where thinking the same thing I was, which was to get a magnifying glass and have the kiddos pretend to be inspectors to find the information with in the text. I think I would start this out in the beginning of the year by having my pre-k kiddos find the clues with in the pictures.
I hope that by reading this book I will be able to push my kiddos further and have the courage to take bigger leaps with my teaching.
We saw several examples of student discussions in the video. What are some of your take a-ways from theses examples?
Video 2.1: I so agree with the misconception that Kindergarten and 1st grade students can't go deep, if we teach them the different layers and provide them with the vocabulary they can go deep, I have seen it done and it was impressive. I truly believe this is also true with pre-K. Slow and steady!
Video 2.2: I enjoyed how he structured his questions, this would be great for a teacher that can't handle the noise level with partner sharing. I really like how he let the kiddos know what level of questions he was asking
Video 2.3: I really liked how she had the kiddos discuss with each other the meaning of the standard that they are focusing on for THE WEEK. This was so amazing to see!
Video 2.4: I love to hear teachers say that we are just the facilitators in close reading. We really need to learn to sit back and facilitate the learning! I also enjoyed what she said that by doing closed reads we are preparing students for college. However, I was very frustrated when reading this chapter, because I know that in our district our elementary teachers are using these strategies but they are not being used in the High Schools and if they are it is by a very limited number of teachers;(
Final thoughts? I read this chapter twice, and both times I could not believe how my head was spinning from all the information.
A-ha-ha moments?
There where so many a-ha-ha moments with in this chapter! However, the more I read the chapter and the further I get into the book I know that this is possible with in my classroom of pre-k kiddos. It is not going to come easy but we will get there.
Next step? My biggest take away from this chapter is that quality is better the quantity. Slow down hold those discussions about the book, let the students talk to one another.
Monday, July 4, 2016
Happy 4th of July
I hope you all have a happy and wonderful 4th of July!
Be safe and enjoy your family and friends!
Saturday, July 2, 2016
4th of July
Happy 4th of July weekend!
Hope you enjoy this clip art set and have a wonderful weekend!
New Clip Art
I have been working hard to finish up some of the clip art that I started and just tucked away, I hope you all enjoy it!
Color Monsters
Desert Black & White
Desert Color
Hamburger Black & White
Hamburger Color
Friday, July 1, 2016
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