Hop to it!

Attending my 2nd to last training (whew!) this week. The 2011 CSCOPE State Conference is pretty spectacular, but there are way, way, WAY too many people for my liking. I am, however, excited about what I learned the first day!

Dr. Rich Allen was the keynote speaker and had such a clever, and adaptable, movement activity. Get yourself a hopscotch, 100s chart, alphabet chart, calculator, whathaveyou for your classroom floor!

The possibilities are endless with a blank hopscotch on a shower curtain, tarp, etc. Dr. Allen showed an example that used alphabet bean bags for children to toss onto the hopscotch and jump through the letter sounds/names.

Ack! These are so cute!! Another wish list item, I suppose...

Although I think I have a more economical solution with laminated cards on the squares, perhaps using a shower curtain and page protectors like this teacher.

Created by Simply 2nd Resources!

Whatever the design, I think this a great way to get movement into whole-group activities! My friends and I brainstormed using the hopscotch or alphabet chart for shapes, numbers, colors, word families, beginning/ending sounds, and more!

In the next sessions I learned a bit about creating a class science notebook in kindergarten, which is aligned with my commitment to use interactive writing this year! The presenter was the woman who wrote the science curriculum for kindergarten; it was so nice to put a face to the lessons. She shared some of the same concerns I have about integrating the TEKS better throughout the units and not using written assessments for kinders. It's good to know that there ARE mindful curriculum writers like her!

Tomorrow I'll be attending two sessions with a favorite presenter from the Texas Kindergarten Conference. I can't wait!