Monday, March 21, 2016

Leprechaun Trap Videos!!

We had such good response to the leprechaun trap challenge.  Thanks to everyone that participated, it was fun to bring our creations from home into the classroom with the videos!  I would like to do more of these in the future, so if you wanted to submit a video and didn't know exactly how, please contact me and I could help with that!  Also, if spring break wasn't a good time for you to do this challenge, hopefully we will have more to participate with in the near future!  So, without further rambling, here are our videos from the leprechaun trap challenge!!


And here are a couple of pictures of students!

Violet had a leprechaun picture by her trap to attract the real leprechaun into coming to her trap!  Here is her leprechaun picture.



And here is Logan with his leprechaun trap!  He tried to get him to fall in the hole without knowing it was really there!



Thanks for a fun challenge!  The kinders had a lot of questions and comments for each other about their creations!  Keep making at home, this helps practice problem solving skills in real situations!!--Kim

Monday, March 14, 2016

Let's Make Leprechaun Traps!

Hello all!  We read a book today that talked about making leprechaun traps and the kids were really excited about them!  So...we got on YouTube and found some great videos of kids that made their traps at home and recorded them for their teachers.  We decided as a group that it would be really fun to make these and watch the videos at school.  So here is the plan, if you are interested!!

We are going to draw our plans for our trap here at school tomorrow.  We will start collecting some decorations that you can add to your trap.  I will send the plans and decorations home with your kinder on Tuesday.

We need you, as a family, to build the trap.  Find any supplies you have lying around at home.  If you need some inspiration, here are some different videos we watched that gave us motivation to start this project.

When you get done building your trap, please try and record them explaining how the trap will catch the leprechaun, what you used to make it, and how excited your kinder was to do the project.  You can record this with an iPad or Smartphone.  Then email the video clip to me and we will watch it when we return to school on Monday, March 21st!  Here is a great example of another trap and how the student introduced it on the video.

Please don't worry about buying anything elaborate for this project, you can accomplish building a trap with different supplies you have at home (most that you usually throw away).  These type of projects get kids thinking and creating, problem solving and collaborating.  There are all skills they need to be successful in life, and we need to create opportunities for them to use and practice these important skills.  These are the types of projects we like to create when we visit the MakerSpace, or have the MakerSpace supplies brought to our room.  If you have any priceless treasures such as toilet paper or paper towel rolls, boxes, foil, ribbon, scrapbook paper, art supplies, etc that you think would be good for our MakerSpace and you are looking to donate somewhere...PLEASE SEND THEM TO SCHOOL WITH YOUR KINDER!  We are always looking for supplies to add to our bins to get our brains pumping!! Enjoy the challenge, and try to capture a video to email me at kfisher@benton.k12.ia.us --Mrs. Fisher

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Sight Words

I love the part of the school year when we can really start expecting our kinders to be able to read all 88 of our sight words.  When you think of it, 88 seems like a lot.  AND IT IS!!  But, when you are thinking of your kinder being able to read a level C and D text at the end of the year, they will need a hefty bank of sight words under their belt.  If you and your kinder are unfamiliar with all 88, here is a complete list of our sight words:
We do a lot of work throughout the day with these words.  We want them to be automatic when kids read them in text, because many of them can't be sounded out phonetically.  As they are reading, they need to be able to read them without pausing to help them comprehend the message the author is sharing.  Therefore, when I test these words for mastery, I give your kinder 3 seconds to tell me the word.  If they are unable to provide the word in 3 seconds, I cannot consider the word known.  I would encourage you to use the same protocol when you are working on sight words at home.

During goal setting, a lot of kinders are starting to pick their learning target: 
K.RF.03c  I can read my Kindergarten sight words.
This will be a goal that will take some time to master.  I encourage nightly practice at home with your sight words.  To do this, you will need a toolbox of activities and resources to use so your kinder does not beccome bored or frustrated with their practice.  Here are some great resources that we use at school that you can use at home as well.  If you would like copies of any of these resources, please just email, call, or send a note with your kinder and I will GLADLY provide some assistance to make that possible!

One resource I really want to highlight is from our own Mrs. Townsley!  She came in and made my vision a reality using the iPad app, Stop Motion, to create a video of the kinders writing, building, and saying each sight word.  The kinders love the videos because they get to see both themselves and their friends.  We love the video as adults because it is another engaging way to get the words in front of our kinders!  Please use these videos at home, riding in the car, share with your family, however your kinder is motivated to keep learning!  And if you see Mrs. Townsley (@townsleyaj is her Twitter name to follow her), please thank her for all her hard and creative work to make these videos possible!!

Here are some more resources for you to use at home.  Again, if you need me to provide any of these in paper copies, please don't hesitate to contact me!  And thank you for your continued efforts at home supporting your kinder's learning targets and development this year.  We can do this, TOGETHER!  Make sure to call Candi to schedule a conference.  Conferences are Monday, March 14th and Tuesday, March 15th!--Kim

Sight Word Resources:
  • Kindergarten Flashcards-here is a copy of the flashcards we gave out on colored construction paper this year.  If you need any copies, please let me know!
  • Sight Words Spelling-Tic Tac Toe-you will need to make an account on this website to download the free resource.
  • spelling practice with pipe cleaner letters  Here is an idea from a blog post, School Time Snippets (blog address) to write the sight words using pipe cleaners.
  • Spelling Scribble: Have students draw a big scribble then use a colored pencil to practice writing each spelling word to fill the spaces inside the scribble.:  Here is an idea from the blog, Relief Teaching Ideas.  You have your kinder create a giant scribble.  Within each opening, you have them write their sight word as many times as possible.  They can write in pencil, marker, gel pen, or highlighters!
  • Sight Word Bingo-this is a free resource that you can print off bingo cards.  Not all of the words will be on our sight word list, but the majority of the words are and this would be a fun way to study their words!
  • Write the Room-again, you will need to create an account to download this free resource.  Then take the flashcards that were given throughout the year and hang them around your house.  Send your kinder on a scavenger hunt to write each sight word.
  • Voice Reading-this is a fun way to read your sight words in different voice.  Scroll down to pages 22-24 to find different voices to read in.  Examples are to read like Batman, read like a cowboy, read like you are really cold!  This will surely spice up your flashcard practice!
  • Ways to Practice Your Sight Words-this teacher (blog post) created a list of different ideas on how to practice your sight words.
  • Rainbow Writing-again, you will need to create an account to download this free resource.  Use the poster to create fun ways to write your sight words.
  • Our Favorite Sight Word Station-download this resource provided by (this blogger).  You will only need to print off the first page and then use our flashcards.
  • Roll A Sight Word-I am not sure where this file originated from to give credit, but Mrs. Townsley personalized the file to our sight words.  Please give your kinder a dice and let them go wild!  This will really work on reading the words quickly.
  • Sort the Sticks-write on 2 popsicle sticks the sight words and have your kinder put them together like a puzzle.  This makes them really look at the word letter by letter which helps commit them to memory.
This list is not exhaustive by any means, but it is a list that will get you started on your way to new and engaging ideas to help practice sight words at home!  Enjoy this time with your kinder...if it is not enjoyable, try another option on the list!  Your kinder works hard at school every day...make sure to find fun ways to enjoy working on skills at home to make extended learning enjoyable and motivating.  Good luck!