Investigation Day

I set up an entire Investigation Day for my kinders to celebrate all we had learned so far!  I wanted to have a fun filled learning day for them where they could really apply all of the letter knowledge that they gained during the first month of school.

Our Investigation Day had a big mystery for the kids to solve - Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar?

This day was mostly prep work and planning, but don't worry, I have that all available for you here.  The actual day was obviously fun for the kids, but also a lot of fun for me as a teacher.  I was worried that I would be stressed going so far from routine, but in reality, it wasn't that far from our routine!

I let the families know that an investigation day was going to be coming up.  I told them not to tell their kids.  I gave them the date and asked that their student would wear black to school that day.

I created a wish list on Amazon with some of the items that we needed for the day: flashlights, hats, invisible ink pens, notebooks, magnifying glasses, investigation tape, a stamp, and footprints.  The parents were great and donated all the supplies for the day!  I love Amazon wish lists!

I told my students a secret the day before our Investigation Day.  I told them that they had been so amazing and had already learned so much that we would have cookies for breakfast tomorrow!  Their mouths dropped. I had the cookies in a cookie jar and we did a little cookie dance before dismissal.  The students were in shock that their teacher was going to let them have cookies before 8:00 AM!

That afternoon came around and I worked on creating our learning space, the "crime scene" for the following day.  As I said, it did require some prep work, but again, I go in to detail with what you need to do in my Investigation Packet.

Students entered the next day wearing black (totally wasn't necessary, I just thought it added a little more to the day) and they were so excited for cookies!  I was waiting outside the classroom where students had to scan to enter.  Once approved, they walked in to the room, where they noticed all the cookies were missing!  We had music playing and students had to figure out what happened.

We opened our "Top Secret" note to start our day and learned that someone had stolen all of the cookies!

We started the morning by making Investigation Badges.  This was our typical math block.  We counted our fingers and added our finger prints.  We drew a self portrait using our basic shapes.  We measured our bodies with snap cubes and counted how tall we were.  Students came up with a Secret Agent name and scanned their badges in.

Next was our literacy block.  This was the bulk of our day. Students had 3 different codes to crack.  First they searched for clues all over the room.  Once they found clues, they had to figure out how to sort them.  Once the clues were sorted, they had to figure out what they meant.  The clues went together to solve 3 codes. Each code led to a hint of where the cookies went.

We added in some extra to the day.  The students had to make it through a maze which worked on motor skills.  The students recorded what was going on with the investigation on Seesaw, working on our retelling.  Students used watercolors to paint over a secret map that was leading to the cookies - this was our first time with watercolors and a great way to introduce rules of how to use them.

Students eventually found the cookies and of course were able to eat the cookies to celebrate a successful day!

Click here for the Investigation Day Packet.

Flipgrid in the Kindergarten Classroom

Last summer I wrote a blog post after learning about Flipgrid for the first time.  My post contained lots of ideas of ways to incorporate Flipgrid into the kindergarten classroom.  I spent the year learning more about Flipgrid and exploring the best uses for my kinder students.  I am excited to share with you things that I have learned and discovered after Flipgrid-ing for a year!

First of all, if you haven't heard the most recent news, Flipgrid is now FREE, 100% free, for all educators.  I had a paid account last year because I needed  wanted organized grids and it made me feel better about using it.  There were a lot of features to the paid account that I liked and I didn't mind paying for that upgrade.  No need to worry now!  Now it is free, so YAY!

How it Works

Grids & Topics

Basically, you create a grid.  I view the grid as the overall topic, the big umbrella.  Within each grid, you can have topics, these are the subcategories of your topic, the smaller ways you may want to organize your grid.

Below is an example from my Cultures grid (overall big idea).  I created topics within the Cultures grid to help my students navigate the grid better - smaller ideas that still pertain to cultures - language, traditions, clothing, etc.

Passwords

Students now have to enter a password to access the grid.  I love this feature. It is easy to post the password for your students in your classroom (my kinders are totally capable of using a password to access grids) and you can also send it home to parents so they can see what is being posted in the grids. 

Below is a glimpse at what that screen looks like!

Posting

Once students are in, they can post away!  Download the Flipgrid app on any device.  Students scan your code to access your grid or can type in the grid code.  Then they simply push the "green plus", create their video, take a photo that will display on the grid, and then enter their information.  My kinders simply put their initials.

Kinders sharing book reviews on @Flipgrid today! #kindersCAN #flipgridfever pic.twitter.com/4MDTjTtg2l

— Kelsey Cones (@MsConesTweets) October 16, 2017

Ways to Use Flipgrid

Many of these ideas are ideas that I shared last summer.  At that point, I had only started playing with Flipgrid and hadn't had my kinders using the app yet.  After a year of exploring, here are some things that really worked and some ideas that I will work on next year!

Community:

• Class introductions - have students share a little about themselves on a class community grid!
• Family introductions - do the same thing but have families share!
• Staff introductions - have staff share a quick blurb about themselves for the community to see!
• Flipped Learning - film a strategy, teach a short lesson - share it with families and the community to they can help their learner grow at home!

ELA:

• Book Reviews - students can leave reviews of a book after reading at school OR at home!  I created a Grid that was for Book Reviews and had two topics - at school and at home.

• Retelling Stories - students can work on retelling a story - beginning, middle, end
• Vocabulary - students can explain the meaning of new vocabulary words.  My goal for next year is to upload the word and students can respond to the video of the word with their definition.
• Writing - students can share their stories on Flipgrid
• Writing Process - create a grid with a topic for each state of the writing process - use it as a reflection tool for students to use during the writing process

Math:

• Shapes - have students find 2-D and 3-D shapes in the environment around them.  Students describe the attributes of the shapes.  Students may film the door and explain that it is a rectangle because it has two long sides and two short sides.
• Word Problems - this was a huge hit with my kids this year!  Students write their own word problem and read it on Flipgrid.  Students listen to the word problems, solve, and respond with their thinking and the answer!

Science/Social Studies:

• Cultures - Students share different aspects of their culture.  This was a great way for families to get involved with student learning.
• Weather - Students give weather reports and can compare and contrast how weather changes over time.

Other:

• Genius Hour - students use this tool to check in during their Genius Hour projects!

Budget Tips and Tricks for Beginning Teachers

I am guilty.  I was that first year teacher who spent SO much on my classroom year one.  I poured (and still continue to) my heart and wallet into my classroom.  However, there were definitely things I bought that I didn't need and tips that would have saved me so much money in the long run. 

1.  Think hard about your "theme". 

I wanted a safari room.  I had gone to South Africa my senior year of college and loved it so much that I wanted to turn my classroom into my own little piece of Africa.  I went to the teacher stores and got all the cute teacher-y stuff with lions and elephants on it.  I had borders, posters, artwork, pillows, signs...you name it, I had it.  Well a year or two passed and that theme was no longer attractive to me.

My suggestion - go easy with the theme (totally not saying to avoid a theme...I am all about some ocean, cactus, safari, donut - themed rooms), but pick a color scheme that you will LOVE and just add themed accents here and there.

My current room is now just black and primary colors.  There are very few traces of safari left, but I can do so much more with what I have now and my purchases are going to last me much longer!

2.  Don't be afraid to ask!

Amazon Wish Lists, Donors Choose, and Social Media are your friends!  Everyone knows how much money teachers spend on their classrooms and chances are, your friends, family, and community are willing to help.

I always do a Wish List during my meet the teacher.  Most families are kind enough to pick up an extra item and send it in.  This is an easy way to go dry erase markers, play-doh, stickers, or other inexpensive items that you need.

When we have special events, I send out an Amazon Wish List.  I love this because then I know exactly what will be coming in.  Sometimes it can be hard to communicate what you need with families.

Donors Choose projects are amazing for bigger items!  I have had a handful funded.  My best advice, keep the project $500 or less.  You can always do multiple projects!

3.  Don't get sucked up in the trends!

I bought a light up letter board.  I bought the accessories.  I made my own slides to go in.  Guess how much I use it!  I don't.  I should've waited another month and seen if I still wanted it.  I would have quickly realized that it was not needed at all.  I didn't even have a real purpose for it...

4.  Spend money on the things that make you happy!

I have taught for 5 years.  There are many things that have entered my classroom and not been used or have left the next year.  However, there are many things that I. could. not. live. without.

These are the items that keep me sane in my classroom.  These are the items that have had a home in my classroom for 5 years and will continue to have a home in my classroom as long as I teach. 

These are the items that I consider to be "A Teacher's Best Friend".

Flair Pens - I use these for EVERYTHING.  They are the best pens ever.  If you haven't tried them, you need to now.

Stapler - Not just any stapler, but this one is SO perfect.  It requires 0 effort to staple things into the walls or cork strips.  It never rarely jams.  I will not use any other stapler.



Expo Markers - No explanation needed for this one - these are the best.



Pre-sharpened pencils - because who has spare time to keep all the pencils sharp?  Sounds silly, but this saves me so much time!



Sit Spots - these are so versatile, come in so many colors, and are so easy to move around.  It is a much cleaner look than a carpet, in my eyes at least!



What are your MUST HAVES that have been with you for years and years in your classroom?

Teaching with Wordless Books

Wordless Books

Wordless Books are so powerful in the classroom, especially for little learners.  I love starting the year off with wordless books for many reasons.  Wordless books captivate the class and the books peak my students interests.  Here are just a few of the reasons that I love to start with these books.

Print Concepts

Even the simplest of skills need to be taught.  Not every student was exposed to books as a child.  Understanding how to turn the pages of a book is an important skill.  Wordless books are great for this because the readers are not focused on anything except for the pictures, making it easier to work on this skill.

Pictures Contain a Message

This is great for both reading and writing.  It is so important for kindergarten kids to understand that pictures contain a message.

Read to Self

An expectation at our school is that students spend some time reading to themselves.  I know that this is a very hard skill for young learners.  Many of them do not know how to read yet and they won't hesitate to say that.  We spend a lot of time talking about how we can read the pictures.  Students are able to successfully read to self during the first few weeks of school because they are reading the pictures in the book.

Writing

Writing is another skill where students come in at all sorts of different levels.  Many students are telling their stories just by using pictures.  Wordless books are a great way for students to see that they are "authors" too, even when they are just drawing pictures.  They can see that the pictures they draw can have a story too.  This is always a powerful moment for students.

Storytelling

Creativity and storytelling is so powerful.  I don't feel like students have much time to be creative and use their imaginations.  Wordless books allow students creativity and imagination to come to life.  

Labeling

We became the authors of a wordless book! pic.twitter.com/eudae1yUUi

— Kelsey Cones (@MsConesTweets) October 12, 2017

Labeling is the first step to writing.  We often become the authors of wordless books.  We take sticky notes and write down what we can.  We stretch out the word and write the sounds we know.  Some students are able to write a word or sentence on their sticky, other kids are just writing the first sound.  The kids are amazed when they become the author of these books.

Favorite Wordless Books

Here are just a few of my favorite wordless books!  

A Ball for Daisy

Chalk

Pancakes for Breakfast

Wave

Tuesday

Dylan's Day Out

Good Dog Carl

Flotsam

Flashlight

The Red Book

Good Night, Gorilla

What is your favorite wordless book or activity?