Valentine Sneak Peek

Is this true for everyone?

This was TOTALLY me last week.

I can't even begin to tell you about it. 

Well, it’s Kimberly from Loving Kinders and this week I’d like to...

share some of my valentine resources with you!

When it comes to resources I love to spruce it up with seasonal additions to keep learning fun and engaging.  Here are some of my valentine must haves.

Right now in kindergarten we are working with CVC words.  This is a great resource.  I print, laminate and place it in a center to use over and over again.  I also pull it out for RTI intervention.  You can use magnetic letters or whiteboard markers.

WRITING!!!!  Yes!  WRITING!!!

I use a Daily Five format so I can place this in my writing center or I can use it whole group.  Either way it will go into their yearly portfolio for progress monitoring and it is a wonderful way to gauge student growth.

Word Work is essential in developing phonetics and decoding skills.  This CVC activity focuses on finding and sorting vowel sounds.  This is the short A section.

Last but CERTAINLY not least, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE {and yes it's valentines day} mini books.  I use them all. the. time.  I use them in guided reading, supportive writing, or for a whole group supportive read/write.  We write, identify sight words, sound out words, and identify end marks.  My kinders love them, maybe more than me but probably not.

This is my entire unit if you are interested.

Until next time lovies....

Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites, Ah HA!

Hi Everyone!  It's Kimberly from Loving Kinders.  I am so happy to be guest blogging this weekend.  It's my birthday weekend! YAY!

Worksheet’s Don’t Grow Dendrites

AH, HA Moments!

 Book Study-ish

This summer there was a HUGE influx of amazing teacher author/bloggers that used this book for a book study.  So… I thought it would be a good idea to get it and read it!

I read the posts and I read the book.  These are my take-aways and AH HA moments!

1 “You don’t stop playing because you get old.  You get old because you stop playing.”

Play games, use humor, and always remember to have fun.  These simple truths are important and will motivate your children to learn.

2 Think. Pair. Share.

This easy adaptable activity will engage students, promote collaboration, and practice working together.

Pose a question.  Pair students up.  Share their thinking.

3 Artwork and Drawing

Using artwork to front load schema, connect to a text or scaffold concepts will not only boost creativity it will lead to higher level thinking that will transcend into higher level writing.

Never underestimate the power of ART.

These 3 BIG ideas are only snippets of what is inside the book.  These are just the big ideas that I gained from the first couple instructional strategies in the book.  

Until Next Time lovies.

Using Grammar Notebooks In Kindergarten

HEY School Peeps!  

It’s Kimberly from Loving Kinders!

Today I wanted to take a minute to talk about~

This summer I thought to myself…

HELP ME!

I can’t take another year of dittos trying to teach grammar.

How can I merge my grammar skills into a workable portfolio?

AH HA!  Grammar NOTEBOOKS.

DONE. Right?

Back Peddle….

Now, it wasn’t cake by any means.  I know how incredibly hard interactive math notebooks were for my classroom. Although I did have FAITH and possibly a margarita during this thought!

By creating a grammar notebook, I would have a place that could:

1Track Data

2Show student growth or lack thereof

3 Help me maintain curriculum 

POOF!

Ok enough chatter.  Let's begin.

I promise you.  Modeling saves the world.  I think it is a proven fact, somewhere.

Obviously, you can do any sort of activities.  Duh.  This is just my notebook but whatever you decide to do, don't forget to REVIEW!  Review the alphabet, did you hear me?  Do not assume that they know all of the letters or sounds. Really?  Some barely know their name.

 Another tip I can't stress enough, is to differentiate and challenge your students.  Kinders are ALL over the board!  Some can't identify their letters let alone their own names while others need more challenging work. You can work with nouns, verbs, word families.  There are endless possibilities.  

If you are interested, I placed my notebooks at the bottom.  Other than that.. 

KEEP on NOTEBOOKING! (is that a word?)

Until Next time lovies.