Story Writing Template... and some blog love.

Let me tell you.... my kinders can make up some stories. Now when it came to putting their stories onto paper ::crickets:: They could not do it. I blog hunted like crazy to get some ideas on how to better guide them. I stalked everyone's pinterests too. Nothing. Finally, a teacher friend shared a template with me and this is what we came up with....

First, we read some fantasy stories and made an anchor chart. I really like to keep these simple for my little ones because I want them to actually be able to read it and refer to it.

Next, we filled in the web with some of our ideas. They picked a character, name, place, why the character went to the place, what could go wrong. We then filled in the template and TAAA DAAA... a story! ((note: this is my friend's story. I forgot to take a picture of mine.)) We did this 3 times, taking more and more away from the template each time. Oh, and this was the template we started with:

One day, there lived a ___ named ____.  ___ went to ____ to ____. When __ got to _____ the _____ was/were too ______. So ______ called _____ for help. 

 I walked them through creating their own web using this paper. Next week, we will begin writing. Wish us luck! I hope this can help some other struggling teacher out too. ;)

click the picture for your own copy

Oh and I have received some blog awards lately and haven't had a chance to post them...

Mrs. Johnson at Little Miss Teacher and Mrs. S at Stapler's Strategies gave me the Top 10 Award! So glad they did, so that I could find their super cute blogs and become a follower! 

Mrs. S, Deb at Simply the Classroom, and Emily at Circus of Learning also gave me this pretty award...

Ms. Au at 2nd Grade Rocks! gave me both of the awards as well! :)

I am off to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and will return the award giving favor later. 

Dr. Seuss Writing Packet

Wow! Anyone who has gone blog-hopping or pintresting lately will not be able to argue with this next statement.... 

Teachers are obsessed with Dr. Seuss! 

So in honor of our Rhyming Hero, I have created a little mini author's study for my kinders. This particular freebie just deals with writing. I will definitely be doing all the cutesy things I have seen to supplement the packet.  I am just going to read a book each day ((The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, The Foot Book, and Green Eggs and Ham)) and have the kids write about it. Maybe their favorite part or if they liked it or not. Then at the end, they will choose their favorite book and write why it was their fav. 

---- click any of the pictures to get your copy ----

Oh Where, Oh Where, Has This Little Blog Gone...

Remember how I told you all that I don't have my own classroom because I teach half the day in one teacher's class and half the day in another teacher's class? Well... I have had to rethink some things and adapt a little. Because I teach math (calendar included) and I didn't have the wall space for my calendar materials, I had to improvise a little. A friend gave me one of those huge science project presentation boards (covered in clear contact paper) and here is what I came up with...

 I will obviously be sharing all of these files with you all in the post. But are a few things to note. I tried just using StickyTac to stick everything on and then used labeled clothes pins to mark the Days of the Week, Season, and Months. Both of those ideas did not work. Stuff was sliding off every other day and the kids were having a hard time with the clothes pins. I then switched to foam mounting squares to stick everything that was permanent down. This has lasted. I also swapped the clothes pins out for velcro. The calendar is a bulletin board set from DJ Inkers. The Days in School pocket chart is from a local teacher supply store.

 If you want to make your own... here are the templates. 

((I bought the weather one so I can't share it with you. Sorry.))

  

 Well, as always I hope someone can use this stuff and I really have missed you all! I will post again very soon.

Kinder Math Sorting Mats & Updates

Wow. After this last summer, I didn't think I could take a one month break from blogging... but look at me. I did. This last month has been nothing but C-R-A-Z-Y! I opened that kinder class that I told you all about, but two and a half weeks into it, I got an offer to go back to the school I taught at last year. I could not say no. I loooved my principal and had made sooo many great friends there that I took the offer and had one afternoon to pack up and move. ((I was secretly hoping this would happen and hadn't brought much stuff with me in case I had oh, a good 2 hours to pack.)) 

So my new position is kind of interesting. I am teaching math and writing in two kinder classes of 33 kiddos each. It's kind of weird because all I have is a desk and a cabinet to put my things. Not to mention, I am like a lot of you and obsessed with room environment. I have no control over that with the classroom. Plus the back and forth between the classes makes for a looong day. 

Now you know why I have been MIA... but I am BACK and plan on posting a lot. Especially when it comes to writing because our writing curriculum is awful and I just plan on using it very loosely. 

As a way of saying sorry for neglecting you and get you all back in my good graces... here are some math sorting mats I made. Just laminate and place in a tray or tub or baggy and you've got yourself some workshop activities. 

So... I hope that makes up for me being MIA. I really have missed you all and can't wait for things to calm down and get back to posting! 

I got my job back!!

Soooo first, I am feeling all kinds of guilty for not posting in forever. As I've mentioned before, I received a layoff notice last year and have just been crossing my fingers and hoping that California could get a budget together and my district could find the money to bring me back. Well guess what?! They called me last Tuesday and offered me a kindergarten spot at a new school. No more 2nd grade, which makes me a little sad, but I am really excited to be back in kinder. I wasn't really able to do much in my classroom until last Friday and we start back on Tuesday. Yes, TUESDAY. Not a lot of time. Crazy. 

The really good news is that now that I know what grade I am teaching, I can start creating things and taking pictures and posting very soon. I really have missed sharing with you all. Oh, and if you are a kinder teacher, please leave me a comment so I can come stalk your blog or Pinterest! 

Desk Name Tag Template

One of the things that drives me crazy is buying desk name tags. They will come in packs of 30, well I have 33 so then I have to buy a-whole-nother pack. Or they will come in 20, so I buy 2 and that means that  I can only get 7 new students or make 7 mistakes when writing them out. It's all so exhausting and I am sure you know what I am talking about. So, to make my life easier... and hopefully yours too I found one I liked, did some tweaking, and put it into a PDF. Now, all I do is print exactly how many I need and aside from colored ink costs, it's free! I write the students' names in, back it onto some colored paper, laminate, and Taaa Daaaa... stressfree desk name tags! It will only cost you $3.00 once!

click on the name tag to buy your very own copy (2 to a page)!

I have included D'Nelian and cursive as well!

Kindergarten vs 2nd Grade

Okay, so after teaching 2nd grade for two years I was moved to kindergarten. I was terrified and to be completely honest... I cried for the first few months. Everyone should teach kindergarten once in their life so they don't make comments about how easy it is can appreciate just how difficult it really is. My district decided to switch to full day kindergarten that year and give me 33 little ones, only two of which had actually gone to preschool before coming to me. Thankfully, I had another teacher ::my soulmate:: with me for half the day and she is AMAZING! We both worked so well together and if you have ever had to share your classroom, you know how hard this can be. By January, we had it down. And by the end of the year... I was in tears for a completely different reason! Students that couldn't hold a pencil were writing paragraphs! I was placed back in 2nd grade this year and after only a week, I put in my request to go back to kindergarten. I miss it so much. Don't get me wrong, 2nd grade is great too. I just think kindergarten is a better fit for me. At the moment, I have a pinkslip which you all know means I could possibly not even have a job next year, but just in case something works out and all my dreams come true and I end up back in kindergarten, I have been doing some stalking. We all know and love Deanna Jump but I am becoming Kathleen at Growing Kinder's biggest fan. Her 100th Day post is something worth archiving. Okay, so enough rambling... off to find some more blogs. Leave me a comment with yours so I can follow you!