The Book Whisperer

I finished this book! Thanks to an excessively long wait at Firestone [FOUR hours!] I read a lot of this book in one sitting (while fixing my car's brakes - yikes!). Thank goodness I brought a good book. Then, spring sprung on us! Can I get an AMEN? I am So. Over. Winter. Today it was 75 degrees and just absolutely beautiful. Y'all. The birds were chirping. I had the windows open. The sun was keeping my toes warm. It was heaven.

Back to the book. THE book. I'm sure you've heard of it. If you haven't read it, read it. I'm a wacko and love learning. I think if I wasn't a teacher, I would never leave college. But, you know, who has the money for that life? So now I read books to learn; here is what I learned from this one:

• CELEBRATE reading success!
• Students should pick the books they read and READ in class. 
• Free time (finishing work early) should almost ALWAYS be reading time!
• You can directly apply learning in task specific formats all you want, but students need time to APPLY what they learned in their own reading. 
• The rights of a reader. How have I NEVER heard of these?! This should be one of the FIRST things students hear upon entering the reading environment. I mean, I have these rights and act on them all the time (especially #2!). #1 is a biggie that's hard for me to accept, but sometimes we all have the right to NOT read and that right (however infrequent) should be extended to our students. 

• Students will only learn to love reading if they have a model of someone who loves reading. BE ENTHUSIASTIC IN EVERYTHING! (I'm crazy - but it's nice to hear someone tell me that is how I should be!)

There is, of course, so much more that I learned and activities I want to implement in the classroom. (FYI for when YOU read the book: chapter 6 is ALL ABOUT throwing away [or utilizing a lot less] the old "traditional" ways of teaching reading and trading them out for more effective and engaging teaching practices that are standards based and data driven.)

Now I'm off to read a book for fun before jumping into my next book study: Driven By Data by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo.

Those Pesky Leprechauns!

LEPRECHAUNS.

Y'all. Leprechauns are so mean. They made an absolute MESS in my classroom! And the poor children. They had to clean THIS up:

Poor babies. I know. :)

Here's a run down of  a crazy St. Paddy's day:

• Leprechauns destroying your room.
• Leprechauns peeing green [ewww] in the toilet and leaving footprints on the seat! 
• When the kinders come in assign them the task: find a pencil (if you can) and a clipboard (if you can), get your paper, find somewhere to sit amongst the mess, and write about WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR CLASSROOM??!!?
• Clean the room. Really. This is essential. Don't skip this step. Just. Don't. 
• While the kids are in special, the leprechaun came back and left a scavenger hunt of clues in the room that lead to the Leprechaun's treasure {We read SO MANY St. Patrick's day books that there was a debate in my room amongst the kiddos about whether it was a trick or if we would actually find the treasure! So. Cute.}

• Read lots of St. Patricks day books. Here are some of my favorites:

• Make a leprechaun

• Write about how to catch a leprechaun

(for those that can't read kindergarten-ese: mac a crap = make a trap) 

• And don't forget to sing this song:             

Y'all. I just couldn't handle the cuteness of this day.  One of my littles found everything gold in my room to put under my desk. He was CONVINCED that when we came back from lunch he would have a captured leprechaun under there. I mean really; 5 year olds are the best. 

~Happy St. Patrick's Day!~

Addition Time!

Happy Spring! 

At this point in the year, Kindergarten is all about addition and subtraction! This is absolutely my favorite time of year for Math - addition is such a fun concept to teach.  

Teacher tip: I love teaching students how to use a number line by having a HUGE one on the floor that students get to jump on. :) I make it out of duct tape and it's already looking a little rough because we use it so much! 

My district's math program (Investigations - LOVE it) emphasizes teaching students to use a bajillion different strategies [not exaggerating] to solve problems.  The majority of my students love using pictures (as you would expect) but they also love using number lines.  

As a result, I created these story problem pages for my students:

They love them, I love them, and their ability and comfort level with addition has increased exponentially! Click here to get them at my TPT store! 

**Stay tuned for my SUBTRACTION pack and my HIGH FLYERS pack! I'm excited to get done with both, but especially my high flyers pack; I feel that most challenge packs require students to go beyond the grade level standards instead of just using more challenging problem types.  My high flyers addition and subtraction pack will stay within our kindergarten standards (add and subtract within 10) but use the more challenging CGI problem types that make kids think! 

Five for Friday!

 One more week closer to SPRING BREAK!

Teacher Appreciation Week! 

This week was teacher appreciation week at my school! My kinder-babes showered me with love, flowers, tangerines, sparkling water, Starbucks, and babybel cheese! This job is always worth it - teaching the little ones is probably one of the few jobs where you can SEE the affect you have and see the results of your hard work.  That being said, when we work the crazy hours we do and expel all the energy we can into our school and kids, teacher appreciation week makes you feel even more special! Our PTA was AMAZING this week - everyday we were shown how much we were appreciated in our teacher's lounge! I am lucky to have such loving and giving parents at my school!!! 

A New Student! 

I got a NEW student this week! That officially makes 24 kinders... 24 kinders and a TA in my room for an hour each day (AT MOST). It's a little crazy here in NC and it's even crazier in my classroom. 

(If I get many more, I'm liable to run out of cubbies! Yikes!)

 Bugs, Bugs, BUGS!

This week was all about BUGS in my class! We read so many non-fiction and fiction books, sang songs, did bug dances (so FUNNY), observed bugs (dead ones), created and wrote about bugs, and then CREATED our own bug! It was such a fun week! Really, how many topics do you get to teach where you get daily "ewwwwwww"s?? Amphibian week is next week - if you've got any good information that will get some eww's out of them, let me know :)

 Boosterthon Fun Run! 

Boosterthon starts NEXT week! Does your school do the Fun Run?? We L.O.V.E. it here! The students raise money for our school, while earning fun prizes and RUNNING in the Fun Run! PLUS, teachers get to keep 10% of all money their class earned to spend on their classroom! It completely rocks!! Check it out and get it at your school ~ they're everywhere! www.boosterthon.com 
(I promise I don't work for the boosterthon, I just LOVE it!)

Counting Down!

Countdown to spring break: 35 days! I can't wait to get myself to Chicago for vacation!! On a side note, I am SO thankful that the winter weather skipped my world here in NC - no more make up days please! 

Dr. Seuss Week - Part 2

Oobleck. 

Oobleck is kind of messy. Really, really messy. Like...wow. And then, even when you clean it up, there is a white powdery layer on all your tables. Really. 

But, guess what? I LOVED it! And the kids LOVED it! And I will make be making oobleck with my littles next year, and the year after, and the year after, etc., etc. forever and ever. The end.

And I'm sure when I clean the tables for the third fourth time tomorrow, the powdery look will be gone. Right? 

Here's what we did:

1. Read Bartholomew and the Oobleck - stop reading around the time everyone in the book is REALLY concerned about the Oobleck and how it is sticking to everything! 
2. I gave each group of kids (4-5 kids in each group)
• 1 bowl
• 1 spoon
• 1 paper drinking cup
• 1 box of cornstarch
3. In each group, I assigned the kids a number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) so that when I told the students a step to do, I also said a number so that there would be NO FIGHTING!
4. We dumped the cornstarch in the bowl
5. We got one cup of water and poured it in
6. We got a second cup of water and poured it in
7. We attempted to mix it with a spoon
8. Step 6 was an epic failure so I picked a number and told that kiddo to mix with their hands [oh, BOY were they excited!]
9. Then I told the kiddos to take turns mixing with their hands (screams and yippee's all around)
10. Then they got to PLAY! ["Keep your hands over the tables and please try not to make too much of a mess..." - feel free to say this; I did. Also be prepared for your pleas to go unanswered.]
11. While they were playing, I went around and talked about how the Oobleck feels, what it's like, etc. (I made sure to hit on that it feels hard at the bottom but if you pick it up, it liquifies!)

Then we tried to clean up (emphasis on tried). We talked about adjectives and words we could use to describe the oobleck [messy, hard, soft, gooey, slimy] and reviewed HOW we made it. We wrote how-to's on this snazzy paper, then finished reading the book!  (click on the picture to get the paper!)

Dr. Seuss Week - Part 1!

Dr. Seuss week has BEGUN! Is it possible to be a kindergarten teacher and NOT love Dr. Seuss?? Today, we had hat day, read The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, and Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! We "wrote the room" with the letters in "CAT IN THE HAT" and we did THIS:

I found the most ADORABLE directed drawing from the Fairy Dust Teaching blog (THANK YOU) and we drew the Cat in the Hat today! Since we are currently learning all about writing how-to's, this was perfect! 

To get my how-to writing paper for the Cat in the Hat, click here. 

Check out these cuties: 

Thanks for stopping by!! 

~Stephanie

Five For Friday- Linky Party!

Happy Friday and Happy first linky party to me :) 

I have been spending {so much time} working on my online portfolio.  Did you know this is becoming a big thing when you're looking for a job?!? Girl Scout Motto: Always Be Prepared! {or wait... Is that boy scouts? It's been a long week}

Last week we had three snow days. We don't really get snow down here in the south, so this was A BIG DEAL. Unfortunately, one of our snow days was Valentine's Day! Fortunately, I LOVE V-Day so we celebrated on the 17th (Monday!) Check out the cute monster bags we made thanks to The Teacher Wife! So. stinkin'. cute! 

In writing this week, we are working how-to {fill in the blank}. My littles are trying so hard to do their best work (and some are just being flat-out silly!). So much sweetness in just a few steps! 

We may be learning about my ABSOLUTE favorite social studies standard - teamwork! Games and activities galore where the kiddos have to work together as a team to compete in THE Kindergarten Olympics! It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, but on how you work together as a team! 

This is my FIRST linky party and I am SO excited! Look to the right and follow my blog! 

How-To Writing Freebie!

Hey blog friends! Happy Tuesday! I have been working on writing how-to's with my littles this week and created 2 pages for them to work on! I can't wait for us to finish our how-to's - we just experienced Snowpocalypse 2014 here in North Carolina (I almost had a foot of snow!) which meant THREE SNOW DAYS! Besides going stir crazy, I realized it was the PERFECT opportunity to have real experiences leading up to writing how-to's! I had the kiddos' parents take pictures of them  sledding, building snowmen, making hot chocolate, making snow angels, making snow cream, etc.  and we are writing How To Play in a Winter Wonderland stories. :) I am so, so, SO excited to put this bulletin board up with their writing and pictures!! Go to my TPT store to get these free pages!

The Book Whisperer: A Book Study

I started reading this book with excitement {and some apprehension}.  I mean... I teach the babies and she teaches middle school (I'm shuddering just thinking about that). But guess what??? Introduction and chapter 1 in, and I am hooked! This book is great amazing PHENOMENAL! It truly is about "awakening readers in every child" and I'm feeling the need to be more intentional with my readers' workshop block to more effectively encourage life-long readers. She's changing my approach to this chunk of the day and I haven't even read the second chapter. 

This phrase made me squirm because it is SO TRUE: 

"The structure of the workshop drove everything that I did, and it left me frustrated.  Instead of finding my own way, I was now bent on channeling those master teachers.  If I was unable to follow the step-by-step lesson plans laid out by reading experts because of the unique needs and personalities of my students, my own teaching style, the time constraints of my instructional block, or access to resources, I felt like a failure" (17).

But more then feeling validated in this, I already feel a connection to this writer - a teacher who clearly LOVES to read the way I LOVE to read. And, I must say, I have high expectations for the rest of this book - she has SUCCESSFULLY spread her love of reading to her students year after year and that is what I most aspire to do ~ right from the start, with my kinder-babes! 

More words and phrases that inspire me from Danalyn Miller (author of The Book Whisperer):

"When you take a forklift and shovel off the programs, underneath it all is a child reading a book" (3).  

"I know from personal experience that readers lead richer lives, more lives, than those who don't read" (11).

"I transformed my classroom into a workshop, a place where apprentices hone a craft under the tutelage of a master...I should guide them as they approach their own understandings" (15). 

And last, but not least,
"Reading is both a cognitive and an emotional journey.  I discovered that it was my job as a teacher to equip the travelers, teach them how to read a map, and show them what to do when they get lost, but ultimately, the journey is theirs alone" (16).