Skippy Jon Jones comes to Class :) Writing Project

 

This year, I wanted to bring one of my favorite book characters, Skippy Jon Jones, to life in  in my class! So El Skippito Friskito himself is going to slip into our class one day this year along with a letter explaining his presence. It goes something like: 

"Holey Frijoles!
I slipped into my closet and found myself here in your class! ¡Como Loco!
I was just thinking that I needed to go on another adventure..."

It explains how the stuffed animal Skippy is going to go home with the students where he will go on an adventure with them each in turn for a weekend. They will then go on an adventure, write about it and draw a picture in the Adventure Journal, then share it with the class. 

There is also a letter in the journal for the parents explaining the process, which goes something like: 

"Thank you for your help writing the words I need practice with and for letting me share my adventure ideas with you. I know we are going to have a muy Fantástico time!" 

Can't wait see Skippy's zest sparking in my students :)

 

Open House- You are O'Fish'ally a Kindergartener!

Love these! Fish bowls in a bag of goldfish crackers congratulating my cubs on  o'Fish'ally becoming Kindergarteners! Click on the picture for a template.

Classroom Management

 

Love how adorable this came out!!! 

Book Boxes and Labels

I made (what I think are) adorable book box and individual book sticker labels for my library. The graphics are Thistlegirl & KPM Doodles <3

Helping Hands

This year I wanted to have enough helpers for everyone to have a job, and just rotate through them, changing every two weeks. I like the idea of everyone having to be a part of the pride! OF course, this meant I had to crate my own chart to accommodate 16 cubs. Click on the picture to get the PDF. 

The jobs include: Line leader, door holder, paper delivery, clean-up crew, trash collector, librarian, pencil sharpener, name selector, food helper, supplies helper, lights, gardener, song leader, pointer, teacher assistant & substitute helper.

I laminated each sheet also made cards with each child's name and picture on it to Velcro under the job. Cubs are going to love it :)

Fuzzy-ball Erasers- Thank you Pinterest :)

 

Another easy Pinterest idea. Used my handy dandy glue gun to add Fuzzy-balls to the end of my dry erase markers to act as erasers. Such a time saver and the cubs are going to love them :) 

Reading Eyes- Thank you Pinterest :)

  

Stole this idea from Pinterest and I love them! Oogley Reading Eyes that support the student pointing to the words as they read. Very simple to make, and self-explanatory as well.

 Just Oogley + Popcicle Sticks + Glue = DONE :) 

Which gave me this idea for another set of reading pointers :)

 

Just foam animals that are all facing in the same direction students read, as reading pointers! How cute!

Seriously, what did teachers do before Pinterest?

Pride in Our Work :)

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3X-Mfjfv2euUWxlQW9La1BlZnM

With pride in mind, I made these paw prints with the students names in them  (the font is Wish I Were Taller by www.kevinandamanda.com) for multiple purposes: 1) to attach to clothes pins for hanging work around the class 2) for lining students up in the correct order 3) for places on the carpet. I'm excited to see more cub themed decor coming together for my class :) (Click on the picture for a link to the word doc.).

Classroom Management "Our Pride"

Meet Ms.V's Kindergarten Pride of 2025 :) I already adore them. I made these as a part of our (the Kindergarten team's) Classroom Management system.

Rather than the color chart system, in order to align more with love and logic we developed an on the pride, off the pride system instead. There is a grassy space where the pride learns together when the students are making choices that help their pride and themselves.

There are two cool off watering hole areas off to the side where the cubs can saunter off to when they need to think about their choices. During this time the student is thinking about how to fix their problem, getting guidance from the teacher as needed.

These lions will be Velcro-ed to the chart, or could be attached to clothes pins, depending on the teacher's preference. Click on the picture to access the word doc. Roar!

Getting Crafty :)

The year is about to start and if you are like me you are excited to start all those wonderful ideas you found on pinterest over the summer. I know its time for me to start getting crafty!

This year's theme is lions and I'm running with it :) I'll share ideas and crafts as I find them for anyone looking to do the same, and please share back!