Five for Friday (After a brief linky absence...) March 21!

I haven't done a Five for Friday link up in a couple of weeks. I would completely forget and I didn't want ALL of my FFFs on Saturday! Anyway, I apologize for my absence but I'm glad I'm back!

Here we go!

Because of my absence, I didn't post about our Dr. Seuss week! On Read Across America Day, my class was on a field trip, so I decided to celebrate the good doctor's birthday the following week. And due to my absence from the linky the last couple of weeks, I'll post about it now. :)

We made Green Eggs and Ham!

(Sorry the picture is so dark... the lights we dimmed because we were watching Horton Hears a Who...)

Because I have a student with allergies who couldn't eat the eggs, we also made a Cat in the Hat snack which was a huge hit with the kids. I sliced up bananas and strawberries and used one little grape at the bottom. I gave them all a skewer and they stacked their hats and an A/B pattern. It was so much fun and all of my students could eat this healthy snack.

I also made a Tic-Tac-Toe file folder game for our fun center. I found the idea on Pinterest and HAD to use it. I used it kind of like a "bonus" center for incentive for finishing the centers where they actually learned something. ;)

If you decide to make this as well... laminate the pieces!

I also used a game that I made that I posted about previously HERE. It is a Dr. Seuss themed game that I had originally used in a theater class I taught a few months ago. In the original class I used it for, I used it like a human board game, but this time around, I used a pocket chart that I found that fits the cards perfectly and I used it like a Jeopardy game. The game is sectioned into categories so it worked really well for that and since I used it whole group instead of small group, it worked out great that way.

Click the picture to go to the download!

We've been working on our shapes lately, which I'm sure a lot of people are, and we have done some pretty neat things. I posted about some of my activities HERE, but not all. We have had some really fun learning centers for shapes this week and I thank goodness for Pinterest! I found a lot of the ideas there!

PICTURE 1: I found this freebie on TpT for building 2D shapes out of toothpicks and marshmallows. I used it as a center this week and it was awesome! I can't believe it was free! Here's the link to Rachelle Rosenbilt's store and the free download.

PICTURE 2: I also incorporated a little Seuss into the mix with Prince Padania's pattern block designs. He's got some GREAT stuff on his store and the kids absolutely adored the Dr. Seuss pattern block pages. If you want to check it out before buying, I believe he has a Lorax freebie. HERE's the link.

PICTURE 3: We did some pattern block centers as well with masking tape, which they liked because they were bigger than the pattern block pages. Easy to make and easy to clean up!

PICTURE 4: And one of my favorite Pinterest finds is the picture in the bottom corner. I called them Shape Trace Bags but I'm not sure what others called them. It is SO SIMPLE. Cheap dollar store hair gel and food coloring. Draw a shape on a baggie with a sharpie and when the kids trace the shape, the gel holds what they drew in place. They were amazing. In the post I found on Pinterest, the bags were not secured down... but believe me when I tell you, using packing tape to tape the zipper part onto the table was the best decision I made this week...

And our FAVORITE anchor chart of ALL TIME, also found on Pinterest is....

Yeah... I went there. Huge success!

I am SO happy it is Spring Time!!!

We made wind socks this week out of plastic soda bottles and cut up strips of plastic table cloths. How cute are these?? We have a lot of things hanging from the ceiling right now so we ran out of clips, so we doubled up the wind socks. Pictured here are two hanging up hehe.

We cut the bottle's bottom off and had kids use sponge stampers with paint. The trick is to paint on the inside of the bottle, so if you decide to hang it outside, the humidity and water from rain won't wash the paint! Be warned that this is a messy project and to wear aprons for sure.

Because of St. Patrick's Day, I HAD to have some sort of fun leprechaun center! So, I incorporated it into my art center this week with a How to Draw a Leprechaun step by step activity. Their drawings came out so great! And the kiddos felt awesome because they were successful. I HIGHLY recommend step by step drawing with the youngsters because they love them, they are great for practicing following directions independently, and they will almost always experience success.

This is something my supervising teacher got at a yard sale or something. It's a chip holder from a gas station! It has tons of clips, so I decided to use it with my steps of drawing a leprechaun. I used index cards and a sharpie and that way every student could see it from their spot at the table and there was no fighting!

Look how awesome these turned out!!!!!!! OMG. I love them...

Tomorrow is my first official day of Spring Break! WOOO HOOO!

I am going to work on a few new products this week as well as a lot of work for my internship. When I return to school, I only have three weeks left until the end of my internship and then I graduate! I can't wait for my first classroom, ya'll!

Happy Spring!

So Many HATS!

I finally took some pictures! Last week in my Dr. Seuss class, we made Cat in the Hat hats. I was losing my mind and couldn't find the packs of red and white paper that my boss got for me and used what I could find. Honestly, I think they came out better this way... (Fortunately, my boss thinks so, too...)

I gave each child a long paper and some strips of their color choices. They arranged them and glued them.

The look horribly messy in this photo, but we stapled them into a cylinder and I had to tape a few odd ends in here and there on the ones that didn't get the proper glue technique... I mean.. they're 4 years old. It's bound to happen.

I cut out a circle and cut a little circle inside with tabs to tape to the inside of the cylinder to attach. 

One complete hat!

Several COLORFUL Cat in the Hat hats!

So today proved how flexible a teacher has to be. Even though it was my own mishap by not being aware of where the paper was (I'm going to be completely honest... it was RIGHT in front of my eyes and I didn't see it. It's happened to us all, right?.... Right?!). I found what I could get my hands on and they turned out so great and the kids totally loved them. I encourage you to take some time and read The Cat and the Hat and make your own hats!

Dr. Seuss Fun!

I just realized I never posted about my Dr. Seuss kiddos! This week I began teaching my Dr. Seuss themed theater class at the community theater in my town. It was definitely an experience...

The class is for ages 4-7 and typically the classes I get for that age range I usually have an abundance of 6 or 7 year old girls. This time around, over half the class are boys, and of those boys 8 of them are only 4 years old. Wow! Definitely a hand full, I'll tell ya! I may have to tweak some of my lessons to keep these boys engaged...

I was losing my mind so much the first day that I did not take any pictures of their hats! We made Cat in the Hat hats on Monday and they turned out so cute! I decided to use colored paper because 1) That was all I had handy and 2) They all turned out different and beautiful! I promise to take pictures ASAP.

Next week we will be playing an awesome game with hats which is always a hit with the little ones. I'll be reading the old Dr. Seuss classic The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins. Of course, they'll be wearing their awesome hats they made! After that I will have a trunk of hats for them to choose from. Students are given a hat (usually I let them pick their hat, but with the abundance of 4 year olds I have, I have a feeling that may not go well...) and they walk out center stage with their hat and tell us their character's name. For older ages I typically ask them questions to get them to create a character spur of the moment to get them accustomed to improvisation. But again, with the little babies, we'll just stick with the basics: hat wearing and names. :)

The week following, we'll be playing a "human board game" with cards I created. I LOVED making this game. I made it specifically for my rowdy group, however I adapted it for a general classroom use as well and put it on my TpT store. It can be used like I'm using it (taped out large "board game" on the floor and the kids are their own pieces) or can be used as a small group board game. And don't worry, I provided a game board. ;)

Here are some of the cards. I'm seriously in love with them.

As you can see, there are categories and they are all Dr. Seuss-y!

Here's the link to the whole packet and there's a preview file you can download with images of the game board, too. Each category has 6 cards, making a total of 30 cards. I'll post pictures of the game in action in a couple of weeks when we play it out. I'm telling you, if the 4 year olds can do it... anyone can. And gosh, they are cute (the kids and the cards... ) :)

Enjoy!

Theater Class Planning and Dr. Seuss!

Not only am I a Kindergarten intern, but I am also an instructor in the Education Department at a community theater where I live. I have been teaching dance, acting, and musical theater classes at various theaters, dance studios, and modeling agencies since I was 16 years old (HOLY COW... that was 10 years ago...) and I adore it. In fact, I was originally a Theater major in college but teaching these classes for so many years made me realize that it was the teaching I loved, not necessarily the performing. Thank goodness I made the switch, because I love the track I am on right now.

Right now I am planning two after school classes that begin next week. One is a Dr. Seuss themed class for ages 4-7 and I am having so much fun putting this together. Theater classes are a little different to plan for, as the main goal is not to learn a subject area, but to learn performance skills. In this Dr. Seuss class we have some crafts (of course! I couldn't resist!!!) and some rhyming and rhythm activities that are going to be a blast! Once everything is complete, I'll be posting a really fun game that can be used in a general classroom as well.


The second class I am teaching is a Voice and Speech class for ages 8-12. This one is completely skill-based with no theme. While this doesn't sound as exciting as the Dr. Seuss class, this one gives me much more room to be creative in planning. This class is all about breathing properly while speaking and singing, using proper diction, using proper rate/speed, and using appropriate volume or projection. If you are not a theater instructor and you are reading this blog, you are probably thinking to yourself that these are all important to LIFE! Yeah... performance skills can DEFINITELY help in everyday life. I am using some fun activities, such as The Breathing Buddy (pics coming soon) and an awesome tongue twister game that is just as much fun for me as the kids.

I can't wait till next week. I start my full time internship with my kinders AND I start my first week of my first two theater courses. They are only once a week but they run for 5 weeks so stayed tuned for updates on these, because I can guarantee there will be some great pictures to share!