Kitty Pumpkin

I saw this All You Magazine at the store the other day, and I thought this cover was too cute!  Love the small pumpkins transformed into kittens.  Looks like it wouldn't be too difficult to recreate either.

 

PreK Line up - Math integration

It is quite helpful to have the floor marked in some way to show the children where to line up.  We decided to integrate math as we transition to different activities (such as lunch, playground, etc.).  The children have color groups, so we have the opportunity to correlate them in that way if needed.  So far we have called the children to stand on a certain shape, a certain color, and a certain number.  We will also use this to review patterns.  There are two shapes for each number so that we can instruct the children to put one foot on one shape and the other foot on the other (Hopefully avoiding turning around and talking in line, twirling around, etc.).  

There are 20 total spots.  The shapes were made by laminating construction paper, cutting them out on the die-cut machine at school, writing the numbers on the shapes with a Sharpie, and using contact paper on each set of shapes (20 sheets cut to size) to stick them to the floor.  This should *hopefully* be easier to pull up at the end of the year to prepare for the floors to be waxed over the summer. 

There are a few closeups and then a full length picture.  This has been a great classroom management tool. 

Our classroom door

Here is our classroom door prior to all of the decorations from the kid's crafts.  We went simple.  

We would have to cover it with flame retardant treated fabric if we covered the door.  The Fire Marshall doesn't like butcher paper covering the entire door.  

We put PreK on the door in big letters so the parents/guardians would know where to come to drop off their children and sign in.

The border on the window was added for a pop of color and to tie it in to the inside bulletin boards.

The Welcome sign serves not only as a welcome, but also as a way to show the expectations of our classroom.  

Thank you to this blogger I found through Pinterest for the idea for the Welcome sign.  I used Microsoft Publisher to create it.

Our Family Tree

We are in LOVE with our family tree for our classroom this year.  

I drew inspiration from the blogs listed below. 

(All currently pinned to my Classroom Ideas Pinterest board.)

Tree 1

Tree 2

Tree 3

I then free-handed a tree trunk on brown butcher paper, laminated it, and cut it out.  Note: I cut the tree along the lines I drew on the paper after I laminated it to save myself from not only having to cut it out twice, but also to keep from wrinkling the branches as they laminated.  

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I laminated these dots from Creative Teaching Press, purchased from The School Box. 

(I honestly don't remember if I have the 6" or 10" dots.)

I used a glue gun and started layering.  

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The finished product, sans family pictures.

I added a sign created on Microsoft Publisher.  I have always liked that pre-made bubble frame they have as an option.  I just changed the colors to match our tree better.

I goes great with our class bulletin board.  I'll post it at another time. ;)