Back to School - Classroom "Rules"

Hey ya'll! It's Emily from Carnes' Corner.  I hope you've had an amazing summer!  

(Happy Christmas in July, by the way! Did you notice that was today?? Stick around for a fun Christmas in July giveaway at the bottom of this post!)

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As we prepare to go back to school, I wanted to share with you one of my FAVORITE activities to do with the kids during the first week.  I'm BIG on having the students help me make our classroom rules (I call the procedures/promises), so that they feel they have some investment, or ownership in them.

So, on day 1 and 2, we brainstorm "rules" on the white board and add/edit them throughout the day(s). Here's what it looked like on day 3 for us last year...

Then, when we are completely happy with how everything looks and all of the promises are edited the way we want them to be, I transfer them on a poster to display in the classroom.  (I normally will write this at home that night, and bring it to school the next day--normally around day 4 or 5, depending on how much detail we need to add and how much editing is needed).  

They're SO excited to see it on a poster, and then I tell them that instead of signing it (we have a big discussion about a contract, etc.), we're going to make self portraits to place around our promises.  It's a super fun activity, and the kids LOVE it!  Here's what ours looked like this past year...

Do you have your kids help you when creating classroom rules? What does that look like in your classroom?

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And now, for our Christmas in July giveaway!  

Some of us at The Kinder Tribe wanted to share some of our TpT products with you to help celebrate the holiday!  Here's what's up for grabs:

Brag Tags for Kindergarten

Math Centers Starter Pack

Easy Prep Christmas Centers

Sub Tub and Binder Printables

Editable Labels

Once Upon a Time Unit

Kindergarten (and beyond) Sight Word Cards

Enter the giveaway below...winner will be selected on Friday, July 29th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

EASY DIY Classroom Projects

Happy Summer, y'all!! I'm so excited to be back with you...I hope you're enjoying your time at home, and not working too hard on school stuff!  Of course, if you're anything like me, relaxing IS organizing and getting ready for next year...ha!

I wanted to share some of my Summer DIY To-Do List with you today, partly to make myself accountable for following through on these projects, but also to share some of my ideas with you!!

Here's what I'm planning on working on this summer (in between moving into our hopefully new house, getting Harper's nursery set up, and a family beach vacation):

{Sight Word Magnet Paint Stirrers}

{Popsicle Magnet Numbers}

{Data Tracking Graphs}

{Ouchie Lotion}

{Morning Work Buckets}

What are some of your summer DIY goals?  I may not get all of these accomplished this summer, but they're too great not to at least try!

Emily Carnes
www.carnescorner.com

Kindergarten Round Up + a FREEBIE!

Hey everyone!! Emily here, from Carnes' Corner.  I'm so excited to be here with you!

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For the second year in a row, my kindergarten team has hosted a "Kindergarten Round Up" for our incoming kindergartners.  We LOVE doing this, because it gives us an opportunity to meet the students who are going to be spending the year with us next year AND it gets the students excited about kindergarten!

I wanted to share some tips to make YOUR kindergarten round up a successful one!  Of course, we were so busy, I didn't get many pictures...I know; terrible blogger status...bare with me!

SEND OUT INVITATIONS
*I designed an invitation for us, and our principal emailed it out to all of our incoming families! They had two afternoons to chose from...of course, the second night was definitely busier than the first!  (I may even recommend dividing it, and assigning nights for parents.)

SIGN IN STUDENTS BY GROUPS
*We divided the kiddos in to three groups when they were with us, so to help with that, we used three different clip boards (each with different colors).  We use coordinating sharpies to write their name tags, so that when we took the kiddos to our rooms, we could just say "blue group come with me", etc.

HAVE A PHOTO BOOTH
*Our art department had an old barn left over from their art show, so we borrowed that and one of my team members made some precious cowboy photo props (think hat, sheriffs badge, etc.)
*This worked well for TWO things...we now have pictures with each of the kids so we remember who they are AND the parents had fun taking pictures of their kiddos. :)

KEEP THE PARENTS IN A MEETING
*The parents stayed in the Multi-Purpose room with our AP and discussed all of the important topics, got a tour, etc.  This kept them busy while we had their kids, and allowed them to concentrate on all of the boring parent stuff!

TAKE THE KIDS FOR ASSESSMENT(ish)
*Like I said, we had the kids in three groups.  We rotated each group in 15 minutes segments (math assessment, letter assessment, bingo/behavior assessment).  I created one assessment sheet for each child, so that all of our info was together.  The kiddos just traveled with their papers:

Here's a sneak peek of what we had the children do on the sheets:

And the recording sheet the "behavior" team used...

To make your kindergarten round up go a bit more smoothly, I want each of you to grab the assessment packet for FREE!!  Just head over to my TpT store to download it!

Classroom Management During Guided Reading?

Hey y'all!! Emily here, from Carnes' Corner.  I'm so excited to be here today, and share some of my tips for classroom management during guided reading!

Small group guided reading is SUCH an important time in my classroom.  If we miss a day of school (or go on a field trip), I ALWAYS double up our rotations the next day or later in the week, so that I am able to meet with each group EVERY week!

However, making sure that my students who are NOT in the group with me stay on task is not always easy.  So, what do I do with them to ensure that my reading group is getting my full attention??

The most important thing I did was to establish routine at the very beginning of the year. The kids practiced how to get materials out, how to clean them up, how to ask/answer questions about the activity they're doing, and what to do if they get done early..

We review and go over our procedures and expectations DAILY.  I'm serious y'all...I ask them what voice level they should be using, who they need to ask for help, etc. each time before they go to where they're working...

Here's my view of the other students...I make sure to place myself in the corner of the room, so I can see all of them.  

{work on writing - option one}

Now, I did walk around and take a few close up pictures, so you could see the bit of organized chaos that is Daily Five/Guided Reading...

{listening to reading - you'll see our whisper phones and reading buddies - stuffed animals - under our library if you look closely}

{read to self/read to someone - they get to choose now}

{work on writing - option 2}

I use my Daily Five time to do guided reading groups (and will pull my students individually during literacy centers if needed).  I use the same rotation schedule each week, so the kids know exactly where they're going each day.  I've combined Read to Self/Read to Someone in to one group so that I could take guided reading on my own.  

I've found that by giving them teeny bits of choices (like if they're going to read with a partner/alone or whether they're going to do paper work or the cards on the carpet) they're more involved and engaged in what they're doing because they have a bit more ownership in the activity (or at least they think they do!)

At the end of our 20 minutes, I check any work that I need to, award the friends who went above and beyond what was expected of them, and we move on with our day.  I love it!

All in all, it works really well (most days).  Check out what my classroom sounds like while a student reads to me.  I'm so impressed with my kinders!

What Worked Well Wednesday: Staying Organized

Hello again, teachers!!! I hope you're having a fantastic week!

I'm Emily, from Carnes Corner, and I'm SO GLAD to be popping in again today, for this week's What Worked Well Wednesday link up.  I've definitely missed you!

I've been known to be a bit OCD, and that tends to overflow in to my classroom and the way I "try" to stay organized.  I wanted to share with you how I keep all of my center materials organized.

I have tubs (from Target, similar to these) for each month/or two months that hold all of the center materials for that time frame. (Of course, they're a teeny bit of an investment, but it's SO worth it!)

 Within each tub, I have the center materials divided by week...in a big ziploc baggie if they'll fit.  So, for example, in my November tub I've got three big ziploc bags with all of the smaller things inside for each of the weekly themes: Community Helpers, Scarecrows, and Thanksgiving.  December is a bit of a different month for me, since it's basically one big theme.  (Plus, I've got some of the center materials for this week already out).  Here's a peek inside December...

As I mentioned previously, when it's time for that center, I just pull out that baggie, make the necessary copies that I need to, and stick the individual centers in my FABULOUS rainbow tubs.  

We call these our "center tubs" in the classroom.  The first four (red and orange) are my literacy centers, and the next four (green and blue) are my math centers.  All of the materials they'll need for that particular center is in the coordinating tub, so the group can just grab and go.

This makes it easy, because I can just say "group one, grab the circle tub and take it to the carpet."

The bottom two drawers (purple) are my Word Work and Work on Writing material tubs for Daily 5 rotations.  

I've found its easier to take my Daily Five materials/centers and keep them in a storage bin all on its own because not all of my Daily Five items follow along with our weekly themes.

So, how do you organize your centers? Have I given you any ideas?? I'd love to hear!!

Oh, and make sure to link up below with what's working well in your room. :)

An InLinkz Link-up