Okay, I've vented and now I feel much better.
I've had fun this week doing some cool things I got from the blogging world. I forgot my camera at school, so I don't have pictures. Sorry! We did a fun activity for wordwork in Daily 5 today called 'Frost It'. I got the idea from Lauren over on her blog The Weekly Hive. You write sight words on cupcake papers. The kiddos pick a word, read it and use it in a sentence. Then they cover it with a piece of tissue paper. They fill out a recording sheet using some of the words in a sentence. My kids loved it.
Another thing we did this week was lots of Penguin Learning Fun. We made our penguin glyph from Jennifer's Penguin packet over on First Grade Blue Skies. They turned out adorable. Some glyphs are a little hard for first graders but this one was perfect! We also read a great book about Penguins. I love this book! It gives lots of facts about Penguins in a fun way. If you click on the picture it will take you to Amazon.com for all the information on the book.
Then we did some lessons on non-fiction writing and made our little Penguin Fact books, again from Jennifer's Penguin packet.
I love getting such great ideas from all of you! So here's a little something from me. We've been working on skip counting this week. I hope someone can use it. It's a sheet for counting by 10's and another one for 5's. This is from my Hoppy Skip Counting unit. You can check it out over on Teacher's Notebook HERE.
I just found your cute blog tonight and I'm so excited to be a new follower! I love the ideas you shared! I can't believe you have 31 little ones! Wow! That would keep anyone hopping! I hope the DRA testing goes better tomorrow! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteRebecca
Teaching First
Looks great! Thank you for the freebie! =)
ReplyDeleteJennifer
First Grade Blue SKies
Thanks for the freebie!
ReplyDeleteI used to have the same problem with kids shutting down. Now I just tell them that the test is just to let ME know what I still need to TEACH them so as long as they do their best it's not a problem if they get some answers wrong - it just tells me what I need to teach next week!
One year I had a little girl who had been retained who had horrible test anxiety - could barely get her to write her name on the test! One day, before I tested her, I let her know that she was definitely going to 1st grade the next year (can't retain her twice after all!) and that I thought she was so darn smart. She did so much better with testing after that! I think sometimes so much emphasis is put on tests that it just freaks the sensitive types out!
Also, my middle child is VERY shy. His kindergarten teacher used to test him 1-1 but in the middle of the classroom where the other kids could hear his answers. He was petrified of getting a wrong answer in front of his peers so he wouldn't even try. She eventually had to start testing him at recess or after school when no one was around.
Anyways, you're not alone - I always have trouble biting my tongue when a kid gets a wrong answer just because they're focusing. I try to keep a poker face, but sometimes I want to look at them and say "Really???!!!!! Where have you been for the last 3 months while we talked about this EVERY DAY?!"
Jennifer @ Herding Kats In Kindergarten
You're not alone in the frustrating day. I had 4 kids cry today. 1 of them cried 3 different times. And he's NOT a quiet crier! Uuuggghh.
ReplyDeleteI love what Jennifer said about the TEACHER test. I do that with my monsters, too. I tell them that it's a test to see what I need to teach better. *Sometimes* that helps.
I had 27 firsties last year, but they were the.very.best.class.ever! This year, my 21 are running me ragged. I can't even imagine THIRTY-ONE! That should be illegal!
Oh My Little Classity Class