Thanks for Thanksgiving

             Thanksgiving slipped up on me this year.  We just finished the Veteran's Day celebration and realized that we only had 6 days to do Thanksgiving!!  During these 6 days, I had only 2 planning periods because of  meetings, a concert, and the computer teacher's absence during the time I am supposed to have 40 minutes to work in my room without children present. Besides my lack of planning time, my assistant has NO planning time because she has to go to 4th grade to do intervention during that precious 40 minutes.  So, my crafty projects were extremely limited this year.
             I am blessed to have a talented and creative assistant, because the artsy- crafty things are not one of my strengths, to say the least.  Here's my kind of craft, purchased pre-cut with adhesive on the back.  All I had to do was pass out one piece at a time, demonstrate where to stick each part, and -- voila!  It's a turkey!! Thank you Hobby Lobby! The kids thought it was great, and I didn't have to cut out 27 sets of turkey parts.

    In the past, we have made lots of things -- including Native American vests cut from brown paper grocery bags and a headband with feathers.  But with 27 kids, it was just too overwhelming to think about.
   Back to my precious assistant --- in her "free time" -- whenever that was -- she cut and folded all these Pilgrim girl bonnets and Pilgrim boy hats -- with a little bit of help from a parent volunteer.. They looked so cute! But if you want to see some fabulous costumes, click on Reagan Tunstall's link  --- she is my inspiration --- for another year!  Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits must have a LOT of volunteers!

    And when I realized that I had forgotten about making the bracelets to help the children practice retelling the First Thanksgiving story, she got right on it and assembled 27 kits with the right color of beads and pipe-cleaners in each Ziploc baggy. She is incredible!!
   They are wearing the bracelets in the picture, but I forgot to get a close-up, so I'm using a similar one from Pinterest.

  We got to hear most of them retell the story as we twisted the ends together to make a bracelet at the end of the day today.  I also remembered the "Let's Find Out" activity and we watched that on the big screen at the end of the day.  I even squeezed in directions for making a hand print turkey this morning and they drew them on the back of their morning worksheet.  They wrote and illustrated an  "I am thankful for... book and sang a couple Thanksgiving songs from the Dr. Jean CD.

  I got our computer teacher to install Google Earth on my computer so we could see where the Pilgrims traveled. That was pretty cool.

    I read several Thanksgiving books, including these, but just didn't have time for some of my favorites in these 6 days of celebrating.

  Now that I see it all written here, I guess we covered it pretty well!!

  We have more time for Christmas, and I've already put the Thanksgiving books away and replaced them with Christmas books.  Can't wait to start on our gingerbread men -- we are doing an exchange with children in 26 classes across the country -- plus one class in Germany. That will give us another opportunity to look at maps and globes as we see where our gingerbread men will come from.
  And I can't wait to share "Pete the Cat Saves Christmas."
  But first I need to clean my house and cook a turkey for my family!  Time -- slow down!!!

  I am especially thankful this year for my blogging friends who have inspired me -- thankful that this huge class is finally starting to "get it" -- thankful for parent volunteers -- thankful for all the TPT stuff that I have bought -- and especially the freebies -- and thankful for the love of my family and their understanding when I work late many days, hog the computer, and don't cook for several days in a row.  God has blessed me greatly, and I am SO thankful for 5 days to try to catch up during Thanksgiving break!!!

Learning to Give

   It is time to think about GIVING...

We packed up some boxes for Samaritan's Purse today.  Parents were very generous, and we got enough to fill about 4 shoe boxes.

The children took turns choosing items to put in a box for a girl or a box for a boy.

I think it is important to teach the children that there are children around the world who don't get many gifts, and we can share with them.

Thank you, Operation Christmas Child for giving us an opportunity to give and the learn about children around the world!

My Veteran

Veterans Day 2012

I took my favorite veteran to school this week --- my husband!  Mr. Spencer spent 25 years serving his country in the Army, and although he has been retired for about 20 years, I still get a thrill out of  seeing him in his uniform.  He brought pictures of the foxhole he stayed in when he was in Vietnam, his helicopter, and his tent in Saudi Arabia. The kids were fascinated and had lots of questions.

They were especially interested in his medals --- I had him to bring the display case full of medals, and one little boy sat staring in awe.

This is a story written by one of my children --- I thought it was great!  It says, "This man is a hero."

Veterans, we salute you and thank you for your service.

Pumpkins and Singing

  

 It is the end of October -- the month just seemed to whiz by!  Just a few more days before we change gears to learn about some American history, turkey, and about being thankful.  Friday I carved the pumpkins after we voted on the shape of eyes, nose, and teeth. Glad it wasn't anything too complicated -- my carving skills are not so great, even with my handy-dandy little Pampered Chef carving knife!  The kids all took a turn scooping out the yucky stuff.  Here are s few helpers; 

 

I will miss Halloween this year -- I am flying to Denver, Colorado for the Sweet Adelines International competition on Tuesday  This is the a capella chorus I sing with.  -- we are competing on the International stage for the first time, and I am excited!
                                                       Carolina Style Chorus
You can actually watch the competition this year from your own computer.  We are contestant #21 on Thursday evening around 6:30 --  I stand near the middle of the second row.
My Sweet Adelines chorus, Carolina Style, will be competing on the International stage in Denver, CO, this week. There is a live webcast for those of you who might enjoy some good ole barbershop. The webcast will begin on Tuesday with the Harmony Classic, but we will be competing on Thursday at approximately 6:24 NC time (EDT). The webcast site is: sweetadswebcast.com It will take you right to the link (click on the arrow in the word 'Sweet') and enjoy!

Field Trip!

Today I took my class to Red Wolf Farm for our first field trip of the year.  It was a beautiful day, and I had lots of parent volunteers, so we had a great time.

There were lots of animals to feed and pet -- so much fun to feed the hens.

We even got to feed a bottle to the calf!

We loved the little pony.

Then we rode the wagon up to the pumpkin patch

and got to choose a pumpkin to take home!

What a great day!!

Patience

               I love this poem from Heather's Heart.  You can click on her name to read the whole post.

        '     

This was fire Safety week at our school, so there was big excitement when the fire department  truck came!!

Remembering Why I Teach

          This has been a difficult week -- in fact, a rather difficult year.  With 27 children in my class this year, I've found it pretty overwhelming at times.  I have said -- "I am not an octopus!! -- I can't do everything at once!" more than one time.  Everything takes longer -- going to the bathroom, cutting out art projects, doing math stations and reading groups, sorting papers, sharpening pencils -- and writing lesson plans for all those groups.  And now it is time for math and literacy assessments. Almost all the assessing has to be done one child at a time, and I was getting pretty discouraged -- thinking maybe I should have retired at the end of last year. How will I ever get all these children to benchmark by May?? And how will I get all those assessments done?
            The pressure was building this week -- one week left to get all the  assessing done, and my wonderful assistant was our sick for 3 days.  And we have had a "Pink-eye" outbreak in the class -- had to send a child home every day this week until today. Plus a 2 hour faculty meeting yesterday.
Anyway, even with the help of some great parent volunteers, I was feeling like I just couldn't do a good job teaching all these kids.
             This morning I got up early as usual to have time for morning devotions, and I read this verse: "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."  It was just what I needed, so I went to school with a new, improved attitude.  And the whole day went so much better.  I decided to look for the good -- and I found lots of it. We took time for more singing -- it's more fun to sing the days of the week and numbers than just drilling flashcards, (Thank you Dr. Jean and Jack Hartmann)  I used the "Dojo" behavior tracker and gave lots of points -- even random points for no good reason.  My volunteer stayed all day and helped a LOT.
              But here's the part of the day that gave me so much encouragement -- Writer's Workshop!

We've been "writing" in journals for over a month, but no one seemed to be "getting it"  They just scribbled something unrecognizable and maybe wrote a string of letters, but only 1 or 2 actually came close to writing a sentence.  So today I decided to project a couple student writing pages on the screen and use that for my lesson.

This one had the string of letters on top, but a great picture of  apple trees.  So after I bragged on his picture, we talked about writing a sentence with spaces so readers could actually tell what he want to say.  So he went back to his seat and wrote "I like apple." Yay!! A sentence!

          Next I showed the beginnings of this train picture with the words "the litl"  The writer explained that he was writing about a little book that he could read.  So we talked about writing the whole sentence and he went back to his seat to finish it.  He wrote "the litl puff is good book. I like i" TWO sentences!! Woohoo!
          By now, the rest of the class was eager to get their own journals and start writing.  This one was inspired by the train in the example, but she just wrote the list of words on the pocket chart.  So I asked what she meant to say, then I drew a line for each word in her sentence and she went back to finish it -- and even added the word "Yellow" (Thank you, Heidisongs") "I like to ride my yellow train."

            I was SO excited to see actual sentences and recognizable pictures all over the room.  They are going to be writers!! My hard work is starting to pay off -- they have learned something and are proud of their work -- asking me to show their stories on the screen.
         Yes, that is why I teach -- to share the joy a child feels when he or she realizes that  they can read and write.  I had to gather up a few journals to take down the hall to show someone -- but it's also very satisfying to share my excitement with other bloggers around the world.
         Tomorrow my assistant will be back and we will figure out how to get everyone assessed.  I hope the "Pink-eye"  has run its course -- but I am going to try to remember to celebrate -- and give thanks -- for these small moments in the day!

A Day with Dr. Jean!!

Old Idea Still Working

        There's a linky party over at What the Teacher Wants 
-- click on the link for more great behavior management ideas!

             One of my favorite things to teach is writing -- but not handwriting. (How many times do I have to demonstrate the right way to make a letter!!) With this year's huge class of 27, I've had a hard time getting any "silent" writing going.  They are a very talkative bunch, and any silence we have doesn't last long.  I ask them for 5 minutes of totally silent writing, so everyone has a chance to think without interruption.  Today I remembered an idea I used many years ago when I had a little bear called "Mr. Goodbear -- he would sit on the neatest table in a class I taught about 20 years ago.
We use the Letterland phonics program in our county, and each letter of the alphabet has a character.  Z is "Zig-Zag Zebra".  She is a very shy little zebra, and she doesn't like noise.  I bought a little zebra at Dollar Tree a few years ago, and I happened to notice it today as we were doing the Writer's Workshop lesson.  I waited until I caught one group working quietly, and I put the zebra on their table.I told them that she didn't like noise, and she would not stay if anyone talked.  It worked like a charm!!  Suddenly the whole room was quiet!  Zig-Zag Zebra got to visit every table before the writing time was over == it was amazing!

           There were several children writing actual words today -- sight words and words they copied from the bulletin board/word wall. That is always exciting for me.  Some are starting to draw more detailed pictures -- not just a head with legs coming out of it. We have a LONG way to go, but i little bit of silence is a wonderful thing at the end of a long day.

        The other exciting accomplishment was when one boy wrote an actual sentence without help -- and even drew a picture that matched the words -- yay!! And spelled words correctly! There is hope!!

!

Daily 5, Day 23, and 27 Children

                We have been in school for a month now -- and I'm finally starting to feel like we might be      able to make it.  There are signs today...

• No one crying -- not even ME when they brought me a new student- who can't write his name
• We actually got a compliment on our quiet line in the hall -- and it was a LONG line
• I reorganized the reading/intervention groups and we finally got through ALL 5 of them before lunch
• No one dropped their lunch tray
• We had 3  rotations with 3 groups "reading to self" or "working on writing" independently while "Mrs. Awesome" ( my assistant -- name given by a former student) and I worked with the other 2 small groups for about 20 minutes during each rotation. WOOHOO!!
• 2 girls chose copies of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear: and reread it together -- from memory, mostly -- hardly missed a word
• They worked mostly by themselves on the math Investigation today -- counting dots on the dice and writing the numbers
• Many wrote words that I could actually read in their journals -- one even wrote a complete sentence with a period at the end!
• My graph of "letter sounds recognition" showed huge gains for nearly everyone.
• I didn't have to take a nap after school
• We finally got our math workbooks and used them for the first time.
• Instead of saying "I'm done, now what?" -- they are asking, "Can I get a book to read?"  I love those words!   

                     I am so thankful for the Daily 5 book and the Whole Brain Teaching website and "Next Steps in Guided Reading" and the "ESGI" computerized assessment and Letterland and all the things I have found on the teaching blogs -- especially Heidisongs -- and Teachers Pay Teachers. Notice I didn't say "All the things I learned in college." That was too long ago -- and we didn't even have computers back then.  But I have learned a LOT since then!  Most of all, I am thankful for supportive co-workers, praying friends, and an understanding family.  They never complain when I work late and tie up the computer for hours -- or even when I don't cook supper or do their laundry. They pitch in and take care of themselves so I can spend as much time as I need to on school stuff.  I am blessed!
                  And I think we are going to make it after all --

NC Teacher Bloggers and the Ultimate Linky Party

teaching blog addict

                                                 Click here on "Teaching with Z" to link up

I have found so many great ideas from other teacher bloggers since I became an addict started reading -- and writing -- teacher blogs.  And like "Teaching with Z," I looked at the pictures and stories of bloggers who were meeting up this summer in New York and Texas and Las Vegas -- and wished there was an event a little closer to home in NC.  So I am happy to add my little blog to the list of NC teachers -- and look forward to a NC meet-up sometime!

                                           And look what else I found today! Just click on

Click here!

                                             
                                                               ultimate linky party

What did you do in kindergarten today?

When you ask,"What did you do in Kindergarten today?" and the answer is "Nothing..."

Here's what they really mean --

Read the morning message together and practiced the words "Dear Class" and "Love, Mrs. Spencer"

Found out the difference between a word and a letter.  Counted letters in a word.

Said the pledge to the flag

Listened to stories/poems -- "I Love my White Shoes" and "Rocking in My School Shoes" and "Mary Wore Her Red Dress" and “Jazzbo and Googy”

Sang and learned motion to several songs

Practiced air writing Pp and Qq and heard a song and story about Peter Puppy and Quarrelsome Queen

Sorted long and short names

Explored math stations and learned 4 ways to show the number 7

Learned about the calendar and named days, months, and seasons

Cut and glued pictures beside their first sound

Practiced saying the rules of the classroom

Practiced 3 ways to read a book

Visited the library and learned the procedure for checking out a book

Found out about different voice levels in the classroom

Colored a picture of Golden Girl and tried to stay in the lines

Used a whiteboard and markers to write

Sang a song about counting to 100

Practiced reading and spelling "red" “the” and “go”in a song

Walked quietly in a line

Carried my own tray, said my number and ate lunch in the lunchroom

Cooperated with a partner to use math manipulatives

Told the teacher which letters and sounds I recognized

Sat in one spot and read a book quietly for 3 minutes

Compared shapes to see how they were alike and different

Went to the gym for PE or art or music or computer lab

This is NOT your mama's kindergarten!!  There is a lot to learn this year, and you will be amazed at all they will accomplish in the next 169 days of school!

Therapeutic Thursday

Blog Hoppin;

   It's Therapeutic Thursday at "Blog Hoppin" -- teacher/bloggers are sharing their favorite ways to relax after a busy/stressful day at school.  And since it is Thursday, I am just back from my weekly therapy -- my  A Capella chorus rehearsal. Nearly every Thursday since I I started teaching  kindergarten about 9 years ago, I have left all thoughts of school and housework behind to concentrate on learning and performing barbershop style music with Carolina Style Chorus. This group of about 55 women gathers together for friendship and beautiful harmony -- and laughter -- as we strive to ring those chords and and prepare for performances and competitions.
  I was so tired this evening after spending the day "herding cats" as my friend said -- 26 little boys and girls can wear this 60-something teacher down! I don't think anything but chorus could have kept me from spending the evening on the couch.  But I know my chorus is expecting me -- and depending on me -- and I will be energized by the end of the evening.  There will be someone behind me rubbing my tired shoulders -- several asking about my week and my class -- someone bring me stickers or prize box toys, and the 4 part harmony that fills my heart. It is my favorite night of the week!
   We love to sing together just for the pure enjoyment, but it's also fun to sing for an audience.  One of our favorites is singing Christmas carols at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

  At the last regional competition, we won first place, so we are busy preparing to go to the International Competition in Colorado in a couple months.  How exciting is that?  Not only will we get to dress up in sparkly clothes and rhinestone earrings and false eyelashes, but we will get to sing on stage for an audience of thousands!  And there will be applause and cheers -- something we don't get much of at school .I love my chorus!!

 

Almost Ready!

            I am almost ready for kindergarten to start!! Just a few things left on my to-do list...
  1. Write 26 names on labels for...

• cubbies, 
• planners, 
• poetry notebooks,
•  desks, 
• literacy notebooks, 
• book baskets
• nametags
• word work folder
• journals
• math journals    

  2. Copy for parent folder

• introductory letter
• Donor's Choose permission
• scavenger hunt
• permission to post pictures on Internet
• supply list
• class schedule
• parent information sheet

3. Post class list
4. Make schedule
5  Sort all those boxes on the table
6. Cut out and laminate more stuff
7. Set up fish tank and bring fish to school
8  Change book barn display -- put away end of year books
9. Gather books to read for first week of school
10. Make playdough
11. Set up 10 math stations
12. Put names on birthday poster
13. Find "How We go Home" poster
14. Put books in individual book baskets
15. Write rest of lesson plans
16. Make homework folders 
17 Finish powerpoint for "Meet the Teacher" tomorrow night
18. Get "Bucket-filler " book from library and do bulletin board in hall -- if we have time.
19. Make new class helpers chart with polka dot pockets
20 Write names on clothespins for clip chart
21 Write names on sticks for job jar
22. Turn barn around so kids won't play inside
23 Charge batteries for camera
24. Activate ESGI account and enter names on line
25 Label baskets to collect school supplies

       Hmmm -- looks like the "optional" work day on Friday may not be so optional after all... I know I'm forgetting things...

26. Fill bird feeder outside the window!