Math Work Stations - Revisited

So Math Work Stations... How is it going out there?

I'm linking up with Mrs. Parker for this review!
I have to admit after reading the book this summer I was very excited to get started and then became quickly overwhelmed but then once I got started I was thrilled with how well my kindergartners did at their stations.  So first off how do I organize it, see my blue pocket chart. I have 12 Math Work Stations or at my school we call them Zones and students work each day with one partner at their zone for about 20 minutes.

My Math Block: 60 Min~3x20 min groups
Last year we stopped with teaching a "whole group" lesson in math and moved to a 3 small group rotation each with a lesson catered to their ability level and their math needs. With little guys that have the attention span of a fly I've found this works so much better and I really know what each student can and can't do.  The green mini chart with pictures are my 3 groups and I use the larger green chart to show where my three groups move so they rotate from with me in a 15-20 min lesson with guided practice then they have independent practice and then they can go to zones.



So how did I get Math Work Stations set up and started? Well first I purchased matching bins with blue tops from Kmart.  Why blue tops well a) they're pretty and b) I can quickly identify them as my math bins and c) Well when they are all uniform they make my room look more organized! Then came the "I Can" charts on top. After much trial and error I found that when I put them on the in side of the box tops (as suggested in the book) my kids didn't look at them. I tried them in the actual bins (and until they get laminated that's how it works) but the I Can page often was left on the carpet and not put away. So I settled on velcroing them to the top. Voila!  Don't they look beautiful! :-D
So I followed Debbie Diller's tips on starting with exploration and having students write "I can" statements for each manipulative we were using. So for example with links, my kids came up with:

• I can...
• sort
• count
• make a pattern
• color a pattern
• Talk about my pattern with a friend

I hand wrote my kids "I can" posters and hung them up. They were so proud that they "came up with what to do!" Yes, I guided them but they really did it and I think that's why they have taken such ownership over their zones this year.

A Scholastic Seasonal Pattern and counting set.
Stamp a Number in a ten frame activity w/ mini stamps.

How often do I change Math Work Stations?
Not very often maybe once a month I start phasing in an activity to replace one or two that the kids have become bored with. Because they are limited to one station a day and I have 12 stations they get to each of the stations 2x in a month so they last! So long are the days of changing math activities every week!



So how have my Math Work Stations evolved?
My kids LOVE their daily stations and god forbid I forget to change the chart in the morning, they will let me know! My whole kindergarten team has embraced the new format for math and together we come up with more play based activities to keep the kids coming back for more! We're actually having a K, 1st, and 2nd work study group to support each other and come up or redevelop old ideas to fit this new philosophy!


So what's in a Math Work Station? Here are a few!

I Can...
1)Count and Match: Ghostly Counting is a mini book I made with pictures and numbers. The kids put ghost erasers on the page to match the number.
2)Clip It for Position Words: Top Middle and Bottom.
3)Sort: Halloween erasers from the $1 store.
4) Make Patterns: With erasers above
5) Read a math book
6) Use Math Talk

I Can...
1) Count and Match the leaves (Centers In a Bag)
2) Clip It Counting (Moffit Girls Blog)
3) Put the numbers in order (found online)
4) Read a math book
5) Use math talk

I can...
1) Count the Legos (Legos work mats I found online)
2) Sort the Legos
3) Count and color the dots
4) Put the numbers in order
5) Read a math book
6) Use Math Talk




So what's been working for you and what new ideas have you come up with for your work stations?

- Lindsey

Giving Thanks.... Donors Choose

Giving Thanks is my theme for this month and instead of venting I'm going to share and give thanks for the many wonderful things in my life.  So where to start, I love when people support education and this summer I made a step into the unknown with my first Donors Choose project. If you don't know Donors Choose I hope you will it's a charity site that helps to make teachers dreams for their classroom come true. Through Donors Choose...I received my amazing new carpet!!!

This year my class room exploded from 17 student to 24 and there wasn't enough room for all the kids! Through all the amazing donors online, many I know and many I don't know and the wonderful match donation made my Lakeshore my dream for my classroom did come true. And thank goodness for it because some days that carpet is all that's keeping my sanity together! Thank you for reading and this and I encourage many of you to take this month to give thanks to those things, people, and gifts that help to keep your head screwed on and allowing for your instruction to continue!

Pumpkin Spice Cake Pops

So today I took on my first challenge with cake pops for my kickball league's annual pumpkin bake off! I have so much respect for anyone who makes cake pops on a regular basis I was prepared to spend hours but didn't realize it would take 5+ hours to make. Be warned!!

Step 1: Follow the directions to make and cook the cake and let it cool completely. (Do this the night before) I used the Betty Crocker spice cake mix with some added pumpkin seasoning.
Step 2: Use a fork to break up the cake into a large bowl.
Step 3: Then I mixed in a container of cream cheese frosting, in the future I will only use 3/4 of a container of frosting because I feel like a full container was a little too much.
Step 4: Then I used my hands to roll pumpkin balls and place them on wax paper on a cookie sheet.
Step 5: Put the sheet of pumpkin balls in the freezer for 10 min.
Step 6: I used a bamboo skewer to make notches in the sides to make it like a real pumpkin.
Step 7:Then put the cake balls back in the fridge till they are cold but not frozen.
Step 8: Heat up a small portion of the candies and dip the stick in the melted candy and stick them in the cool cake balls.
Step 9: Stick back in the fridge.
Step 10: Melt the rest of the candies in a double boiler, I did one bag at a time next time I'd melt two bags at once.
(I stopped by Fancy Cakes by Leslie after the bake off today to ask some advice and they suggested using white chocolate gnash next time and adding food coloring to get a smooth texture on the cake balls. They also said to make sure the cake pops don't freeze or the candy shell will react badly.)

Step 11: Dip the cake pops into the melted candy coating. I saw lots of examples on line of people who dipped completely under and the pops came right out to get the bottom. Well that didn't work for me every time I dipped the pops would fall off and go for a swim so I defaulted to a dunk and spin method that left them looking like this picture. Yes I got to eat those little swimmers, yummy!
Step 12: Put the pops in Styrofoam to harden. I poked holes in the Styrofoam in advance so I had places to put the pops.


Step 13: I had green candies to melt to make the green stems but I had to leave for an event downtown so at this point I used store bought green topping. They look cute but not exactly what I had hoped for. But here's the finished product after drying!





So, I didn't win the pumpkin bake-off today but I'm proud of my first attempt at cake pops and had a great feedback from the crowd most of which thought I had won! I got a 9 out of 10 for taste and only a 3/5 on creativity (for real?? One of the judges said he didn't like that it was on a stick- isn't that creative??) and 3/5 on presentation (I have no idea what they were looking for here it was a pumpkin patch! How else could I show the cake pops off?) so a total score of 15/20 points. The winner had a pumpkin cheesecake pie (where's the creativity in that??) and oh yea she's a professional baker. Oh well... my pops did stand out on the entry table and they were gone very quickly!

It's Apple Week!

It's Apple Week!! So this week we have spent time in reading, writing, science, and math to learn about apples! I actually took some pictures from this week so her goes! We started out with a KWL... the L (green apple) we're going on Friday!

KWL

On Monday, in Math we had an apple tasting of red, yellow, and green apples and we then made a pictograph of the apples we liked the best! On Tuesday, we used our pictograph to make a tally chart and a bar graph on our ELMO. I don't have a picture but they turned out really well! On Wednesday, in Math we had an apple product tasting. We graphed our results and then on Thursday turned the data into a tally chart and bar graph again!

We tasted Apple Sauce..

Apple Chips

Apple Cider

And apple butter!! This little one even decided
to eat it with his spoon instead of on the crackers!

As you can see I had some happy kinders!

And one of the girls went to the apple orchard and she brought us the cutest apple cupcakes!

Tomorrow we're going to make Apple Man and torn paper a's.
Idea from Pinterest!

Inside my school bag

I'm linking up with The Inspired Apple to see what's inside my school bag!

The evolution of my teacher bag over 10 years! It's funny how times change...

I began my teaching in 4th grade, I started with the textbook Lands End monogrammed bag (a gift from my parents for my undergraduate graduation). I only taught 4th grade for one year.

My second year I switched grades and moved to second grade and I used the black bag above and my Aunt gave me this enormous white monogrammed bag for Christmas. in second grade I used to carry all the kids work home to grade the big bag came in handy. This bag is now only used to carry large quantities of books I find at yard sales and book sales.

At some point over my six years in second grade I down sized to this "normal sized" tote.

Then three years ago I moved to kindergarten and I feel like I wised up. I stopped carrying home all of the kids work and decided well if it didn't fit in my bag I couldn't take it home and I had to get it done at school. So now I find myself taking home much smaller things and less of it! This bag lasted two years and as youc an see by then handle at the bottom lived a good life. I used it as my pool bag this summer and it may have found a second life with my sun block!

And now we're up to date with my most current bag my little brother bought for me for my birthday this summer! It's the same Vera Bradley: Vera Bag as the brown and green one above but it's new and amazing! I love this bag because it has six pockets inside to hold and organize everything!

Now the question is what's inside?

My Vera lunch bag. Do you see a theme?

My new turkey hat! Target Dollar Bins I'm so in love!!

Scholastic catalogs, new carpet seating chart, and Activity Sticks (Pinterest Inspired)

Grade book, lamination (for Rosie's Walk) and Gallon Size Bags to label for book clubs.

And last but not least my newly made sand paper letters to help some of my low kids with letter identification!

Also my Math Work Stations book is usually in my bag but I just realize I left it on my desk at school. :-) - Lindsey

Target Dollar Deals

I ran by Target tonight and found some cute things in the Dollar Deals section. My favorite purchase is the Turkey Hat for Thanksgiving! I can see the kids faces now, "Ms. W, Is that a turkey on your head?" "Turkey?? What are you talking about?" they had containers of 150 little pumpkins (table scatter) I'm thinking about putting letters on the bottom to make an upper lowercase matching. Hope everyone's start of the year has gone well!!



- Lindsey

A crazy first three weeks!

Wow it's been a crazy first 3 weeks!  Earthquake, Hurricane, Flooding, and my 23 munchkins have been running me into the ground! So I haven't taken many pictures so far this year because well I haven't had any time but I thought I'd share a few of our little projects I had on my phone.
During the first week we have our Kissing Hand project. After reading the story we spend time retelling the story as a class. We had the Hershey kiss pre-cut and gave the kids the 3 sequencing pictures and a sheet of foil.  This one wasn't the best but I snapped a picture for a friend so it's what I've got! I also use a red marker and draw a heart in all students hands and send them off with a Hershey kiss. I got lots of emails that night from parents who loved the heart and the kiss their child brought home. :-)

Last week we explored the alphabet and made our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees!  They turned out great! We gave the kids 5 pre-cut leaves and coconuts. The kids then used tear art to make the tree trunk from brown paper. They then found the letters in their name from an alphabet sheet and made their name going up the coconut tree.

This week our focus was on Bears so we read Corduroy and made our own bears. We gave the kids pre-cut bears and taught the kids how to use a tracer and trace the overalls. This was a great test to see who can trace and cut. Of course we had to glue a button on to make it Corduroy! I have a huge box of buttons we use for math at the start of the year to practice sorting and the kids love playing with them. But to top off the end of this week, one of my more difficult children today, found a button on the floor during our reading lesson and then proceeded to stick it up his nose. Awesome.  I'm ready for the weekend is anyone with me?