Day #2: My Teaching Unit Numbering System for Preschool Units

I am one of those lucky preschool teachers who is still able to teach from unit themes - and themes that I as the teacher can choose.  We do "Back to School" and "Fall" and "Apples" and all kinds of other themes.  I think it's wonderful, because we can spend a week or two focusing on a subject that I know is relevant to the Little People, and then we move on to something else. If we really like something we might stick with it for a little longer, and if they kids seem to have some special interest we can switch and spend some time learning about that.

As a result, most of my teaching stuff is theme-related.  It's how I organize my teaching files, my books, and of course my unit boxes. To make this organization easier, I use a Teaching Unit Numbering System.  I got this from my mom - perhaps I should ask her where she got it from.

Basically it is a list of common preschool teaching themes or units assigned a number.  Then I use these numbers to organize my teaching paraphernalia.

Let me give you the list, and then I can talk more about how I use it.

My Teaching Unit Numbering System

Manners (002)

Science – General (010)

Colors (015)

Sound/Music (017)

Mechanical (020)

Math – General (028)

Math – Counting (030)

Math – Shapes (031)

Math – Patterns (032)

Math – Sorting (033)

Math – Comparing (034)

Math – Money (035)

Math – Position Words (036)

Math – Time (037)

Math – Fractions (038)

Plants - General (040)

Plants – Seeds (041)

Plants - Trees (042)

Plants – Flowers (043)

Animals (050)

Birds (051)

Insects (052)

Bears (053)

Dinosaurs (054)

Water Animals (055)

Pets (056)

Reptiles (057)

Spiders (058)

Stories about Animals (059)

Water (060)

Fish (061)

Jungle (062)

Zoo (063)

Ecology/Ecosystems (065)

Rocks and Minerals (070)

Moon/Stars/Space/Night (075)

Days/Months (078)

Seasons/Weather (080)

Autumn (081)

Winter (082)

Spring (093)

Summer (084)

Days/Sun/Sunny Weather (085)

Wind (086)

Rain/Storms (087)

All About Me (088)

Body/Bones (090)

Taste/Touch (091)

Ears/Hearing (092)

Eyes/Vision (093)

Growing (094)

Feelings (095)

Care for Bodies (096)

Feet (097)

Hands/Touch (098)

Mouth/Teeth (099)

Five Senses (100)

Stories (110)

Poetry/Rhyming (111)

Alphabet/Letters (112)

Mother Goose/Nursery Rhymes (113)

Fables/Folk Tales (114)

Songs (115)

Food (120)

Apples (121)

Clothes (130)

Quilts (132)

Castles/Knights (134)

Pirates (136)

Community Helpers (140)

Farm (141)

Ranch/Cowhands (142)

Dentist (143)

Police Officer (144)

Grocery Store (145)

Houses/Building/Tools (146)

Firefighters (148)

Doctors/Hospitals (149)

Safety (150)

Cities (155)

Mail/Post Office (156)

Transportation (160)

Families (170)

Back to School (174)

School (175)

End of the School Year (176)

Friends (181)

Helping (182)

Sharing (183)

Sports (184)

Special Days (190)

Birthdays (191)

Circus/Fairs (192)

Halloween (193)

Thanksgiving (194)

Christmas (195)

Valentines (196)

Easter (197)

African American (198)

Hispanic/Cinco de Mayo (199)

Multicultural (200)

Disabilities (201)

Maps (202)

Wordless Books (300)

Everyday Words (318)

How I use this system:

Filing Papers:  I will copy and paste these units and numbers into a Label template in Word and then print them off on label sheets.  Then I add the labels to file folders so I have a folder for each theme (although some themes end up with more than one folder).  These are organized in my filing cabinet in numerical order, making it easy to find which unit I need.

Books: I also label all of my books with these numbers.  My mom used to just write the number right on the book, but I put the numbers on small white labels and put the label on the front left corner of the book.  I used to put the on the top right corner, until I realized that when I pulled a book out of the bookshelf, I couldn't see the number until the book was almost all the way pulled out.  So then I switched to putting the on the top left corner.  Now I can see them right away when I thumb through the books in the bookshelf.

Here you can see a book with labels on both corners.  I need to take that top left one off.

Book Database: I also use these numbers as a field in my book database, as well.  I enter in that theme number along with the title, author,  and format (regular-sized or big book).  Therefore, whenever I am at the computer and want to know which books I have that have to do with Farm, I just do a search for 141 books, and there they all are!

Big Books: My big books are also labeled with numbers, as well.  As you can see on the book below, I finally settled on the top right corner of the big books as the location for the number sticker.  

That's because I store my big books in a large Rubbermaid-type container, and most of them lie on their spine.   So when they're in the container, I can see the numbers easily when I flip through them:

Multi-Subject Books:  Sometimes it is easy to assign a book to a category, and sometimes it's not.  Sometimes books have more than one category.  Take "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", for example.  It's not only about insects (052), but also about days of the week (037).  What I do for books like these is to put both themes on the label, but to write the theme that I'm most likely to use the book for first.  Therefore, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" would say 052/037, and I would file it in the (052) section.   

This is often an issue for ABC and counting books.  I almost always file these by their theme subject (if they have one).  For example, if I have a book of A-Z Transportation vehicles, I will label it 160/112, and file it with the Transportation books (160).  That's because I like to have A-Z books for as many themes as I can, and will use that book with that theme.

You have my permission to copy this list and make it your own.  Perhaps you have some themes that I don't have, or the other way around.  Hopefully it will help you organize your materials and make all that Teacher Stuff a little less overwhelming.

Oh, all the Teacher Stuff...

I've been spending a some time in my garage lately...working with the teacher stuff.  Not too much time, mind you, because it's very hot right now where I live and the garage becomes officially uninhabitable after, say, 7:05 every morning.  Well, actually it's okay after that if you have several fans on out there, but eventually I just find myself standing one spot to absorb as much air as possible, which is not terribly productive....

But I digress.  I'm sure I'm not the only teacher who gets overwhelmed by all of that Teacher Stuff.   Especially at the end of the school year, when I find myself loading up my van with all the odds and ends that I've carried up the classroom over the months.

However, I've come to believe Teacher Stuff if pretty much necessary if you want to be a good preschool teacher.  Even if you have a school district that stocks your classroom well (which I do), there is still extra stuff for sorting and for counting, and for dressing up in...

Therefore, I think that a lot of the issue behind the Teacher Stuff is how to manage it - not whether we should have it at all.

So over the next few days I'm going to talk about organizing the Teacher Stuff - what I find works and what I find does not.

Here's my plan for the next few days:
Day #1: My Teaching Unit Numbering System, which I inherited from my mom (Thanks mom)
Day #2:  My Unit Boxes
Day #3: How to make lesson plans to maximize the use of the Stuff you have
Day #4:  Suggestions for sharing a classroom with another teacher

Hope you'll stop by the next few days!

New on the Store Shelves: How to Make a Classroom Tree out Paper

Well, the tree tutorials are completed and are on the store shelves.  The first part is "Making a Classroom Tree":

The second is "How to Decorate a Classroom Tree":

Both are full of very detailed instructions and lots and lots of pictures.

You can find ‘Making a Classroom Tree” here  and here, and “Decorating a Classroom Tree” here and here.  Thanks for looking!

As I mentioned before, I will have a Tree Kit Giveaway soon - the plans are to begin the entries on July 23.  Stay tuned for details!

A Tribute to Pete the Cat

Have you met Pete the Cat yet?  Pete is this groovy kitty that is the main character in several recent kids' books. 

He first appeared in this book:

The best part of the book (as with all the Pete the Cat books) is the song that goes with it.

As you might imagine, the Little People love it.  In fact, it took about one run through of the book and song combination before all the Little People were clamoring for more Pete the Cat on a daily basis.   I even put the link to the song in our school newsletter, and soon kids and parents alike were singing the song.

When I saw this past fall that Pete had a new book, I admit that I was skeptical.  Despite that fact that Pete had basically attained Rock Star status in our classroom, I just didn't believe that the second book could be as good as the first.  Call me a Sequel Skeptic if you will.

However, when the morning teacher brought the book in a few weeks ago I figured we would give it a go.   I downloaded the song on my phone and let the Little People listen.  As soon we heard it and the Little People started singing along, I saw the error of my ways, as the second Pete the Cat song was truly as fun as the first.

It was only a few after that I hopped on Amazon.com and ordered the second book - and the third, which just came out.  

In addition, I ordered a stuffed Pete the Cat, who now lives in our classroom (when he's not hanging out at my house).   And then I made him a yellow jacket with four groovy buttons that the Little People could remove while we sang the song. Because I was all in, Pete the Cat-wise.

Because where Pete the Cat is concerned (in my opinion), it's all good.

Pinterest Project Tryout: Mother's Day Mosaic Suncatchers in Preschool

The Little People made some Window Suncatchers as gifts for Mother's Day last week, and they turned out wonderfully.

I got the idea from this pin on Pinterest that came from this post on the blog Play At Home Mom LLC.

I loved the way the translucent flat marbles and beads looked in the sun and decided that we would try it out.  

Source: playathomemom3.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

I followed all the directions as given on the blog.  We also used frames from a dollar store, and a combination of glass gems and plastic "gems" that I purchased from Discount School Supply, along with some clear buttons I had on hand. The first day of the project I went with the glue that I had, which was your basic white school glue.  However, I then went out and found some clear Elmer's glue, and we loved how that worked.  It dried very nicely, with no haziness at all.  

Here are some of their creations:

This one was done with the regular (non-clear) Elmer's glue.  Even when dry, it didn't look as nice as the ones done with the clear glue.

Of course, the mothers just loved them, and we declared this project a keeper.

Here is my Pinterest Tryout Review:

Preschool Gifts

On one of the preschool blogs that I recently started following, I noticed the author frequently posts pictures of "gifts" that she finds in the classroom.  If I remember correctly, these were not actual gifts given to her by her children, but instead things she came across in the classroom that showed some display of cleverness or learning or progress by her students.

Unfortunately, now I can not find this specific blog, so I can not link to her "gifts".  However, I am spending quite a lot of time today reading back through Google Reader to find it.  Once I do, I will post the link.

In the meantime, I decided to post some of the "gifts" that I found in my classroom during the past few days:

A fantastic train track.  I admit that I started it, but then the Little People just took over. 

I came across this at one of the tables -  they came, they sorted, and they left.

Again, I do not know why the pictures taken with my phone sometimes refuse to rotate, even after I try several different methods of doing so.  However, I loved this picture and the label name tag that she attached - wonderful.

My Life as a Middle Class Bag Lady

One of my favorite teacher blogs is Teacher Tom.  I pretty much agree with everything (that I've read so far) he says about preschool, and I especially like his posts about disciplines, natural consequences, etc.

One thing he said that I read not long ago (which was actually a quote from another educator) is that preschool teachers are all basically middle-class bag ladies.  Which basically means that we will hunt for, gather, scrounge up and reuse basically anything and everything.

I love this, because it is so very true for me.  One of my most common ways to practice being a Middle Class Bag Lady is by going to yard sales.  Since I live in a place with relatively warm winters, we have yard sales here about year-round.  So it is fairly easy for me to find one, and even easier (once I find one) to find something useful for the Little People.

Last week I had a great find.  A simple digital camera and an MP3 player for $5 each.  Granted, I haven't tried them out yet, but if they do work I think that these could be wonderful things.  Especially the camera.  I'm thinking we can have a new classroom job:  Picture Taker.  They can have the chance to use the camera that day to record their observations.

Or even better, I can send it home with a child a night to take pictures of their homes, their pets, their siblings, etc.  Kind of a digital "All About Me".  Then when they come back I can upload their pictures onto the computer and print them out.  Or perhaps I can keep my eyes open for a digital picture frame that can scroll through all the pictures for the kids to see.

The best part about the camera is, if someone loses it or a sibling breaks it, I'm only out $5.   Which is a risk I'm willing to take for the potential of some really good sharing.