Five for Friday

I am excited to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. These are always so fun to read I want to try linking up at least once a month. 

I have been loving the wonderful posts for the book study on What's Under Your Cape? SUPERHEROES of the Character Kind by Barbara Gruener. We are up to Chapter 7 and there are so many wonderful ideas. Be sure to check them all out and grab this great read!

As summer comes to a close it is time to get serious with planning. Our district ELA pacing guides have all been updated for Common Core and the TK team decided to add Lifeskills into our pacing guides. We are basically keeping the math pacing guide with the Kindergarten Common Core standards that we put together last year and our Report of Progress that we use during our parent teacher conferences in the late fall and spring is also staying the same. The team of TK teachers and admin at Pittsburg Unified are AMAZING! I am truly blessed to work with these ladies and gents in creating a Transitional Kindergarten program for the students in Pittsburg, CA and happy to share the hard work with you. 

We do not have to enter our Report of Progress into any computer system like the other grades in the district but I hate my handwriting so I made the Report of Progress into a Fillable Report of Progress.


Here is our Math Pacing Guide from last year. There have been minor changes and I hope to have the edited PDF soon but wanted to share this one as a starting place.




Our new Common Core Language Arts Pacing Guide is going to be a work in progress but I love that it is super open ended.

I am also working on getting myself organized with blogging and TpT. I grabbed one of Farrah Shipley's TpT planners. If you are planning on getting serious with TpT be sure to grab one of these planners. She explains all about them in this post. Here is one of her pics.

I guess I have really been in planning and organizing mode because I also updated my files I made years ago to work with the Flylady way of cleaning house and organizing daily life. Trying to clean up the house bit by bit and declutter this summer. You can grab the PDF and editable files by clicking the picture of the Before bed page :)

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter I already announced this but realized I didn't announce it here. I am soooooooo excited that I am now a part of the Whole Brain Teaching staff! Coach B made me the WBT Social Media Coordinator! I have been helping with loading the weekly webcasts to youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/WBTWebcast and organizing pins at http://www.pinterest.com/wbteachers/   I also get to check out WBT bloggers and add them to the growing list here. Coolest thing is I get to help with linking the various online resources to new WBT documents like this one  

Post by Whole Brain Teaching.

So there are my 5 for Friday! Hope some is useful and you join me next week. We will have Must Have Monday, Teacher Tech Tuesday, WBT Wednesday, Throwback Thursday and more :)

WBT Wednesday- Getting ready & First Days

So we have been watching the webcasts, reading the book, reading blog posts and now it is time to get files downloaded, the printer going and planning book open. Time to get ready for the best school year ever!

So what do we NEED to get started with WBT? Here are my must haves to start the year with WBT

1. Need to have some basic knowledge of Whole Brain teaching

Now more than likely you already have this but just in case you are totally new to Whole Brain Teaching I want to be clear that if you haven't visited WholeBrainTeaching.com and downloaded the Ebooks like WBT Quickstart Guide or read the book, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids you need to do that FIRST.  You don't need to read EVERY ebook or the WHOLE book to get started but the tools like the Scoreboard will only work if you know the basics of how to use them.

2. Pick Rule Posters to download and print

I shared about the 5 rules and the posters I use here . You can find posters to match many themes on TeachersPayTeachers and if they are the WBT rules they should be free. Many of these posters and posters from blogs are pinned in the WBT Basics Pinterest board.

Follow Whole Brain Teachers's board WBT Basics on Pinterest.

3. Pick a place for the Scoreboard and make traveling Scoreboard

The scoreboard can be just a sad face and a happy face made with marker and the travel scoreboard just a 3 x 5 card.

If you want to get fancier there are scoreboards with borders and different icons for Teacher vs Students, Boys vs Girls and such. You can even make a digital scoreboard that you can open on your phone!

http://transitionalkinder.blogspot.com/2020/03/advance-scoreboard.html?m=1

4. Download and print First Day cue cards from Deanna Schumer and Sub cheat sheet 

I mentioned both of these last week and they are great to use as is or help you plan how to introduce everything the first days of school

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/WBT-Sub-Sheet-3253266

5. Download WBT Intro to print or project in class

In my class I use the laptop hooked up to the lcd projecter ALL the time so I use Intro to WBT lessons I was able to create with the fabulous WBT Construction Kit found in the Free Downloads section of wholebrainteaching.com.

There is an Early Education version for PreK-Kinder and a Primary version for 1st-2nd. If you teach 3rd grade or higher I recommend using the original WBT Intro found at wholebrainteaching.com under Free Ebooks in the Common Core section.

The Early Education Edition is a zipped file with PowerPoint and PDF versions of an 84 page presentation based on work from WholeBrainTeaching.com. The presentation will introduce your students to the Five classroom rules and five of Whole Brain Teaching's basic learning techniques:
Class-Yes, Hands and Eyes, Mirror Words, Teach-Okay, and the Scoreboard.

One PowerPoint and PDF contains teacher note on slides to help newbies and experienced Whole Brain Teachers alike teach these lessons. There is also a PowerPoint and PDF that contains no notes on student slides and limited teacher slides for those that prefer.

The Primary Version is a zipped file with PowerPoint and PDF versions of an 103 page presentation. The presentation will introduce your students to the Five classroom rules and five of Whole Brain Teaching's basic learning techniques: Class-Yes, Hands and Eyes, Mirror Words, Teach-Okay, and the Scoreboard AND a lesson on What is a Sentence?


As long as you have 1-3 you will be in great shape to start the year using Whole Brain Teaching but I hope you will find 4 and 5 as helpful as I do. Coach B will be starting up the webcasts soon and will be talking about starting the first day with WBT but until then you can checkout the WBT First Steps playlist on the webcast youtube channel for past webcasts.

Next time will be all about prepping the classroom for what I am calling advance WBT must haves. I do not introduce them the first day but they become the foundation of most lessons and my student discipline so I like to plan where they will be. What are these jewels of Whole Brain Teaching? Make your guess in the comments and check back soon to see :)
Until next time, TTFN Wibbiters

What's Under Your Cape? Service

It's time to get the capes out! The Character Capes!

Before we dive into Chapter 1 of our book study I have to share this SUPER awesome cape that was shared on the What's Under Your Cape? Facebook page. Every superhero needs a cape and I have sooooo many ideas brewing about how to tie in this theme of superheroes into my classroom this year! You can PM Barbara on the Facebook page for information about grabbing one of these hand sewn capes. We are going to have so much fun sharing about Barbara's book, What's Under Your Cape? SUPERHEROES of the Character Kind! Let's get started!

Our first character cape is Service. I am beyond excited to be co-hosting Chapter 1 of  our book study with Lynda of  Curls and a Smile !

As Barbara says in the first line of Chapter 1, superheroes are all about service. They are here to save the day, to defeat the villain, to serve. Children have no problem understanding the job of a superhero and it is such a smart way to introduce the concept of service to our students, even our youngest ones. But how can they serve? Well I love how Barbara shows that it can be as simple as serving as line leader or as complex as running your own service learning project.

Serve in the classroom

We can start our superheroes with serving by having them do classroom jobs.  I love the way Mrs. Lirette of Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives has set up classroom jobs and she has a freebie to make it so easy to set up serving in the classroom :)

Serve at school

Students can also serve in a bigger capacity doing something that helps not just the class but the school. At my current school we have a few older students that help with traffic before school,  students that help serve breakfast and a 3rd grade class that is the Green Team and collects paper to recycle from the classes each week.When I was the technology specialist I had a team of 4th and 5th graders that were the Tech Squad and helped install programs and updates on the classroom computers. I love Barbara's ideas of a Bathroom Brigade to check bathroom cleanliness and report problems and Paparazzi in charge of student cameras to take pictures for the website and yearbook.
I'm thinking we could make badges for these special jobs at school, maybe using editable labels like the free ones I have on my Facebook page here.

Serve in the community

I was an active 4-H'er from the age of 8 through high school and even in college and my mother has continued to be active in 4-H still to this day. Though we did have rabbits a few years, as a city girl I mainly was involved in clothing, computers, leadership and citizenship. My favorite memories of 4-H are around the service learning projects we did. New to service learning? Barbara points us this this wonderful resource, the National Service Learning Clearinghouse. Check them out here. The second half of the 4-H pledge defines to me the goal of service learning, "My Hands to larger service and my Health to better living for my club, my community and my world." At our core I firmly believe we as humans were made to serve, we all want to make things better, to help one another. When we serve another we often get more than we give and it is truly a win win. Beyond the personal, which is the biggest win, service learning projects are an awesome way to get a truck load of learning into the minds of our students. A can food drive can have literary connections to books like Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, math connections to counting and measurements, science connections to plant life cycles and chemistry, and social studies connections about hunger in America and world wide.  Every service learning idea has countless possible connections to grade level standards and students become deeply engaged in this learning, another win-win :) Barbara shares many successful service learning projects in the book and Lynda has great ideas and links in her post on Chapter 1.

This year I plan to use plarn to weave service learning into my classroom and hopefully school and beyond. I want to keep things open ended and student guided but can see place mates, coasters or even rugs for retirement homes or hospital patients, lunch bags for students in need, mats for animal shelters, maybe even flip flops for those in need of shoes.

I think the video below is a great starting place and I am trying this out with my own kids, my daughter who is 10 and my twin boys that just turned 6.

There are great ideas for plarn and weaving at these sites and I am gathering ideas on my What's Under Your Cape? Pinterest board.

Source

Plan Fan Page on Facebook

Follow Transitional Kinder with Mrs.O's board What's Under Your Cape? Service on Pinterest.
I can see so many connections to math and thinking that making plarn might even be cool family homework project. Here is my favorite video so far on how to make plarn.

So many ideas are making this post a lot longer than I thought it would be! Ready to share your ideas on Service and read the ideas from some other fabulous bloggers? Be sure to link up on the linky below and remember to enter the giveaways at Curls and a Smile , The Resourceful Room and here!

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The next stop in now live at The Resourceful Room!

WBT Wednesday-Where to start? The Core 4

Whether you are new to WBT or an experienced WBT'er you will want to start with the Five Rules and the Core Four each year. We talked about the Five Rules last week so now we are ready for the Core 4,which are as the name implies the core of the Big 7. If this is your first year using WBT and the ONLY WBT tools you use are the Core Four you will still be AMAZED at how awesome your class is! If you are feeling overwhelmed ONLY implement these 4 tools of Whole Brain Teaching because they are the foundation of every WBT classroom.
So what are these life changing wonder tools?

 The Core Four are Class/Yes, the Scoreboard, Mirror and Teach/OK. If this is the first you are hearing about this click on each to see the explanation of each from wholebrainteaching.com. These are each very simple and VERY powerful! You can start using all of the Core Four in the first hour of the first day of school or the first hour of your new day of school if school has already started :)

Coach B's latest webcast this week was on the Core 4 so grab your beverage of choice and get ready for a crash course in the Core 4!

Now you already have the basics for the Core 4 and Coach will be doing a new First Hour/First Days type webcast in the coming weeks but if you are ready for more now check out the WBT First Steps playlist on the webcast youtube channel





Here are some more Core 4 goodies, which all can also be found on the WBT Basics Pinterest board.

First the Delightful Deb Weigel created this fabulous cheat sheet to leave for subs.

Next at the delightful Deanna's TpT store you can download her free WBT Cue cards for the first day. She has made many sets and they are AWESOME!

 Also visit her blog and check out her classroom pictures.

Finally hop over the spectacular Nancy Stoltenberg's blog and check out her post from last year on the First Minute, Hour, Day with WBT

We Love Books- The Perfect Nest & TheDaily5 Second Edition

I am late to the party but I am excited to start linking up with this great linky 

First I want to share one of my favorite children's books The Perfect Nest, by Catherine Friend 

I was given this book a few years ago as part of a package of books the school librarian bought for every class and this has been a favorite in the classroom and at home. This story is so fun and there are a lot of different ways to use this book. Here is a video of it to see for your self :) 

Now I also want to share professional books and want to start with the second edition of the life changing The Daily 5 by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser AKA The 2 Sisters

If you click on the book above it will take you to the publisher's site and you will see all the info to buy the book but also click on the Preview Online tab and you can read the WHOLE book online for FREE! 

Now many of you probably have the first edition of this book but I also have teachers in my school and district that have never heard of The Daily 5 or The 2 Sisters so maybe this is a new one to you. New or old favorite the second edition is a must read as is the blog book study. Click on the links below for the main linky for each chapter and then get ready to be blown away with freebies and wonderful insight. They are currently on Chapter 7 but I will edit to add Chapter 8 and 9 :)

I don't see Sharing Kindergarten's link for Chapter 5 & 6 so I am adding it here so it is not missed

Main Freebielicious post for Chapter 7

Be sure to click on all of the linkies for this one

Now that you are all excited for TheDaily5 be sure to request to join the Facebook group at  https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheDaily5CAFE/

My Memories Suite for Free!

I am so excited to be able to give you all a special treat after being away from blogging for so long.This school year has been going well but I have had zero extra time. I am hoping to get things lined up and blog more soon but I have an awesome goodie for you all this weekend! Everyone can use the special code below  for a FREE copy of My Memories Suite today until October 20th! You can download this amazing digital scrapbook program totally free or get a CD copy for the cost of shipping. 

To get My Memories Suite for free visit THIS LINK and click the Add to Cart button



Copy and paste this code into the Enter Coupon/Promo Code box:  FreeTreatNH59
Once the code is in the box click on Proceed to Checkout

You will need to take a minute to create an account with My Memories Suite and them you will be able to checkout and click Access My Downloads to download and install My Memories Suite for FREE, saving $40 :) If you haven't heard about My Memories Suite take a minute to view the videos below. It is ny favorite software not only for personal scrapbooking but for creating fun classroom projects and design elements too. Please let me know what you think and leave a comment if you would like more freebies like this. Have a great weekend!

WBT PowerPix with Common Core Standards

I have been able to finish the ELA PowerPix for Kindergarten - Fifth Grade and Math for Kindergarten and First Grade and wanted one post to hold them all. This post will hold pins to all the PowerPix posts. As I finish the Math PowerPix with Common Core I will add the links here.
Please let me know if these are helpful and if you see any errors :)

And the winners are.......

I am so excited that just over 50 people have entered this week's giveaway! That means 20 winners of the Tropical Dot Editable labels to go with the winner of the copy of My Memories Suites. The winner of My Memories Suites is...... Rachel Evans Evers! Listed below Rachel's name are the winners of the Tropical Dots Editable labels. Winners look for emails today with download instructions :)
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Now for everyone else you are also winners, even if you are just checking in today :) My Memories Suites has 3 heart freebies that you can print out and make even without the software. Just click on the pictures below to grab them.

Remember you can also all buy a copy of My Memories Suites and use the DISCOUNT CODE  STMMMS99167 at checkout  and receive $10 off the software purchase and a $10 gift certificate to the online store! With a copy of My Memories Suites you can edit the heart freebies to use any digital paper or include words. I am thinking of using them for sight word practice slips :)

Congratulations to everyone and thanks for entering!

I Teach K But I'm not in Vegas

Is everyone else super jealous of all your kinder teacher friends that are at I Teach K in Vegas this week? Well you can stalk, I mean join in the fun  by visiting the conference app.  You can grab some presentation handouts and see what is going on with the twitter feed from the conference and even see the photos from their photo contest. Just click the pic below to jump over to the app but some back or keep reading first :)

Well I have decided that this is a great week to do some giveaways and have some fun celebrating that I teach kindergarten. I teach Transitional Kindergarten and love it! Celebrate with me and let's have some online fun :) 

First today you can all grab my Facebook voted freebie,  Lime Green Editable labels!

These are the green labels that are included in my Tropical Dots Editable Labels set on TpT. 

I created the labels in My Memories Suite, the most amazing digital scrapbooking software. This week you can win your own copy of My Memories Suite Version 4! I am also giving away one copy of my editable labels for every 5 people that enter the giveaway so you will have a 1 in 5 chance of winning something, better than Vegas right? 

Be sure to keep visiting this week for more freebies and more about why you want to win My Memories Suite. 

  

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Suite Saturday and Freebie Hop Success!

I am so excited at how well the Freebies on the Fourth Facebook hop went! Over 2,000 people went through the hop, liking pages and grabbing freebies! Were you able to grab them all? Was is such a blur that you are not sure you went to all of the AWESOME kindergarten and first grade pages? Well the hop is over but you do not want to miss out on what these fabulous teachers have to offer! Many of us have put up new freebies for our fans and great discussions and blog posts to share. Here is the full list of Facebook pages from the hop, including mine :) Hop through and make sure you like them all :)

                             

                                  

                          

          


You can grab my Daily 5 freebie from the hop by click the pic BELOW :)

I create most of my classroom items in My Memories Suite and I will be giving away a copy of version 4 this week to celebrate the success of the Freebie Hop!  My Memories Suite Version 4 has some AWESOME new features including export to SVG to use with electronic die cutters like the Silhouette! You can download a trial of My Memories Suite for free by clicking the words  My Memories Suite   This will take you to the  My Memories Suite  store where you can get the trial or buy the program. When you are ready to buy My Memories Suite put in my Share the Memories code for a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value! The code is STMMMS99167