Tag Outs

 

Regarding the Dress Code for Teachers

 

Just a Suggestion

Number Matching With Paper Cups - With a Suggestion

I often see activities like this where a student is working independently to match numbers. I've used a few of them myself. However, there have been times when I've noticed a child put the wrong answer on top, and unless it's brought to my attention, it doesn't get corrected.

My suggestion is this. At the bottom inside the cup, put the same number of dots. That way, when the child mentions s/he's done, you can turn the cup over and have them check to see if their answers are correct.

On activities like this, there has to be a way for them to check their answers to make sure they're actually counting correctly and not just putting down any answer for the sake of finishing the job.

But What About the Glue?

Monday I showed what I do with the school supplies brought by the children at the beginning of the year.  You emailed me and asked about glue.

Our school district requires our students to bring glue sticks AND bottled glue.  Of course, the sticks run out (or dry out) within a few weeks.  But to put a bottle of glue in a Kindergartener's hands is asking for trouble, as well as running rivers of white stuff all over kingdom come.

What I've done is collect little plastic containers (what you see here is from a fruit cup).  I pour glue into the container and then add several toothpicks.  Not only can each child scoop and smear to their heart's content, but there's no chance of ending up with blobs of glue dripping down walls and arms.

Furthermore, the cups are reusable!  Once the leftover glue is allowed to sit for a couple of days, it hardens around the toothpicks.  A little pressure and pull on the toothpicks, and the dry glue peels right out nice and clean.  (And it's fun to do!)

100th Day of School

We just celebrated our 100th Day of School (75 more to go! YES!).  If your school celebrates the momentous day, you're probably being inundated with ideas and suggestions for activities you can do with your students.  I'm not giving you a suggestion.  I'm giving you a helpful tip.

You're probably thinking about having the kids make their own 100 necklace.  Here's what I do to make this project easier.

The majority of Kinders can't count out 100 cereal rings by themselves.  So I've made a "mat" of 10 circles that they can put 10 rings on each one.  (Great opportunity to reinforce counting by 10s!)

Then you give them a "needle" with their yard of yarn string.  We all know what happens when little fingers try to shove yarn through a little hole.  The whole thing becomes a massive frayed and tangled mess.  But take a paper clip, unbend it, and show them how to thread the yarn through the cereal holes, and it becomes "easy schmeasy"!