Visualization-Katalina Matalina

Who doesn't LOVE Katalina Matalina!  

Well...maybe a teammate of mine after I get the song stuck in her head all day!

We've had a lot of fun this week working on Visualization! 

 One of my favorite activities was listening to the song Katalina Matalina from Dr. Jean's CD Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs.

I stopped the song after every section describing Katalina Matalina, and we drew what she looked like!

Her head was shaped like a baseball bat!

And right on top sat a funny little hat!

She had 2 eyes in her head,

One was purple and the other one was red!

Her neck was as long as a 10 foot pole

and right in the middle was a big black bow!

She had two hairs in her head,

One was alive and the other one was dead.

But she had a heart, so I'm told,

that was made of the purest gold!

After we played the song and drew her picture, we used the print version of the book from Dr. Jean's site for our shared reading!

Heather's Heart: We Care Bag...and a *freebie*

I just love love love this post from Heather's Heart about the "We Care Bag."  I know we all have a kid or kids in our room that could use some extra TLC.  I've always tried to find ways to help my uber angry kid(s) decompress, like sharpening pencils, hanging out in the quiet stations, but this is wonderful!

She reminds us that if kids are in a primal mode, learning bounces right off!

Heather's Heart: We Care Bag...and a *freebie*: One of the things I love about Conscious Discipline is the building of the School Family. Many, many of my kiddos do not have the most nurtu...

Elmer

A few weeks ago, I introduced the kids to Elmer.  

He's a fun loving, patchwork elephant living in a gray elephant's world.  He decides he wants to be more like the other elephants, so he paints himself gray.  Soon Elmer realizes that the other elephants love him to be himself!

We graphed our favorite colors of elephant.

We talked about Plot Structure.

We drew out the Main Character, Setting, Problem, and Solution.

We used the Elmer template for lots of different things this week:

Click on the link of Elmer to take you to Early ITC for more ideas.

1.  Follow Oral Directions and find Sight Words.

I filled in each section of Elmer with a  different sight word.  I then called out a sight word and told the class to color it a specific color.

     For example, "Color all the word, "it" red."

2.  Color words

We did this 2 ways.  

One way was to fill in each section with a number, and provide a key to match the number with a 

color.

     

The other way was to fill in each section with the color word to read and match. 

3.  Painting Station

Copy onto card stock or construction paper and allow kids to paint as they want.

Click on the link of Elmer to take you to Early ITC for more ideas.

The blank Elmer template we used for...

1.  Graphing

I minimized the elephant to fit a lot onto one page.

The kids colored him their favorite color, graphed, and discussed the results.

2.  Elmer's Day Parade

The kids decorated the elephant and attached it to a headband for an Elmer's Day Parade, like at the 

end of the book.

I solemnly vow to take more pictures of the kids' work to share!

Enjoy!

Margaret

Introducing Voice with Spoon!

I love Scholastic Book Orders.  I can get a lot of books for my classroom and kids at home for not a lot of money.  


Sometimes, when ordering, I'm not totally familiar with the books.  But if the price is right, I take a gamble.  


This last order, I chose a book called Spoon, and I hit the jackpot!  My son LOVES it, and it will be great to use when introducing voice.

It's all about a spoon who wishes he could be more like knife or fork, but he doesn't realize that fork and knife are also talking about the things people can do with spoon, but not themselves.


When I introduce voice with my class, I will have the kids draw out other things that knives, forks, and spoons do that the others cannot.


Another idea might be to use classroom supplies.  Why might scissors be jealous of glue?  Or crayons be jealous of pencils?

The Amazing Mess: Torn-Paper Snowman

The Amazing Mess: Torn-Paper Snowman: These torn-paper snowmen are helpful for building up the muscles in the hand (yay for small motor skills). Tearing up stuff is fun, too!! ...

I'm always looking for activities where the kiddos have to follow pictorial directions.  This looks like a good one!

Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten: Tacky Penguin Craftivity

Run on over to Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten for this great Tacky craft template!

I'm always looking for great crafts like this where the kiddos have to follow steps!!

Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten: Tacky Penguin Craftivity: Cannonballllllllllll!!! Who doesn't love Tacky!? Well, I know that I do and I think that I could possibly have a bit of "Tacky" in me...and...

Brick by Brick: Learning That Rocks

We're learning about rocks, and I've just come across this post by Brick by Brick.  This would go great in our Discovery Station!


The kids are measuring, estimating, and writing numbers galore!!

Brick by Brick: Learning That Rocks: This week I watched some kids with the rocks and digital scale. I added a basket with some notepads and pencils, just in case someone wanted...

2 Teaching Mommies: Valentines Color and Counting Books

2 Teaching Mommies: Valentines Color and Counting Books: Here are two new color and count books for Valentines! Enjoy! A Sweetheart Color Book -To download, just click on the image! Sweetheart ...

These look like fun!  I still have a few kiddos that could use some practice with fine motor skills and handwriting.