The Crazy Pre-K Classroom

Here is a picture of my little 5 year old, Collin, he is definatly a wiggler and a kinesthetic learner. This is how he likes to stand when we go over flash cards and when he watches TV! OK so I know that there is a difference between being a kinesthetic learner and a wiggler but if you take a minute to think about it the activities you plan for your kinesthetic learners will also help the wigglers get their wiggles out. WIN! WIN! I have had great success in my classroom using the following techniques, most not costing me anything! 1. Take a shake break (you tube has several great 1-2 minute videos for the kiddos to shake to!) 2. Use clipboards to write instead of sitting at the table, this way the kiddos can spread out on the floor and get comfy. I find their work is much better when they get comfy. 3. Use songs with motions to teach, there are many songs out there for everything under the sun like days of the week, months of the year, ABC's and numbers. 4.Seek and finds: hide ...

Hello All, I have just listed a new freebie from my Winter Worksheets set. The 48 worksheets focus on math and literacy practice that allow for differentiated instruction and they are common core aligned. Enjoy the sight word worksheet freebie! Click this link to get your copy: Winter Worksheet Freebie! Get the entire set here: Winter Worksheet Set Enjoy! Till next time, Christine

Hello All, This past week was so much fun. Between creating snowmen, playing in fake snow and having a cotton ball snowball fight we had a great time. One of my favorite activities was a non-standard measurement activity, measuring ourselves against numbered snowballs. I started by taping 30 numbered snowballs from bottom to top on my cabinet and then I hung a graph with each child's name and the numbers 1-30 with the title "How many snowballs tall are you?" Before starting the activity we counted the snowballs and I had each student estimate how many snowballs tall they would be, I also had them guess for me. I was surprised at how many estimations were close or correct. I recorded their estimations on the dry erase board and we then stood by the snowballs one at a time. We recorded our height on the bar graph. We talked about who was the tallest and who was the shortest, which children were close to the same height etc. After everyone had a chance to be measured...

Hey all, It was good to get back to work today but I am exausted! It is amazing how just 2 weeks can get you so off schedule! Anyways my class and I had a great time starting our Snowman Theme today that I just had to share! I started by reading them the teacher book, "How to build a Snowman" from my TpT Winter Snowman Unit This sequencing book starts with building the body of the snowman and identfying the top, middle and bottom. The next page has the arms going in on the left and the right. From there we dress and put a face on the snowman. The last page of the book says, "Can you draw me a snowman?" The kids had so much fun drawing their snowmen and i am going to add them to the end of our book and place it in the library. Here is a picture of the snowman my lowest student drew, youcan see that she was able to draw three circles and sticks for arms. This was a huge accomplishment for her: This next picture is a representation of the typical snowmen that w...

Hello All, Are you ready to go back to school tomorrow? I have enjoyed my 2 weeks of late nights and sleeping in but it will be nice to get my kiddos back on schedule! This week we are going to be studying snow and ice. Here in central Texas we sometimes see ice a couple of times in the winter and rarely see snow. So here are some activities that I plan on doing this week with my kiddos on top of my new TpT Snowman Unit. (1)Fake Snow Sensory tubs: Lakeshore learning sells a polymer based "snow" that you add water too and it feels cold and can be played with safely by kids. I plan to put this on trays and allow the kiddos to play but also write letters and numbers in it. (2) Ice coloring: Place ice on a tray and drop food coloring on top, watch as the ice melts and the colors mix. (3) Ice and Oil experiment: Make colored ice cubes with food coloring. Drop them into a container filled with vegetable oil and watch what happens! (4) Borax snowflakes (borax is toxic so make sure t...

Hello All, Sorry I have been neglecting my blog the last few weeks. I have so much to share but with the flu and traveling time has not been on my side. So as a quick way of letting you all know I am still alive I have decided to post my classroom resolution list for 2013: #1. Stay organized (ya right for about the first week!) #2. Make copies sooner (like at least 10 minutes before I need them!) #3. Stay on top of my lesson plans (don't get up at 5:00 Monday morning to input them in the computer!) #4. Don't eat the treats left in the teacher workroom (unless it is some form of chocolate of course!) and last but not least #5. Love those little kiddos (unless of course they are climbing the walls and screaming uncontrollably which would then call for more chocolate, a stern voice and loving them anyway just the way they are!) Hope you get a little laugh just in time to go back to school, I truly hope all of you had a wonderful break and are all rejuvinated for the 2nd semester. ...