Bats & Spiders - Oh My!

I love October! I love the cool autumn air....ok we'll let's be honest - I live in Texas so I really need to say cool-er as in it's not 100+ anymore, not really cool! Anyways - I love it -- pumpkins, Halloween, creepy critters.....

Speaking of creepy critters, let's talk about bats and spiders! I love teaching my kinder kiddos about bats and spiders. In fact, it's the very first big nonfiction unit we do each year. Kids are inherently interested in bats and spiders and they have very definite opinions about both. So, I love to capture their attention and take advantage of their interests. Ah - yes! I'm a sneaky teacher!! :)

Here is a freebie for you. It's all about bats and spiders! I've included some graphic organizers, surveys, and graphs -- a great supplement for any bats and spiders unit! I hope you like it!

Please also join me back at Kindergarten Lifestyle. 

Yuck Soup!

Here with another Halloween alternative that your kids will love!  Yuck Soup!  

Literacy based with a writing and math piece!  

So we start by reading Joy Crowley's book Yuck Soup!  It's a cute LITTLE story about some monster-y looking creatures who make some pretty yucky soup!  It's out of print but I bet if you looked around you could find one or they are fairly cheap online!  

Next we make our own Yuck Soup.  I have sent home these letters about a week before so everyone has something yummy to add to the Yuck Soup.  We take turns adding giving everyone a chance to pour in their part to the soup.  

I scoop the snack into paper cups for the kids or just put on paper towels for them.  While they munch we do our story!  I will go around and write the word for the kids usually, but you could put the words on the board and have them write.  I just find it's much easier for them to reread the story in the library if it is written in non-kindergarten writing!  While they are snacking and waiting for me to get to them, the students are coloring in the page and adding what they added to the soup to their picture!

I staple them all together, add a cover page, and the students now have another class book to read!  

We will also go in and graph what our soup has in it!  

Another non-Halloween alternative for your classroom during this fun time of year!  And it's free!  Click here to download!   (I have done this on Halloween for many years but now really enjoy doing our pumpkin book reports instead which is also a freebie!!) 

Christopher Columbus Color by Number

Columbus Day is next week and I have the PERFECT quick and easy supplement to your lesson plans: a Christopher Columbus-themed Color by Number freebie! Your students will love coloring this little guy, you will love the fact that they are working on number recognition and learning color words, and everyone will love that this little half page coloring sheet makes for a very FAST way to review those skills.

Stop by the Kinder-Craze blog to pick up this great Columbus Day freebie! 

Happy Sailing!

Get Your Young Writers Writing Better Answers!

Do your students need help writing "Better Answers"?  Improve their reading, writing and comprehension with some simple to integrate activities in your classroom.  I have a FREE sample kit for you to try out with your students!  My students are loving them, so I hope yours do, too!
Swing on into Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business to read all about it and grab your kit.

Roll Like a Pumpkin and Other Fun Movements!

I love anything fall themed, especially cute cut outs!

Aren't they cute?! 

I also love getting my students to move around in creative ways!

I put the two together, and voila!

You could stick these in a cute little basket and use them when you need little "brain breaks" throughout the day. It's also a great way to throw in verbs and nouns, and fall vocabulary. 

Head on over to my blog to download the little labels!

Pumpkin Character Book Reports!

Fall is such a fun time to mix books and pumpkins and family time! 

Stop by to see how I use this unit to add some fun to the day on October 31st and to see some additional sample pictures!  

Volunteer Organization

Happy Fall Y'all!! This year I am BLESSED with several parents that love to volunteer. Which makes me very happy! I have gone years that I have had 1 parent that can come in and help. Now, I know that some of you may not have ANY and I am sorry. So don't be jelly when I tell you that I have a parent coming in almost EVERY day this month. Say what?! YUP! You heard that right. This allows me to do so many things in my classroom that I may not have been able to do without their help. 

I always make a calendar at the end of the previous month to send home with all volunteers. It includes volunteer name and time they are coming.

I have some "Thank You" cards set out with a little treat for my volunteers.

I always include directions on each project. 

I have also included a friendly reminder. You could send this home a few days before your volunteer was to come in. 

You can grab this volunteer freebie by clicking the cover page below. 

Letter Naming Fluency

Have you downloaded my Letter Naming Fluency Practices Pages yet?  

One page for every school month with plenty of letters to read!

Stop by to see all the many ways I use them!  

I-Spy A Fire Safety Freebie.

In honor of Fire Safety Month, I whipped up a little differentiated I-Spy to appeal to the little firefighters in training in my classroom.  (What is it about little kids and firefighters . . . they love love love 'em.)

You can get this for your kiddos too.  Just click on the picture to grab it.  It's differentiated, so it will be 'just right' for your students who are still working on their letter recognition and for those who need the challenge of letter sounds.  

Get your magnifying glasses warmed up.  I hope you love it.  

Halloween Emergent Reader

Boo!  Halloween is on it's way!  I made a little Halloween Emergent Reader, that uses the sentence stem, "I see a _______."  It's great for teaching the little ones how to follow along, and read a book of their own!

Head on over to my blog to get a copy!

Happy Halloween!

~Michelle Griffo