Spring Sale and Gearing Up for the Last Quarter of School!

Hello Friends!
I am finishing up my Spring break and headed home. I know that many of you did not get Spring break due to the horrible weather..... Boo.......  Teachers need a week in the Spring to get rejuvenated for the last dash to the finish! It was so nice for me to able to sit back, clear the cobwebs from my brain, and remember why I do this incredible job! As we all know, teaching is more than an 8-5 "leave the workplace and don't look back" kind of job. I often wake up in the middle of night thinking thoughts of how I can encourage a reluctant learner to try again or how I can jazz up the next day's lesson. It's more than a job; it's a vocation! So, being able to walk away for a few days give the dendrites an opportunity to grow and expand in other ways so that when we return, we are powered up and ready for a strong finish!

So.... because of our wanting to help you "fire up" for the Spring, my friends at Blog Hoppin and I are having a sale! All our stores will be on sale on Sunday and Monday and you can find them HERE.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kinderkay


A few of my favorite spring resources are:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Oviparous-Animals-Lets-Make-a-Book-Science-and-Literacy-Pack-227430

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Backyard-Birds-Lets-Make-a-Book-137595

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Butterflies-and-Caterpillars-Lets-Make-a-Book-Science-Packet-233543


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ocean-Animals-and-Their-Zones-Lets-Make-a-Book-For-Little-Kids-1295912

 This resource is free in my store and could easily be used for Earth Day!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/On-My-Earth-Writing-and-Craftivity-FREEBIE-1707


 Here is my newest religious resource.... Not really Spring themed, but one that has been on my radar to finish for MONTHS!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bible-Characters-of-the-Old-Testament-Lets-Make-a-Book-For-Little-Kids-1783822

 Okay... time to get geared up for welcoming my kiddos back tomorrow!

Until next time!

Blessings,

Spring! Fun Authof of the Day Idea, Capture the Gold Freebie, and Five for Friday!

Hello Friends!

1.  Yay! It's Spring!!! And I am officially on my first day of Spring Break! I have no plans to go to Florida or the Outerbanks; just staying at home and doing things like cleaning my house, reading, and basically getting my personal life in order, so that when we return to school, that pressure will be over and I can concentrate on this last quarter!

 2.   Our leprechauns visited us on Tuesday. They were pretty tricky and were able to escape from all our traps. One lucky girl, though, caught a piece of the leprechaun's coat in her trap! The expression of  joy on her face was too precious!


3.  This was a favorite game in Math tubs this week. Kids toss two dice and try to "capture" numbers as they add the sums on them. They actually liked this game better than "Bump." This is free in my store if you still want to do a St. Patrick Day game this month! It says for K-2, but for this time of year, it probably is only suited for Kindergarten and RTI math for first and second grade......


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Capture-the-Gold-Dice-Game-218150

4.  In my last post I mentioned that I had attended a presentation from Harry Kindergarten. One idea that he gave us was to play some fun, exciting music when announcing the Author of the Day. He suggested the theme song for the Chicago Bulls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq8VPYPzKHk
 I tried this and it was AH-MAZING! My kids sit criss cross applesauce on the rug patiently awaiting the announcement. I build up the author saying things like : Boys and Girls, please give your attention to the Author of the Day! This person tries hard to write at least 3 sentences in his journal writing. He works to make sure that his picture matches his words. He uses at least 3 different colors in his drawing. He puts spaces between his words. He can read the words that he wrote.... The AUTHOR OF THE DAY IS......... (and then I announce the author's name who then gets his/her journal and sits in the author chair.)

Since implementing this fun introduction, the writing in my classroom has been amped 100%! Kids ask me if they can work on their writing during FREE PLAY! They would rather write than LISTEN TO A STORY! Truly! This is amazing!


5.  We are a bit behind in our Health unit this year; due to a lot of things..... This week we discussed healthy food. Here is a SUPER simple idea that your kids can do that really cemented their learning of healthy and not healthy food. Simply title one side of a paper HEALTHY and the other side NOT HEALTHY FOOD. Kids cut food pictures from newspaper ads or food magazines and sort them into the proper side. We have a LONG discussion of how there is no BAD food; just food that you should eat more of than other food. I do not want to be the teacher who starts an eating disorder in my students, so I stress that is is OKAY to eat a cookie; just not okay to eat SIX cookies! I also stress the healthy plate diagram showing kids that half their plate should be fruits and vegetables AND that they should try to eat foods that are the color of the rainbow everyday.

Well that's it for now! Hope this finds everyone enjoying the first days of spring! Hop on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2015/03/five-for-friday-linky-party-march-20th.html


Until next time!

Blessings,


U is For Umbrella, Meeting Pete from Harry Kindergarten, Word Families Fun, Space unit, and Five For Friday!

Hello Friends!
Wow... I just looked at the date on my last blog post and it said March 1st! No way has that much time passed since I last wrote, but... alas...... that is the truth...... I am not sure about you, but I have found that once March comes, the remainder of the school year starts to speed up and before you know it, it is MAY and time to start end of year planning...... SLOW Down, March! There's so much I still need to get done before you disappear!!!

I am joining my friend, Kacy, from Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five For Friday! Yay!

1. It was a rainy day today and what better way to spend some time in kindergarten than to make "U is for Umbrella" pictures! Seriously... for as simple as this project was, could these pictures be any cuter? Love the details these sweeties added on their pages! (The pages are white, by the way! Not sure why they look so yellow here!)



2. One thing that kept me from writing is the fact that my colleagues and I attended the Illinois State Kindergarten conference in Schaumburg. We are so lucky to be able to attend this awesome conference every ever year. Some really amazing teacher bloggers present there and we are blessed to be able to learn from them..... Kim Adsit, Kathy Griffin, Deedee Wills, Donna Boucher from Math Coaches Corner, and Harry Kindergarten. Here is a not-so-good picture of me with Pete Harry after his presentation. If you have not heard of him (and I am not sure of ANY kindergarten teacher who has NOT!), you just have to check out his videos. They are ah-mazing! And Mr. Harry is a wonderful, wonderful, inspirational speaker! If you get a chance to see him in person, go for it! HERE is the link to his website:

3.  This is the time of year when my kiddos absolutely understand word families and rhyming. In fact, I assessed them this week and every single one of my kinders could give me a word that rhymed with another word. Woo hoo! And they LOVE Dr. Seuss words. We read so many fun Seuss books and then we take the books and create Word Family projects. This is a favorite after reading "The Cat in the Hat." As a TPT seller, I am not supposed to showcase Seuss activities, so I guess I am putting myself on the line by sharing this picture, but it seems so silly to not be able to share all the fun ways that we celebrate Seuss; especially since this is just an image and there is nothing to download and there is nothing for sale..... We shall see..... gulp.........



4.  Here is a March word family project.... A pot of gold with POT OF GOLD WORDS..... I love how this looks hanging in the hallway.... too bad my camera can not give you the full effect of how cute these are!


5.  We finished our Earth and Space unit this week. I really, really like the way the finished product of their Space books look BUT they do take some time! All the pages are made from black construction paper and the kids create their illustrations from construction paper. The little astronaut is attached with a piece of yarn from the front cover to the back cover so that he/she can "fly" through all the pages as they are read!


 You can find my Space Book for Little Kids by clicking the image below.....

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Space-For-Little-Kids-Lets-Make-a-Book-564641

Hop on over to Kacey's blog for her amazing Five for Friday link up!

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/2015/03/five-for-friday-linky-party-march-13th.html

Until next time, my friends!

Blessings,