End of the Day in a Kindergarten Classroom

Are you stressed out with the end of the school day craziness in Kindergarten?

What's happening at the end of the day in Kindergarten? Why does it always end up a little chaotic?

Here are just a few of the reasons...

• Last minute after-school transportation changes
• Getting folders ready to go home
• Someone needs to go to the bathroom....the milk they drank at lunch has finally caught up with them. :)
• Someone is being picked up early from school (doctor, dentist, etc.)
• Last minute notes need to be written to parents
• Tired kids
• Tired teacher
• And, that's just a few!

So, is that enough to make a Kindergarten classroom a little CRAZY?  Absolutely! 

You are not ALONE!

Are you looking for a solution to help the end of the day run a little smoother?

Here are some suggestions!  No, these will not work for every teacher in every classroom.  The most critical rule when being a teacher is to be FLEXIBLE right? Nothing works all the time, every time.  If you are a first year teachers, remember FLEXIBILITY!! If you have been teaching for awhile, I'm sure you have already realized this, but a reminder always helps! :) You have to allow you, your classroom and your plans to be flexible to keep up with the ever changing needs of you kiddos.

So, although all of the details may not work for everyone, here are some ideas that have worked in my classroom and I hope they might work for you.  I hope they at least lead you on a path to find what works for you to create an end of the day atmosphere that allows each day to end on a happy note!

TOP THREE TIPS FOR THE END OF THE DAY IN KINDERGARTEN:

1.) HAVE A KINDERGARTEN PLAN:

It is so important to anticipate that things will most likely get a little chaotic at the end of the day.  Be ready for it and make a plan.

2.) CREATE AN END OF THE DAY ROUTINE:

Routine, routine routine...your five year olds  like to always know what is coming next. So, most importantly, by the end of the day, when their listening ears are a little worn out, it is important to have a routine that is the same EVERY day for the last thirty minutes.  This allows the expectations to already be in place and you are not having to give directions to a rowdy and energetic class of 24 Kindergarteners! AHHH!

If you already have a set routine in place, students know what to do without you having to tell them.  Will they need some reminders?  Sure, but a gentle reminder of the daily routine usually works and they are back on track.

3.) MAKE IT SIMPLE:

Do not plan a complicated craft, project or activity at the end of the day.  There have been years and days that I have saved my theme activities until the end of the day and we would end the day with a craft or project.  Some years, this works okay.  However, other years, this leaves things a little hectic!

Students have glue, paper, and scissors out, making it difficult to clean up quickly.  If there is a last minute problem or something comes up, then it is more difficult to handle it with all of the supplies out everywhere.  Also, students have to be on task to listen to step by step directions for the always changing activity.  For some students, this is TOO much at the end of the day, and it leads to frustration for the teacher and the student.  Completing complicated tasks at the end of the day also does not allow any time for uncompleted tasks to be finished.  For students that are working at a different level than their peers, they may need more time to finish.  Often it is hard to pick up where you left off when you have to start over the following day.  Instead, move these multi-step tasks and projects to an earlier time in the day.

So, how do you have a plan, create a routine and make it simple?  Well, here is what works for me.  It might work for you, or you might need to adjust it to fit your classroom needs.  This is just one suggestion to adapt to your classroom.

MY SCHEDULE:

• 1:45 - 2:15 - My students have quiet time or rest time from 1:45 - 2:15 each day.  This is my time to prepare folders, complete individual assessments,  or work with a small group or an individual student.

• 2:15 - By 2:15, I make sure that I have all of the take home folders, and all of the behavior calendars prepared for the day as well (behavior calendars go home each day with students in their take home folders).

• 2:15 - 2:45 - Students use this last 30 minutes of the day to work in their LEARNING CENTER.  I have six centers that change throughout the year.  I change both the centers and what is in the centers based on the time of the year and what the students need to work on. While students are at centers, I call students to the prize box (Students receive a prize for every five green days they earn, so not every student earns a prize on the same day). Also, while students are at centers, I put all of their folders at their tables.  This way, when they return from centers, their folders are waiting for them.  It saves A LOT of time!

• 2:45 - I signal the students to clean up.  Once their center is cleaned up, they know to return to their table and wait for everyone in the class to be cleaned up.  Once all students have returned to their tables, I do a quick center check.  As I check each center, the students that worked at that particular center for the day are dismissed from their table to get packed up (just putting their folder in their backpack) and have a seat in their carpet square.  

• 2:50 - Carpet Time - By now, all centers are cleaned up, students are packed up and the class is sitting on the carpet in their assigned carpet square.  We wrap up the last five minutes of class with a Go Noodle activity.  I use the energy of the class to determine the GoNoodle activity that I select for the day.  For example, if the class has a lot of energy and is having a hard time using self-control, we complete a FLOW activity to try and calm down a little.  This really allows me to get the students back on track for the last 5 minutes of class. While students are engaged with GoNoodle, I quietly put up the chairs on the tables for the evening.

• 2:55- Our first group of bus riders are dismissed at 2:55.  We say a quick good-bye using one of our rhyming good-bye phrases and they head to their bus. Next, my car riders line up, and the second group of bus riders.  The students are usually calmed down or have gotten some energy out during GoNoodle, so this really helps them wait in line patiently.  My car riders are dismissed after a quick good-bye, and then I walk my bus riders to their bus lines, give them a quick good-bye and the day is COMPLETE!

So, is this a FOOL PROOF, WORKS EVERY TIME method?  Well, no, not exactly.  If you're a teacher, you know that nothing ever is!  However, I hope this might help give you some ideas about how to rearrange your end of the day in Kindergarten to make it a little calmer, easier to manage and happier for you and your amazing Kinders!

Kindergarten Fall Activities

Are You Looking For Kindergarten Fall Activities?

Happy Fall Y'all!

Here are some great ways to break up your day and have some fun with your Kinders and the new season.  Fall is finally here!!!  Fall is my favorite season and I absolutely love all of the fun we have in Kindergarten during this time of the year. So, what's happening in our Kindergarten classroom right now? Well...we have finally all settled in...I think! :)  The first month is so busy with just getting into the routine of everything.  I think that my sweet class has now all gotten to know each other and works well together! We do usually have new students throughout the year in our district, so we are always ready for a new friend and try to be flexible to ever changing schedules as well!  I have spent time over this last month figuring out what works for my students this year and what fits our schedule the best. Here are a few of the things that we will be busy doing over the next month.

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins! 

• I love to incorporate pumpkins into our lessons this time of the year.  Students love to learn about pumpkins, weigh them, compare/contrast them, write about and draw pumpkins and make pumpkin crafts!

• We research and  make a pumpkin anchor chart that hangs in our classroom for students to reference throughout the month during writing activities.

• We use the information from our pumpkin chart to make these cute little pumpkins books!

• Here is a close-up of their pumpkin books. I use this activity to teach labeling and sentence writing.

• This pumpkin poem is great for all kinds of word activities during the season. Students mix up and sort out the words during center time.  I also have a worksheet that students, cut, paste and glue to make the poem. 

Number Games

We use our pumpkin numbers to practice number recognition. The little ghost "hides" behind a number and students take turns guessing a number and peeking behind the pumpkin to see if the ghost is hiding there.  They all write the guessed numbers on a recording sheet which helps to practice printing numbers as well.  The students get such a kick out of trying to find the hiding ghost! I adapt this game to all seasons with different items (ex. the present hides behind a tree in December, the turkey hides behind the pumpkin pie in November).

Kindergarten Owls

• Making these owls is one of my favorite fall crafts.  I have displayed them on our bulletin board a couple of different ways in the past.  The owls are a template that I just copy of different colored paper so the students simply cut and glue for this activity. If you would like a copy of the template, I would be happy to send it to you! Just send me an e-mail!

Fall Family Projects

These are a few of our family pumpkins.  Each month, there is a different themed project that is sent home for families to create together and return to class.  When these projects come back to school, students use their "Superstar Speaking" and "Superstar Listening" skills to share the projects in class

Kindergarten Halloween Crafts

• We always end the month of October with these cute ghosts!  I love how different and unique they all turn out. :)

• These colorful candy corns decorate our classroom in the fall as well.  This is a simple torn paper craft that is great for building and strengthening those little finger muscles! Tear and glue, tear and glue!

These activities are in addition to our daily language arts lessons that follow "Journeys" and our daily math lessons from "My Math"! My Math and Journeys continues throughout the year in our classroom, but I like to incorporate some activities that also coordinate with the seasons and holidays too!

So, that's it in a nutshell...that's what will be happening in our classroom during the month of October. If you would like to check out my daily schedule, and more information about our language arts and math pacing, keep an eye out for my upcoming blog post!

Spring Rainbows

Every month, my Kindergarten students take home a "Family Homework Project" to complete with their families. This activity encourages conversation and excitement about our theme for the month with parents and siblings at home.  When the students bring the completed project to class, we take time to share the creations.  We focus on speaking and listening standards when sharing these family projects.  Students practice being "Superstar Listeners" and Superstar Speakers" during our share time.  This is something we have worked on building and improving upon all year. This anchor chart helps us stay on track and remember the expectations for speaking and listening.

 For the month of March, our family project was Kindergarten Rainbows.  The students and families did a great job coming up with creative ways to decorate their rainbows.  These creations are a bright addition to our hallway bulletin board! Thank you to all of the families for their continued support of our monthly projects! The students love to share their creations with their friends!  How do you encourage family involvement in your Kindergarten classrooms?  I would love to hear new ways to increase the school-home connection!

Catching Up!

Sorry it has been awhile since I had a chance to update our blog!  We have been busy in Kindergarten.  We finished up our letter of the day program at the end of October.  We spent time last week learning about fall and reviewing all that we learned in September!

It was so great to see all of the parents and families at Parent-Teacher Conferences last week and to talk about all of the progress our students are making in Kindergarten!

This week, we will continue our Fall them for the month of October.  We all began our letter of the week program this week.  We will be learning about the letter Aa and apples this week.  Since Aa is one of our vowels, we will be recognizing the two different sounds that Aa can make and be listening for that sound in words.

Last week, our first Pre-Decodable book (The Park) came home.  These books are from our Open Court reading series and will be coming home almost every week.  We use these books to learn our sight words and practice reading them in class.  This week, our book will be Lunch.  We will work with these books all week and then they will be sent home on Friday.  These books along with any other Emergent Reader books should be placed in your child's Reading Treasure Box at home and they can be read at home together.  Please let me know if you have any questions about these books as the year progresses. 

Happy Friday!!

Today, the students were very busy in the morning with letter work and working on writing.  They spent time writing in their journals and time putting various alphabet cards in order.  Here is a picture of a few in progress below!  They did a great job.  We are working on completing this task faster and faster each time to increase fluency.

Students have increased their stamina this week!  They are successfully completing "Read to Self" for 4 minutes!  Way to go!  Next week, our goal is to be able to read to self for a total of 10 minutes by the end of the week!

I know a lot of you are working on Reading Treasure Boxes at home with your child for the September Family Homework Project.  We will try and share these on the day they are brought into school.  However, sometimes we will have to keep them at school an extra day or so until we have time to share them.  This beautiful treasure box was brought in by a friend today.  We had planned on formally sharing it today, but were busy this afternoon and didn't have time. :(  It was so fun to see the excitement from the students when the box was brought to the classroom! We will share this box on Monday as well as any other boxes that are brought in.  I hope you are having fun with this project! Enjoy your weekend with your family and remember to fill in the September Reading Log each time you read to your child at home!

Tuesday, September 13

Building Stamina

Today, one of our focus areas was learning how to "Read to Self".  This will be part of our small group rotations soon.  Right now, we are practicing doing this correctly.  Students learned they need to select an area quickly, read quietly, and get started right away.  Along with the expectations for read to self, we discussed that we want to build the amount of time that we "read to self" as the year progresses ~ build our stamina!  Since this is a new skill, I set the timer for 2 minutes and I monitored the students.  I know 2 minutes doesn't sound like a lot, but there can be so many distractions in a Kindergarten classroom, so doing this effectively for 2 minutes is a big deal and I was super proud of them! :) Each day, we will add a little bit of time as we work on this skill as a whole group.  Once the students have built a little stamina, then this will be used during small group.  This is part of the Daily 5 program and I  love incorporating this into our daily small groups. 

**MATH HOMEWORK: There is a math homework sheet in your child's folder today (writing 4 & 5).  Please help him/her complete and return to school.  Thanks!

Week 4 of Kindergarten

Monday, September 12

Today, our letter of the week was letter Jj. We listened to our letter Jj song, read our Jj sound box book, and practiced writing the letter Jj.  During small group time, students are often working with the letters of the alphabet. Here are a few of the acitivities they did today with the letters.

All of our students are readers!  We learned today that all of the students in our class can read.  A few of them told me, "No, I can't read yet" when I told them this. :)  However, we learned today that there are actually three ways to read a book!  Yes, three!  The three ways to read a book are to read the pictures, read the words, or retell the story.  Reading the pictures and retelling familiar stories are great ways to get beginning readers to build self-confidence and later move onto reading words.  We will be practicing a lot of picture reading and retelling in class.  

Finally, this afternoon, the class had fun using watercolors to paint jellyfish.  These will dry this evening and we will finish them tomorrow.  Have a great evening!

Tuesday - Letter Ff

Tuesday, September 6

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a relaxing three day weekend with their families! Today we began our small group rotations.  You might also see or hear me refer to this time as guided reading time, stations, work stations, etc.  Regardless of the title, it's when I am able to work with a small group of students on language arts skills and really get to know all of the kiddos!!!  I love this time and today went great!  I was so proud of the students for working quietly at their own stations while I worked with my group.  We have five rotations each day so that each child can meet with me in a small group every day! (Usually it will work out like this, but sometimes, our schedule gets a little complicated). :)  The students love it because it keeps them moving!  I know things will start to go a little smoother as we continue to work each day. 

We also introduced our first math chapter today on numbers 0-5.  You will see a lot of math papers in your child's folder today! :)  These are just the introduction papers for the book and the chapter.  There were also flash cards that came home.  These can be cut apart and reviewed at home. They do not need to return to school.  We will be working with these math vocabulary words during Chapter 1.  We will usually do one lesson per day.  We will even sometimes complete the homework at school.  I want to make sure the students have a chance to receive help in class if they need it. However, depending on time, there will sometimes be a math homework page that comes home during the week. 

Today our letter of the day was letter Ff.  Students wrote about families, drew their friends and read a fun story about a frog.  Our story was full of rhyming words and animal characters.  Ask your child about Finklehopper Frog!  See if your child can remember any of the other characters (a dog, a cat, and a rabbit). Finklehopper realized that everyone is different and he doesn't have to be like all of the other animals.  He can have fun just being himself.  We are making some Finklehopper Frogs at school that we will finish tomorrow. 

REMINDER: Thursday is Library this week.  Please return your book! 

Friday, September 2

Happy Friday! Two weeks into Kindergarten, and the students are doing great! We have spent the last two weeks reviewing a lot of expectations and routines.  I think the students got it! :)  Understanding expectations and routines makes the learning day go so much smoother! They have also all done well with learning their after school transportation, so they do NOT need to wear their bus tags any longer. 

This week, we focused on letters Aa - Ee.  Next week, we will move onto letters Ff - Ii.  At the end of each week, I will be doing a quick assessment with the students to make sure they are making progress with our letters and/or letter sounds.  This will determine what we will be working on during small groups. 

Next week, we will begin our small group rotations.  It usually takes a little while to get into the groove of small group time.  However, after about two weeks, the students are experts! :)  Small group rotations are one of my favorite times of the day!  I really get to know each student and their strengths/weaknesses during this time.  I will be in communication with you regarding how your child is progressing.

Today, we read the story, Elmer.  Elmer is a colorful elephant who decides it is much more fun to be himself, even if he is different than all of the other elephants.  The other elephants agree that different is good! :)  This story has a wonderful lesson that I enjoy sharing with the students.  Celebrating our differences is an important part of our classroom! We will finish coloring our own Elmer the Elephants on Tuesday.  Today was busy, and we ran out of time!

I hope you all have a great three day weekend.

REMINDER: Check under the "My Classroom" tab on the website to see our upcoming specials schedules. 

Wednesday, August 31

Today our letter of the day was letter Cc.  We read a cat story and made colorful cats.  The students brought these home today.  This activity focused on listening and using fine motor skills.  We played a Crocodile game with all of the alphabet letters. We will use this game to review our letters from time to time.  The class had a lot of fun finding out what letters the crocodile ate!

We also used our white boards to practice printing the letters Aa, Bb, and Cc.  We will be focusing on correct letter formation a lot during these early weeks of Kindergarten. We will use dry erase boards, chalkboards, paper and pencil and other tools to practice forming the letters. 

Today, the September Reading Log came home.  Please read to your child each day/week and color one book for each 10 minutes of reading.  Students brought home library books today, so this would be a great book to start with! :)  When students return the completed reading log at the end of the month, they will receive a small prize.  

FYI: Today we practiced our sever weather drill in the afternoon. 

Tuesday, August 30

Today our letter of the day was Bb.  We practiced making the letter Bb and listening for its sound.  We played a Hidden Bumblebee number game with the numbers 1 - 10 and then the students made a bear parade of numbers 1 - 10.  These came home today.  The class practiced following directions, coloring, cutting and gluing during our bus activity.  The buses are decorating our classroom door.  They did a great job! 

We practiced our fire drill this afternoon.  We continue to work on giving everyone a chance to use the Chrome Books.  The students are doing a great job with them so far!

Reminders: 

Tomorrow is Library

If you would like to order from the Scholastic Book Order, please order online with our classroom code before September 2 at 3 pm. 

Character Rock T-shirts can still be ordered.  Return the order form and payment to school.

Monday, August 29

On Monday, we started our "Letter of the Day" unit with the letter Aa.  The students used their fine motor skills to make a torn paper apple craft.  They also sorted pictures that started with Aa and  pictures that did not start with Aa.  The students practiced writing our letter of the day on dry erase boards. 

Some of the students spent some time using the Chrome Books in class today as well. I reminded the students that not everyone had a turn today, however, we will rotate through everyone by the end of the week.  We are just becoming familiar with the Chrome Books and will start to incorporate them more each week into our daily routine. 

You probably noticed that a behavior sheet came home in your child's folder today.  We spent a lot of time last week learning about the 4 Be's.  Starting this week, I will fill out the behavior sheet daily to let you know how your child is doing at school.  Please check it and initial it each evening and leave it in your child's folder.  At the end of the grading period, we will have a Good News Party to celebrate good choices!

*Just as an FYI, this week we will be practicing our emergency drills (fire, sever weather and intruder.)

SPECIALS SCHEDULE:

The weekly specials schedule will be listed in my newsletter each week.  However, you can also find the schedule under the "My Classroom" tab on this website.  Let me know if you have any questions!

DAY 2

Another great day in Kindergarten.  Today we read Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten and had fun with the rhyming words in the story.  See if your child can tell you some rhyming words! 

This morning, we focused on learning the 4 Be's of Whiteside School (Be Safe, Be Caring, Be Respectful and Be Responsible). We also learned the rules for scissors and glue in the classroom and practiced using these when we made stoplights this afternoon.  

HAPPY FIRST DAY!

What a wonderful first day of Kindergarten!  Our class is super!!! Thank you so much for sharing your sweet kiddos with me this year!  I can't wait to get to know them all better and I am so glad to have shared their first day of Kindergarten with them!! We read two fun stories for the first day of school.  Ask your child who Sarah was in the First Day Jitters!  (We were surprised to find out she was actually the teacher in the story, and she had a few jitters too at her new school!) We drank a little "jitter" juice to make any first day jitters go away. :)  Also ask your child about Chester the raccoon. The students brought home a little treat to go with this story.  

TENNIS SHOES: We have PE on FRIDAY this week.  Please have your child wear tennis shoes.

The Night Before...

I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow for the first day of Kindergarten!  Check out this great read aloud for the night before your first day!  It is the story, Twas the Night Before Kindergarten, written by Natasha Wing. 

Listen to a bedtime story tonight by clicking this link: 

'Twas the Night Before Kindergarten Read Aloud

THANK YOU!

Thank you for attending Open House tonight!  It was so great to meet all of our Kindergarten families!  If you have school supplies that still need to be brought to school, you can send them with your child on Monday.  I hope you all enjoy your last few days of summer and I can't wait to see everyone again on Monday!

REMINDER:  Please remember to send snack for 24 students sometime next week.  Please read the snack note that was in the Open House Folder for details regarding snack. :)

OPEN HOUSE FOLDERS:  Please be sure to read through all of the papers that were in your child's Open House folder.  Remember to fill out and return the papers that were on the "Return to School" side of the folder next week.  Thanks! :)

NAME TAG: Your child should wear the orange name tag to school on Monday.  He/she will come home on Monday with a new name tag.