Kindergarten Teacher

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Connect Four With Google Docs

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Last month my class played tic-tac-toe live using Google Docs with our twitter friends in Montana (see here) Today we stepped up to connect four and it was a blast. I enjoyed connect four more because it is a longer game than tic-tac-toe and more kids got a chance to play. Connect four is also more challenging of a game and requires the kids to focus with all the different ways to win. Special thanks to @JonFines for making the template. You are welcome to use the template and play your own game with classes around the world using this link

Playing these games is fun but Jon and I know the kids are learning important lessons about collaborating, being respectful and digital citizenship. I love the tweet his class sent my class after the game was over.

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Perler Beads Art with Template

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I try to find ways to use Perler beads as often as I can. They are colorful, fun and really great for fine motor practice. This week I decided to pair them with some q-tip art sheets I had seen before (download them here) This activity is not as creative as I prefer their art jobs to be but overall I think it worked really well. The kids work on fine motor by practicing to put a perfect sized dot of glue in each circle, when they pick up and place the bead and of course cleaning up all the beads after the center is over.

Here are three other posts I have about Perler beads…

Patterns with Perler beads

More fun with Perler beads

Fine motor with Perler beads

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Just Dance Disney!

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The sequel to the popular Just Dance mix is ready. Just Dance Disney, 16 fun songs to get your class moving. Click here or the image above to check them out. (find the original set here)

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Tic-Tac-Toe with Google Docs

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Last week my class had a fun experience. We used Google docs to play a live tic-tac-toe game with our twitter friends in Montana (@JonFines class) We had already played a few games with the class over an extended period of time, each taking turns and tweeting once we had played but never at the same time. That was a great way to start but the live game was amazing. As you can see from the picture they were a bit excited to win the first game. Jon’s class won the second game and he sent me a few pictures of his class playing so I could show my class their “setup.” On my side of the game I let one child decide where to move each time it was our turn. The entire class was scheming and planning on how to win but the one child had the final choice each turn. The picture below shows our setup. We are already scheming what is next for our two classes, my ultimate goal is to have Kindergarten kids playing chess against friends across the world.

Here is a link to the Tic-Tac-Toe Template. You are welcome to copy this to your google docs and use. Thanks to Jon for creating it!

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The Next Frank Lloyd Wright?

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I gave my class a fairly simple project this week. The job was to try to build the tallest structure they could using popsicle sticks and hot glue. Yes, we use hot glue a lot (see here.) Each group (2-3 kids) could only make one structure so they had to work together.

I know these types of activities foster creativity and I know they enhance learning but I don’t often get clear proof of these facts. If you look at the picture above the structures are in placed in the order they were built, meaning the structure on the left was the first group and the one on the right was the last group. It is not a coincidence that each group (spread over 3 days) was able to build their structure larger than the group before.  As with any fun activity in the room all the kids were paying attention to this center as they worked in other centers. The heard the excitement when the second group figured out how to get a stick to stand vertical. They walked by and talked about how the structure need support sticks (in kindergarten language) to keep it from falling over. They were thinking of their own ideas as they waited for their turn. Beyond that they had a challenge to try to do more than the group before them. Am I training the next Frank Lloyd Wright? Probably not, but we won’t know unless we give them opportunities to find their passions.

Do you have similar activities for your room? I would appreciate you sharing if so, I know I want to include more of these type of activities in my class!

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9 Things To Do During Spring Break

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My 17 things to do during winter break post was fairly popular so I decided to make a list for spring break also. The kids stay home for nine days (including the weekends) so here is a list of 9 things to do during the break…

1. Take pictures all week and create a spring break book to share with the class. You can print the pictures and make a paper book or use a computer or iPad to make the story.

2. Make a picture graph of food sorted by color. Look through magazines, find pictures online or color your own. After you finish the graph try one new food from each color group. (challenge: make a pie graph also)

3. Create a new animal. Use your imagination or combine features of your favorite animals. Draw this new animal in its habitat and write three interesting facts about the new animal.

4. Have a picnic with your family. If possible find a fun park to visit but even a picnic in the backyard will work.

5. Research about another country. It can be a country important to your family or even a place you want to visit. Learn about their clothes, shelter, food, symbols, flag, and animals that live there.

6. Go fishing… or at least feed the fish and explore a pond, creek or lake.

7. Learn something new like… ride a bike, tie shoes, fold laundry, cook a meal, how to sew, how to draw or build something. Dont give up!

8. Plant something! Start a garden or even just a small pot of flowers and estimate how long until they start growing.

9. Record the temperature every hour for one day. You can look online or use a thermometer. How will you record the data? How did the temperature change during the day? Why did it change?

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