Thursday, April 28, 2011

Touch Coins and Morning Math

So I have started to create some morning math work and I also have created some touch coins worksheets.  I actually laminated the touch coins worksheets and will have them as a choice for my Daily 5 math.  The morning math is something they will have to complete before free play.  I started this today with the morning math1 worksheet and they loved it.  I am curious to see how they do on morning math2 tomorrow.  Feel free to download all or whatever you choose.  Enjoy!


















I hope you enjoy these documents.. more to come!

-Miss Zakar

Reader's Theater Extravaganza

So reader's theater has really taken off in my room this year.  The first play was such a success, I decided to focus these next couple of weeks on fluency.  So far we have done 3 plays and their are 2 more to go.  The kids keep asking for more, so I've been on a search for fun scripts at their reading level.  I am going to post each of the plays so you can see what a wonderful job they did.  I know you will agree. If you know of any terrific site with free readers theater scripts, leave a message! Thanks so much

Here is "The Little Red Hen".  The other videos will be up shortly. They are a little longer and they will not upload in blogger. I will figure out a way for everyone to see them very soon.  Enjoy!




-Miss Zakar

Monday, April 25, 2011

And we're back...

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

After a wonderful April vacation, the kiddos from room 11 are back and ready to learn.  With only 2 months left of kindergarten, we wasted no time and got right back to work.  During morning meeting we did a quick share of what we did over vacation and it sounded like everyone had a blast. I can't wait to read all about it in their vacation update journals.  It seems like they haven't skipped a beat.  After their journals they knew to get right into the daily 5.  I am so impressed. Here are some pictures of them hard at work on the first day back from vacation!











Those pictures showed them working on their weekend/vacation update journals.  Now I am going to post pictures of the kids during the Daily 5.  They were either in word work, read to buddy, read to self, or listen to a story. 














Today has been such a fantastic start to the week.   Stay tuned for posts about our reader's theater this week. The kids are so excited to finally put on their plays. 

-Miss Zakar

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Spring vacation is here at last...

I apologize for the lack of posts.   Spring vacation is upon us!  I am in Maryland visiting my 2 1/2 year old niece.. she is the smartest, most beautiful, most fun 2 year old there ever was... I am so happy to be here.  The drive only took about 7 hours.  We hit some traffic in New Jersey and in Delaware, and the rain was a damper, but all in all it was a great road trip!   So I am here, in Maryland, babysitting my Lulu.. who, by the way, is sooooo freaking cute, and i decided to blog.  The last couple of days at school were great.  The kids worked hard and really did deserve this vacation.  Again, another story to show how great my kiddos are... I had to go to the office first thing on Friday and deal with an issue... when i returned to the classroom one of my child specific aides asked, "Should the kids be doing the book award paper you left out?"  At first I was very confused, but then I remembered I made copies of some reading responses and must have left them on the table.  So, to make a long story short, my kiddos took it upon themselves to take this response that they thought they must do and run with it... I am so proud to say they are my students.. who does that? who plays by the rules to a T..?  They are so aware of their routine that no mater what is sitting on the table, they believe they have to complete it.. Well, I am soo proud of my students.. especially on a Friday before vacation.  So here are some pics of my kiddos.. I am so lucky to have such an amazing class!















-Miss Zakar

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Everyday Math Game Apps are FREE!!!

Hey everyone,
Hurry up while there is still time!  Download 10 Everyday Math Game apps for your ipod or ipad for FREE!!!  During the NCTM conference,  McGraw-Hill are generously putting up their apps for free on i-tunes.  They will remain free from today 4/13/11 through 4/16/11.  What a super giveaway!  Enjoy!



-Miss Zakar

This is what the Zakars have been up to this week...

Hello everyone,
Take a peek at our smile box slide show.  These are a few of the things we have been up to this week.  First you can see the growth of our bean plants and all the hard work we have done to learn about the life cycle of a bean plant.  Next, are a couple of photos showing our hard work during writing workshop.  I am still waiting to hear from a couple of parents to post student pictures, so stay tuned for more photos of the kiddos hard at work.  Enjoy the pictures.
Till next time..
Live, Love, Teach, Share!

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-Miss Zakar

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

3 more days...

With vacation in the near future, you would think that the kids would be crazy and out of control, but to my amazement, they have been wonderful.  It has been a great week.  Last week we had some off days.  I think the kids were getting too comfortable in the classroom and were forgetting some important classroom rules.  We had a long talk and everyone promised to work hard this week to show their VBW behavior.  I am so impressed this week that this afternoon they actually earned extra free play.  So if you are one of the parents, give you child a high five for working really hard the week before vacation.  I hope not to jinx myself.  I am hoping for three more amazing days, and I know that is just what I will get.  Just a little story to explain why I have the most amazing class in the world.  I am not the most creative and artsy teacher there ever was, so when it comes to figuring out fun arts and craft projects, it is a process.  I usually go to one of my favorite, creative teacher friends, Mrs T., and ask her "Mrs. T, what can we do today that is fun?" (she always tells me I'm not fun! hahaha).  So as I am trying to figure out a "Fun Friday" art activity, I decide to ask my students what we should do.  I thought I would get responses like; recess all day or games all day.  Instead their answers were;  "writing workshop?", "read to self?", "Daily 5 Math all day!".  Just another reason to prove that my children know exactly why they are here in school, to become life long learners! I only hope we finish the week like we started it!
Till next time..
Live, Love, Teach, Share!

-Miss Zakar

Monday, April 11, 2011

More from the Daily 5 Math

As promised, here are some more of my Daily 5 math games. Enjoy!

Number Line


Base-10 Exchange
Number Game


  Domino Kaboom
Fact Game

 
 
 
Enjoy these games.  More to come later! Happy Monday:)



-Miss Zakar

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Daily 5 Math Games

In a previous post I said that I would post some of the math games I created for the Daily 5 Math.  The 3 game categories are Number Games, Fact Games, and Strategy Games.  As I post a game, I will let you know what category it fits under. Thanks for reading!


Fact Game


Number Game

 
Fact or Number Game

Enjoy these three games and there are more to come!  Let me know what you think.  Goodnight for now!


-Miss Zakar