Work on Words

My colleague gave me the idea to use my filing cabinets as a work work center. Students have to take turns making the sight word, reading the word, and all of them write the word. I added a few letters to try to trick them. They did a nice job at this center today, and it was well worth the prep. 

Classdojo.com

I'm so excited to try Classdojo.com to monitor and track behaviors in my classroom. I have a group of squirrely chatty buggers that need some motivation. I'm excited about using the app on my iPad and phone. Each kid gets a little avatar. They're so cute! I also can't wait to look at the reports that can be generated. I will blog later about how it goes! 

Goldilocks Bobby Socks

My instructional coach gave me this great idea for introducing letter sounds, and I just had to share! She has a special box that she puts objects and/or pictures that start with the letter she is introducing for that day. She starts out by saying the poem below. 

What's in the box? What's in the box? Goldilocks, Bobby Socks, What's in the box?

Clapping Sequence
What's(pat thighs) in(clap) the box(hands apart)? (clap)
What's(pat thighs) in(clap) the box(hands apart)? (clap)
Goldi(pat thighs)locks(clap), Bobby(hands apart) Socks(clap), 
What's(pat thighs) in(clap) the box(hands apart)? 


Then, she pulls out the object/picture and tells the students the name of the picture/object emphasizing the initial sound. 

Once she is through with all of the objects, she asks students what sound they hear at the beginning of each word. What a great way to fit in phonemic awareness!

When I did this with my students, they were highly engaged in the activity. I repeated the poem if I knew I was losing them and they came right back to me. 

Here are a few websites with pictures for your Goldilocks Box:

Phonics International

Teacher Web

YouTube is My Friend

Dear YouTube,

You have made it possible for me to bring great videos and songs to my students to make learning fun. I have always loved Jack Hartman and Dr. Jean but now I'm a huge fan of Heidi Songs and Harry Kindergarten as well.

Thank You From the Bottom of My Song-Loving Heart,

Mrs. Herout


Some of my favorites so far are:

Heidi's Songs

Harry Kindergarten

Dr. Jean

Jack Hartman

Cute DIY Space Saver

I have a space in my classroom that I thought was unusable until I had an idea. A lot of teachers hang yarn in their room from one wall to another and use clothespins to hang student work. I love that idea! That same idea got me thinking about this weird space that I have. So I bought 18 feet of ribbon instead of yarn. I ran it across the wall with my dear husband's help and stapled it every 2 feet to the wall. Then, I added clothespins and one bow on each end for cuteness. Wala! I have an easily interchangeable space for student work, anchor charts, or what ever I fancy for the month. For now, it's my welcome sign. In a month, it will display my Daily 5 posters.

Bargain Book Find

I went to Costco tonight to pick up pizza for dinner. I had some time to kill so I thought I would browse and price things out. I am a bargain shopper and like to know how much things cost. This drives my poor husband crazy! Bless his heart for going along with my spontaneous shopping trips and for believing me every time I say, "It'll only take 10 minutes, I promise." I was raised to believe that spontaneous shopping is a way of life because, "You never know what your gonna find!", my mom always says. Well, today at Costco I found a super deal on some language and math books.  I couldn't see what they looked like because they were in a box wrapped in plastic, but I took a chance on what I thought was a bargain. I unwrapped them Christmas style with my friend Kim who is a literacy specialist. You would have thought we struck gold or were the kids in the XBox commercial. We were both very  pleased with the word choice and illustrations. They are appropriate for kindergarten through fifth grade. Each box came with 14 books and only cost $12.99. They are much more than that if you look on Amazon. Each book is titled, If You Were a/an... Check out the titles in the pictures below.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Words Too!

I have always loved Eric Carle's literature. There is something about the illustrations that are so simple yet beautiful. This year instead of a word wall this hungry caterpillar is going to "eat" sight words. When he is nice and full, hopefully, he'll turn into a beautiful butterfly. Any other ideas for The Very Hungry Caterpillar?