Telling Time & Number Test with Marc

Today, Marc was my teacher helper. He reviewed telling time with the girls and also number word flashcards. During the numbers test, he was available to help the girls if they had a question on anything. After he graded the papers, he did a great job giving the girls positive feedback and assistance if they got anything wrong. :-)

Numbers Class with Destiny

It's been quite some time since I had a teacher helper in the classroom. It is not for lack of asking on THEIR part, that's for sure! Every day I was enthusiastically asked, "Who is your teacher helper going to be today?!" However, with all the craziness of February with multiple snow days, I just couldn't get it worked out.

Today, though, I promised them that I would start the teacher helper schedule back up. Destiny was quite excited to be the one selected. It was even more exciting for her because today the elementary students had "occupational dress-up day", and she just so happened to dress up as a teacher. She had her very own pointer and everything! :-)

Destiny loved helping during Numbers class. She helped the girls with number flashcard review, count by 5's, work on their addition families, and then even assisted them with their test. She even graded their test papers for me!

Dime Store with Michelle

Yesterday Michelle was my teacher helper. She was the saleslady at our "dime store". In Numbers class we had been reviewing the dime and how to count by 10's. The girls were able to cut out some dimes and put them in their piggy bank along with the pennies already there. One of my girls actually suggested the idea of having a dime store that day, and since it seemed like perfect timing, that is exactly what we did! Michelle figured out which each item would cost, and then she really got into her "saleslady" role by asking the girls in a mature voice, "And what can I get for you, madam?" It was quite cute!

Before the girls got started at the dime store, we had to practice counting by 10's one more time (and why not capture the moment on video?!).....

Rainbow Chalk Numbers with Julia

Today Julia was my teacher helper. She would show the girls a flashcard, the girls would count the number of objects on the card, figure out how many, and then write that on their chalkboard. The rainbow chalk was used for this occasion, which made it even more fun!

In reality, though, I think there was more time spent deciding on which chalk color to use and admiring how "chalky" their hands were getting rather than actually writing the numbers. Ahhh, yes, teaching Kindergarten girls is so much fun! :-)

Calendar Puzzles with Samantha

Samantha was my teacher helper today. She came up with the idea to make puzzles for the girls. I gave her some old calendars, and she spent quite some time cutting out the pictures, gluing them on cardstock paper, and drawing some lines across the pictures. She then had the girls cut out the pieces, and then try to put the pictures back together. It was a great fine motor activity for them!

ABC Matching with Jacob

Yesterday Jacob was my teacher helper. He set up an ABC matching game in the classroom across the hall. On the one side of the room, there were capital letter cards, and on the other side were the lowercase letter cards. The girls would flip over 2 cards in both piles during their turn and hopefully find a match.

Jacob was rather overwhelmed by the enthusiasm my girls displayed when they actually got a match. At one point he asked me, "Is this normal behavior for them?"

Yes, Jacob....it is :-) Welcome to my world!

Junior Boggle & Paper Snowflakes with Anna

After a 2 1/2 week Christmas break, both the Kindergarten teacher and her girls were ready for school to begin again today! Now if we can get back into a routine again... :-)

Today Anna was my teacher helper. She played a quick round of Junior Boggle with the girls. Basically, before the buzzer went off, the girls had to try and make a 3 letter word with letter dice. It was a good way for them to quickly find a correct letter and the proper letter sequence of a word. 

And then it was time to cut out our paper snowflakes. We wanted to make the classroom look like winter with snowflakes everywhere! I had already cut paper into circles, so all the girls had to do was fold up the paper and start cutting out designs.

The table soon became covered with little white pieces of paper everywhere.... :-)

But the results were quite cute!!!

Our classroom is officially decorated for winter now!

Christmas Tree "Hot Potato" with Grace

Grace was my teacher helper today. She did a Christmas tree "hot potato" blend game with the girls. With Christmas music playing in the background, the girls passed Christmas trees cards with blends on them around in a circle. When Grace stopped the music, if they had a certain blend, they had to shout "Christmas Tree!" She then turned the game into a "musical chair/spoons" experience. She would put the Christmas trees in the middle of the circle and then the girls would have to grab them when the music stopped playing. Whoever didn't get a blend would have to leave the circle. Hope eventually won that game through the process of elimination. :-)

Christmas Present Word Hunt with Juliana

Yesterday Juliana was my teacher helper. She hid Christmas present letters in the hallway and the classrooms across the hall. The girls were each given a card with a word on it, and they had to hunt for the Christmas present letters that made up the word on their card. My girls always enjoy scavenger hunts!

Christmas M&M Words with Leah

Today Leah was my teacher helper. She gave each girl a cup of Christmas M&Ms. The girls then tried to form 1 or 2 words with the M&Ms. Of course, they were quite anxious to enjoy the delicious little chocolate bites, so while some munched and some finished up forming their words, Leah did a quick blend review with the girls.

"Stepping Stones" with Stephen

Stephen was my teacher helper today. Honestly, I didn't plan for the game to alliterate so well with his name! I gave Stephen cards numbered 1-50, and he created "stepping stones" throughout the hallway and one of the other classrooms. The girls had to follow the "stones" in the correct numerical order. They did it all together the first round, but then they each had their separate turn.

Stephen giving instructions...

Following the yellow brick road...errr...number cards!

They counted out loud as they followed the stepping "stones". Of course they wanted to see how quickly they could get through all the numbers!

Do-A-Dot Number Painting with Abbi

Abbi was my teacher helper during Numbers class today. The 70 family was being introduced, so Abbi wrote 70-79 on paper, and the girls used their do-a-dot paint to trace over all the numbers. They then arranged the numbers in the correct order on the floor. Abbi mixed them up one more time, but the girls still did great putting them back in the correct order!

Turkey Hunting with Jordan

Today Jordan was my teacher helper. He hid a bunch of turkeys in the room across the hall. There was a Pilgrim on our chalkboard who was very hungry, and needed some help turkey hunting for his Thanksgiving meal. The girls had made Indian hats earlier, so they pretended to be the Indians who helped the Pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving. Jordan would show one of the girls a word on a flashcard, they would sound it out, and then they would go across the hall to go "turkey hunting". When they found one of the hidden turkeys, they would bring it back and put it on the board next to the Pilgrim. By the time we were done, that Pilgrim had 20 turkeys next to him. Do you think that was enough turkeys for the Pilgrim's Thanksgiving meal? :-)

Penny Store & Number Magnets with Emaline

Today Emaline was my teacher helper during Numbers class. She was the "sales lady" at our "penny store". I put price tags on different items in the classroom, and the girls used their paper pennies they had cut out awhile ago to "buy" the items at the store.

Once we were done with the penny store, Emaline did some number magnets with the girls. She put the number magnets on the cookie sheet, and the girls would have to arrange them in the correct order. She also would take a couple of numbers away, and the girls would have to figure out which one was missing.

Sun Matching with Destiny

Today Destiny was my teacher helper. The girls matched capital letters with small letters on magnetic sun cards. The girls loved having Destiny in the classroom, and before she left, they had a group hug! :-)

"Fly Swatting" with Marc

Marc was my teacher helper today. We played a "fly swatting" letter game. I had made some cards with both a picture of a fly on them and a letter. In the room across the hall, Marc taped these fly cards all over the place. He would show the girls either a blend or word, the girls would sound it out, and then they would go around the room with a fly swatter, swatting at all the "flies" that made up that blend or word. It was quite fun! There were "fly letters" on desks, the door, the bulletin board, the bookshelf, the white board, the trash can, the window sill...it was quite the infestation of flies!

Background story to this activity: We had a problem with 2 flies in our classroom. Mr. & Mrs. Buzzy refused to leave! The girls discovered my fly swatter, and were determined to put an end to Mr. & Mrs. Buzzy. I am not sure what happened to Mrs. Buzzy, but Ayme was quite excited the one day to successfully swat Mr. Buzzy!!

Magnet Shape Numbers with Michelle

When Samantha was my teacher helper, I forgot to mention that she was Ayme and Alyssa's big sister. Well, today Michelle was my teacher helper, and she is also their big sister! We brought out the magnet shapes, and Michelle gave each of the girls a number to create on the chalkboard with the magnet shapes. Some girls had big numbers...some had small!

ABC Leaves & ABC Cookies with Julia

Today Julia was my teacher helper. She handed out ABC leaf cards randomly to each of the girls. She would then call out a letter, and whichever girl had it would have to slide the leaf card  through the straw Julia was holding. {Each card had a hole punch in it.}

The next game was ABC cookies. Each girl had 4 cards with letters that they had to find inside the ABC "cookie jar". During their turn they would use a spinner to see if they could pick 1 or 2 ABC "cookies" out of the jar, or if they could trade "cookies" with another player. Whoever found all 4 of their ABC "cookies" first was the winner!

Painting with Samantha

Today Samantha was my teacher helper. She has been looking forward to this day for a LONG time! :-) She had it all planned out what she wanted to do with the girls - PAINT! She had the girls paint the entire alphabet and also numbers 1-20. She wrote out the letters and numbers on separate paper, and the girls painted over them with the 4 paint colors they had picked out.

The stack of papers Samantha had in her hand quickly diminished as the girls eagerly painted their numbers and letters.

The Finished Products!!!!

Building Blocks with Jacob

Jacob was my teacher helper today. Each of the girls had blocks on their desk. Jacob would show them a letter that could actually be made with rectangle blocks, and the girls would "build" their letter. After that, Jacob pointed to blend flashcards on the chalkboard, and the girls picked 2 blocks when they said the correct blend. They had fun building with their blocks at their desks!