Sight Word Workouts

My littles are rocking and rolling with their sight words! One of the really fun practice games we play is "sight word workouts." This super simple game takes little to no prep and it's a way to keep active littles focused! It is perfect for when you have an extra 5-10 minutes or need an active transition!


During this game, I call on a student to find a particular word. If they successfully find the word, they give the rest of the class an exercise to do while we spell the word (they also get to tell us how many times we have to spell the word).  Last year we just counted while we did the workout - I added the spelling this year as I have several kinesthetic learners who struggle with recall. They have improved on their sight word recognition since I introduced the
It is such a great way to keep them moving, especially after our morning meeting when they seem to be at their wiggliest.

I usually participate in the workouts with the children, which is why I don't have my usual load of pictures (and as a bonus, I don't have to feel guilty for skipping the gym after a long day)

My littles ask for this game and I'm sure yours will love it too!

A Simple Kindergarten Math Game

Whew! Two days into the school year and we are already getting into our routines! I've come to the conclusion that I must mentally block out the first few weeks of school..because every year I manage to teach the children the routines and rules, but come September I can NEVER remember how I did it the previous years.
But, either way we our on our way! Today we did our first whole group math lesson followed by two of our BUILD centers. I am still assessing the students' math skills, so I haven't started guided math yet. I am hoping to by next week!

Classroom Reveal 2016-2017!

A little background before I reveal my classroom. I work for a large social services organization with over 20 programs! The one I work for is the Early Learning Center, which is housed in 3 buildings. At the end of last year, they made the decision to move the Kindergarten classroom into a different building, a classroom which has been used as storage for the past 10 years.
Prior to maintenance coming to move the Kindergarten classroom to its new home in June, the storage was supposed to be moved.

It wasn't. And so, when I got into the classroom in mid-August when summer camp was over, not only did I have to set up the Kindergarten, but I had to weed through 10+ years of storage. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that I cried when I walked into the room and saw this...

But, I started hauling furniture into the lobby, sorting through boxes and getting my boss to bug maintenance to paint my room..and despite the weeks of work, I could not be happier with the results.