Fall Trees and a Pumpkin

Today we finished up our fall trees.  We used the same pattern as our apple trees, but use red, yellow, and orange to make fall leaves.  I call up to four kids at a time to a table to paint while the rest of the class is working and playing at traditional kindergarten centers.  This is what we do the last 30 minutes of the day and it allows time to do individual assessments and to get everyone packed up to go home.

So last week we did a class pumpkin.  Every class did one and they were auctioned off at our Fall Carnival.  Well we kind of ran out of time to really spend time on our pumpkin so I thought we should do something simple.

Presenting.... Our Pumpkin

It's "pumpkin pie."

These are the things I come up with when I am under a time crunch.  Lol!  I wonder if they were able to make money off my pumpkin.  I didn't glue anything down, so they could have carved anything they wanted.  I missed out carnival because I fell asleep and woke up the next afternoon.  No kidding.  I couldn't believe that I was that tired and my son didn't bother waking me up on a Saturday.

In other news (I always wanted to say type that.), I have had this little organizer sitting on my desk and I have been wondering what I should do with it.  Any ideas?  Leave your comments below.

Patterns and an Apple Tree

Today we worked on patterns in math.  We talked about patterns that we could find in the classroom and on our clothes.  Then I made a few patterns using my document camera to project them on the Smart Board.  The students had to tell me the pattern and what would come next if the pattern continued.  Finally, I gave everyone pattern blocks to make their own patterns.  Here is a look at some of the patterns my kinders made today.

 

I really like this pattern.  This took some creative thinking.

 

During our traditional center time today, we finger painted apple trees!  They love to paint and these are turning out great.  Half the class will do their apple trees tomorrow.

 

Where I work, we are encourage to do traditional centers in addition to literacy and math centers.  We do our traditional centers the last 40 minutes of the day.  This allows us to do one-on-one assessments and get kids packed up in a calm orderly fashion.  Some days we go to the computer lab during this time too.

 

If you missed my last post, you can check it out here.  I have a rafflecopter giveaway for my Fall Math and Literacy Center Fun pack.  Check it out! 

Christmas Fun Math and Literacy Activities

I have been working hard on a new item to add to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and Teachers Notebook.  Check it out.  Here is the item description.

This packet contains the follow activities:

*Fingerprint Christmas tree craft with an original poem rhyme written by me.
*Roll and Color number word and color word recognition sheet and cube.
*Santa letter writing form
*Snowman Glyph, tally mark data sheets, and data mini book.
*Syllable Sort Step Book directions with photos and patterns.
*Christmas word building activity, letter tiles, and recording sheet with teacher directions.
*Christmas theme emergent reader written by me.

All the patterns needed are included and I have included photos of the finished product along with directions.