May I Have Your Attention Please?

It is hard to believe that I am already into my 4th week of school! and oh my goodness, my newest little darlings are just precious! They are all absolutely adorable but boy, oh boy, they are by far the most social chattiest group I have ever had! They seemed to become immediate friends with one another on the first day of school and have so much to share about their five short years that their conversations never stop...particularly when I am talking or teaching!  Please help! I am running out of "attention getters" & I have had to raise my voice more than I like. I use Dr. Jean's All Day Long CD to help keep them under control during transition times but I need some new tricks to put up my sleeves. I'm not kidding...they can really talk! I already do the clapping patterns for them to repeat. I often whisper "if can hear me, touch your nose. If you can hear me, stick out your tongue, etc" until they are all engaged.  My sticker box is already empty from rewarding those that I "catch" sitting quietly and/or doing the right thing.

Here are some of my other prized attention getters that I currently use all day long.


The big bell on the left has a variety of different sounds to choose from (alarm clock, bell, siren, clapping, chimes, etc). I got this gem last year for FREE just from sending home the Highlights magazine order forms. The green & ladybug timers signal that it is time to clean up centers & rotate to the next station during our small group time, and the white hand bell in the middle is the signal to "FREEZE". When using manipulatives at the table the kids know to put their hands in their laps & listen for instructions or if they are moving around the room, they know to freeze in place until I  give further instructions.  The wind chimes are used to signal time to gather on the rug for our Daily 5 time. 

The next attention getter is my all time favorite (and the kids' favorite). It is our Oh No Puppet. It is just a wooden spoon that has been painted & some crazy hair added. On one side, the mouth is shaped like an O. Turn it over and the face on the opposite side has a smiley face. 



 


 
When the kids are not sitting on the rug correctly, I pull Oh No out with the O side facing the kids and sing the following song to the tune "Its Raining, Its Pouring."
Oh No! Oh No!
Look What Oh No Sees!
Quick! Criss Cross, Hands in Your Lap!
Zip Your Lips Up Please!
 
We wait until everyone is sitting correctly and then I turn Oh No around to the smiling side and quietly sing the following to the same tune.
 
Way to Go! Way to Go!
Now You're Looking Good!
Eyes Up Here, Listening Ears,
Sitting Like We Should!
 
 
Now, please share some of your ideas! 



It's a Hole in 1,2,3!

Here is a quick and easy number recognition activity that will help firm up those fine motor skills. Students use hole punchers to punch the correct number of holes in each card. Click on the pictures below to get your free copy or find it here.



Craft stores have all sorts of paper punch designs to choose from. A note of warning...the tiny pieces of paper that result from the hole punching can get quiet messy so I would suggest having students do this activity over a cookie sheet or tray. I also save the punches to use on craft projects. For example, in a few weeks we will be discussing fall leaves so I will copy the papers on fall colors and have students punch leaves out to use when decorating a fall tree project. Closer to Valentine's Day, I will copy the papers on pink and red paper and use heart paper punchers. Clever, huh?!

Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

GeoBoard Shapes

The first weeks of school can be so crazy and setting up centers can often times be overwhelming. Here is a super easy and fun shaps activity that I have done for many years that I thought I would throw out there for you! Students will use rubber bands to create plane shapes on Geoboards. After they create the shape they should trace and color each shape on the recording page. This is a great beginning of the school year independent math center activity. It can also be done in large group or small group settings. Just copy the recording page, add some rubber bands and Geoboards to your math center & your little ones will be happy for a long time! Head over to my TPT store to get your free copy now!




Awesome Back to School Weekend!

I survived my first week of school! The first week of school and the weeks leading up to it wear me slap out! I am sure you can imagine my hesitation when a friend asked me to go to an overnight women's conference as soon as school let out on Friday after the first week of school.  Have you ever heard of Beth Moore? She is an amazing bible teacher and she just "gets" women. I spent Friday night and Saturday morning with about 15,000 other women in Knoxville and had a wonderful, relaxing and refreshing time. It was exactly what I needed to kick off this school year.  If you have never heard of Beth Moore then check out Living Proof Ministries at http://www.lproof.org/ and you will fall in love with her. If you already know her then I am sure you think she is your BFF too!

To make the weekend sweeter, when I arrived home I went to celebrate a wonderful friend's birthday and fellowship with some friends that had recently moved to Jamaica and were back visiting. We had a great time playing Cornhole, Spoons, Killer, and Pirates Bluff. I just love spending time with family and friends! This morning is church and then I suppose I will spend some time in my classroom getting ready for a new week! Sometime today I will need to clean our my TPT shopping cart since it is the Big Back to School Sale!  Be sure to visit my store and stock up on some back to school things at great prices! But you had better hurry...the sale only lasts today and tomorrow! Use the coupon code BTS12 at checkout so you can get an additional 10% off of my already 15%
off sale!

Back to School Sale





Well the time has come for us to get ourselves in Back to School mode! I have actually been back in school for over a week now so I am slowly getting back into the routine.  I am looking forward to finding time to start shopping on Teachers Pay Teachers again and this weekend is the perfect time! TPT will be having a back to school sale on Sunday and Monday (August 12 & 13). Be sure to visit my store and stock up on some back to school things.  Use the coupon code BTS12  at checkout so you can get an additional 10% off of my already 15% off sale!