NOW is the time to be journaling! We are all living history right now. Even though this is a time of uncertainty, there is a lot to learn, feelings to explore, thoughts to organize and people coming together to turn lemons into lemonade. We didn’t ask for this Coronavirus. Everyday is like living in a strange movie. One moment you are fine and the next moment the sky is falling. Journaling is a great way to organize your thoughts. Students right now should be taking notes of news headlines, observing the stock market fluctuate, and learning about healthy habits.
Should Adults Keep a Journal?
Writing is a great way to confront your emotions during difficult times. It helps you face your fears. Taking notes of what is going on in your world, your mind and your home can help you stay mentally healthy. Journaling serves as a great tool for people at any age! Start journaling today.
Have you all heard that Read Across America has rebranded? There will always be a special place in my heart for Dr. Seuss books. I grew up with his books and used them to teach rhyming words to students for 20 years. The staff would dress up like Thing 1 and Thing 2, The Cat in the Hat and we even had the Lorax one year. His books make it easy to have fun while learning like eating green eggs and ham and growing truffula trees. I even created lots of resources for teachers to use during the Dr. Seuss week. (Resources to use with Seuss HERE) But, “things” change. So when I heard they are changing to celebrate by encouraging a nation of diverse readers with resources that represent lots of experiences and cultures for students, I thought how can I have fun with this new direction?
THIS IS THE MOMENT I HAD BIRTHED AN IDEA!
Have you ever heard of a “Book Tasting?” A book tasting is where students choose from books they might not normally read and skim or just read the first few pages of a book. Then they write a review in a “Book Tasting” menu. Teachers and librarians decorate the room to look like a restaurant by using table cloths, paper plates (or real, if you dare), books on silver platters and really get the kids to feel excited about the books they are about to get a “taste” of during the activity. You could have a medieval theme, Harry Potter, pizza themed, StarBOOKS Cafe… the possibilities are endless!
I also thought about how much I love creating escape rooms, so I decided to combine the two! Students watch a video (2 min.) to hook them by seeing a restaurant owner who needs their help with book tastings to earn money (Federal Funding) to open his doors. They do 4 book tastings to beat the clock. Completing the tastings will grant them keys or codes to a box that the owner left something special in for those who accept the challenge. Opening the box lets them escape the room to recess or to the library. This would be a great activity for Read Across America because you can use any books. What student doesn’t love to help someone and receive a reward? Check out he Book Tasting Escape Room to see what all the buzz is about this year!
I’m so glad you’ve stopped by my blog. Some bloggy friends and I have joined together for an old fashioned FREEBIE BLOG HOP! Not familiar with a blog hop? Here’s how it works…
Each blogger has a “forever” freebie to offer you. That means it is not seasonal but can be used in your classroom at any time of the year. The freebies range from PK-5th grades. You start here and “hop” to the other blogs to download the resources that are appropriate for you and then end up back here at my blog. It’s a giant circle that will give you 23 awesome resources if you go to them all! There are 14 for PK-2.
Along the way, you will see pictures of and read about each freebie. You can download them all (to save for later) or only the ones that you need right now. If you don’t have time to go to all 23, click on one of the buttons below for your grade level.
Math “Salad Bar”
When I was teaching kindergarten, I attended a conference where someone talked about keeping a “Math Salad Bar” as a way to organize your manipulatives. You would take your manpulatives and keep them labeled and in one spot so students could easily find what they needed for a math task. I decided to take that idea and put it on steroids! I created recipe cards (task cards), used bowls for them to collect their materials, bought cafe trays and even had a rolling cart that the kids would roll to the middle of the room to begin the math centers.
Student Choice Works
Students would pick a recipe card that had the list of materials (ingredients) to complete their math activity. The card would say how many people it serves. The student picks partners if required. That group goes anywhere in the room to complete their activity. I would have several ways for students to learn one concept. So even though they all were working on the same standard, they were doing something different. They loved being able to choose their activity. My job was to observe, solve conflicts (which was rare after the first week) and take data on who needed more help in different areas.
Math Center Problems
When we first began kindergarten math centers this new way, there were a couple issues to iron out. The main issue was how some students would react negatively if they were asked to join the activity. The person I called on would got to ask for people to join the activity, if needed. Some students were not happy about being called by certain students and it made a great discussion about feelings during circle time. After a week of students seeing that I would rotate who got to choose their task first, and talking about how sad it makes someone feel if you are rude when they were happy to pick you, they really took off and were begging for our Math Salad Bar time. Matter of fact if they had to do a traditional lesson and work alone, they were not happy about it.
You can still teach whole group lesson right before centers. Math centers frees you up to learn about what your students are learning. One task card is for the teacher to use called Teacher’s Table. This is where you can hand it to a couple students who you see are struggling with a math skill for remediation at your table. I never use the entire center time for remediation so they get some time to do an activity. If students finish one activity, they clean up and pick a new “recipe” card. There are assessments for the students for each nine weeks, data recording sheets to share with families and detailed plans for set up with suggestions.
What is Stopping You
What is stopping you from having math centers? I promise, if you try this you WILL LOVE IT!
If you need EVERYTHING to teach Kindergarten, you can get the Kindergarten Curriculum which has ALL SUBJECTS Bundled for the entire school year. Homeschoolers love this bundle!
Do you do anything special for math to celebrate the 100th Day of School? Read about my ideas.
What better way to show teachers some LOVE this valentine’s day than to give you some FREE teacher resources to use with your students! Holidays are the best time to use themed resources to get students motivated to learn in class.
If you are an elementary school teacher or a homeschool mom, we have some amazing printables for you that are FREE! I teamed up with a few other teachers-authors to bring you my favorites! You may even find a fun Mardi Gras resource. Just Click the images of the resources you want below and DOWNLOAD.
