Kindergarten Read and Draw

 

I designed these little worksheets for my kids to do independently during guided reading. I have some others that I bought off TpT, but hadn't found a packet that the majority of my kids could do independently, or the sentences were hard to draw (like "The pin is wet."). 

I know that "worksheets" is a bad word. But, we all need work for kids to do from time to time.  What I like about this activity is I have something tangible to know that they have read the sentences.  Plus, their artwork is fabulous.  

I include sight words we have worked on as a class and CVC words that kids can decode.  I think they did great on these!

You can get three for free here.  Or, click here for the full packet of 8 is $1.00. 

December Kindergarten Journals

For December, instead of giving my students a picture to write about, I posted a question for them to answer.  For the first few days, I modeled how to answer the question with a complete sentence, using the word wall or words in the prompt to help them with their spelling. It was fun getting to learn a little more about them through their journal writing. 

Art for Kids Hub

 

If you haven't seen Art for Kids Hub on YouTube, you must. It is a father making art videos with his kids.  The videos are step by step and my kindergartners LOVE them and kids of all abilities can be successful.  This might be my favorite YouTube channel. I use these for our Pride Club (aka Fun Friday) activities once in a while.  Below are some of my favorites from the hibernating bear art. 

Winter Reading Log

 

I am not a huge fan of sending homework home over breaks.  The one exception in reading.  My kindergartners are used to reading 45+ minutes a day throughout the day, so my hope is they can continue their forward momentum by reading one book or one phonetic reading passage a day.  I assigned books through Epic books and sent home 14 reading passages I purchased from TpT.   Anyone who brings it back will have a special lunch in the classroom with me. If it turns out all but a handful of kids bring them back, I will do two separate lunches so not only those kids who didn't participate are left in the lunchroom. 

Epic Books is my all time favorite free website.  Parents can access it for free during "school hours" which includes break.  www.getepic.com. 

The reading passages I sent home were part of a packet from Moffat Girls for $6.  Click here for the packet. 

My reading logs are free on my TPT store.  Click here for yours! 

Handling Birthdays in Elementary Classrooms

 

Birthdays are so special for our younger students.  In fact, many of them think it's a holiday.  But, birthdays can be a PAIN for teachers, especially when you are surprised the day of with over the top gifts for the class, treats that some kids can't eat, or the dreaded two birthday treats on the same day.

Many teacher avoid this by celebrating birthdays once a month for all the birthdays.  That's not for me.  It's too special for kids to have to wait and share with others, at least in my opinion. 

So, what I have done to try and avoid crazy birthday treat disasters, is to send out monthly emails, directly to the families of kids with a birthday that upcoming month.  This has helped tremendously.  For the uber organized, you can even schedule send the whole year, so you don't have to think about it after the beginning of the year.  Below is an example of my current birthday email, which I keep as a Google doc: 

Hello!!!

If you are receiving this email, I noticed your child has an upcoming birthday in the next few weeks.  Just a few reminders/info:

If you are sending birthday invitations, I kindly ask you to address them with names and have your child give them to me.  We will put them in the students' Friday folders.  If you don't want to put names on, please just let me know if it's something like all the boys, the whole class, etc.

Birthday treats are allowed any day: on your child's actual birthday or a date close to it.  Please give me a bit of notice that you will be sending something in.  Sometimes we end up with two birthday treats on the same day. 

We have 25 students in class.  We have several food allergies including all nuts (tree nuts and peanuts), gluten, eggs, and dairy.  With the eggs and dairy, they can be baked into a cupcake or cookie.  Some great ideas that should be safe for all are popsicles, fruit snacks, gluten free baked goods, and lollipops. Because of the allergies, treats need to be store bought so I can verify any allergens. Little goody bags are also fun!  We ask that there is nothing more than either treats or goody bags for your child’s special day. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me anytime.