Week One: Wiggles Learns the Rules at School, The Homework Bell, Calendar Book Updates, and More!



Phew! One week down, 41 more to go! The first week of school seems to be the most stressful week of all as we establish routines and get to know our new students. But for some reason, this year has been much less stressful than it normally is- (and I praise the good Lord in heaven for that!) I have no explanation other than the blessings of prayer! I actually can’t remember having such a smooth and stress-free start to a school year. I did wind up with about 15 requests from siblings of former students, and that sort of thing, and that always really helps take the stress off, I think.  I LOVE those repeat "customers!!!!"  As I looked around at the group of parents that came to my parent orientation meeting, there were so many familiar faces that it seemed very comfortable and easy. I sent them all home that night with a DVD, and I know that some of the children must have watched their new teacher on television when their parents got home, because a few of them had “stars in their eyes” when they entered the classroom the next morning, and gazed at me with this “I saw you on TV!” look on their faces! (That always makes me chuckle!) One of them even remembered to thank me for the DVD, which I thought was sweet.



At the moment, I have 23 students, and most of the crying at the AM drop-off has stopped. (Hooray!) Yesterday when we watched a part of the Singable Songs for Letters and Sounds DVD, I heard one child say, “Hey, teacher! That lady looks a lot like YOU!!!!” Amazingly, none of the other children pointed out that the lady on the screen actually IS me, LOL!  Last year, a mom told me that her son said that the lady on the screen couldn't be his teacher because the one on the screen is much younger!  :)

1. INTRODUCING: Wiggles Learns the Rules at School!



Well, I did it. I set a goal for myself of making a children’s story book to help children learn the rules at school, and the book is now finished! We hired an illustrator for this one, because there was no way I could find the time to illustrate this one myself. And I LOVE the way it came out! We sent the illustrator some pictures of me in my classroom with my students, and also some pictures of the playground. The funny thing is that the teacher in the book actually looks like me- (on a good hair day, anyway!) I also recognize some of our toys in the classroom and some elements of our playground. We also sent her some pictures of our dog Jasper to copy, and she did just that- but added some spots to make the dog more fun to color. So now I have an illustrated story book with pictures of me, my students, and my cute little dog that is posing as one of my students, trying to learn the rules! This is WAY too much fun!!!!

 Heidi and the "Real" Wiggles!


Anyway, my students are just LOVING the book! I have a plush Wiggles puppet and I have the dog act out the story as I read it, and I talk to the dog about the rules. The children love chiming in with the repetitive text, and laughing at the silly dog, who forgets the rules each and every day. Every single day so far we have read the book and enjoyed it to the fullest. The children don’t realize it, but this is how we have been learning the rules in our classroom. We actually haven’t done any other formal lessons as far as school rules are concerned, and the kids are generally doing very well so far in following them, so I think it must be working!
(Maybe this accounts for some of the reduction in stress I am feeling?  Who knows?)



Some time next week, the children are going to make a paper bag puppet to go with the book. (The download of the book includes the pattern for this puppet.) They are not very proficient at cutting yet, so we’ll probably do it with our book buddies so that they will each have a helper to go around the head. I know that they are going to love it! There's also a student sized copy of the book for kids to color and take home that is a part of the download, and we'll be making one of these soon, too.  I'll have the children look for certain letters and/or words in it, such as the word "the" and highlight it each time they find it, so that it will double as a reading activity as well.  Fun!





2. The Homework Bell!

Here’s an idea that I am going to try! Do you have students that do the homework but seem to have no interest in turning it in? I always seem to have about six or seven little ones to whom it never occurs that it might be a good idea to look for that piece of paper and put it in the homework box, no matter how much I beg or plead. (At my school, the vast majority of the Kindergartner’s parents make them do the homework, but they often forget to turn it in.) So I have decided that this year I am going to encourage my students to turn in the homework that is surely sitting in their binders (See my blog on this topic here) by allowing them to ring a bell when they put it in the basket. I’m thinking of using a Staple’s “That Was Easy!” button for a little while, at least until they get tired of it. Then I’ll think of another bell or button for them to push. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will at LEAST help encourage them to pull it out of their backpacks and turn it in! Wish me luck!





3. Spinzone Magnetic Whiteboard Spinner

I found this Spinner at the Learning Shop exhibit booth at I Teach K. They also run a mail order teacher supply company. The owners, Dave and Doris, are a very nice retired couple that run their business by following many of the SDE conferences and exhibiting at them if it is not too far from their home in Indiana. Dave and I have gotten to know each other over the past year, and when he saw me, he asked if I had seen the new spinners that he had in stock. I replied that I had not, so I went over to take a look.

The spinner is a very simple design with just a bolt glued onto the back of it, which is attached to a magnet on a spinner. So you can place it on a magnetic whiteboard and it will stick, and then give it a spin. After drawing the rest of the spinner “fields” on your whiteboard, it can be used like any spinner. If you would like to see a little video of this spinner in action, just check my HeidiSongs Facebook page! It’s pretty neat. I noticed that on Amazon, they sell these spinners in packs of three for $19.99.  I can’t imagine what they were thinking of; what teacher is going to need three of them when you can clearly only ever use one at a time?  Some of the sellers on Amazon and also my friend Dave at The Learning Shop has split them up into singles and only charges $7.99 plus shipping for each one. I don’t know what he charges for the shipping, but the spinners are light so it couldn’t be much. If you want to order one, you can fax them an order at 1. 317.842.1723 or call them at 1.800.369.6792.





4. Calendar Book Files Updated!

If you are doing the calendar book in your classroom and have been waiting for the updated "Write the Date" files, here they are! Here is the file for 2018 and 2019!! :) If you are new to calendar books, then click on the link below for more information. It is something that I sometimes do in the spring with my class when we start going full day, depending on how well my students are able to focus and cooperate in whole group situations. Click here to read a previous blog entry on how I have used calendar books in previous years.





----------------------------------
Follow me! Did you enjoy this post? Do me a favor and share it with your friends!  And follow this blog by signing up for my email updates, or follow on Bloglovin', or follow me on TPT!  I'm also on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube, too!  Don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter (at the bottom of this page) for special deals and promo codes that you won't find out about anywhere else.

Popular posts from this blog

Creepy Crayon: Free Craft Template!

Image
Today, I am going to give you a link to our free Creepy Crayon craft that we made to accompany the book Creepy Crayon by Aaron Reynolds!   Yay!  If you are a fan of Creepy Carrots and A Creepy Pair of Underwear ,  then you were probably just as excited as I was for the next book in the series, Creepy Crayon !  And so by popular demand, we have have included the Creepy Crayon craft here as a free download!  We have also included links to our other crafts for Aaron Reynold's creepy books, too.  They are such fun! The Illustrations are FAB! I definitely need to give a shout out to illustrator Peter Brown, whose wonderful illustrations play a huge part in the popularity of these books!  I love the way he made almost all of it in gray tones, except for the crayon, of course!  The illustrations really give the story a creepy, but friendly tone.  I know I'll be a Peter Brown fan forever! This is a photo of my Creepy Carrots crafts samples in my classroom before I retired. Check Ou
Read more

How to Help Children That Have a Hard Time Learning the Alphabet

Image
Is your child (or student) having a hard time learning the alphabet?  Are those letters just not "sticking?" Does your child seem to know a letter one day, and then forgets it the next day- or even just a few minutes later? In this post, I will share my most recently developed techniques for helping kids learn and remember the alphabet. Check Vision- Thoroughly! During the past 30 years as a teacher, I have tried many things for all of the different types of learners that I’ve had. One thing that I would highly suggest is that you have your child's eyes checked, just in case you have not yet done that. I know that most schools have their school nurses do this, but I would suggest that a nurse is really not an optometrist, nor is he/she an ophthalmologist. I wrote about one little guy with vision issues in my post, Tips for Teaching the Alphabet to Struggling Learners . In that post, I shared that I had been teaching one child that had had such a difficul
Read more

Fun with STEM: A "Punkin Chunkin" Catapult with Craft Sticks!

Image
In this post, I am going to tell you about a really FUN, seasonal STEM project that I did with my first and second graders:  they made "Punkin" Chunkin" catapults with craft sticks and masking tape!  Then we measured to see who's pumpkin went the farthest!  The "punkins" were actually orange pompoms, so we had to use our imaginations, but none of the children cared.  They had an absolute BLAST! For this fun activity, we invited our new fifth grade buddies to come in and give us a hand, but I really think that the first and second graders could have done it on their own as well.  So if you are thinking of doing this with your own young students alone and without the help of older students, go for it!  I think that Kindergartners could do it too, but I would do it in small groups so that I could help those that needed it. My inspiration for this came from many different child constructed catapults that I have seen on Pinterest- along with a
Read more

Teaching Kids to WRITE the Numbers! – FREE Number Poems!

Image
Teaching children to write the numbers  correctly can be very frustrating for early childhood teachers! Also, attempting to GRADE their writing can be equally TRICKY! What does a number written correctly look like, versus one that is not?  In this post, I am going to tell you how I teach my students to write the numbers. I’ve posted some examples of student work showing numbers that look correct and some that are not, in my opinion.  I explain under the photos why certain numbers “would pass” or not.  I also have some FREE number formation poems to share with you, plus a FREE download of a parent guide that explains what those correctly formed numbers should look like- and the incorrect ones! So it seems that every year, getting the children to write those numbers can be something like pulling teeth: it comes slowly, and getting them to just “CARE” seems to be half the battle!  Perhaps the reason for this is that we know that the most important learning in math comes from wo
Read more

Getting Control of a Very Difficult Class: TAKE TWO

Image
Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tomorrow, and be fine with it?  This is a repost of a piece that I wrote several years ago when I was teaching Kindergarten.  I'm now in second grade, and finding that I have many of the same problems!  Since I actually went back and read my own post again, I thought I would post it here for you again, too, with a few of my updated comments inserted in italics.  Hope it's helpful! This is the original post. ********** This year, I have one of the most challenging classes I have ever had. I am still working on training them to do what I want them to do, but I know that in the end, I will win! Meanwhile, we are spending a LOT of time on classroom management, modeling routines and procedures often. Here is a list of some classroom management tips and techniques that I have used successfully in Kindergarten, but I think that they would prob
Read more

An EASY Critical Thinking Game for K/1 Kids!

Image
Today I'm going to tell you about a fun and EASY game to help boost critical thinking skills in Kindergarten or First Graders!  I call it The Critical Thinking Comparison Game, because in it, the kids are simply comparing one thing to another and telling what they think are the similarities and differences between two objects.  Believe it or not, my first graders LOVE this game and often ask me if we can play it again!  I think they like it because the game makes them feel successful and "smart."  I have also played it with Kindergartners, and they enjoyed it, too! The Critical Thinking Comparison Game is really very easy to play!  All you need is a few questions like the ones below, and something for the children to color, just to keep them busy while they wait for a turn to talk.   ( I also used my Critical Thinking Comparison Cards as a visual aid, but you can certainly play it without them! ) Here is the type of question that I ask in this game: How
Read more

Teaching Phoneme Segmentation: Separating Sounds in Words (Freebies!)

Image
Teaching children to pick out all of the phonemes (or sounds) in a given word can be tricky!  This requires good listening skills and well developed phonemic awareness in general.  For some children, mastering phoneme segmentation can seem just about impossible!  Here are some teaching tips that have worked for me in the past. *  The best advice I can give is to practice segmenting words with a designated MOTION for a short time every single day with your whole class.  Even just one or two minutes per day will help! Look for suggested motions on this post. There is also a downloadable list of words to use, plus a homework sheet that you can download here. Here is where you can get another  word list for practicing words with two, three, and four phonemes. And here is another post with lists of words with four, five, or six phonemes. *  Give kids beads to slide down a pipe cleaner as they segment the word.  I made these "Segmentation Sliders" out of p
Read more

20 Hands-On Ways to Build a Sight Word, (And Research to Back it Up!)

Image
Today I am pleased to share TWENTY great ideas for building the sight words to help kids learn them in a hands-on way!  Making sight words (AKA high frequency words) in lots of different ways allows kids to choose their best learning modality and really take charge of their own learning. I'm super excited about this way of teaching, and I hope you will be, too! When my teammate and I do this, we focus on just ONE of the trickier sight words per week and have the kids BUILD JUST THAT ONE WORD over and over again in many ways.   If there happens to be a parent volunteer at that center, they are to ask the children to spell it and tell what the word is often. This is what our Sight Word Building Table looks like.  We put out a variety of choices, and the children can change seats each time they finish to keep building the word.  If there happens to be a volunteer, she ask them what word they are working on and to spell it, and will hand them a different manipulative.  
Read more

A Creepy Pair of Underwear Craftivity FREEBIE!

Image
Today I have a fun and easy craft based on a SUPER fun book by Aaron Reynolds called A Creepy Pair of Underwear .  After reading this book just ONCE with my class last year, it instantly became the class favorite, and I KNEW we had to make the project!  The illustrations by Peter Brown provided the perfect inspiration.  We are providing the master and instructions free for you today at the end of this post.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! If you are unfamiliar with this fun book,  you can read the synopsis here on Amazon, where you can also purchase the book .  Another great book to go with it is Creepy Carrots, by the same author and illustrator.  Both are instant Halloween classics, in my opinion!  Don't miss them! My teammate Jeff Pang is super creative, and he adapted the design from the book to make it into a craft that would be simple enough for the children to make into their own little Creepy Pair of Underwear!  So kudos to Jeff!  He seems to be able t
Read more

A Twist on the Headband Game!

Image
Here’s a fun, new, twist on the classic Headband Game that makes it reusable and adaptable to any subject and any level!  AND it gets the kids up and moving as they learn, so that’s an even greater bonus!!!!  This awesome idea was suggested by a participant in one of my workshops when I presented the Sight Word Headband Game and wondered aloud how to make this adaptable to kids in higher grades that learn their new words much more quickly.  So I tried it out myself, and voilá!  It worked out great!  My own class has done this now a few times and they LOVE it! So here is how it works; I’ll remind you of the my original version first.  With the original  Sight Word Headband Game , I wrote a word on a strip of paper and formed it into a headband.  The kids all put one on, and then walked around the room and wrote the words that they found on their friends’ heads next to their friends’ names on a sheet of paper. Now with this second “twist” on this “Advanced” Headband G
Read more