As Promised...

I mentioned in my last post that I was working on a song poster to go with the Five Silly Monsters song book.  Well, it's done!  I love using interactive song posters in my classroom and my kiddos typically wear them out at centers. Here is the final semi-final product (I need to 'cutsie' it up a bit with some type of border when I can get into my classroom and get all of my craft goodies)

If you read my last post, you know that I bought monster puppets to use with this song, but I know not everyone is a shop-a-holic retail investigator.  I scoured Teachers Pay Teachers to find free monster puppets to share with you all, but came back empty handed (imagine the sad look on my face).  So, off to Google I went.  Google has and knows everything, right?!?  I got SUPER excited when I found some HERE at NickJr for, drumroll,... freeee!  Here is my disclaimer about these masks/puppets...They are from the show Yo Gabba Gabba which I also researched to learn is targeted toward preschool age children.  You KNOW what that means!  If the kids recognize the monsters, they may turn up their noses.  My cartoon challenged self has learned by experience that kids are VERY particular about their cartoons, wink wink!  End disclaimer.  As I was saying,  I think they are cute and would work as an added manipulative for the song.  

In addition to a counting or subtracting lesson, this song can be used for those weird five to ten minute time slots that tend to pop up from time to time before lunch or specials.  If you're in like, or love, grab this poster by clicking on the picture or on the TPT button located in the left side bar. 

Monster Monday

Happy Monday! 

I spent part of my weekend doing what I do best…shopping!  I can’t pass up a good bargain, especially when the item is beyond CUTE, so these monster puppets were a must have!

I bought these for $1.49 each at Michaels craft store.  

Now that I have these adorable monster puppets, I had to have a song to go with them.  I created this song that can be sung to the tune of “Five Little Ducks.”

Visual, hands-on learning is so important for Kindergartners.  Some students can act out the song using the puppets while the others use math manipulatives, or create a visual representation in their journals or on dry erase boards.  This provides the perfect opportunity to discuss what is happening in the song and touch on the Common Core State Standard that requires students to represent and solve addition/subtraction word problems.
After singing and acting out the song numerous times, the song book and puppets can be placed at a center for students to continue to practice reading with fluency and prosody. 

Pop on over to my Teachers Pay Teachers store, or click on the picture below, to grab the book for FREE!

I am currently working on poster size text, with numbers that can be manipulated, to make a song poster.  Check back in the next day or two to grab those, too!

Remind 101 Parent Letter

Alright, here I go with the Remind 101 parent letter, tips, and a bunch of other info.  First off, here is what the app looks like

When you download the FREE (who doesn't love free?!) app, you will create a group.  Each group that you create will be given a phone number and special message that parents will use to subscribe to the text reminders.  

You will need to write that information on the parent letter.  

Since I will be teaching half day Kindergarten this year (yikes!), I was able to create a group for both my AM and PM sessions.  Remember, you will be given different messages for each group so be sure to write the correct message for each group on the parent letter.  

A few notes about the app that I’ve learned so far.... 

One, you can schedule reminders to be sent out in the future so that YOU don’t have to remember to send out reminders!  If your memory is anything like mine, this is an Uh-Mazing feature!

Two, when parents choose to receive text reminders they simply become part of the group you created, so you can’t respond to individual parents/questions.  I personally think this is a great feature in order to maintain the purpose of the text (reminder only).  Don't forget to grab the parent letter below on my TPT page and add it to your beginning of the year parent packet.