Planting a Kindergarten: valentine's day

Because I love Valentine's Day so much, I like to set up Valentine centers at the beginning of February. I have a housekeeping center in my room and I like to change it up every so often, so that the kids don't get bored. For the next few weeks, it is going to be a post office. The kids can write "letters" to each other and "mail" them out. Here is what it looks like:

In this center, they are sorting envelopes, writing letters to other class mates and acting out what would happen at a post office.

I have also created some other activities for centers. Here are a few of them. The kids really enjoy these center games and I will probably keep them up from now until after Valentine's Day.

We are also learning about dental health this week. The kids are each very eager to tell me about how many teeth they have lost and about their experiences at the dentist. Here is a chart that we made today as a class:

We discussed how some food are great to eat all of the time, and others should only be eaten sometimes, so that we can prevent cavities. Now the kids are working on making a model of teeth and they each get their own tooth brush to take home. I have shown them with my large model how to properly brush teeth and they use the toothbrush that they get to practice with this on their model.

Tomorrow, we will practice flossing using this fantastic activity I found on pinterest!

To view this blog click here.

(More on pinterest later)

Go check out some of my Valentine's activities at my teacher store located here.

In my classroom, to teach the letters and sounds, we do something called sound mapping. It is a research-based way to teach the alphabet (letters/ sounds) and basic writing skills.

I start each morning with 30 minutes of this. I have a class set of these whiteboards in my room from Lakeshore Learning. I LOVE them! They are perfect for the kids and just their size!

You can purchase these white boards here at Lakeshore:

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca|searchResults~~p|2534374302133657~~.jsp

This is the basic breakdown of how I teach sound mapping each day:

1. Introduce new sound. Have students listen and try to repeat. Show children your mouth formation and talk about placement of teeth, tongue and lips. Use mirror if needed.

2. Have students listen for the sound. Students will clap when they hear the sound. Say various alphabet sounds and the new sound mixed in. Remind students to look at your mouth formation to give them clues about the sound. This can also be done with words that begin with the sound.

3. Show the students how to record the sound on the board. Make sure to focus on the starting point and then the direction of the correct formation. Have the students look at your letter on the board and trace it in the air with their pointer finger.

4. Students will write the letter in the air, on the carpet, on each other’s backs, and on their hands. This is before the white boards come out. Ask the students many times while they are doing this what sound they are recording.

5. Show the students several times on the board how to record the sound.

6. Pass out white boards and have the students try to record the sound with markers. Walk around and assess the students, as they record the sound. Some students may need you to hold their hand with the marker and help them the first few times. Correct any errors you may see.

7. After a few minutes of practice, erase the white board and tell the students that they now must do it from memory. Students will repeat the sound that they are recording as they record it on their white boards.

8. Follow up with additional practice in small group.

I also created a poster for my classroom to teach basic writing skills. It's similar to CAPS which I'm sure many of you have heard of, but I felt it was more kinder-friendly. This year, my whole school has adopted the High Five Model and I'm working on a version for older grades as well!

I also have this hands-on poster that I made to go with it, that stays out all year long in my classroom.

The pieces are velcro-ed on and as I introduce each piece of the high five, I add the new piece to the poster. I begin the year by stressing the "teacher" handwriting, which all goes back to the sound mapping. Sound mapping, after all, is creating a map in one's brain of the letter and the sound. If the students are using their "teacher" handwriting, they will create a better "map" in their brain.

I have had great success with this in my classroom! I've been teaching letters and sounds this way for 3 years now and my students are becoming amazing writers!

Please go check out my new packets in my TpT store!