New Behavior Plan

Hello!
I have been so busy setting up the room and beginning of the year meetings that I have not shared a lot of ideas I have been doing in the classroom!
I am so excited for next year, I cannot wait to meet my students on Wednesday!
This year, I think my student's abilities will be different than last year so I have decided to come up with a new, simpler behavior plan. I wanted reinforcement to be quicker and differentiated for each student based on how often and how long they need the reinforcement to be successful. I also wanted it to be concrete to keep students on task and motivated.
Here is my new idea: Star boards!
I created a lot of reinforcement pictures on Boardmaker like puzzle, blow bubbles, computer, koosh ball, etc. During the morning meeting, students can choose what they want to work for that day. I will put their reinforcer on the end of their Star Board. Then, they can earn stars throughout the activity to earn their reinforcer! It can be differentiated because some students only need to earn one star, or many stars, to earn reinforcers. It can also be based on time to work on student's being able to stay on task for longer periods of time by adding time each day to the activity to earn another star. As we move onto another activity, they can choose a new reinforcer and continue working. If a student starts to engage in behaviors not consistent with the classroom rules (Hands and feet to self, do your work, quiet voice and listen) then I can remind them that that behavior will not earn stars and then you will not be able to (do a puzzle, blow bubbles, play with play doh, etc). I can also determine how long each individual student will be able to engage in reinforcement based on their level.

I cut a black foam board into long sections, then used white electrical tape to section off the areas. I made one with two sections and one with 5 sections. I added velcro

The stars are foam stickers with velcro added to the back

Here is an example of a bigger star board for a student who needs to earn more than one star to engage in reinforcement. Where the blank velcro is at the end is where the Boardmaker reinforcer symbol will be.

This will also work with a parent communication form that the students can be involved in as well. What was I working for today? Did I earn it? Etc.

Excited for 2012-2013 school year to begin, best of luck teachers!

Assessment

I have been so busy setting up room 5! I will put up pictures when my room is complete. The first day of school is a week away from today and I am getting so nervous but very excited to meet the kids. Although we have plenty of assessments that we must complete for the school and/or district, I also came up with an assessment that I created just to see where the kids levels are at the first day of school. I am thinking of giving this assessment at the beginning of each quarter to see their progress over time with basic skills. This assessment goes from very basic to more complicated, so I am planning on skipping over parts depending on how the kids are doing with it.

The good thing is, there are many different ways to see the kids skills with this assessment and it has a lot of "white space" to take notes. For example, if the student is nonverbal, can they point to the letters/numbers when asked? Can they receptively identify them, or can they at least point to the text on the page, and not off in the white space? Can they point to each one, in order, even if they do not know the letter names/sounds? Can they point to their name, or better yet, circle it? Can they say their name when asked? Do they know their personal info? Even if they can't write their name, are they doing the proper grip on their writing utensil? At the end, I am planning on using flashcards for colors, shapes, etc. I also have cards with Dolch Sight words and then at the way end, I have a conventions of reading section. I think this is a pretty comprehensive, simple assessment that can cover various levels. I am hoping to do this the first day while the other children are occupied with a task such as puzzles or books, along with the other assessments to complete.

Here it is, just copied and pasted. Let me know if you would like me to send you the document! Happy beginning of the year :-)

Assessment

Name: _________

Date: __________

A     B      C 

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h  i  j  k  l  m  n  o  p  q  r  s  t  u  v  w  x  y  z 

Q  W  E  R  T  Y  U  I  O  P  A  S  D  F  G  H  J  K  L  Z  X  C  V  B  N  M

p  l  m  o  k  n  i  j  b  u  h  v  y  g  c  t  f  x  r  d  z  e  s  w  a  q

Find your name: Y/N

What is your name? ______

When is your birthday? _____

What is your phone number? ______

What is your address?

______

Here is your name:

-Read Name Y/N

-Point to Name Y/N

________________________

________________________

Write your name:

________________________

________________________

Hold Pencil/Crayon appropriate Y/N

1  2  3 

1  2  3  4  5  

6  7  8  9  10 

1  2  3  4  5  

 6  7  8  9  10  

11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  

-Count by rote ____

-Count objects ____

-Colors: R, O, Y, G, B, P, Pi, Br, Bl, Gra, W

Say/Point

-Shapes: C, S, T, R, O, St, H

Say/Point

-Sight Words: (Read/Point) a, can, I, go, up, see, me, big, not, come, run, and, my, the, is, to, you, in, here, said, it, for, look, we

With a book do they:

Hold it upright Y/N

Turn the pages in order Y/N

Look at pictures Y/N

Point to pictures Y/N

Find title Y/N

Read words Y/N 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Word Wall

Now this post may come with some copywriting issues because I made things myself instead of buying them from the program but...I also made a purchase to them so it's okay!!
So, I am slightly obsessed with the Handwriting Without Tears program. If you don't know..google it!! I think it is a great way to teach kids how to not only write letters correctly, but to have a very simple, common language in the classroom and to teach vocabulary as well. Also with the program I will obviously teach letter names and sounds as well.
I have recently made a purchase, I got the Kindergarten teacher's guide and a set of the wooden pieces. Basically, the premise is, using 4 different shapes (a big line, a little line, a big curve and a little curve) you can make all the letters of the alphabet. So, once you master those shapes you can make all the letters correctly and easily. I already have the Pre-Kindergarten teacher's guide and the workbook.

Here is the wooden set of the shapes. These are great because the kids can manipulate them kinesthetically and learn and feel what the letters are made out of.

So, I have decided to make my new word wall for my classroom mimic the program.

For all the capital letters they have a language used to teach and understand the letters. All the letters are in three groups: "frog jump" capitals, corner starting capitals and center starters. 

I have color coded and themed these letters in green, yellow and red. I used the images from the workbook to make the letters so they have the instructions used in the program (you can see tiny arrows and numbers showing how to make each letter). They use a smiley face in the left-hand corner to demonstrate starting in the top left corner to make the letter, so I used that on those letters and I created the bullseye myself for center starters, I think I am going to teach center with the bullseye to be easy and understood.

So here is what my word wall will look like when it is up, with space for vocab words underneath. 

Here is a sample with some vocab words in there...I also made myself a set of the alphabet cards (I copied the workbook pages so that the image and word matches what they will be doing in their workbook)

Here are my completed alphabet cards that I will probably hang in the room as we learn each letter.

I also made the number cards!

Now, all I need to do is laminate and cut, cut, cut...