More 1-10 QR codes

Recently I made some more QR codes for practice with numbers 1-10.  My kids love using these and are completely engaged in any activity we do with them.  Here is a link to my transportation themed QR codes.  I would suggest using a pocket chart or a magnetic board in which students match the QR codes to the numbers 1-10 after scanning and counting the images that appear.

Word Work with Names

I know Daily 5 is a big thing in classrooms grades 1 and up at the moment, but we even in pre-k we do some Daily 5 like things.  Recently I was at a PD lead by Linda Scott on literacy that left me inspired.  I hope to share several things I was inspired by over the next few weeks.  One of the things that was so quick and easy to incorporate was some word work you could do with names.  I immediately made a chart like the one we saw being used and then started using it in my classroom.  We are on our second day of using it and the kids LOVE it.  Below is the name chart...

As you can see the names are grouped by the first letter of the name.  This will be important.  I introduced the chart by pointing to each name and asking whose name it was and that child instantly lit up and said something like 'Me, that is my name it says ______".  Once we had done that we talked about the boxes and why were some boxes bigger than others and how did I decide where the box should be.  They quickly saw that all the names in the box began with the same letter.  Then I picked 1 student to come up and find their name.  I asked them what the word said (it is important that they realize their name is a word).  Then I asked them how many letters were in their name and they counted them.  Next I asked them what the first letter was, followed by what the last letter was.  Then they sat down and we all clapped how many parts (ie syllables)  there were to their name.  The kids love it, they are so excited to see who I will pick each day.  My goal is to do this with two students a day.  Today I added the question for Addyson, who has a name that begins with the same letter as your name.  She pointed to Allah but she wasn't sure what it said.  I said is there anyone who can read that word.  Allah's hand went up instantly and he proudly let everyone know it said Allah.  We listened closely to Addyson and Allah and noticed that we heard the same sound.  It is something so simple but it is making all the difference in my classroom and it only takes me about 5 minutes.  I hope this will help you as well. 

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is such an inspiration. He wrote such wonderful books, from the simple and funny to get children interested in reading to the more complex but yet still funny books that keep them reading.  His birthday is March 2nd and this year due to snow days and delays we will be celebrating him tomorrow.  We will work on patterns by making Cat in the Hat hats that are red and white striped, we will work on counting by putting fish in a bowl after reading One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, we will write recipes after reading Green Eggs and Ham, we will also practice rhyming with a song and a game.  The song is one I learned from another educator but I took it and turned it into an interactive smart notebook file.  Students sing the song with you and then choose the word that rhymes.  Here is the link to the Dr. Seuss smart board song.The song is sung to Do your Ears Hang Low.  If the link doesn't work, or you are not a smart board type of person, below are the lyrics.....

Oh, Dr Seuss is a really silly guy
He likes to say things that rhyme all the time
If I said ______
Then he'd probably say _________
Oh, Dr Seuss

Have fun celebrating Dr. Seuss!

QR codes in action

This is another set of QR codes I made which link to pictures of sets of objects.  Students scanned each one, then they counted the set, build a set of that many and placed the QR code card next to that number.  It helped them to practice counting sets, building sets, identifying numbers, and using technology.  It was a powerful lesson, they loved watching the picture magically appear on the screen.

Snow and Sickness

Sorry there has not been anything posted lately, between snow days and sickness I just haven't gotten around to posting much.

Counting Sets 1-10 with QR codes

If you have tablets in your school a great way to use them is QR codes.  You can set the QR code to send students to a website, text, etc.  I wanted to create sets 1-10 for my students to count.  I first created a power point that had slides with a different number of animals on each slide.  Next I uploaded those pictures onto my google account.  After that I copied the image location of each picture and put the URL in QRme.com.  Then I copied each of the QR codes created and pasted them in a word document.  Next I printed the QR codes and cut them out and placed each one on a different color paper and laminated them.  Now they are ready to go.  Students used i-pads with a QR scan app on them and scanned each QR code, an image appeared on the screen and they counted the set of animals and let me know how many animal were on their screen.  They loved the magic of watching an image appear and they got experience with both counting and using technology.  Here is the link to my QR codes.

Dear Zoo

I have not posted in a while because first we had Christmas break and then we had snow after snow after snow.  But I made an effort to get a picture of something we did this week that I loved.  We have been learning about animals of all types and one of my favorite books about animals is Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. Before reading the book I gave students the instruction to pay attention to the order that the animals came.  While reading I let the students announce what animal was in each container.  They loved joining in with me and feeling like a part of the story.  Then we sequenced the story using the following story props.  Next we matched the vocabulary from the story to each animal and talked about what each word meant.  There were some great vocabulary words for pre-k students like fierce, scary, and grumpy.  During centers students responded to a writing prompt that said "I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet.  They sent me a ______."   Students were told they could use an animal from the story or one they were familiar with.  I will include some pictures of students work.