Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

I have seen a lot of blog posts on Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. There are so many great activities to do with this story. I thought I'd share the things that we do in our class.

Of course, we start by reading the book.



Then we make our own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Trees. My first few years teaching I traced all of the leaves ahead of time, since we do this the second week of school and I usually don't start teaching my students to use tracers until September. Thankfully, one of my teammates had the brilliant idea of copying the leaves on green paper (why didn't I think of that?).  It's a total time saver.



I used to have my students use foam letters to spell our their names. This year I let them choose their favorite letters. I think they came out really cute!

In the past I've had my students draw a picture of their favorite part of the story. This year I spiced it up a little bit by asking them to choose their favorite letter. They were so sweet about trying to figure out which letter they liked best. The first letter of their own names seems to have been a popular choice.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Favorite Letter Writing

After we finish I hang them in the hallway. They look so cute! When they come down I save them for the children's end of the year scrapbooks.

I also like to incorporate science into our unit. Since we start off our year learning about our five senses I incorporate science by having my students observe a coconut. We begin by observing the outside of the coconut.

The students look at the coconut, feel the coconut, smell the coconut, and listen to the coconut (we shake it to hear the milk swishing around and we hit it against our tables to hear the sound it makes).

We record our observations on a chart that is divided into 5 columns (one for each of the senses).
Unfortunately I did not take any photos of our chart. After making the class chart the students record their observations, using the sheet below. They draw a picture of the outside of the coconut, and complete a sentence that describes the coconut.
Coconut Observation Sheet

After this we crack the coconut open. My students look forward to doing this all week. In fact, this year they were very concerned when I loaned my hammer to another class the morning we were supposed to crack it open. I had to reassure them that we would get our hammer back. J 

After we crack it open we look at the coconut milk. Then we observe the inside of the coconut using our 5 senses, including taste. Then we record our observations on the class chart. Lastly, the students complete the bottom of their observation sheet by drawing a picture of the inside of the coconut and finishing a sentence that describes it.





Five Senses-Introduction

 

I love teaching science! I have worked at two science centers (one during college and another during graduate school), and these experiences helped me to see how easy it is to make science fun and understandable for young students. I think Kindergarten is a great time to start getting students excited about science.
I like to start the year off by teaching my students about the 5 senses. I start by telling them that we are going to be scientists this year, and that part of being a scientist is making observations. I tell them that observations are exploring things using our five senses.

Then we go over each of our five senses. We point to our eyes for sight, our nose for smell, and our ears for hearing. We stick out our tongues for tasting, and we rub our fingers together for touch.

Then I read this book my Aliki, which is a great introduction to using our 5 senses,

I will be posting some of the five senses activities we do soon.

I Bought A Laminator!



I finally broke down and bought a Scotch Thermal Laminator. I have been dreaming about getting one for the past few months. Several of my co-workers have them, and they absolutely love them. One of my

co-workers let me use hers before school started, and I was hooked.

Making a Wal-mart run to purchase my laminator was the first thing I did after getting payed this week. I can't wait to laminate new center games, sight word cards, and classroom labels! I think I may need a lamination intervention by the end of the week.



I'll be posting Scott Foresman Homework for 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5 soon. I'm off to laminate now!. See you soon :).

Scott Foresman Homework Unit 1 Week 2

This is the I used homwork for Scott Foresman Unit 1 Week 2. I am trying to work out a better way to post, because the handwriting lines don't seem to come through Scribd neatly. Any suggestions?

Homework. 1.2

Scott Foresman Homework Unit 1 Week 1

This is the homework I send home with my students each week. The language arts homework goes along with the skills that we are working on in our Scott Foresman unit. The homework below goes along with Unit 1 Week 1 (we will be on Unit 1 Week 3 this week, so I'll be posting more soon). The last page is math and goes along with the skills we are working on in class.
Homework 1.1

Note: Some of the dotted lines don't come out right when I upload my documents to Scribd. If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know. Thanks :).

Class Handbook for Parents

After my first year teaching I went to a conference where Harry Wong was speaking. During his presentation he stressed  having clear policies and procedures in place for both students and parents. He also discussed the importance of documentation. After the presentation I decided I wanted to have a class handbook for parents.

I already had an introductory letter that I had adapted from a co-worker the year before. I used this letter as the basis for my handbook, and added more detailed explanations of my class policies and procedures.  I edit the handbook before the start of each school year.
Policies and Procedures for Parents

I include an acknowledgement sheet for parents to sign.
Handbook Sign Sheet

I put my handbook into a 3 pronged pocket folder. This allows me to put a copy of my class welcome letter and a student information card in the front and the acknowledgement form in the back. I put the handbook pages into page protectors. I think this looks nice and keeps them from tearing up. I also include a list of snacks and recipes that was provided to us by our school district.

I put a label on the front of the folder.

I send the handbooks home on the first day of school,  and ask that parents return the acknowledgment sheet and student information card by the end of the week.  I always make extra handbooks to have for new students who come in later in the year. It is nice to be able to provide them information about our class immediately, and I think it helps to make them feel more comfortable.

Welcome Letter

This is the letter that I give to incoming parents at our start of the school year social, which takes place the week before school begins. It provides general information about our class, and  gives parents an idea of what to expect on the first day of school.

Welcome Letter

On the first day of school I send home a class handbook with details about class policies and  procedures (I'll post a copy of that soon). I  also include a copy of this welcome letter with the handbook to ensure that parents who missed the social receive a copy. I think this letter helps set a nice tone for the school year.