The Polar Express Book Companion

This past weekend I was 86ing old documents from my computer and I stumbled into a book companion I've flirted with for a few years but never seem to wrap in time for the holidays!  I decided to hop right on updating clipart and adding new (more relevant to my current teaching style) activities.

This 41 pager is PACKED full of reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, crafts, and math activities!

In the Reading Comprehension section you will find large picture cards for a whole group retelling and a sequencing cut and paste to provide students with individual practice.  There is also a beginning, middle, and end graphic organizer for students to use to retell the story through pictures and summarizing.

Finally, there are 3 variations of the story map.  Each map asks for characters and setting but they differ in requesting problem & solution, plot & conclusion, or main idea & supporting details!

The Vocabulary section provides words that are used in the story and extension words such as "caribou" to extend your students vocabulary on beyond "reindeer".

There are puzzles and mini-vocabulary books for students to practice using the language of the Polar Express!

There are 2 very simple crafts available in this book companion.  The first craft is a gift that you can print on contrasting paper and allow students to decorate.  Add the narrative writing prompt to the front for a fun little holiday display!  The second craft is a ticket that students can cut out and use to "board" the Polar Express!  Each year I put the tickets on a string and have my students wear it while we read the book and watch the movie.  This makes for an awesome and extremely adorable keepsake!

To round out the pack and provide cross-curricular themed activities I added some math activities!  In it you will find common core addition, subtraction, and data based games for your students to participate in.

The addition and subtraction activities include a battleship game, part-part-whole game, ten frame game, and story problem game with work mat.  There are also printable numeral cards and printable manipulatives for students to use to build models for each problem!

The data activities include 3 questions where students will collect, represent, and interpret information on a graph, and tally chart.  There are also sets of questions for students to answer about their data sets!

Last but certainly not least, there is a FREEBIE in the product PREVIEW on TPT!  Just click PREVIEW and scroll to the end to snag this sequencing activity for FREE!

Establishing Routines and FREEBIES!

Its been a minute since I've worked with kindergarteners!  I forgot just how much work kindergarten teachers do to engrain rituals and routines into students minds and behaviors.  The reminder that they build so much of the foundation that we all work off of has made me appreciate kindergarten teachers even more!  Throw a kindergarten teacher a hug TODAY!

Two of my little people practicing "Buddy Reading".

Establishing rituals and routines can be tedious but it is an essential part of good classroom management.  It needs to happen in EVERY. SINGLE. THING. that you do with your students so that they understand expectations and consequences.  Lining up, coming to the rug, getting water, using scissors, sliding down the slide, partner work, independent work, blowing noses, and so on and on and on and on, over and over and over again!  Oh, it's painful, but the payoff for a few weeks of tedium is a year of peace!

I'm a big fan of the collaborative expectation setting approach.  For example, today we are going to use scissors but I think we should make a list of rules to follow while we use them so that we can all be safe.  Turn and talk to your partner to create 1 rule you think we should follow to be safe when we use scissors in our classroom.  Partners share their rules and I chart them.  When the chart is complete I ask what the consequence should be for someone who chooses not to follow the rule.  Usually a warning and clip move is the decided upon consequence.  The result is a memorable discussion and chart to display and refer to through the year.  

After our discussion and expectation setting I give them an activity to practice their new ritual/routine.  For the next few weeks, every time we use our scissors, we review the chart before we begin the activity.  After that it's typically smooth sailing because the expected behavior has been engrained in their minds and they understand the consequences.

To make establishing these rituals and routines a little easier I'm sharing my anchor charts and activities for cutting and gluing with you for free!

 Click here to get Scissor Practice for FREE!

Click here to get Glue Practice for FREE!

Pinspiration

One of my new favorite pastimes is spending time on Pinterest.  Over the last few years I feel my creativity has waned with the stress and responsibilities of teaching and everything that comes in that mixed bag, we have all read the lists of teacher responsibilities, no need to rehash them here.

Curling up with an iced coffee and my laptop to peruse Pinterest on a rainy Sunday morning is the perfect way to reignite the creativity of even the least creative :).  This summer I've had the opportunity to delve into a few pinteresting projects!

In fact, this morning I tried the "baked" hard boiled eggs available on my YUM board, I baked the eggs at 325 for 25 minutes then plunged directly into ice water.  They were very easy to peel and the yoke was bright yellow.  Somehow I always manage to get a greenish tint when I boil them.  The only difference was that there were small brown spots on the whites where the egg touched the pan.

Last week I started working on the "no name" and "how we go home" boards during a craft day at my teaching buddy Karen's house.  Getting creative with friends (and maybe a mojito or two) is even more fun!

Used to hang papers with no names on, students are responsible for checking for their own paper and resubmitting properly.

I plan to use clothes pins with students names on them.  Parents will clip them to the board at orientation to let me know how their child will go home all year.  No more outdated lists for this girl.

Magnetic fishing pole!

The magnetic fishing pole was my own creation.  If you know anything about me or the activities I create they are almost all fishing games.  Up until recently, the Dollar Tree was selling plastic magnetic fishing poles.  This year they released poles with hooks on the end, not magnets.  I was at the craft store and came across dowels, hemp, round magnets, and knobs.  I made a huge batch of these magnetic poles, gave a few pairs away as gifts, and have spares for my own class (you know, since students take such good care of our things).  I'm considering making more and trying to sell them on TpT.

Pinterest inspires me to find/make/create new ways for my classroom to look more adorable and run more efficiently.  I find new teaching ideas, lessons, units, and activities to use to supplement my curriculum.  You can find new and sometimes better ways to organize yourself, monitor student growth, and generally create more engaging activities for your students!

How did you get creative this summer?