Back in K!

I am finally back where I belong: in kindergarten!  I started out there and absolutely loved it, but I had to make a drastic change to 5th grade when it was the only position open at my school.  Now, I made the decision to return, and I am incredibly happy!  There is nothing better than those sweet babies who are so eager to learn!  I LOVE it!  Anyway, I have been creating some of my own items this year as I transition back to the little ones.  Below is a link to one of my newest creations.  We just completed a unit on Arctic Animals, so I created a Polar Bear graphic organizer!  It is complete with an answer key with suggestions for completing the organizer.  Enjoy!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Polar-Bears-Graphic-Organizer-1061249

Ticket Reward System

Whew, with school starting, I have been so busy adjusting to all the changes this year I forgot to post about what good things are happening with my ticket reward system!  We just completed our second full week of school, and let me tell you, it has been a doozie of a school year already!  These kids need some major motivation this year, and I believe my ticket system is helping with that at little cost to me.  My school has virtually taken away all of the candy rewards we can give students, plus I have two children with diabetes in my room, so I feel bad rewarding anyone with candy when they are not allowed to have it!  So, I tweaked my ticket system from previous years that worked so well with the intermediate kids.  

As a form of review (and also to get my 4 rotating classes of kids settled and to work right away) I use "flashbacks" which are a few questions that "flash back" to previous topics learned in the school year, or at this point in the year, to topics learned last year.  Anyway, I try to grade these questions right after kids finish to give them immediate feedback, so I require students to read when they finish in order for me to get to everyone and let everyone finish before we move on.  

Tickets are a great way to let students know I notice their good behavior and get them in the habit of reading after they complete work instead of talking.  I drop a ticket off at a student's desk whenever they are caught doing the right thing (often when other students around them are not).  I have found that when students see that I notice others' good behavior, they usually follow suit.  

The tickets go into a lottery that is only drawn on Fridays, so I only need to supply one reward per class per week.  Having 4 classes and 2 different grade levels to keep up with can get very confusing, so I found a way to make the students responsible for organizing their own tickets if they want to make the lottery.  I purchased 4 small buckets from the Target "dollar aisle" and secured them to the wall beside my agenda that is conveniently located next to the door which students exit through each day to go to their next class.  

The students are instructed to drop their tickets off in the correct bucket as they exit the room, so I do not have 20-something kids getting up during class to deposit their tickets.  It is their responsibility to keep up with the tickets until then and make sure they put their name on the back.  I never have a problem with no-names on these babies!  I labeled each bucket with Math 1, 2, 3, or 4, so students know which class to put their tickets with.  This has worked out great so far, and made it so easy for me to keep track of all the tickets!  

This is also a great math lesson in probability.  At this age, students are able to comprehend the fact that the more tickets they earn, the better chance they have of being the one chosen; yet not quite able to comprehend the unlikelihood of their one name being pulled out of 100 or more tickets.  ;) It also gets the kids excited about the mystery of who the winner will be each week.

I guess I'll be heading to the dollar aisle tomorrow to select 4 awesome items for students to win this week!  I think putting them on display throughout the week may remind them of what they could earn if they do what is right!!  

All the rewards aren't tangible, though.  I also have "Mystery Cards" they can choose to draw instead of receive a prize.  The rewards on the cards range from sitting at the teacher's desk for the day to bringing a stuffed animal to school for the day.  

*one last note: I buy the big double rolls of tickets at Wal-Mart for about $7 and they last me almost entirely the whole year.  Pretty sweet deal to keep 99 4th and 5th graders on task and motivated for a whole school year!!! :) 

* ms. charity * 

First Day of School Funnies and Freebies!

What a crazy, stressful first day!  I felt like I was running around all morning- everything seemed like a blur with 4 classes rotating before lunch and no break!  Although it was crazy, the day didn't pass without students making me giggle.  I think that is one of my favorite things about my job!  I never go a day without laughing!  My original plan for this blog when I first created it was to record all the funny things kids say.  I could write a book of the funny stuff I hear from day to day.  Problem is, it is not always funny unless you know the kid or the specific situation.  Of course, all summer I devoted myself to getting my classroom ready, but come day 1, I had new kids and new material to make people laugh.  I am teaching all 4th and 5th grade math this year, so I decided to give a math survey to get a feel for the ideas kids already held about math.  I learned a whole lot from these surveys, and it helped me get a head start on those kids that expressed they did not like or "hated" math.  I am fully devoted to finding ways to make those kids that hate math change their minds.  That being said, my last question on the inventory read, "Is there anything else I need to know about you and math?"
Although I am a little embarrassed of this question because the wording is kinda funky, I did get some interesting responses from it.
Here are a few responses from my high-achieving 5th grade class:

"I am one of the very best people in math."
"We don't really like each other."

... and my personal favorite:
"Yeah, I'd say we are a pretty good couple."

I love these kids already.  So witty and smart!!


- If you would like to see my math survey, I have posted it on Teachers Pay Teachers at the link below.  I also included a FREE Mathematics Parent Survey to send home for parents to fill out and return.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/4th-5th-Grade-Back-to-School-Mathematics-Interest-Survey

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mathematics-Parent-Survey


If you already started school, I hope you had a wonderful first day, and if you haven't started yet, I hope it is awesome!  Bring on day 2!!!

*ms. charity*

Thanks for Popping in!

So, for back-to-school night this year, I couldn't really find anything cutesy to go with our theme, so I searched Pinterest for other ideas. I found the cutest (and cost-effective) idea on this adorable blog!  I used her "Thank you for popping in" printable, but my final product turned out a bit differently.  I bought some cute little popcorn boxes at Hobby Lobby in the birthday favor aisle.

I originally thought about actually popping the popcorn and putting it in these little boxes for back-to-school night, but:

1. I didn't really have time the day of because we had a PD that morning.

2.  I was a little worried about the mess and it not being enough for the families to share.  

So, I bought a 24 pack of popcorn and decided to give each family a pack of their own to take home.

I used double-sided tape (I should buy stock in this stuff) to secure the "Thank you for popping in" note to the bag of popcorn.

I planned to place the popcorn bags inside the little popcorn boxes, but they would not fit.  I decided to just use double-sided tape yet again to tape the popcorn bag to the back of the popcorn boxes like this:

They could now stand up on their own, but the popcorn boxes were empty, so I had to think of something to fill those with- preferably something that resembled popcorn...

I found some yellow tissue paper that worked just wonderfully!

They were definitely a big hit with all who came!  

I also projected this message on the whiteboard to welcome parents and also let them know exactly what I needed from them before they left.

Welcome to 5^th grade!  

I am so glad you’re here!!
Please find your seat and fill out 2 papers from your folder if you have time:

1.    Green Enrollment card- in front of folder on right side

2.    Light yellow transportation for first 3 days of school

*Don’t forget to take a magnet from the board and your bag of popcorn!  

Thanks for POPPING IN! 

On another note, we start school in 2 days!!  Excited and anxious!  

*...and thank you for popping in on my blog!  

*Ms. Charity*

Rules/Contract Design

I only needed a few items for this project: 

7 large polka dots that I had left over from my desk decor and ribbon to match

a high-temp glue gun

scissors

a marker to write with

Instead of another boring chart with rules listed, I decided to use each circle for a different rule with a couple extra circles...

The top circle was used to label the chart with "We agree to..." since this will serve as a class contract.

Each circle underneath is numbered 1-5 for each of the five rules we will create as a class.

Following the list of rules, the last circle will be a place for students to sign their names, agreeing to the contract.

Lastly, I had to add a bow on the top to make it extra cute!  

I can't wait to see what the kids come up with!  It is an awful long chart, but I think I found the perfect place for it!  Now our rules can stay up all year to remind students about our agreement.

*ms. charity *

Back to School Interactive Rules & Procedures

I have created a PowerPoint that is EDITABLE through Teachers Pay Teachers to use on the first day of school to really help your students know what is expected of them in your class.  You can change the questions/answers to suit your specific behavior plans.  I have used this "game" with 5th graders for two years, and I will be using it with 4th graders this year.  What a great way to give students a voice from the very beginning of the year!  From my experience, students behave better when they are allowed to take part in the decision-making process and the development of the rules.  They do such a good job every year, and the students really enjoy being an interactive part of this usually "boring" process.  

Just visit this link to download the preview to see if it's something that would work for you!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Rules-Procedures-3rd-5th-Grade

Thank you and enjoy!!  

*ms. charity *

Hope Hollywood!

Okay, so this is not a teaching-related post, but I am so excited about my sister starting her own blog that I just have to share.  She is such a good writer!  I have told her she needs to start putting her stories down where people can read them.  I know her blog will be interesting!  It has nothing to do with teaching (since she thinks I'm crazy for choosing to be around kids all day as a job), but it is about her life, which I live vicariously through her.  Check it out!!!

http://www.hopehollywood.blogspot.com/

I love the name she chose for it, by the way!