PENGUINS freebie

I have been so busy this last month and neglected my blog. So I will be giving you a freebie below.

Like me, many of you may be teaching about Penguins in January. I love this website from National Geographic Kids.

 

I also try to get my kiddos reading EVERY day in small group, but I couldn't find anything that covered compare and contrast on a kindergarten level. So I created an emergent reader about Emperor Penguins and Little Blue Penguins (also called Fairy Penguins).  Click here

 

 

 

 

Please leave me some kind words as to what you think :)

Where does the time go?!

I really can not believe it has been over a month since my last post. Do you ever feel like your running circles and getting nowhere? Ooh... I got that feeling. I have really tried to incorporate our new reading series, but I gotta tell ya, I LOVE thematic teaching and I can not figure out how to get the two to flow together. (sigh) anyone felling me? So here I am going out on a limb and putting the reading series aside and teaching the way I get excited about teaching. My kiddos learn so much more.

Wait I gotta back up first, this all came about because on the way to school I was talking to my kids about The First Thanksgiving and my 9 yr old son says "why do I need to know about that, I'm not talking a test over it?" That about killed me, knowing that's the way he thinks and that's what our schools are coming to, due to ALL THE TESTING we are required to do. So anyways let me get back on track (you know us teachers loose our train of thought, every once in a while)... I decided I was going to teach the way I love to and hope my kiddos go home excited and tell their parents all about what they learned.

We jumped right in, exploring the Mayflower. I wanted them to see how big the Mayflower was and what better way than seeing it measured out. They all predicted they would be longer because kindergarteners are SO BIG 😉.

They also were given play dough, a fork toothpick, and paper. The only directions I gave them were to create a ship that would float. Ships are being created....

 

And the ship has sank.....

 

If you would like the recording page click below

 

We graphed and analyzed our results.

 

 

  I didn't do very well taking pictures of all the other activities but my kiddos sure learned a lot about the first thanksgiving.

 

A little HALLOWEEN Freebie

Is anyone else feeling the pressure this year? Some weeks I feel like I have it together and other weeks I think I'm loosing my mind. ( That happens to teachers-right?!) I often wonder how everyone else keeps it all straight. This year I have completely relied on my smart phone to remind me of everything going on, from meetings to reminders to tell my co-workers. Please tell me some of you do the same thing :).

I needed a little shopping time this weekend and ended up at the Dollar Tree TWICE today. My daughter went with me and when I came back with all kinds of goodies, my son wanted to go. So being the good mommy I am, I took him. Here are some things I found to use in my classroom.

I saw these cute trick or treat bags and knew I needed to do something with them. So I thought to make it into a cute eyeball toss game. The kiddos can toss the plastic eyeballs into the bag and count by 10's as they do so. I also got the eyeballs and plastic web bowl at the Dollar Tree.

 

Puppets for $1... I had to have them!!

My daughter modeling each puppet- she loves to create her own stories with them.

 

 

I made a weekly dinner menu using a picture frame, which you all have probably seen on Pinterest, and my daughter loves to write on it because it writes so smooth and erases easily. So I picked up some more frames for $1 and made these trace and write Halloween words for Writing Station. 

 

 

Click above for the writing pages.

 

 

Let me know what your kiddos think if you use them. Thanks!!

 

Worst blogger ever ;)

Seriously, I feel like the worst blogger ever. I have been so swamped with school, meetings, master courses and family that I have neglected my blog. I have learned so much from the blogging world and feel like a better teacher because of you all. My hopes are to inspire and help other teachers along this journey.

On to the good stuff. We have been on Fall Break this week- Woo Hoo!! Please don't be jealous, but I am so thrilled to have this time off. Well, not really time off since I have been working on school stuff, but our family did get to have a little getaway. Hubby and I took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, OH.

Who do you think is having more fun playing MagiQuest- hubby or son? ;)

 

On the way home we stopped to tour the Distillery. I know some of you may be cringing that we took our kids, but they really enjoyed seeing the whole process. Me on the other hand, Jim Beam and I do not get along. (Yuck!!)

 

What you all have been waiting for.... I have created a Math Mats packet that you can use in stations or small group. Click the first picture to purchase from my TPT store.

 

Click on the web above for your FREEBIE

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 







New Family Product

It has been soooo very long since my last post :(  I am having a hard time getting into a grove this year. Anyone else feeling the same way? We started a new reading series (Journeys) and I hope I can figure out how to use it, where it doesn't seem so choppy. Any tips would help!

Anyways, due to this much needed long weekend, I made some things to supplement with the first week of Journeys- Family theme. Three day weeks are the best!!! You can click below to purchase this product from TPT. 

 

 

 

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!





Made it Monday- Back to school Freebie

 

I have been BUSY this week. We started back today, testing K kiddos to place into classrooms (see my post yesterday). However, I still wanted to share some of my goodies.

 

First off, I have a ton of windows, don't be jealous, but seriously I had to cover them since I couldn't see my screen. (Before curtains are the cute stripes.) 

 

So I realized I didn't like how the curtains looked because the windows are wider than a standard window. Easy fix, cut them in half. 😀

Now that's starting to look better.

I made some cute curtain ties but forgot to take pictures... ugh!!!

I made these cute CAFE signs to go with Sharingkindergarten's reading strategy cards. I didn't stop there, of course I needed a cute board to display them on, so I spray painted some cardboard and attached them together with duct tape.

Added some ribbon...

Now, look how cute!

 

If you like the CAFE posters, you can get them here. 

 

 I hope you all are enjoying what's left of your summer or having a great back to school start.

Kindergarten Back to School Freebies

I can hardly believe my summer is OVER. Yes, panic attack, we go back to school TOMORROW. Fortunately, I still have another two days to actually be "ready" for kiddos.

Here is how our school does "Kindergarten." We have two Registration Nights for the whole school where 1st-5th go to meet their teachers and fill out paper work (they find out their students in the summer) and all Kindergarten students come to one room to fill out papers and get a 30 minute testing time for the first day back to school. So we had 101 kindergarteners register on those nights and we'll see them tomorrow. {Another panic attack.}

Once us, K-teachers (5 of us) test them tomorrow, we divide the kids up into classrooms based on scores, age, gender, and ethnicity. We like to have a diverse class. However, parents are aloud to request teachers- which we had a lot of this year :). Then we call parents Tuesday to let them know who their teacher will be and give them an orientation day.

Orientation days are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We take 1/3 of the class each of those days to phase them in. Then they all start full time the next Monday.

I LOVE this because we are a Title One school and students come in at all different levels which allows us a little more one on one time.

So do you all have something like this or do they throw them all in and see if you survive the first week? ;)

Now on to some freebies!!
I have used a clip chart for How We Go Home in the past, but it didn't work for me since I never knew what bus the kiddos rode, if I just clipped their name under the bus tag, so I made these posters to put in a picture frame and write on the glass with a dry erase marker. There are a few different versions.

 

 

 

I was also looking for something different for Birthdays and came up with these...

 

 

What do you think?! Birthday Bling Pops!!!! Click pic for freebie

 

 

Leave me a comment to what you think and share some love- follow me on Bloglovin and Facebook.



 



 

 

 

 

Vinyl- Made it Monday

I have had my silhouette cameo for over a year and am just now figuring out how to really use it. Man, was I missing out. Look at all the cute vinyl projects I made...

Found these tubs at Target summer item for 70% off. Knew I could use them somehow :) sorry the picture looks dark

I shared last week about some of my finds at Hobby Lobby and added a little vinyl... Wuh-lah!

Saw this on Pinterest and had to have. We had an old Jellybean Machine (they are smaller than the gumball machines) and I took the spring out so I wouldn't have to put money in it. Good thinking huh?

Another Pinterest idea. My husband did inform me that my words are not straight. Ugh, I'm so bad at aligning. I wish I made the letters bigger, but I'm still learning how my awesome Silhouette works.

I also made a TAG Math freebie. Find it on my facebook page. Please make sure you click the Like button for future freebies.

10 Things I learned...

 

I am going into my sixth year of teaching, and finally start to feel comfortable because of all the things I have learned along the way.

 

 

1. Kindergarteners need to be kids... make time for the "fun" stuff (crafts, chalk, bubbles, etc..)

 

2. "Multi-tasking" means so much more since I became a teacher. WOW! Half the time we don't even know we are doing it.

 

3. A full moon really does affect the kids. I could always tell when there was a full moon, I had more behavior problems.

 

4. Nothing ever goes as planned, at least I feel that way sometimes. Don't get stressed, go with the flow. It will all work out.

 

5. Teaching is Mentally exhausting. My husband cant figure out why I am so tired when we go back to school. I just need to shut my brain down for a little bit.

 

6. Parents- get to know them well and you will have a great year. Most teachers do not like to give out cell numbers, but I totally do because its easier for me to send a quick text or picture of their child to brighten up their day. Plus they can be so supportive when you create that bond.


7. Students LOVE to tell stories. Sometimes I wonder if they are true or not. I had a student tell me he was riding his four wheeler and that's how he got a scratch. Come to find out he's never rode a four wheeler in his life. Ha, gotta love it!


8. Use what you got. I love Pinterest and TPT, but don't spend all your time printing and creating it will wear you down. Plus it gets expensive.


9. Kindergarten is much more demanding. Inform parents right away of what to expect.


10. Keep a smile on your face, be positive! If  your happy, those around you will be happy (students, co-workers, family).




 

More shopping finds

I made a plan to ONLY go to Hobby Lobby since I was taking the kids. You know how that goes, but I wasn't aware that the summer stuff was 80% off. Oh my!! I spent almost 2 hrs in there but look what goodies I found.

And the kids got a few things ;)

I wasn't done yet! I tortured myself and went to Michael's afterwards, for another hour of shopping to find this stuff:

 I have had a silhouette cameo for over a year and still haven't figured out how to use it very well. So I picked up a few things to practice.

Not the paint of course.

Keep a look out for some of my finished products to come.