Friends of Ten Bracelets - Bright Ideas!

If you haven't seen the Bright Ideas link up before, you have been missing out! Ideas from 100+ bloggers for you to implement in your classroom and all the ideas are FREE! No products to buy! How great is that?

This month my Bright Idea is Friends of Ten bracelets. We have been talking about which numbers make ten in class and although we have been working a lot with ten frames, I thought we needed to see it a little differently.

You will need some pipe cleaners and some beads (here I had a jar of cut up straw which certainly worked fine!)

We sat in a big circle and talked about the Friends of Ten. Then I distributed bowls of straws and asked the kids to thread ten pieces onto their pipe cleaner (fine motor skills and maths unite!)

As we went through the Friends of Ten, we were able to separate the straws into two separate groups. Here you can see the friends of ten are 2 (on the left) and 8.

After we had had some fun moving the straws around, I handed out whietboards and textas and we recorded what we saw.

Of course sometimes we make mistakes, but having the concrete example there was easy to draw that students attention back to the friends of ten they had had a problem with and get them to remake it. Instant assessment!

If you liked this Bright Idea, make sure you follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

And for more Bright Ideas from over 100 bloggers, look through the linkup below for ideas that will suit your grade level.

An InLinkz Link-up

Another Free Font Friday!!!

Here is my font for you for this week. It is a little 'rough' but I think it still is a fun alternative font for you to use :) Personal and commercial ok (simple credit would be great!)

Click the picture to go and download it for FREE!

Science Day!

Last week, we had a day which was suggested by our SRC (which is the Student Representative Council). They told the teachers they didnt think we were doing enough science and would like a science day. They compiled a list of experiments they would like to do and shared it with the teachers. Then the teachers chose some and ran the session.

In Kinder, we divided our 2 classes into 8 small groups and ran 4 activities in each room. In the other K room there was bubbles with varying sizes and shapes of wands, sinking and floating, oil and water and making paper planes. I would love to share pics of those but I dont have any without kids front and centre.

In my room I had the following activities - magnets, building with cups, water beads and making a reaction with baking soda and vinegar.

1. Magnets - Here I used my magnetic wands and magnetic counters. The kids were experimenting with putting the counters in patterns and trying to pick them up in one whole sweep. They really enjoyed it!

 2. Building with plastic cups - This activity is not unfamiliar to our classes and is an activity that they ask for often in developmental play time. The difference today was they were trying to 'outbuild' each other by making the tallest tower.

3. Making reactions - This was my station. The kids had to add a small scoop of bicarb soda to their plate and then gently drip the vinegar (mixed with food colouring) onto the little pile. The result is a fizzing pile which the kids really enjoyed. We then experimented with putting the piles quite close together and seeing if the colours mixed. Definitely a lot of fun and the materials for this were SUPER cheap, if you are thinking about doing it in your own classroom.

 4. Water Beads - This was the last station in my room and did they have a great time with these balls. We added the water the day before and they enlarge while soaking. They feel pretty cool! The kids were given a spoon and tweezers and they were trying to move them around to different bowls. They even had a game of bouncing the balls on the table and trying to get them into the bowl. Needless to say, there was a HUGE mess under the table at the end.

Do you ever have Science Day at your school?

Do you GoNoodle?

Does your class need breaks between lessons? Sometimes they need to get moving to 'wake up' and sometimes they need they calming down time. GoNoodle might just be the answer!

What is GoNoodle?

It is a FREE brain break website which is used by teachers all around the world! The brain breaks range from dances (KooKooKangaRoo are awesome!) YouTube videos, athletics and even a calming series called Flow, you will find something to suit your class.

Why GoNoodle?

It is super easy to use. Just pick a champ, pick a brain break and watch your minutes accumulate. Your kids will stay focused (or even regain focus) AND have fun! Another great thing is that you can access great kid-approved brain breaks in one place so it is no-prep and ready to go!

We particularly LOVE Ninja Training and Dinosaur Stomp where the kids get to get up and dance, by following the simple and easy to remember moves.

Does GoNoodle interfere with learning time?

Not at all! We use GoNoodle as a lesson break or transition into a new activity. It help us settle down or get our bodies moving again after a long session on the floor. Most of the brain breaks are 5 minutes or less and are perfect to slot into those little spaces of time.

Here is our current champ!

How does Go Noodle benefit my class?

I have found that the best part of GoNoodle is the participation from all kids. As well as keeping them engaged and active, it can help kids achieve recommended daily activity levels without them even realising it! Incidental exercise like this certainly adds up.

What kind of brain breaks can I pick from?

The totally FREE brain breaks range from calming breathing exercises (like Flow which we LOVE) to yoga-like stretching with Maximo, fun and easy dances with KooKooKangaRoo (make one of your first brain breaks Ninja Training and your boys will be hooked!) and athletics training like sprint, hurdles, javelin and long jump! With many ways to keep kids engaged, you will be able to find brain breaks that your kids love and mark them as a favourite to come back to again and again!

Why not try it? Remember it is FREE! Click on the picture below or HERE to go and sign up your own class.

Free Font Friday!

Well everyone else is doing it so I am linking up for

I have made a couple of fonts which you can find on 2ttf.com and search for BrookeBeynon. Here is the one I made this week just for Free Font Friday. Just click the image to go straight to download.

I think my favourite thing about making fonts is getting to name them fun things!

Hope you enjoy!

Snowman! Tuesday Art Linky

Last week we were looking at the letter S. We made this totally pinterest inspired snowman artwork :)

It was a very simple activity which combined cutting, gluing and the a little bit of paint right at the end. Super cute!

And I have uploaded the templates I made for the main pieces for you to Google Docs so you make your own snowman :)

Click the pic to go and grab your templates.

Comprehension in Kindergarten

We have been hard at work at comprehension in Kindergarten. This fabulous idea is from my teaching partner Kim!

Instead of the traditional approach to comprehension as a lot of our kids would not be able to read and answer a question, we moved towards the drawing side to show understanding. This week we did the Rainbow Fish.

I thought a know story might help a bit with the recall of details and the series of events.

We used this template which (hopefully) gave them a defined idea of beginning middle and end.

I actually read the story twice (as well as having listened to it a week earlier on Storyline Online) so they were should have been quite familiar.

Here is a couple of the finished comprehensions, I asked each child one on one to explain their pictures and scribed their answer.

We will continue with this this term. How do you do comprehension in Kindergarten?

Currently JUNE!

1. I seem to always talk about kids shows!

2. Loving that my part in reports (for now) is done! I am just waiting for things to get edited and returned but I am feeling free at the moment :)

3. We have 3 1/2 weeks until the end of Term 2 and it just seems like there are so many things that are going to interrupt. Science day, athletics carnival, NAIDOC performance, book swap......I feel tired already

4. Wanting......

5. Needing - I am not asking for prayers.....just positive vibes to help sort out some stuff.

6. Its winter now so its more of a winter break list :)

Go and link up!

Blending CVC words - video!!!

This is the pic I posted on the blog and Instagram during the week. It has inspired me to make this video of how we used it (with my own kids)

I did it! Here is a video of using the magnetic counters and wands to blend CVC cards.

**I am very sorry about the comment about dogs heehee***

The cards are from Mel of From the Pond. Click HERE for a link to her store!

Click the picture to go straight to her cards.

And Mel is kind enough to give me one to give away!!!

Let's do it old school, just leave a comment below and tell me why you want them. Don't forget your email.