InMyRoom ~ 11-25-00

Victoria's Classroom Pictures

November 24, 2000

Whew! We survived Thanksgiving Week, hectic as it always is. Being a short week, we didn't do much new work, but instead concentrated on completing projects-in-progress, and spent the rest of our time doing Work Board Jobs -- that's what the KinderKids call Literacy Centers, and they literally beg to do them whenever they have a few free minutes.

We finished our November units, Scarecrow, Scarecrow and The Leaves Are Falling Down, though we'll keep the thematic tubs and WorkJobs/Literacy Centers available as long as the kids are still interested in them. After all, we're still using our Literacy Centers/WorkJob Tubs from our October units, Going Batty and Along Came A Spider, and the kids love getting to continue working with familiar text and activities.

We also finished -- in the nick of time! -- our first "big" TLC art project, a Make-A-Book called "The Thanksgiving Story." I shared the first three pages of the book two weeks ago, three more pages last week, and this week I have the final page ready to share. There were some scheduling problems with our on-campus IMC (Instructional Materials Center), so I only got three books bound on Tuesday afternoon and had to finish the rest Wednesday morning and during my lunch break. All the children were able to take their books home to share with family and friends, and they were extremely excited about their work.

Wednesday was a fairly wild day, as one might expect. We didn't have an actual party planned, but were planning to celebrate by watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Video, which most of them had never seen. After lunch, we settled in for the video with Mrs. Landucci's class, and enjoyed a First Thanksgiving snack of popcorn, raisins, and apple juice when the movie was over. Then it was time for the KinderKids to go home and for the Kindergarten teachers to start changing our rooms over for our December themes.

If you're shopping for books, toys, software, or music -- for yourself, your classroom, or holiday gifts -- Amazon.com has extended their offer of FREE SHIPPING on orders over $100.

The original free shipping offer ended at midnight on Wednesday November 22nd, so I placed three large orders on Wednesday evening. Today I noticed that the free shipping offer is back, with no specific expiration date. I don't know how long they'll continue to offer this incentive that saves 10% or more on your total order by not paying shipping costs, so if you want to order anything, you should probably do it soon to get the savings.

You don't pay sales tax when shopping at Amazon.com ... in California, that's an additional savings of over 7%, plus the great Amazon.com discounts on books. Buying my books and music at Amazon.com usually saves between 25% and 40% of the total cost of buying the same item at the teacher store or Target, and it's convenient, easy, and secure. Buying through Amazon.com also helps support the KinderKorner Website and KinderKorner listserv, and your support is greatly appreciated!

I hope your holiday -- if you celebrated American Thanksgiving this week -- was wonderful and filled with loved ones and whatever makes the holiday special for you. And, as today is the "official" kick-off of the sometimes exhausting holiday season, including shopping frenzies, crowds, high expectations, and short tempers, I hope that all of you have a restful weekend and take good care of yourselves for the rest of this year and on into the New Year.

Happy Teaching!

~ Victoria

This Week's TLC Art Project

The Thanksgiving Story
Make-A-Book

For the text to each page -- and to see larger photos -- please click on the links to the past two weeks' pages. The words to this book can be sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, as the story is an innovation on
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, by Eric Carle.

These are the three pages we completed two weeks ago:

These are last week's pages:

And here is the final page of our book:

We see turkey and cranberries,
Corn and pumpkin pie.
A Thanksgiving Day dinner
Is what we spy.

This final page of the book shows the Thanksgiving feast, including a turkey on a platter, plates with napkins and utensils, corn, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. This page was the most difficult for the kids to do, as it required drawing as well as cutting and following directions. Next time my class makes this book, I'll have then use colored markers instead of crayon (for the turkey and red cranberries in the orange bowl) and colored pencils (for the utensils).

The KinderKids are very excited about their special books, and were SO excited to take them home to share over Thanksgiving. They'll bring them back to school on Monday, to keep in their personal Book Boxes for continued reading practice ... repeated readings (singings/chantings/etc.) build fluency and comprehension, along with aiding in language acquisition and building background knowledge for other lessons and discussions.

For more information on TLC -- Teaching Little Children -- projects and artwork, visit the TLC website.

December Big Books

Here are two of my favorite Vicki Witcher emergent readers for December. I've enlarged the pictures and text from the student sized books, to make Big Books for Shared Reading on 12" x 18" construction paper. Each of my students gets their own small
(8 1/2" x 5 1/2") blackline copy to color and keep in their Book Box for the remainder of the year.

Here Is Santa Written and Illustrated by Vicki Witcher


Looking at the pictures now, I wonder if I maybe omitted a page in error when I made the book. It seems to me that there should also be a page that says "Here are my pants," though I could be wrong.

The Christmas Tree Written and Illustrated by Vicki Witcher

Because so many people have written to ask (in the 12 hours or less since I put the page online), I thought I'd sneak back in with the info about Vicki Witcher blackline books for emergent readers.

Yes, they're absolutely wonderful and I use several dozen titles in my classroom each year. Yes, Vicki used to sell them in local teacher supply stores and at teaching conferences, including the wonderful California Kindergarten Association conference held in San Francisco each January (hint -- you might still be able to register! Visit their website at www.cka.org).

And, yes, Vicki said several months ago that she would make her blackline master sets available to KinderKorner subscribers and website visitors. But ... and there's always a but, ins't there? ... Vicki is still too busy at work to be able to accept orders at this time.

We speak once or twice a week (she works in my district and has been my teaching idol for years!), and the latest estimate is that she'll be ready to start taking orders sometime in January. As soon as she's ready, I'll post the info to both of my listservs (KinderKorner and In My Room), and will also put it right here on the weekly photos page and on the main KinderKorner page as well.

Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Victoria

More About
Introducing Word Families
Through Literature
Using a variety of literature to study over 50 word families

Introducing Word Families Through Literature: Using a variety of literature to study over 50 word families is the title of a terrific book from Carson-Dellosa Publishing Company. I found it at the teacher supply store a couple weeks ago, and was very impressed with the approach and the materials and activities, as well as the books chosen for introducing the word families.

Because Carson-Dellosa materials are not available in regular bookstores -- they don't even have ISBN numbers -- I'm unable to give you an Amazon.com link for purchasing the book. You can ask for it at your teacher supply store, and it's well worth finding.

Each word family has a featured book, along with alternate/additional titles you can use. There are several thematic activities suggested for each story/word family, and blackline masters are provided when appropriate. This book really got me thinking about new ways I can work word family studies into my thematic units.

Here are some examples of word family and literature pairings I'm teaching now or in the near future, beginning with a sample given last week:

in family
Winter Eyes A collection of delightfully illustrated poems by Douglas Florian, author of Insectlopedia, Beast Feast, On The Wing, Mammalabilia, Monster Motel, and other wonderful poetry books loved by children of all ages.
bin din dinner fin gin kin pin	sin tin tint win chin grin	skin spin thin twin hint hinge	lint print squint sprint splint splinter winter
Additional in Books
The Jacket I Wear In The Snow Clever rebuses and repetitive text that's great for emergent readers. This is the book I gave to my entire class as a holiday gift two years ago. Also available as a Big Book for Shared Reading.	The Mitten Jan Brett's richly illustrated retelling of a popular traditional Ukrainian folk tale. This book -- along with Brett's book The Hat -- is an integral part of my Jan Brett author study in December and January. A great story for sequencing activities. Also available in an easy to hold boardbook edition.	Caps, Hats, Socks, and Mittens: A Book About the Four Seasons A terrific book for talking about the seasons and what kind of clothes we wear. Also available in a Big Book edition for your Big Books Literacy Center and Shared Reading. This book is also great for the ap, at, ock, and en word families.	Barney's Wonderful Winter Day Join Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ discovering the joys of winter. Under $3. Also available on audio cassette.

an family
A Letter to Santa Claus Brand new for this holiday season, from Austrian Kindergarten Teacher and author Brigitte Weninger. Oliver has never had a visit from Santa Claus. Wasn't I good? wonders Oliver. Or maybe Santa never brought him a present because Oliver never wished for anything. When his friend brings him a red balloon from the fair, Oliver decides to let the wonderful balloon fly away, hoping it will carry his letter to Santa. Poor Oliver! The balloon never reaches the North Pole. It lands in grumpy old Nicholas's garden, which leads to a surprising, deeply satisfying outcome.
ban can fan man	pan ran tan van dance	plan plant ant pant	scan and sand Santa chant
Additional an Books
An Elf For Christmas Tingle the Elf falls into a Christmas gift by mistake, and wakes up as the best part of a young boy's Christmas gift. Great illustrations and an entertaining story.	Santa's New Suit Santa's old suits are worn out or just plain too small, and he's decided he's tired of red! Will Christmas be the same if Santa gets a new suit?	The Legend of the Candy Cane A stranger comes to town and opens a candy store, then explains the religious origins of the candy cane to a little girl. A lovely story filled with Christmas spirit of a more religious sort.	Jolly Old Santa Claus A collector's edition featuring the original charming story along with slightly retouched artwork. The pictures are delightful.
The Christmas Candle A captivating read aloud about values at Christmas and year round, reminiscent of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.	The Important Book In this classic story, Margaret Wise Brown shows the beauty in ordinary things, while emphasizing the importance of being a unique individual. Under $6.	The Gingerbread Man Retold by professor and storyteller Eric Kimmel, this one has a happy ending with a new batch of cookies headed for the oven. Under $6.	Pancakes, Pancakes! Favorite childrens' author and illustrator Eric Carle delights readers with this story that reminds one of The Little Red Hen ... there's so much to DO to make pancakes! Under $6.
There's An Ant In Anthony A great way to introduce work chunks before sending your students on a word hunt. Under $5.	Hey Little Ant An outstanding story about ethics and peer pressure ... to squish or not to squish! Told in delightful rhyme that helps develop phonemic awareness and build word family knowledge.	Here Are My Hands The rhyming text and bold illustrations do more than name the eyes, ears, nose, and toes. By featuring children of many different backgrounds, the book quietly celebrates the commonality of people around the world. Sturdy boardbook edition. Under $6.	Song And Dance Man Grandpa simply cannot resist the urge to dress up in clothes left over from his vaudeville days -- complete with top hat and gold-headed cane -- and to perform tricks, play banjo and tell jokes. A well-loved story in my classroom.

Favorite December Books

It's very late -- or early -- at my house, so I'll add this section Sunday afternoon.
Thanks for your patience!
Sunday afteroon update ... still too busy to add more books, but am working on my Jan Brett Author Study and will post info when it's ready.

Be sure to check out the other titles by Eileen Spinelli, she's a prolific author ... another favorite of mine is Coming Through the Blizzard: A Christmas Story.

December Song & Poetry Cards

Yes, I included these in last week's photos, but decided to put them here again so that people who wanted to see them wouldn't have to switch pages :o)

Song and Poetry Cards are one of my most popular Literacy Centers, and my thematic units are filed with songs and poems that we enjoy.

Here are a few of my December cards, so you can see what they really look like. They're made out of a half sheet of poster board, and are approximately 14" x 24" (I think they're a bit taller than that, but can't remember the exact size ... I just cut the poster board in half :o) I add stickers or Ellison shapes to give them lots of kid appeal, then laminate them for durability. I've been using some of my cards for the past six years and they're holding up quite well.

Tune: Row Your Boat	Tune: Camptown Ladies	Tune: Little Teapot
	Tune: Bingo	Tune: Twinkle Twinkle
	From Maurice Sendak's Chicken Soup With Rice

December Homework Calendar

The December Calendar art is sponge prints in seasonal shapes, sprinkled with glitter ... quick and easy and the kids love them!

Look for the December calendar in this spot by the end of the week.

For information on Victoria's blackline homework calendar masters -- for kindergarten and first grade -- write to Victoria at kndrcorner@aol.com

~ Don't Miss ~
My Favorite Holiday Unit
For December

G is for Gingerbread

Featuring

Gingerbread Baby
By Jan Brett

I've been very busy getting everything ready for my G is For Gingerbread unit, and have some great new resources to share with you on the unit page. We're starting our new unit on Monday, since there are only eleven instructional days in December.

I'll continue the Gingerbread theme until the end of January, mixing it in with my Jan Brett Author Study and my unit on Snow and Snowmen, which also includes Hats and Mittens. It all rolls into a nicely integrated package when I teach it, but I keep the units separate in my mind as well as on paper/on the website, for the sake of simplicity.

Stir a bowl of gingerbread,
Smooth and spicy brown.
Roll it with a rolling pin,
Up and up and down.
With a cookie cutter,
Make some little men.
Put them in the oven
Till half past ten!

Happy Teaching!

Victoria :o)

Go to:

Picture Pages Index

KinderKorner Home Page

Victoria's Thematic Units Index

Write to Victoria

Graphics on this page are from

It's very late -- or early -- at my house, so I'll add this section Sunday afternoon. Thanks for your patience! Sunday afteroon update ... still too busy to add more books, but am working on my Jan Brett Author Study and will post info when it's ready.

Be sure to check out the other titles by Eileen Spinelli, she's a prolific author ... another favorite of mine is Coming Through the Blizzard: A Christmas Story.