The Cutting Edge

I spent a good part of my day today with a pair of scissors in my hand. Unfortunetly they weren't the best pair of scissors so my hand is a bit sore.

I started out the morning coloring Rhyming Picture Cards. There were 72 pictures but it only took about an hour. The guy at Lakeshore complimented how professional they looked. (This picture is sideways cuz I didn't want to go through the hastle of turning them around - you get the gist even though it is sideways)

I had alot of lamination to do today. I go to Lakeshore Learning to do it. We have a laminator at work but they are pretty picky about it. The library assistant does it all so you have to fill out a form and don't know when you will get it back. Plus if it is a big project you have to get approval. I'd much rather go to Lakeshore where it is only 29 cents a foot. I laminated 13 feet and paid about a little over 4 dollars. Not Bad, and well worth it. Their lamination machine works SO MUCH better.

I made Letter Bears, Dog Bones, Rhyming Picture cards, and File Folder games.

I used the Ellison Press to cut out the bears. Usually I can laminate the construction paper BEFORE I use the press, but I had to add the letters to the bears before they were laminated so when it came time to cut them out after laminated it took a little longer. LOTS OF CURVES!

I will use these Letter Bears while we are out on our bathroom break. It keeps us busy while we wait for the kids in the bathroom and then we aren't wasting 10 doing nothing.

Kindergarteners love the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see. These bears use the same concept. Take for example the bear with the letter A on it. The kids would say,

Aa Bear, Aa Bear, who do you see, I see Bb Bear looking at me. Bb Bear, Bb bear, who do you see. And on and on through out the alphabet. (I got this idea from Dr. Jean)

The dog bones are a game we play. The students will pick a dog bone out of the dog dish and say the letter. If the get it correct they get to keep the bone, if it is wrong they have to put it back. If they get the bone that says WOOF! on it they have to put ALL their letters back in the dish. (Also came from Dr. Jean)

Both of these activities are great for letter recognition. We will also play Alphabet Soup. I just bought a pot and a ladle today for this. I have ping pong balls with letters on them. These will be in the pot along with a few orange ping pong balls. The game is played the same was and the Dog Bone Game.

LOTS OF FUN!!!!