The matching code TREAT will go through Friday so get over there quick to give and don't forget to print out your receipt if you need it for a tax deduction.
Now here is a summer freebie worksheet for CVC words...
My cup runneth over!
The matching code TREAT will go through Friday so get over there quick to give and don't forget to print out your receipt if you need it for a tax deduction.
Now here is a summer freebie worksheet for CVC words...
I have a bargain for you!!!
Hi friends! Want to help a teacher friend out AND get something in return? Several weeks ago, I submitted a grant on donorschoose.org to get an iPad for my classroom. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, all donations given to my project between now and May 10th will be matched dollar for dollar if you enter the match code TREAT on the payment screen!
Now here is where the bribery comes in....
Anyone that donates a minimum of $10 to my project will get to choose up to $25 worth of products from my TPT store! Just send me an email letting me know you donated and a list of the items you would like to receive from my store. I will send the items directly to you!
To have your donation matched dollar for dollar, be sure to enter the match code TREAT on the payment screen. This awesome match offer lasts through Friday, May 10.
Now here is where the bribery comes in....
Anyone that donates a minimum of $10 to my project will get to choose up to $25 worth of products from my TPT store! Just send me an email letting me know you donated and a list of the items you would like to receive from my store. I will send the items directly to you!
Here's my teacher page where you can donate:
To have your donation matched dollar for dollar, be sure to enter the match code TREAT on the payment screen. This awesome match offer lasts through Friday, May 10.
My students and I greatly appreciate your support.
Kelly
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
Check out my Teacher's Notebook store for 20% off of everything May 4-10th!
While you are there, be sure to enter the Daily Giveaway!
We're Not Dragon, We are Flying into First Grade!
Take a look at these adorable dragonflies! My assistant, Mrs. Lively found this idea somewhere on Pinterest and created this adorable bulletin board. The dragon flies are created using plastic spoons and the wings have been cut out of laminating film. Our laminator always puts out about a foot of excess film at the beginning of every laminating project so we save that extra laminating film for different projects throughout the year. The kids used sharpie markers to color the wings. They used a wing template under them that they could trace to make the black lines on the wings first.
The caption says..
We're Not "Dragon",
We're Flying into First Grade!
...and all of the dragonflies are headed in the direction of our first grade classes!
Mrs. Lively is so good at creating bulletin boards... we think schools should hire her full time to do nothing but create adorable bulletin boards for teachers!
Buzzing into Spring!
The bumble bee day of our insect is always one of my favorites. After reading a nonfiction book about bees and getting our facts straight, I then read The Honeybee and the Robber by Eric Carle. We review the beginning, middle, and end of the story and then the kids were able to draw their favorite part of the story. Love the picture below of the "robber" trying to steal the bee's honey!
This next part is perfect for rainy day recess! Before the lesson, I hung die cut flowers around the classroom. I played the Flight of the Bumble Bee and we then got opinions on why this is/is not a good title for this music selection and what instruments are being used to make the "buzzing" sounds. When I played the music again, my little bumble bees buzzed from flower to flower sipping the nectar and returning it to the hive.
Sipping nectar from a flower... Bringing the nectar to the hive....
When I have done this activity in the past, I wrote bee facts (and some opinions) on small post it notes and attached them to the flowers. My little bees would then bring a fact back & stick it to the hive. At the end of the music we would read the bee facts and sort them as facts or opinions. I didn't do that this time due to limited time since it was testing week :'(
Spring Doesn't Bug Us!
Yippie! I survived giving my very first standardized test to kindergarteners! Now, it was a total disaster as one might expect when testing kindergarteners. The content was no problem...the problem was in the wording of the questions and the length of the test. They got restless after the first 15 minutes and just began to bubble in any answer without trying. Overall, they did as well as can be expected and I am proud to say that it is over until next year!
In between testing and preparing to test, we enjoyed a fun unit on insects. Here are just a few highlights from our learning about caterpillars and butterflies....
After reading the usual caterpillar to butterfly books, we listened to an adorable song Butterfly, Fly by Janice Buckner. It tells the story of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. Here are the little ones starting out as an egg on a leaf.
The caterpillar grew and one day he began to get sleepy so he built himself a cocoon. The picture on the left shows the students helping their partner build a cocoon by wrapping them in tissue paper and the picture on the right shows a caterpillar somewhat wrapped in his "cocoon". The song then talks about how the caterpillar wakes up and discovers that he can fly....the kids LOVE breaking out of the tissue paper cocoons & then fluttering around the room! (Sorry, the pictures all turned out very blurry so I didn't post them). I have some butterfly wings that are each the size of a piece of 12 x 18 construction. Normally, I would have them decorate them before this activity and they slip the wings on their arms after breaking out of the cocoons but time was limited due to the testing.
In between testing and preparing to test, we enjoyed a fun unit on insects. Here are just a few highlights from our learning about caterpillars and butterflies....
After reading the usual caterpillar to butterfly books, we listened to an adorable song Butterfly, Fly by Janice Buckner. It tells the story of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. Here are the little ones starting out as an egg on a leaf.
The caterpillar grew and one day he began to get sleepy so he built himself a cocoon. The picture on the left shows the students helping their partner build a cocoon by wrapping them in tissue paper and the picture on the right shows a caterpillar somewhat wrapped in his "cocoon". The song then talks about how the caterpillar wakes up and discovers that he can fly....the kids LOVE breaking out of the tissue paper cocoons & then fluttering around the room! (Sorry, the pictures all turned out very blurry so I didn't post them). I have some butterfly wings that are each the size of a piece of 12 x 18 construction. Normally, I would have them decorate them before this activity and they slip the wings on their arms after breaking out of the cocoons but time was limited due to the testing.
We also made coffee filter butterflies that turned out so pretty! I'll post a picture of them when we get the bulletin board put together tomorrow. During our math centers, we used dot art painters to make c-ADD-apillar booklets. My little darlings loved this activity! They used 2 colors to create a caterpillar and then wrote the addition sentence to show how many circles they used in all. (I gave them a couple of addition sentences to create at first and then they were able to make up their own after they got the hang of it. When the paint dried, they added feet, antennae, and a face.
So cute!
These are just a couple of things we did this week. I can't wait to tell you about our bumble bee learning tomorrow! As for now, I am exhausted and ready for bed!
Boot Scootin' Blog Hop!
I am so excited to team up with some of my fellow Tennessee blogging buddies to offer this Blog Hop of freebies! Check out my free item here and then scoot on over to the next blog at the bottom of this post for your next freebie! My freebie is a free Flower themed activity pack that you can download right here on my blog by clicking on the picture below!
If you are in need of some morning work for your students that will review many of the ELA & Math Common Core skills for kindergarten check out my Sprinkling of Spiral Review by clicking on the picture below. It contains a sprinkle of this and a sprinkle of that!
Beginning of Year Set
End of Year Set
Now Scoot on over to visit Rebecca at The Teacher's Chatterbox!
Not only does her adorable blog have some freebies to snag, but I loved taking a peek into her classroom by looking at the pictures she has posted of her classroom and centers.
Now if you just happened to stumbled upon this blog hop, be sure to go back to the beginning and visit Elizabeth at Kickin it in Kindergarten and scoot through all of the Boot Scootin blogs by clicking on the link below...
April Showers Bring.....well, how about April Flowers?!
Next week we will begin our Seeds, Plants, and Flowers Unit so I threw together a few Flower themed time filler activities to share! Click on the picture below to download this mini unit for free from Google Docs (I hope I uploaded it correctly!) ...and I have now uploaded it correctly so it is open to the public!
Check out the Floral Arrangement activity below. I am so excited to do this literacy center idea with my little darlings! Pictures to come soon!
Check out the Floral Arrangement activity below. I am so excited to do this literacy center idea with my little darlings! Pictures to come soon!
Have an amazing weekend friends!
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter Friends!
Only 1 more day until my Spring Break is officially over so I thought I would waste some time on the computer! I love learning about all of my teacher friends out there in the cyber world! Through blogging and Teachers Pay Teachers, I have "met" teachers from the East coast, West coast, Hawaii, Canada, France, Australia, and many other cool places that I only dream of visiting. I love hearing about how differently things are in their schools (ping pong is a required class for all students in France) and how we are so much alike in many other ways. Another way I have learned about other teacher/blogger friends is through Linky Parties so I am joining up with Latoya Reed from Flying Into First with a Let's Get Acquainted Linky Party. Come along with me to find out more about these teacher/blogger buddies!
It's All About Favorites this week...
My Favorite Place to Shop...
I love New York & Company for several reasons...
1. They have cute clothes for school.
2. I can wear a size smaller in their clothes!
3. They give teachers a 15% discount every day!
4. Did I mention that I can wear a size smaller in their clothes?!?!
5. They have great sales and lots of coupon offers.
My Favorite TV Show...
I don't watch a lot of television although it is always on Duck Dynasty or other "man" shows but I really don't have any shows that I HAVE to watch other than The Middle (Wednesday nights at 8 on ABC). This show is so much like my life...a middle class family with teenage children that are too much like my own. The things in my life that makes me want to cry are so much funnier to watch on television. This family has to duct tape the dishwasher to keep the water in, the kitchen table is used for storage rather than eating, the wallpaper is peeling, the oven is used for storage, and the kids are typical middle class siblings that fight just like mine! LOVE IT!
My favorite sweet treat...
Now that my friends is just a hard question to answer! I LOVE all things sweet! I think those large cupcakes from Cupcake Divas are at the top of my list along with fudge, peanut butter fudge, Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts, Peeps & Jelly Beans at Easter, Candy Corn at Halloween, Reese's Christmas trees, eggs or pumpkins. Chocolate of any kind, birthday cake ice cream, Cherry Sours, Brach's Fruit Slices, Wonka Candy of any kind....I love sugar...any questions?
My Favorite Food and Restaurant...
These two go hand in hand for me. I love a good salad (to counteract all of the sugar I eat!) and my all time favorite place to get a salad is J. Alexander's. Look at that salad! Oh dear, my mouth is already watering! I also love Chili's Quesadilla Explosion Salad with chips & salsa and the Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie!
Well now that I have worked up an appetite, I think I'll go see if there is any chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream left! Now it is your turn to share!
Feel free to link up throughout the week and come back each
week for a new topic!
Be
sure to include the linky graphic and link it back to me so others can join in
on the fun!!!
Don't
forget to visit the 2 people that linked up before you and leave them a
comment/follow/or just read their post.
My Friend from Smart Kids!
Just wanted to invite you all to visit my sweet friend Jayne at her new blog, SMART KIDS! If you have not used any of her Smart Charts you should really try them out! They are packed full of graphic organizers and writing frame templates to go with any unit you might need. The only problem is that there are so many options in the pack that I have a hard deciding which ones to use! I have the garden and insects packs in my shopping cart now to purchase when my brain & body returns from Spring Break. Check out her blog and then visit her TPT store!
Spring Break Surprise!
Spring Break couldn't get here quick enough for me! The flu and a terrible stomach bug was making it's second round in our school and it has been too cold or rainy for recess so we have been stuck inside with all of the sick germs and the nasty smell of Lysol and Clorox wipes! I had plans to head to beach but when I found out they were expecting a cold front and it was going to be warmer at home...saving money and staying home won. With just my luck, we have had snow flurries for the first four days of Spring Break! Just what I needed to spoil my plans of showing off a pedicure in new flip flops!
On the brighter side, I have been able to catch up with some work for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I have officially finished all of the monthly kindergarten and first grade calendars for ActivBoards through May! I'm sure I will add more to them closer to May but for now I am DONE! My future plans are to add some new activities to the June/July calendar to make it appropriate for kindergarten and first grade and/or Summer School so check back closer to June for the most up to date version.
Pairs of students are each given a set of number cards 1-9 that are placed face up on a table. The students take turns rolling the 2 dice. They can then decide how they want to use the numbers...they can use the 2 and 4 and turn over the 2 and 4 cards OR the two numbers can be added together and the 6 turned over. (You could also include subtraction facts if you want...4-2= 2 so the 2 card would be flipped over). If no cards can be turned over using the numbers, their turn is over. The winner is the player that gets all of their cards turned over first.
Not sure why the picture is upside down!
This game can be played using any number cards 1-9 but you can click on the picture below to print out these free number word owl cards...have mercy on me... they were my very first free product
to post on TPT and I lost the original so I haven't been able to update/improve them yet.
On the brighter side, I have been able to catch up with some work for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I have officially finished all of the monthly kindergarten and first grade calendars for ActivBoards through May! I'm sure I will add more to them closer to May but for now I am DONE! My future plans are to add some new activities to the June/July calendar to make it appropriate for kindergarten and first grade and/or Summer School so check back closer to June for the most up to date version.
When we return from Spring Break, we will work on getting ready for taking our very first standardized test...the SAT 10. We will also continue to work on addition and subtraction fact fluency. Here is a fun game I have used for years that I found in the Mailbox Magazine.
Flipping for Fluency
Pairs of students are each given a set of number cards 1-9 that are placed face up on a table. The students take turns rolling the 2 dice. They can then decide how they want to use the numbers...they can use the 2 and 4 and turn over the 2 and 4 cards OR the two numbers can be added together and the 6 turned over. (You could also include subtraction facts if you want...4-2= 2 so the 2 card would be flipped over). If no cards can be turned over using the numbers, their turn is over. The winner is the player that gets all of their cards turned over first.
Not sure why the picture is upside down!to post on TPT and I lost the original so I haven't been able to update/improve them yet.
I hope you have a very blessed Easter holiday!
The Last of the "not e" leprechauns!
After a very exciting week of having leprechauns loose in the building, I was glad to see them pack up and go home to Ireland!
If you are not familiar with the Naughty Leprechaun book I mentioned in an earlier post, there are 2 leprechaun brothers, one naughty and one nice. The book comes with a large coin that you can flip to see which leprechaun will visit while the children are at home sleeping.
The Naughty Leprechaun visited us first and the kids were beside themselves when they came in to find toilet tissue thrown all over the room, chairs turned over, empty candy wrappers and tiny green footprints all over the tables. He had even turned all of their bear shaped behavior cards to rotten red! Many of them wanted to write him notes letting him know that what he did was not nice and created a mess that others had to clean up. (Interestingly, I had to talk to my students the day before about doing a better job of leaving our classroom clean at the end of the day so the nightly cleaning crew would not have extra work to do....guess the lesson carried over into a real life situation!)
If you are not familiar with the Naughty Leprechaun book I mentioned in an earlier post, there are 2 leprechaun brothers, one naughty and one nice. The book comes with a large coin that you can flip to see which leprechaun will visit while the children are at home sleeping.
The Naughty Leprechaun visited us first and the kids were beside themselves when they came in to find toilet tissue thrown all over the room, chairs turned over, empty candy wrappers and tiny green footprints all over the tables. He had even turned all of their bear shaped behavior cards to rotten red! Many of them wanted to write him notes letting him know that what he did was not nice and created a mess that others had to clean up. (Interestingly, I had to talk to my students the day before about doing a better job of leaving our classroom clean at the end of the day so the nightly cleaning crew would not have extra work to do....guess the lesson carried over into a real life situation!)
Here is what a few of them thought of the naughty leprechaun...
"I do not like naughty (not e) leprechaun because he threw toilet paper."
"He or she put paper on the floor and chairs on the floor."
I LOVE kindergartener's writing and invented spelling! It shows how much they know and understand about letter/sound relationships (not to mention how crazy the English language is). I had an upper grade teacher come in around this time and said "how in the world did you know what that said?!" I guess I am fluent in two languages.... English AND kindergarten! I am curious at how many of you could read their sentences without looking at my interpretation.
When the time finally came for a visit from the nice leprechaun, he left small treats and some clues that sent us on a treasure hunt to find a pot of gold. Here is the pot of gold we found at the end of the treasure hunt...all of my favorites...Reece's cups, Rolos, Hershey treasures, and Hershey's Caramel Kisses.
Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!
Leprechaun Clues- Day 2
The leprechaun excitment continued today when the little ones discovered tiny green footprints, a tiny hammer, and a small shoe next to the leprechaun door.
Luckily, our SRO roped off the area with crime scene tape and we were able to collect some more evidence and draw conclusions.
"They dropped the shoe and left looking for the shoe and the princess."
"He is in the room. I found footprints in the room."
"He was hiding under the chair."
After we read, the Naughty Leprechaun book, we flipped the coin from the book and it landed on the naughty leprechaun. That means that while the children are at home asleep, we will be getting a visit from the naughty leprechaun in our classroom. Can't wait to see what kind of mischief we find!
Looking All Over for Clover!
After a discussion about the differences between shamrocks and four leaf clovers, the kids went on a color word clover hunt in the classroom. This Write the Room activity is included in my Marvelous March Learning Center Games.
Click on the picture above to see this product in my TPT store!
Here are some pictures showing the kids searching
All Over for Clover.
...on the clock...
...on the door...
...on the window...
...on our Bear Behavior Chart...
...and on the computers!
A Tiny Visitor!
The St. Patrick's Day fun has already hit my classroom! Today we did a little introduction to the St. Patrick's Day holiday, learned a little about the country of Ireland, and then read a little bit about leprechauns. We learned that they often hide a pot of gold, are usually under 2 foot tall, and can sometimes be found repairing shoes for the fairies who wear out their shoes from all of the dancing that they do. We also read that they can be a bit unfriendly. Now, who can blame them for being so grumpy...everyone is always trying to find their gold! Touch my gold (Reese's miniatures, Rolos, Hershey treasures) and I can get a little grumpy myself!
Last March, I came across this idea from The Schroeder Page and found a little "leprechaun-y" door from Hobby Lobby and modified the evidence recording page to fit my little ones. (Will post a picture of the door tomorrow...the picture I took was way too blurry).
So today we heard a tiny, little knock at our door and when we opened the door, we found the litle leprechaun door/home in the hallway. We made predictions of who the home belonged to....Smurfs, Big Foot, and leprechauns to name a few. They had to draw/write what they thought (opinion writing) and the evidence they found to support their opinion.
So here is what they will be finding tomorrow! More evidence! Look at those tiny green feet (hole punch from baby shower section of Hobby Lobby) and the hammer for working on shoes came from the doll house section of Hobby Lobby. Now let's not be too judgmental about that shoe! I know it doesn't really look like a dancing shoe (at least not for a fairy) but I have 3 boys which made finding a Barbie shoe a bit of a challenge...SO...
"You get what you get, and don't throw a fit!" so I went with it!
 This is the book we will be reading tomorrow! Click on the book below to visit their website. |
I wonder who will visit our class first...the Naughty or Nice Leprechaun. Come back tomorrow to find out and see what mischief those leprechauns can make!
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