3, 2, 1 BLAST OFF!

It's Friday night and here I am blogging about our AWESOME space week that we had. It was so much fun that 3tKteam has decided to extend our space one week longer. The kids are loving it and keep asking questions wanting to learn more. There are also so many fun things you can do with space these days. Oh, how we love it!

The kids read books about comets to astronauts on the moon and they were just thrilled! I quick snapped a pick of Space 3 Sounds of -ed from one of our small group teacher times during our Daily 5. They loved it! (I don't know if it was the absolutely adorable little aliens that they liked or feeling like big readers.)

We also read a story about the several theories of the existence of aliens. Then, the kids loved writing about the day they would get to have a pet alien. It was such a fun way to tap into their imagination. Haha! I can't help but giggle as I think about what they wrote. Oh... the silliness! Check out this and more space writing activities HERE.

Another skill that we have been reviewing this week was addition. We decided to touch on doubles facts since that is an expectation that the students will have in 1st grade. Might as well get a head start, right!?! Well we started it all with our Space Doubles Facts Book. We spent some time talking about the different ways to read number sentences and then practiced our double facts. The kids especially loved quizzing their peers on their facts. Oh, how they love playing teacher. It was so cute!

Patterns, patterns, and more patterns. That is what we love and can't get enough of. So why not make star patterns. The kids had fun doing it AND it was a great way to review our patterns.

Please check back next week to see how we implement more fun into our Space theme. We also have these activities (and free ones, too) on our Teachers Pay Teachers Site. Check us out!

It's Pizza Time!

Okay... So, we all love sitting down with our own children and asking them how their day went. Often times it includes any funny or special things they did during their day, what they ate for lunch at school and the Pepperoni Report. Simply put in the words of a five year old, "Who got in trouble today."

Yes, we all love pizza. Who doesn't? 

Well in our Kindergarten classrooms we have a behavior management system that is often talked about for years after their first year in school. Each student creates their pizza on the first day of school and it is posted on the bulletin board closest to the door. 

At the start of each day the students start with a 4 pepperoni pizza. For those students that need extra reminders throughout the day to display desired behaviors, they are asked to pull a pepperoni off their pizza. Their shoulders often drop to their toes and their head hangs in disappointment. Oh... the pain in pulling off a pepperoni! It is so hard!

 At the end of the day we take just a few quick minutes to reflect on their behavior. Those that lost a pepperoni end up having a discussion about the unwanted behaviors and parents are contacted if needed.

For those students that keep all 4 pepperonis on their pizza (which happens to most students on a daily basis), they earn a Pizza Point. It is our classroom $$$ system that the students use to buy fun prizes as a reward.

When setting this up at the beginning of the year I explain to my students that their job is to be a good listener when they are at school. Just like their grown-ups, they will get paid for doing their job. They can then use their money to buy things. Just remember if you have this discussion with 5 year olds their answers may not be censored when you ask them what their parents buy with money!!! ... Oh how we love Kindergarten!

Hello, World!

Hey, Y'all! Yes, we just said y'all and we are from one of the states bordering Canada. We are just that excited to kick off our new blog for all our many followers to see.

As you can see we are the 3tKteam. That is short for 3 Teacher Kindergarten Team and much faster and easier to say. The three of us have over 20 years of teaching experience (combined) and thought it was time that we started sharing some of the work we do.

We all LOVE our job and strive to push ourselves professionally each day. So, come along for the ride and follow us on this journey of all the funs things we do in our Kindergarten classrooms. It is a blast and we hope you are ready for all the fun we have!