Transitions

Transitions are a tricky thing to master! My first year of teaching, my principal had me really focus on transitions, and I must say as hard as this was at the time, it's been a great help to my teaching! With smooth transitions and clear expectations, I am much more able to utilize the short 2 hour and 20 minutes I have each day with my kinders.

Here are some of the transitions I use

1. Morning routine

• Music- when the song comes on, it is time to clean up. When the song ends, if everyone is seated on the carpet, we get a "gumball" (incentive chart reward towards earning a party). I use Sing and Spell volume 1 and 2 from heidisongs. This is an AWESOME tool for practicing sight words as well. my kids LOVE them!

2. Carpet transitions

• Magic word- when I say the word of the day, it is time to walk quietly to our desks.

3. Lining up

• I either excuse the kiddo''s by table group, color they are wearing, or age. Sometimes I also throw in a letter in their name (all kiddo's whose name starts with A)
• We sing the song before we walk in the hall

 My hands are glued behind my back, 

I'm standing straight and tall

my eyes are looking straight ahead

I'm ready for the hall. 

• My teammate, Mrs. Sneaker found an AWESOME cd by Mark D. Pencil (lol) that she used for lining up. The kids LOVED it!

4. Clean up from play time

• when I chime the bell  (i give a few reminders before I chime the bell), if everything is cleaned up, I will pick a magic piece of garbage. the kiddo who finds it will get a small prize (usually a candy heart) Great way to clean at the end of the day!!

I also use these various tools

• clapping a rhythm.
• Give me 5 (eyes, hands, bodies, mouths quiet, ears listening) If they are really good at this, we get a gumball.

Sounds like a lot, but the transitions really work well when taught and practiced! The hardest part is in the beginning, making sure to keep them accountable to doing exactly what you expect before you move on. 

What do you do? Join in on Little Miss Kindergarten's transitions linky party and share your ideas!

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scholastic books

Have you ever heard of the scholastic warehouse sale? I went and it was PHENOMENAL!! everything was at least 50% off and I got some killer deals! I went to round out my leveled library, and found more than enough to fill it up! Scholastic has always been my favorite place to find inexpensive classroom books, but this sale takes the cake!!

Best part? With the sale prices and the 25$ fast pass coupon, I only spent $165!! Sounds like a lot, but here's a glimpse into SOME of the books I got! :)

Now i'm busy labeling and covering them all, not as fun of a job! :)

Where do you like to shop? Check out Ladybug's linky party and share your best finds!

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Donors Choose

Times's Running out...Can you help??

I am requesting science materials that will allow my students to explore by hands on learning to make their own discoveries about science. With the materials I have requested, my students will be able to examine magnified bugs, experiment with magnetism, explore what kinds of items sink and float, learn about the life cycles with 3-D models, and be active learners in the process of discovery. With a 2 hour and 20 minute half day kindergarten program, there is not enough time for formal science instruction. My students will greatly benefit from science materials that can be available for them during our learning labs time.

With a strict focus on reading, writing and math in kindergarten our students are missing out on a big piece of the learning puzzle through science exploration. Please consider donating to this project to help foster the excitement and discovery that can be found through hands-on science.

If you would like to donate, please go Here

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Check out these awesome giveaways!

There are so many awesome giveaways going on today, I thought I would let you know about them, too! Check these out!

Yearn to Learn is hosting a LAKESHORE giveaway! Awesome! This would get me some of the cute bee themed stuff for my classroom :) Click on the button below to enter!



First Grade Blue Skies is hosting a target or amazon giftcard giveaway! Check it out!

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Bee Theme

I have decided to have a bee theme in my classroom next year. SHOCKED??? :) Mr. Bee was pretty surprised when he found out I didn't already. I think this is mainly due to the fact that the first few years I was just trying to get teaching under my belt, and now I feel the creativity flowing! (a lot thanks to the wonderful blogs I read!)


So far I am planning on making:
1. A bee hive incentive chart (like the gumball machine I have used in the past. fill in a honeycomb instead of a gumball)
2. Bee nameplates (saw these at lakeshore)

I'm also looking to buy
1. A busy bee helper chart (haven't found one I like yet!)
2. any bee decor

So, here's where I could use your help. 

What kind of ideas do you have for a bee themed classroom??

I am planning on using a combination of teacher-created decorations and store-bought.

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State Shout-Out

I've joined a state shout-out at Primary Connections. c'mon over and represent your state!

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Need help leveling books

Ok, so I'm in the final stages of creating my (1st version :) ) guided reading leveled library. I have separated all of my books that fall in the Fountas and Pinnell A-L reading levels and am now labeling them individually to go in corresponding leveled boxes (Leveled Library)

Now I'm stuck with a few books that I know will fit in the system somewhere, but am having a ridiculously hard time figuring out where! I bought them at the scholastic warehouse sale. I originally thought they would be more at the beginner level, but upon reading them have noticed they are definitely more advanced (think sight words and a mix of long vowels). My guess is they belong somewhere in the k-l category. Thoughts?


I'm also trying to level a few beginners books from our Treasure's curriculum. They are given a lexile but no guided reading. Is there a way to correspond the two types of leveling? Any thoughts would be appreciated! :) 

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