This week in the classroom we are doing a phonological awareness activity to the rhyme, "Mary Wore Her Red Dress."  We are substituting color words and instead of Mary using the word Tiger.  I also have a tiger who will wear a red shirt and then use construction shirts to put over the red shirt as we substitute the color words.  The  words to the rhyme go like this:

"Tiger wore his red shirt, red shirt, red shirt."

"Tiger wore a red shirt, all day long."  

Then substitute the word red for other color words.  Worksheets are available at my Tpt store, to go with this activity.  The first color word on each sheet is traceable, and then the students practice writing the color word on the lines.  Great for beginning of the year of Kindergarten!!  So fun too!  We also will use this activity again orally, and change the beginning letter in each of the color words, for silly phoneme substituting, after the students are familiar with the rhyme.  For example, /b/ "Tiger wore his bed shirt, bed shirt, bed shirt.  Tiger wore his bed shirt all day long!  :)  Oh yeah!!!

     Here is the really cute worksheets to go along with the rhyme where the students practice writing the color words and color Tiger's shirt to match.  There is one worksheet for each of the ten basic colors.  God Bless!

Happy Teaching,

Shelley

 

Calendar Behavior Sheets

     I LOVE these!  In the Tiger Folder that I send home with my students every day, I include one of these.  The students learn to be responsible by coloring in their own paw print each day to reflect the type of day they had.  (This works well if you use a color card system of some type for classroom management).  Then the form goes home for parents to initial.  The parents initial that they saw it.  If the behavior was bad and I need parents to know the specifics, I just attach a note to the behavior sheet as well.  I use these as part of documentation.  Parents put it back in their child's tiger folder and then back to school it comes for another day.  I really do love these!  Here is a picture. 

     These are all ready for months August through May, 2013, and can be found at my TpT store.  Also, you get tiger name tags, tiger label cards, a tiger word wall topper, and a cover for the Tiger Folder I do for my Kindergartners.  Enjoy!  I would love to hear your comments and feedback.  

God Bless!

Open House

     It has been a very busy week.  We had Open House and then two days later had the first day of school!  My Kindergarten sweeties have arrived!  Here some pics from what I did for Open House to welcome my Kindergarten parents and kiddos.  I hope you enjoy them!  

     Here is a picture of the popcorn I sat out for everyone.  With it was a big card that said, "Thank You for Popping In!" You can't see it in the picture but there were paper bags and a big scoop for them to get a scoop of popcorn to take with them.  I always not only have this year's students but former students and their families stop in too.  This was just a little thank you for coming and "popping" in.  :)

     Our school theme is tigers for Tiger Pride.  Here is a picture of the balloons I passed out to my Kindergartners.  Note to self, try to have more balloons in the future for little brothers and sisters to have one too, especially little brothers and sisters. 

     Here is my hallway bulletin board.  The hats each have a student's name on them and the tiger says, "A Class To Roar About."  The safari pattern is mine, and I can send it to you if you let me know that you would like it.  I thought it turned out cute. 

     Here is the hallway ready for student work to be displayed.  I love doing this and have done it for years.  It is so easy.  I just run border over the corkboard strip that is hanging up in the hallway.  It really brightens up the hallway and wah-lah, the hallway is all set.  This year my teacher neighbors did the same thing and we all had the same border, so it really looked good! 

     Well, that's all for now.  Thank you for stopping in.  Just leave your email address in the comment box if you would like the safari hat printable for a project or bulletin board you are creating.  Have a super week! 

     Tiger Folder and Tiger Printables:

     I've been my posting my Tiger Printables for the last few weeks.  Well now, I am updating with all of the finished products.  These are what I will be using to begin the school year.  Here is a picture of my Tiger Folder that I use for parent communication.  With the Tiger Folder, parents get a copy of a daily behavior report, school information and forms, things like the school menu, newsletters or notes, etc.  I have used a classroom Tiger Folder for many years, and love it!  It's a great way to keep everything together so that everyone gets the latest communication and keeps things organized for students, parents, and of course, ME.  :)  

     The inside has both pockets labeled, one for things that need to be signed and/or returned to school.  The other for things that stay at home (need to be removed from the folder.)  Then there is a plastic pocket sheet that contains important information that parents may need to refer back to, for example, lunch menus, classroom activity schedules, home project information, etc.  Then there is a little plastic zipper pencil holder, but I label it for parents to use for money and notes that are going to school.  

     Here is a copy of the behavior sheet that goes home to parents everyday.  Several years ago I was only sending a behavior sheet home once a week (usually on Friday) and my parents asked that I do it everyday because if their child got in trouble earlier in the week, Friday was a little late to respond to it and I totally agree. So since then, my behavior sheet goes out daily so parents know immediately.  That seems to work better for everyone. Students color in the paw print to report on that day's behavior and it goes home for parents to initial in the box.  If students had a bad day behavior wise, the paw print will have the words, see note written on it and students will not color it in.  I then staple the note to the sheet for the parent.  I also have a parent note where I check off what the challenging behavior was and ask parents to sign.  When it is returned I drop it in the child's folder for documentation. Simple and consistent works best for me.  I have the behavior forms for months August through May and they will be uploaded to the Tpt store.  Just go to www.teacherspayteachers.com and type in Shelley Brown.  It will take you there.  Also available are the other Tiger Printables which now consist of a Word Wall topper in tigers, the Tiger Folder cover sheet, the behavior sheets, and name tags.  Enjoy!  Please comment!  I will be posting a freebie very soon, so be sure to check back in.  Have a super day and God Bless!

     At last!  Yes, my classroom is ready at last.  I am not sure we as teachers are really ever done, with nothing else to do, but my room is ready for my new class of Kindergarten kiddos.  We have Open House this week and the first day of school.  I am very excited (and a little nervous too.)  I've had several people look at my class list and then giggle and say things like, "rest up."  It is going to be great though.  New common core implementation, new teacher evaluations, and of course, all the new, great ideas I can't wait to try out and implement to make things better.  Well, here are photos of my finished classroom.  I hope you enjoy them!  I would love, your comments.  

     Before:  

Everything packed up for summer cleaning.  

     Now!

                                                      

     Desk area.  I like putting students in groups of two.  It is great for whole brain teaching techniques (talk to your neighbor, tell your neighbor, and partners for practice.)  I do let my students pick where they want to sit in the beginning of the school year.  That way they have the comfort of a buddy if they want.  Of course, how long they get to sit there depends on them  and how well it works out for everyone.  It helps my mommas with the transition to Kindergarten too.  It's hard to see but the word wall is up on the wall.  It took a lot of rearranging to make space for it, but I think I am really going to love having it to use every day with our lessons.  

This is the library area.  They are hard to see but the curtains are purple and yellow, and I have yellow and purple pompoms hanging from the ceiling.  I had seen several classrooms with them on Pinterest, and loved the look.  I didn't do enough that it would be a distraction, but they look fun and cheery giving the classroom a spot of bright color.  

     My back wall bulletin board.  It says Tigers over the closets that are used for storage of materials.  I hope your classroom is all ready and you have a great start to a great school year.  I would love to hear your questions and comments.   God bless!