Kung Fu sentences

In our class we like to do something a little crazy called Kung Fu sentences. I toyed with the idea of videotaping myself demonstrating but...who are we kidding? That's so not happening. Instead I made my son demonstrate the four parts of Kung Fu sentences for you. This is how I taught him last year when he was in my grade one class to use writing conventions in his sentences. We all assumed our Kung Fu stance then chanted, capital letters, finger spaces, little letters and periods. I had to put little letters in there to deal with the ridiculous use of capital letters all over the place in my students' writing. Here is the video:

And here is the package I made to use in my classroom to go with it.

Click here to find Kung Fu sentences at my Teachers Notebook shop.

And here is a little freebie for anyone needing more emergent readers for their little readers. They are devouring them, am I right?!?

Being proactive

  My class of grade ones is sooo awesome! They are so eager to succeed and to learn. I have been teaching the concept of being proactive, the first habit in the 7 Habits of Happy Kids. We talked about the rules in our classroom and how we all know the rules now and how it is now our choice to follow the rules or not. We are in charge of ourselves.
   Today I used screenchomp to assess their learning. Here are some examples:

Butcher Knives and other questionable teaching practices

   " Mrs. Tasa, my dad was just amazed that we used butcher knives in school yesterday."  That was my first indication that the fantastic learning experience we had the day before might not be understood by everyone. I have a tendency to get caught up in my own world of reggio, waldorf, project-based learning and forget to consider that my teaching practices are not always the norm. You see, we had planted a garden at the home of a retired teacher last June. We planted potatoes, beans, onions and carrots. Then this September we went back to harvest our crop. It was not that special for most of my farm kids but the students who have never seen a garden carrot were amazed. They all made the connection that our food comes from somewhere. It doesn't arrive on the store shelves magically. So...what to do with our harvest? we made soup. My grade ones washed the veggies, peeled and even chopped(with the safest of practices, I assure you). Then we cooked it up and enjoyed our hard work. Using a knife was so important to the process. I want to build independence and a feeling of pride in our accomplishments. They did it themselves, you see. That soup tasted fantastic!!!
  I feel so strongly about letting children have the room to make mistakes. Should they climb up that part of the playground? they could fall and hurt themselves. yes, they could but that would be a valuable experience (as long as the potential to hurt themselves is nothing more than a bruise). If they never fall, how will they learn to face the fear of falling and climb up again? We can't protect them from each and every opportunity to err or we rob them of the learning process they deserve.
   In my classroom I can shape their experiences to develop their independence. I sometimes fill my water table with wood, small hammers and tools and nails. With some training on how to safely hammer a nail, they experience the joy of creating with wood. I feel like I am barely touching the surface of the wealth of knowledge out there about allowing children to explore creatively. The jobs our students will be doing in their adult lives will value innovation and creativity. They will need those skills to survive.
   so...butcher knives?...absolutely!

 

The Leader in Me

  I had a fantastic conversation today at our Teacher's Convention about Steven Covey and the 7 habits of healthy Kids. I used the 7 habits last year but didn't make it through all 7. The 7 habits are:

You can find a link to the descriptions of each habit here http://www.theleaderinme.org/

Today we discussed how to use this program to motivate students, to help them find their inner drive. Our children need to become intrinsically motivated or they will never be truly successful. So how to inspire that? How do we teach children to push themselves, to cooperate in a meaningful way, to understand their own power to change how they react to circumstances. I was so impressed with the school cultures that I see in these Leader in me schools. I don't believe there is anything magical about these words. They are not a new idea. But I see them as a basis of common language that could be the catalyst for changing a school culture. I will be using the 7 habits in my class and continuing to tell the teachers around me about them. Check out this video to see what it's all about.

Jumping on the wagon

   So, I am jumping on the wagon of creative solutions for nasty classroom furniture. I have these benches that I use at the edges of my carpet for extra seating (27 K/1s last year). They are hideous mauve on top of mustard yellow on top of yellow stain. I thought about spray painting but I didn't want to have to sand and then spray paint again at the end of the year if it all chips off. Then I thought about buying foam and fabric and covering the benches that way. I was on the hunt for some foam when I discovered these bad boys:

 That my friends is liner for your kitchen drawers and it is the solution to my nasty benches. I took the liner and covered the bench then attached it with upholstery tacks. The liner is about 1/8 inch thick and kind of squishy. It adds a little comfort to the bench and the upholstery tacks add a little rock and roll. You can see the before and after in the picture below. I'm not sure if I will deal with base or leave that project for next year.

 Here is a close up view. I really like the way it turned out and I am hoping it will wear well. Now I have all of the seating I need for whole class instruction as well as an incentive for good behaviour since the benches will be reserved for my rock star students!!!

Target's in Canada and an Interlude with Power Tools

   This weekend I decided to build the fence we've been needing for 2 years to keep my little rugrats in the yard. The guys I hired to extend the ramp on our deck so that my husband could use it with his walker and wheelchair finished their job on Wednesday. I was inspired to pick up my own power tools and tackle the fence on my own (with my sister's help!) We had a lot of fun figuring out how to start and cobbling together the tools we needed. We used a hand saw at first and dug the holes with a shovel-we felt so Little House on the Prairie! So the fence is looking good and tomorrow I will build the gate and hopefully finish up. I have got to back into my classroom and finish my set up.

     I did however spend some time getting some packages together and one of the the things I did was assemble Rise and Shine binders courtesy of Reagan Tunstall ( tunstalltimes.blogspot.ca.) I am so happy with them. I struggled through calendar binders last year because the abilities in my class were so varied. Some students finished writing their numbers and recording their date in the calendar and even did some morning work while others struggled just to add a picture to the ones card and change the numbers as we counted up to one hundred. This year I cut out all of the cards so we won't be hampered by fine motor issues during this crucial time. I want the learning to be about noticing the patterns we see as the numbers get larger and establishing a good understanding of place value. We'll see how year 2 goes with the calendar binder.

That's it for this weekend. Only 3 days until I get to go to Edmonton and shop at Target. That's right, we finally get Target in Canada and I am ready  to see what all the fuss is about. I have to admit that I am pretty excited. I really love school supplies. Like I REALLY LOVE school supplies.WhooHoo...Target!

Classroom Set-up:Take 1

Classroom set-up is underway as I slowly wade through all of the papers I stuffed here, there and everywhere over the last year.  Really, I long to be organized and tidy. I see other classrooms and sigh, wishing I could see that much space on my desk. I feel like I am always tidying and never getting ahead. I know that Kindergarten and grade one teachers have a lot of  stuff. We just do. We have to change activities every 20 minutes(sometimes more often when we have THOSE classes). I just cannot keep up. But each year I streamline my systems and plan how I will transform into a neat and organized teacher.

   This year is no different. I have binders ready for each student so I can wrangle their papers and hopefully keep up with all of the home/school communication. I have files for writing and book boxes that cannot be torn apart or chewed up by hungry little readers(don't ask). I have committed to never leaving school until I can see my desk. YIPES!

   So here I am in the process:

Disaster

Disaster

AHHHHHH...My Rockin' Welcome Board. There are a few spaces just in case. I wised up last year when I got 6 new registrations on the first day of school. Yep, that's right!

I love these cute guitars that I got from Etsy and the backround paper from Lettering Delights.

My daughter's sign. She can't wait to start Kindergarten and have Mommy for her teacher(she'll soon learn...)

Once my Welcome board was done, I stepped over the piles of stuff on the floor and finished up my CAFE and BUILD boards.

CAFE board with titles thanks to Ladybug Teacher's Files. I LOVE her stuff!

BUILD boxes for math. I customized these posters that I got from Lyndsey at A Year Of Many Firsts in her Chalk it to me pack.

More goodness from Ladybug Teacher Files. I made each branch hold letter teams that follow the same rule. My favourite is Huh?. That branch is for those letter teams that you just cannot explain to a 6-year-old!

Ladybug Teacher Files again. I was thinking I could keep this up from last year but the wrinkly paper could drive me batty so...

And that's it for now. The piles remain on the floor but my walls are looking good-so there!