A Freebie that Kinder Teachers Will NOT Want to Miss!

Happy Holidays!  I guess you could say that I am "in the spirit" because I have a goodie to share with all you awesome Kindergarten teachers out there.  I think you are going to LOVE it!

Is your school district using Standards-Based Grading?  Or are they (and you) moving in that direction?  Well, our school district is doing just that and I want to be prepared for the change.  So - I created this bad boy!

Kindergarten ELA Standards-Based Gradebook

 

All you need to do is print, 3-hole punch the papers, insert them in a binder, and then you are ready to go!

 

The anchors are organized by color.  I also inserted page dividers with tabs between the anchors. 

 

I will be keeping this binder within arms reach at all times.  Anytime that I observe a student demonstrating that he/she has met a standard, I will:

- locate that particular page / standard in my binder,

- write the date,

- write a brief activity description,

- and then check which student met that standard.

 

I still have not yet decided on a coding system.  This will likely depend on what my school district decides.

 

I even included a binder insert to give it that "cutesy" look.  :)

Click on the link below if you want to snag this great FREEBIE:

Kindergarten ELA Standards-Based Gradebook

This is my first time attempting to share a file publicly via Google Drive, so please let me know if you have any trouble.

(By the way...I tried again and again to upload this document on Teachers Pay Teachers, but it just.would.not.work!  I was going insane!  I followed all the rules (PDF, max file size under 200mb, no punctuation in the file name, etc.) and yet it would not upload!  I continually received an error messaging stating, "Please upload a supported product file."  Grrr!  Anyway, if you have any insight, it would be much appreciated.  Thanks!)

Keep your eye open for a Kindergarten MATH Standards-Based Gradebook in the upcoming months!

Well, I guess that is it for now.  I hope you are able to use the freebie and that you find it useful!  If you like it, I would love to hear how you plan to use it in your classroom.  :)

As always, thanks for stopping by!

My kiddos LOVED this easy-to-implement activity! Check it out!

Agh!  I cannot believe I have let almost an entire month slip by me without posting anything new on my blog.  In my defense, however, I am nine months pregnant and expecting baby any day!  (How exciting!!)  Also, my work situation has been scary and stressful lately.  (Not exciting.)  Anyway, I hope you forgive me!

So I saw this cute idea on Pinterest.  Click HERE to go to the pin.  It looks like the original idea and photo came from Tammy at "Forever in First," though the Pinterest link does not take you back to Tammy's post about this cute idea.  I guess you would have to search around her blog to find it.

Anyway, this idea is a neat twist on the traditional Venn Diagram.  Instead of using your whiteboard or chart paper, you use your students!  Here is what we did:  I named one student the "penny" and another student the "nickel."  Our "penny" and "nickel" linked arms.  All the other students shared things they knew about the penny, the nickel, or both.  I wrote all of their information and knowledge of sticky labels.  The students who shared the information were then allowed to come up and stick the label to the "penny" or the "nickel" or both.  They ALL thought this was hilarious!!  And in the meantime, I was able to informally assess their understanding of our current Math topic.  A formative assessment that was FUN and ENGAGING for my Kinders!?  How about them apples!?

Here is a picture of my cutie-patootie "nickel" and "penny."  (I hate that I have to cover their precious faces.)

We did this activity again!  This time we compared the nickel and the dime.

This activity was too awesome to stop!  Here are a couple more of my kiddos acting as a "dime" and a "quarter."

 

Easy, right!?  Try it out.  If you do, I would love to know how it works for you and your kiddos!

Thanks for stopping by.  :)

i-FANs

As my husband and I were driving home from the Teacher Appreciation Day at Office Max, I totally got into "teacher talk" mode.  (Side note - My husband is not a teacher.)  I was telling him about how I just started using i-FANS in my classroom.  He was less than impressed and hardly entertained by my company, so I thought, "Ya know what, Amber, just blog about it.  Maybe somebody out there will care."  :)

So I previously posted about Cindy Middendorf and how much I love her, her books, her ideas, her seminars, etc.  She's great!  Anyway, in her book Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten, she talks about i-FANs.  What are i-FANs, you ask?  Well!  Let me tell you.  An i-FAN is simply colored index cards (one for each student in your classroom) with student names written on them; they are held together by hole punching the corner of each card and then joining them together with a metal O-ring (I found these at Office Max, but maybe your secretary can give you some).  This little creation becomes a portable, simple tool for recording on-the-spot observations.

Perhaps you all already do this (I am just starting my third year and I am learning as I go).  But I used my Math i-FAN for the first time on Friday...it was a magical experience!  I loved going back and reading the notes at the end of the day.  I know these will help me plan my interventions, plan enrichment experiences, and when it comes to report card / PT Conference time.  I also created seperate i-FANs for Reading and Writing.

I will try to remember to take a picture when I go back to work tomorrow and add it to this post.  But I think you all can figure it out regardless.  Have fun!

Okay, so since last posting about i-FANs, I have taken a few pictures.  After re-reading my post, I realize I did not use COLORED index cards as I suggested to you.  Silly me!  Anyway, I really do think colored ones would be better (for locating names faster and for organization purposes).

I hung these guys using magnetic hooks on my metal shelf behind my desk.  That way they are not visible for those who should not be reading my notes, yet they are easy for me to grab when I need them.

Here is a close-up shot.  Easy enough, right!?

You might even want to use tabs to more easily locate each student's card.  I have not done that yet, but I am thinking about it.

How do YOU takes notes when informally assessing your students?  I would love to hear about it!  :)