Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Kindergarten Highlights: Autumn, Farm, Thanksgiving!

I'm late again.  This post covers two weeks rather than one; things have been extra crazy around here lately!  Among other near-catastrophes, I managed to dislocate my thumb and believe me, you don't realize just how often you use your thumb until it malfunctions!  We still managed to get a lot done, and I was able to get photos of some of it:


This was one of Colban's favorite activities.


He measured all of these farm animals with one-inch tiles  . . 



and then he recorded his measurements on the worksheet:


The best part is, this activity is a freebie from Mrs. Kilburn's Kiddos!  You can grab a copy from her blog, right here!


This ten-frame activity is from Rakin' in the Learning by The Printable Princess.  If you follow this blog, you know how happy I've been with this packet!  Look at the concentration on Colby's face.  Love it!


Here's a look at the ten-frame cards,


and the recording sheet!


These "What's Missing?" Number Cards (also from Rakin' in the Learning) were great practice.


The packet includes recording sheets, but with only one student to worry about I find it easier to simply laminate them and let Colby write directly on them with a dry-erase marker.  A beautiful autumn-themed number line is also included; Colban liked it so much that he has used it as a reference all season long.


Again, from Rakin' in the Learning - Scarecrow Numbers!  Colby determined which number on each card was the greater number, and wrote his answers on the recording sheet. 


Here's another great freebie, from Can Do Kinders!


Colby looked at the pictures on the pumpkins and matched the initial sound to the letters on the scarecrows.


For a copy of this harvest-themed beginning sound match, visit the Can Do Kinders blog here.


This great farm-themed number matching activity is from Nancy Alvarez's Farm Unit Mega Pack.


Colby matched the number to the corresponding ten-frames and tally marks.


There are also cards with the number word, but Colban isn't quite ready for that yet.


These fantastic Barnyard Rhymes clip cards are also from the Farm Unit Mega Pack!  This is one of two sets included - more about this here.


I discovered last month that Colby needed a little more practice with rhyming, and this activity was perfect.  I love the farm animal recording sheet!
(The cards shown are half-sized; I print a lot of things that way to save ink.)


This farm animal graphing activity is also from Teaching With Nancy, and it's free!  There are three data cards and recording sheets.  We've already completed the other two - you can see them here and here.


If you'd like to get a copy of this awesome freebie, visit Teaching with Nancy on TpT, right here!


These ten-frame clip circles are also from the Farm Unit Mega Pack (and also printed half-sized).  


In addition to being a fun way to practice with ten-frames, they also make pretty good mouse ears!


More barnyard ten frames!  You guessed it, from the Farm Unit Mega Pack!  We are done with the pack for now - some of the remaining activities will be perfect for next year!  We really, really loved this product.  I encourage anyone doing a farm unit for preK-1st grade to check it out, and look through the rest of Nancy Alvarez's shop while you're at it.  


These Initial Sound Picture and Letter Puzzles are one of four activities included in her Initial Sound Learning Activities packet.  (The whole packet is only $3.50.  Can't beat that.)


I give Colby 6-8 puzzles at a time, usually a mix of letters he knows well and a few he needs to work on.  He's so proud of himself when he gets them all put together!


These Write-and-Wipe Number Practice pages are from Lavinia Pop's TpT Store.  It includes numbers 0-20.  (Technically you're supposed to cut the number cards apart after laminating, but again, with only one child using them it was easier this way.)


We've used these multiple times, and I like them.  I like the size, and that the numbers have arrows to guide Colban and ensure that he's forming them correctly.


Awesome freebie alert! These farm-themed beginning sound mats and sorting cards are from The Polka Dot Patch.


Here's a closer look at a couple of the mats (there are 8 of them),


and here are some of the cards (there are 24).


The student matches the cards to the farm animal that has the same beginning sound.  To get a copy of this freebie, click here.


This Mixed Up Numbers activity is one of five included in Fall Fun: Math and Literacy Activities by KinderKids.  (The cards shown are half-sized.)  Colban put each set of numbers in numerical order, then recorded them on the worksheet provided.


Also from Fall Fun: Math and Literacy Activities, this Nuts About Counting activity was a lot of fun. 


Colban matched the acorns to the corresponding numbers on the squirrel mats.  So cute!  Like everything in the KinderKids TpT store, the whole packet is only $1!


These Pattern Block Alphabet Mats from Confessions of a Homeschooler are a fantastic, independent activity for Colban when I'm busy with his older brother.


They're free, and you can find them here!


This Pumpkin Patch Number to Quantity Match is a freebie from Teacher Tam!  Cute, right? It includes numbers 1-20.  You can find it here!


This Farm Animals Sort & Graph activity is a freebie from Randi's TpT store!


Colby sorted the animal cards, counted them, and used different colored bingo markers to record the information on the graph.  This was a really fun activity for him, and a great free resource!  Check it out here!


Colby really likes making little books.  This one (which he put a lot of hard work into) is a freebie from Kindergarten Fever!


He was very proud of the finished product. 


Look at those turkey tails!  You can find this freebie (and others) right here.


This super cute Thanksgiving freebie is from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten!  Get a copy from her blog, here.


Colby is thankful for his family this year :-).  (I think he might have had Christmas on the brain, too,because he drew a lot of presents in his picture!) 


Another very cute, very free mini-book!


This one, from Kroger's Kindergarten, fit into our farm theme perfectly.  It's made to go with "The Very Busy Spider", by Eric Carle.  


To visit Kroger's Kindergarten and get this freebie (and see all the really great ideas in the blog post!), click here.

Lesson plans for December are underway!

You may find these Pinterest boards helpful:



Blogs and TpT Shops mentioned in this post:




Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Brief Peek At Colby's Week!

Sooo . . . I'm pretty late on the blog post!  It's been one of those weeks, for some reason.  We were so busy that I didn't get as many pictures as I usually do; there were some great activities that went undocumented.  Oh, well.  Here's the stuff I managed to snap!


The farm activities continue! This is the Tier 1a portion of Marsha McGuire's Farm Numbers Differentiated Write the Room.  Colby loves these activities, and I love that they are tiered because I get so much use out of them!  We'll be doing some of the more challenging stuff very soon.


More activities from The Printable Princess's autumn-themed packet, "Rakin' in the Learning"!  I've said it before and I'll say it again - This is a great product.  I'm so happy with this purchase.  In the above picture, you can get a look at a few of the cards from the "Bear-y Good Beginning Sounds" activity.


Here's the recording sheet.  Colby writes the number on the card in the box, and the letter with the correct beginning sound in the circle.  

   

Another activity from "Rakin' in the Learning"!  The student looks at each card . . .


sorts and counts the autumn objects . . .


then write down how many of each on this recording sheet.  Didn't my little nugget do a great job?  He had a lot of fun, too!  (To see more activities from "Rakin' in the Learning", visit this post, this one, and this one.)


Here's Colban working on the second farm animal graphing activity from the FREE set by Teaching With Nancy.  We love these activities!


(The data sheet shown here is printed off half-sized to save ink - the original size is 8.5" x 11".)  To see Colban completing the first activity from this set, click here.  To see the third part, stay tuned!


Another write-the-room from Marsha McGuire!  This time it's adorable Thanksgiving-themed ten frames from Thanks For Ten Frames Write The Room Fun.  The 1-10 cards are shown here, with one of the corresponding recording sheets.  We will be using the 11-20 activities in the very near future!


Colby likes to practice filling ten frames independently with his magnetic bingo chips; this month we've been using these fabulous farm-themed ten- and twenty-frame mats from Teaching With Nancy's Farm Unit Mega Pack.


Here's a closer look!  (I should've turned off the flash . . .)  Aren't they cute?


Check out this excellent rhyming activity!  It's also from the Farm Unit Mega Pack.


Here's a closer look at a few of the clip cards.  (I also printed these off half-sized.)


Colby looks at the picture the cow is holding up, then chooses the rhyming object from among the other three.


He then circles the corresponding farm animal on the recording sheet!  There are two sets of cards, and two recording sheets.  We'll be doing the other set next week!

For lots of related ideas, printables, and freebies, try these Pinterest boards:


TpT Shops mentioned in this post: