We have been NUTS about fall for the past few weeks.
Here are some pictures of what we have been nutty about.
We have been writing about fall like with the “Write Me Three” tree page. We charted squirrels with a can/have/are chart. I love “picking the brains” of my students to learn what they KNOW about things. My kids knew a lot about squirrels!
We also used number words to match to the numbers. This was hard for my class because my kids either know their number words and breezed through it… or certain kids {almost} refuse to learn them. They look up the word EACH time. You would think after all the games we play and activities we complete, they would learn them but… more practice we will do!
We also played an awesome BINGO game to work on the color words, number words, and sight words we have covered.
And… we did this awesome NUTTY words activity using word mats and vowel nuts. My students had to read the word and determine if it was a real or nutty word. They had an answer sheet to put their words on. They rocked this activity.
But, my focus has been on preparing my class for Wednesday…
aka Choice Board Day for The Daily 5!
I am opening up the Daily 5 choice board to give control over to my kinders.
{Thus far this year we have been reading to self, reading to others, listening to reading, writing, and doing word work in small groups without free choice.}
Here is what I have been prepping since the begininng of the school year.
We have been building our class library. I don’t open up all my books to the whole class because it is just too much for them. I open up one bin at a time as we cover that topic. As I read the book to the class or show a book to the class, I place the book in the bin IN FRONT of my class. They can pull books for read to self, read to someone, and listening to reading from these.
I also make sure I provide LOTS of paper readers to my students. We read them together in small groups and then store them into their book bins. They can confidently and accurately read these alphabet and sight word readers so they make The Daily 5 run so much smoother for young readers.
I also put together our choice board. Each area has its own place, for example you can see the “Read to Self” choice. I have pictures of each student to place on their choice. {See below so I can explain more!} We went through the choice board today and “practiced” how we are going to move our names and where to go.
So here is how I made my name for the choice board.
First, I make a table with my kids name and pictures on it. I print out a B&W copy onto regular copy paper and a colored version onto card stock. I made one sheet with my boys and one sheet with my girls.{I do this to seperate kids on both sides of the choice board to help divide the traffic on the choice board.}
After laminating both versions of the names, I tape down the B&W version to the whiteboard whole. I cut apart the colored names and attach adhesive magnetic buttons to the back. I love these because they are strong and THICK. It helps raise the names up and the kids can grab them on the board easily and return them quickly.
I like to use the B&W version so I know whose name is missing and my kids know where their names go. It is a smart step to easy management.
And just to same me time and you guys some effort… here are the links to the items above.
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| here on TpT, here on TN |
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| here on TpT, here on TN |
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| here on TpT, here on TN |
Wish me and my class good luck with the choice board tomorrow!!!
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Mary Amoson, Sharing Kindergarten
https://sharingkindergarten.com/ |
Good luck with the CHOICEs!! I bet your kiddos will be great. All of your hard work and all those awesome bins will ensure success!
Hi there,
I found your blog through Paul's post on the TpT sellers forum.
I'm also a fan of using magnets with name labels/wall displays. I find that velcro tends to wear out after a lot of use, or it rips the backing paper from the wall. I hadn't thought of using a B&W version of names as a backing to quickly see who is missing – what a great idea! I'll definitely be using that in future.
I'm sure your choice boards will be a big success since children love having control over their learning.
Thank you for sharing your great ideas, I'm now following you!
Best wishes,
Lisa
One, Two, Three: Math Time
What post from Paul?? I am interested now!
The magnets are also MUCH quieter than the velcro, but they fall a little easier than the velcro… no perfect system but this one works for me! The black and white version behind is perfect and really help me out… and my kids! No more guess who is on or off the choice board.
My kids ROCKED their choice board all three days. My assistant and I were SO PROUD of them! It is hard to let go and give up control, but it is a good thing to give them responsibility!
Thanks for sharing your plan for choices this year. Last year we tried out impromptu choices a few times and it was an epic fail. I think with all of this preparation, your kids will manage it smoothly. Are you giving them a set period for each choice? I'm hoping to get to choice for this year, but my group is much more immature than last year. I have 1/3 of my class that had a 5th birthday this summer. We're still having a lot of trouble with settling to Read-to-Self independently. Are you giving them a set period for each choice?
Donna W.
I do not give my student set times at all. It is truly open choice. I encourage them to move on and pace themselves as needed. It works well because different kids need more time in some areas than others. They all move around their room at their own pace. I do select the order for those students need direction , but so far it is only for one kid. He goes to am independent station, then a teacher, then independent, then teacher , then independent, lastly to iPads. That helps him.
Also, I think most kids this age struggle with read to self. They can't read! Because I made and give them so many readers they can read, that helps a lot lot lot! Also, read to self gets better in my room when they learn more sight words and therefore as he year goes on. If they start to not read to self well , we all start our daily 5 at read to self. Then I tap friends on the shoulder to make heir voice on the choice board. All of them will have completed read to self then, and are able to move on. Just an option for you. I do this once a week and I do the same with read to someone on Wednesdays since we just come back from the library with new books!
I love giving my students choice in D5 (although we are not quite there yet…still have to introduce listen to reading!). I feel like my students have more "ownership" in the process when they can choose what they'd like to do. Good luck with it!!
Hi Mary!
Just found your post through Becca's Daily 5 Linky! You ROCK! I applaud the extraordinary effort into running an amazing Kindergarten classroom. I am a die hard first grade teacher and know first hand the amount of work that goes in….EVERY day. But you Kinder Teachers get my stamp of approval every time… I just don't think I could do it…. Even with all the STAMINA building in the world! Hats off to you! Great post and suggestions for Daily 5! Be sure to link up next month too!
Julie
Ms. Marciniak's First Grade Critter Cafe