Classroom Rules

I found Whole Brain Teaching last summer and became a follower.

 We also read Bono the Monkey, a cute story about a  naughty monkey who learns to follow classroom rules, so I've adapted some of the rules.

We learn these rules with hand motions and review them everyday.

I think it's great because if pushing becomes an issue,

I just ask, "What's rule #4?"

But my favorite is Rule #5,

How does that old Mama adage go?

If Teacher ain't happy,

Ain't Nobody happy :)

Rules English

Each rule has hand gestures:

1-cup ear, point to the teacher

2-raise hand, make talking motion with hand

3-raise hand, make walking motion with 2 fingers

4-motion no with fingers, grab your wrist, and motion no with fingers again

5-point to teacher, smile, trace your smile with index finger the

and say "ding" and flip pinky finger up (like Austin Powers)

Rules Spanish

We begin our day every morning singing these songs.

Each student chooses a partner, shakes their hand, and sings along.

I thought this would be a nice addition to our poetry journals.

I'm not sure if these documents are embedded correctly.

If you click on the pictures above, it should direct you to Google Docs.

Let me know it works for ya :)

Trash Can Dice Game

Joining the Linky at Little Miss Kindergarten.

This is a game I used when I taught 2nd grade.

I used the overhead projector, but a Smartboard would be even better.

Divide your class into 2 teams.

Choose a Team Leader (I usually chose someone shy).

To keep the momentum going, the teacher rolls a large dice.

The first team decides if they would like to use that number

in the hundreds, tens, ones place or in the trash can.

I ask them to huddle together, make the decision together, once everyone agrees,

the Team Leader raises their hand to voice the decision.

Repeat the process with the second team.

The team with the largest number wins!

This is a fun way to reinforce place value.

Students quickly realize larger digits in the hundreds place is best,

and smaller digits go into the.......Trashcan!

Click the picture below to download :)

Capital/Period Song

Miss Kindergarten is hosting a Linky about songs

we sing in the classroom.

I use the above song to reinforce capitals and periods.

After our writing mini-lessons, we sing this song as we go to our seats and get our journals ready to write.

Below you'll see the Spanish version we sing.

Uhhhh-mazing!

My 3 year old cutie pie made a fishy

then asked for blue playdough for the ocean.

My jaw dropped, she has her Daddy's talent :)

Testing, Testing, Do I Work?

Okay, so here's my new button!

But I'm not sure if it works (crossing fingers).

I would really appreciate some feedback. :)

Ooops, I forgot I didn't post the code,

ohhhh codey-code-codes.....

Oh wait! Big thanks to Mrs. Mac for all your help!

Keyboard Practice

How do yo teach Kinders how to use a keyboard?

Two years ago I used the form below. I sent it home before we went to the computer lab so I didn't have to spend as much time showing them where the letters were located.

I also asked my Kinders to do bunny ears with their left hand and press the "d" with their right hand (control+alt, delete). It worked out great, most of my kiddos were able to find all the letters and numbers they needed.

Last year was a little slower because I misplaced this form, but all my students were finally able to log on.