Spring break....where are you? Is it really only Monday!? Ahh, it's a little hard to concentrate this week with all this talk by my fellow bloggers who are relaxing and enjoying their break... then there's me... still working.... just a few more days until our break starts!
There are so many things to teach our little kindergarten friends. An area that doesn't get as much press is personal development... you know things like phone number, address and birthday. I will say we don't spend too much time on teaching these skills in class- just a few various projects such as the Famous Family books which reinforce addresses. We also make a phone directory early in the year with our phone numbers. But to learn their address they need a little help from their family.
In the spring I like to make these "I Can Clouds" as way for my little ones to show off the skills that they know. These clouds include the tricky personal development skills along with some other classroom skills.
I usually use the following strips in my I Can Clouds:
-say my birthdate (in my district they need to know the year they were born too...tricky!)
-count to 100 (so yes, I know, the Common Core doesn't require the kiddos to count to 100 so I may need to take that one off next year, but they are so proud when they can do it!)
-spell my name
-say my phone number
-read the color words
-say my address
-tie my shoes
Sometimes I add skipping, galloping, letter names, sounds or really anything you want to document and celebrate.
I just put them in my room last week. Most kids have between 3-5 strips right now. I try to have at least one time per week that I can reassess. They are a big, fat hassle to hang, BUT once they are up they are colorful and make the room feel like spring! Plus, to add any additional strips is easy- just a quick step on a chair and I can reach.
I will leave these up until May and then send them home. When they go home I leave the fishing line attached so they can re-hang it at home. I also send home any strips they have not yet earned so they can add them to the cloud whenever they are ready.
You can find these in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.... just click on the image below!
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There are so many things to teach our little kindergarten friends. An area that doesn't get as much press is personal development... you know things like phone number, address and birthday. I will say we don't spend too much time on teaching these skills in class- just a few various projects such as the Famous Family books which reinforce addresses. We also make a phone directory early in the year with our phone numbers. But to learn their address they need a little help from their family.
I usually use the following strips in my I Can Clouds:
-say my birthdate (in my district they need to know the year they were born too...tricky!)
-count to 100 (so yes, I know, the Common Core doesn't require the kiddos to count to 100 so I may need to take that one off next year, but they are so proud when they can do it!)
-spell my name
-say my phone number
-read the color words
-say my address
-tie my shoes
Sometimes I add skipping, galloping, letter names, sounds or really anything you want to document and celebrate.
I just put them in my room last week. Most kids have between 3-5 strips right now. I try to have at least one time per week that I can reassess. They are a big, fat hassle to hang, BUT once they are up they are colorful and make the room feel like spring! Plus, to add any additional strips is easy- just a quick step on a chair and I can reach.
I will leave these up until May and then send them home. When they go home I leave the fishing line attached so they can re-hang it at home. I also send home any strips they have not yet earned so they can add them to the cloud whenever they are ready.
You can find these in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.... just click on the image below!
Happy Monday!
