March Currently

I’m linking up with Oh boy! Fourth Grade for the March Currently!

• I am LOVING the new Kelly Clarkson song “Heartbeat Song” it really gets me going at the gym!!
• What can I say? I love my husband! He had dinner ready and waiting for me tonight when I got home from the gym!
• I really really NEED spring to get here NOW! I am so sick of all of this snow! I am still set on wearing my flip-flops starting on the first day of spring, like I always do! I don’t care how cold it is or how much snow is still on the ground. I hate regular shoes, I was meant to wear flip-flops at all times.
• I am trying to be better and better about going to the gym and getting more muscle! It’s hard when it’s a 25 minute drive from work! :/ I think next year I will be signing up at the gym that is down the street even though it is more expensive!
• Oh yes I am in NEED of a vacation…to a tropical place. I am dying to be on the beach and have some warmer weather!
• Hubby is seriously going to lose it if my spray painting fiasco isn’t done my April vacation! I started this jigundo spray painting revamp of all the bins in my classroom so that they are all part of my purple and green theme.

Egg Experiment

We did a science experiment today with one brown egg and one white egg. The class had to make a prediction at what they think it will look like on the inside once I crack it open. Will the brown and white egg look the same or different on the inside? Our class was divided about half thought they'd look the same and half thought they'd look different. Some children said that the brown egg would be brown on the inside and the white egg would be white on the side, others thought one would have more yellow than the other.

We then made connections to some stories we read last week about Martin Luther King Jr. and how he stood up for black people and wanted them to be treated equal to white people. Even though some people may look different on the outside, we all have the same feelings on the inside. If someone does something mean to us we all feel bad on the inside. If someone makes fun of us we all feel sad on the inside...it doesn't matter what color skin we have.






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Stackers

We started a new math game today called "stackers". One partner was the "architect" and the other partner was the "builder". The architect had to look at the picture card and give directions to the builder on how to stack the cubes to make the structure on the picture card. (The builder can not see the picture card, only the architect can) we were focusing on using positional vocabulary like next to, on top of, to the right, to the left, beside, behind, etc.

Here is the architects view...



Here you can see the board that the builder has to stack the cubes on...


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#noworksheetwednesday

I'm sure you've all heard of "No Worksheet Wednesday". A lot of teachers are trying not to use any worksheets one day a week. I think that's a great thing and that more teachers should try it out and try to do more than just one day a week!! In years past, I used to go through sooo much paper, photocopying endless amounts of worksheets and packets and whatnot. I'm sure we've all been there. Ever since my district adopted a new kindergarten curriculum, Tools of the Mind, that was the end of that! NOT ONE WORKSHEET PEOPLE!! It was scary! How will the kids learn?! Won't the parents be wondering what we do all day?! I have to admit I do miss some of the cutesy worksheets but boy do I NOT miss the never ending piles and piles of paper in folders in the "all done box". It's a great feeling I have to admit! The whole curriculum is based on the Vygotskian approach and learning through games with partners. You learn better through others. Everything is with partners! We do lots of "I Have, Who Has?" games, dramatizing The Magic Tree House stories, *a lot* of work on self-regulation. The second half of the year we introduce "learning records" which are very simple papers that each child completes after each game/center. Not really a worksheet, they never fill anything in they just record their learning. For example, say one center was "I Have, Who Has?" letters, they would play the game with their group and when they're done they write down four letters that they had in the game and draw a picture of something that begins with that letter. Real simple, super quick. They finish that and point and read it to their "study buddy" (partner) and move on to their second center. This is my second year implementing this curriculum and I have to admit at first I was super hesitant but it really is amazing. Last year was the first year I had ALL of my students at or above (way above) benchmark! That's with ELL students who knew minimal English in September, they were reading ON GRADE LEVEL at the end of the year!


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Samurai warrior helmets!

We made origami Samurai warrior helmets today with our fifth grade buddies! They came out so good! #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #iteachtoo #iteachk #nightoftheninjas #magictreehouse @magictreehousebooks

A photo posted by ColleensKinders (@colleenskinders) on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:42pm PST