Reading Chart - Week 33

The Build-the-Alphabet Game

This worked wonderfully on bad weather days when we couldn't go outside to run off that extra energy. 

Begin with dividing your class into two teams.

You'll need two decks of alphabet cards. It's important the two decks are different from each other, so that they're not accidentally mixed up. For a quick, inexpensive deck, you can print off Alex's Alphabet Cards on two different colored cardstocks.

Dump both decks in a box. Mix them up. Tell each team what their color is (ex: red deck for Team A, blue deck for Team B)

The first child in line grabs a card, runs to a table (I used the gutter underneath the white board), and sets up the card. That child runs back, grabs another card, hands it to the second child, who runs up to place it in "alphabetical order" next to the first card. Child 2 then runs back, grabs a third card to hand to the third child, etc. 

The children keep advancing to place a card in order on the gutter. As more cards are added, they'll have to move cards to fit theirs where it belongs.

The team that finishes correctly first wins!

Nurture Their Imagination

"There is nothing like a dream to create the future."
~ Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Reading Chart - Week 32

A Beautiful Heart

Whatever It Takes to Prevent Cheating on Tests

Reading Chart - Week 31

Moments Teachers Treasure

Seeing an image of the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time in the Museum of Natural History.

Bigger, Smaller, Same - a Venn Diagram Freebie!

This is more suitable for Pre-Kinders, especially around the beginning of the year. But I've used it in Kindergarten later on in the year in the following manner:

In little plastic sandwich bags, I have a collection of items. If you do this with several children, make sure each bag has the same items. I then give each child or group the Venn diagram below. (Note: You can click on the picture to get a full size render you can save and print!)

Then I announce which item they are going to compare the others to. In the example below, they're going to compare the other items to a penny. 

The students then place the items in the correct areas. With Pre-Kinders, we make it a race to see who finishes first with all the correct answers (emphasize correct answers). 

In Kinder, once they're done, the children then have to write down the names of the items (purple eraser, sticker, die, paperclip, etc.) on a separate sheet of paper (or on the back of this one) under the correct heading as being bigger, smaller, or the same size. Also, this makes for a great center activity!

Reading Chart - Week 30

 

It's Never Too Late to Start Now

Happy Easter!

Happy April Fools Day!

15 April Fool pranks you can play on your kids and family. For more info, go here.