Crafting and Researching for Kindergarten

As I will be teaching Kindergarten this next year, I have been aggressively making myself ready: mentally and physically. I am fortunate that the classroom that I am taking over is quite large and has plenty of resources already in it. The school or a previous teacher loaded up with puzzles, games, whiteboards, and flash cards. This is a complete switch for me from last year where I had virtually no materials (from the school) for half-a-year for my third graders in Language Arts. I very much utilized literature circles, reading a-z, library books, and online resources.

Anyway, I'll be using a mixture of curriculum and teacher-developed (and found) resources. I have Reading Street, Saxon Math, Math Expressions, Scott Foresman Science and Social Studies, a phonics program, and a writing program. In comparison to last year, this is quite overwhelming. On the bright side, I have my tentative year plan already made and won't stick to the curriculum religiously. I go by what way I best can connect topics, seasonal opportunities, integrating units, and, of course, state and common core standards. 

What I have been doing a lot recently is researching teaching techniques and classroom management ideas, making center and whole group activities, and crafting things for the classroom. I love the idea of whole brain teaching! I'm also planning on implementing the Daily Five and Writing Workshop.

Does anyone use whole brain teaching? How do you teach the rules? Do you use all of it or bits and pieces?

I had seen a number of cute chairs around pinterest and blogs and opted to create my own. I had an old chair that was worse for wear. I decided that it would be my project. 

I searched for paint tucked away in the basement and managed to find this teal and pink. I mixed the two to create the purple. 

My only task now is to find the fabric to go with it. I have a "The Frog and the Princess" fleece fabric that matches the color perfectly, but wouldn't be large enough to not show the faces. I also have a simple teal fabric and bought a green with teal spot fabric. Still, I am conflicted. Any ideas?

Another activity I got done was this number puzzle. You can choose whether or not to have the addition as part of the puzzle. It's not self correcting (maybe I'll do another that way), but allows students to match different representations of numbers 1-10. You can download it at teacherspayteachers for free if you click the picture below.

Home-Make Pocket Chart

I'm about as frugal as them come. From home-made materials to dollar spot purchases, I'd like to believe that I won't spend all my money of my classroom. Mind you, I am just beginning out and sometime I'll likely just give in. Right now, I have the time to try to wind crafts out.

My lastest desire was to make my own pocket chart. While laminating the number cards from the last post and a few other things, I threw in another sheet of 24x12 construction paper in to try it out. With some extra laminating scraps, thread laying around, and a needle, I  figured my course of action. I laid out my paper and taped the strips onto it as straight as possible. Since I lack a sewing machine, I just used a needle and thread and sewed it on.

I could have made the strips smaller, but this was a trial attempt. Plus, it ended up fitting well with my cricut apples! Here it is next to the $1 pocket chart at Target. Is it worth it with the time? Maybe not, but maybe the next one will be larger and then it will definitely be worth it over a $10 or $20 versus just my time.

I'm thinking of relaminating to make it stronger. Though it's strong enough to hold paper, maybe not having little hands playing with it.  I'll share if I do!