Five for Fraturday and a Freebie!

It...is...MAY!  Hooray!  Not to mention we are also in the 20's on our countdown to summer break.  The sun is shining...it is supposed to be gorgeous - a high of 70!  It is Saturday and I am spending time with my boys.  My favorite farmers market opens for the season today.  We are going to the first annual Food Truck Carnival in my town tomorrow.  I am one happy lady right now!

As usual, I am joining the "Five for Friday" linky party hosted by Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching a little late.

I will start with my big, exciting news!  I have been commuting (minimally 30 minutes each trip) for the last six years.  To be blunt, I hate my commute.  I am a busy body, so sitting on my rear end in the car for at least 60 minutes each weekday seems like such a waste of time to me!  So one of my goals for this year was to find a position closer to home.

 (This is not the greatest picture - sorry - but this is a close up of the goals I have framed and sitting on my dresser.)

I am SO HAPPY to say that I was offered a position in my hometown!  Not only that, but I was offered my first choice (there were a handful of elementary positions open).  The school in which I will be working is 3 minutes from our garage to the parking lot.  Woo hoooooooo!  More than that, I have been told nothing but wonderful things about the school district, my new school, my future principal, the staff, the students, etc.  My interactions with them so far have proven this all to be true.  I will be switching from Kindergarten to First Grade and I am so thrilled for the change.  Life is good.

With all that being said, I am going to miss many of my cuties (and colleagues).  Here is a note one of my buddies wrote at home and brought to school.  <3

(Unger is a tricky last name for Kinders!  LOL)

My Kindergarten teammate and I were supposed to be given a sub this week, so we could get some PALS testing done.  When I write sub plans, I try to keep things simple, so I decided to have the sub do this fun directed drawing from First Grade Blue Skies.

Unfortunately, no sub showed up.  *sigh*  (Though, I am not sure why I thought one would as they usually don't.  Is this the case in your school district, too!?)  Anyway, I decided to still do the directed drawing with my kiddos.

We also read the nonfiction book, "Let's Look at Spring" by Sarah Shuette.  Of course, Mrs. Unger won't let her kids JUST draw, so I created a sheet with a sentence frame for them to complete.

"My bird is (adjective) and (adjective)."

It is nothing fancy, but if you would like to use it alongside the directed drawing from First Grade Blue Skies, you can snag it for free HERE!

My Friday nights have been looking a lot like this...

 ...and this!  I have been finding myself book shopping a lot more again, now that the weather is warming up.  Such an addicting hobby and collection, LOL!

We are wrapping up 2D shapes and moving on to 3D shapes (though the two go hand-in-hand).  I decided we should do something fun before the transition, so I took out this book - love it!

Then, just like the square in the book, my kiddos were given a square (we used scrapbook paper) and they could do anything they wanted with it (cut it, crumple it, rip it, punch holes it it, color it, whatever) in order to make it into something new.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of my students' completed work (though they are now hanging beautifully on our hallway bulletin board), but here is the example I created while giving directions.

(Don't ask - it is all I could come up with off the top of my head.)

Well, I hope you all enjoy your weekend!  I know I will.  Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Sunday Start on my Monday Made It and a FREEBIE!

Happy Monday Sunday everyone!  I have a simple project to share with you.

 

 

 

(Haha!  I just noticed my son in this picture.  Oh well!)

 

Next year, when I (hopefully) get into my new classroom, I am determined to create a beautiful, cheerful, and organized learning environment that my students are happy to walk into everyday and that I can be proud of.  The organized part is easy-peasy for me - organization is in my blood.  BUT - the hard part is making it beautiful.  I see all these aMaZiNg classrooms on your blogs and I want that so badly, but I do not know how you afford it!

 

So...

 

One thing I have been doing lately is taking inexpensive, free, and previously owned items (in this case, I used veggie cans and baby food containers) and spray painting them so they match the color theme I plan to go with next year.  Then, I wrapped some fun washi tape around them.

 

I liked the washi tape, but the expressions tape was kind of see-through.  I do not think I will buy that again.  I am going to hot glue some ribbon on my next round of spray painted goodies.

 

If you have any ideas on how to create a beautiful classroom on a budget, please do share!  I would love to hear how you all do it!

 

Do not forget to swing by Tara's linky party on her awesome blog, 4th Grade Frolics, to see what other teachers have created.

 

 

On a different note...

 

I bet many of you have been incorporating name activities into your ELA and Math units during this "back to school" time, right?  Well, that is why I thought you might be able to use this FREEBIE that I created.  If you would like to snag it, please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking HERE!  I really do read and appreciate your feedback!!

 

 

I have never met a child that does not like to talk about him or herself and most kids (at least the little ones) are pretty proud of their names.  So this activity is sure to interest your kiddos!  Have fun with it!

 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful week!  :)

 

My 100th Blog Post...and FREEBIES!

A little birdie at school informed me that my blog and dedicated blog followers have been neglected.  I know, I know!  I am so sorry!  Trust me, I have missed blogging.  I had every intention on writing and sharing a whole bunch during my winter break, but my dear son demanded much of my attention.  Anyway, it feels good to be back!  (Thank you to the sweet follower who made me realize that there are people out there who actually read my blog.  You know who you are.)  One of my (many) New Years resolutions is to blog more...at LEAST once a month (hey - it is better than once a season).  :)  By the way, my blogging resolution was #1 on my list.  Is that wrong?  Hehe.

 

I cannot believe this is my 100th blog post!  100!?  Wow...  Okay - on to the fun stuff!

 

Well - it is that time of year again.  As you are taking down your Christmas tree and packing away your holiday decorations, think twice before you throw away all of your greeting cards.  This is an idea that I got from The Mailbox a couple of years ago:

 

1 - Cut off the front flap of your greeting cards.

 

2 - Save them for next year (and remember where you placed them - I know, that is the hard part).

 

3 - When the holiday season rolls around again, have each student choose a picture and write about it.  There are SO many ways you can use these greeting cards as writing prompts.  For example, your students could do a free write OR you could require them to write 5 sentences that include a prepositional phrase OR you could tell them to include at least 10 adjectives in their writing... the ideas are endless!

 

Here are my greeting cards from this year:

 

 

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I wanted to write about something I have been doing once a month with my ELL 1st grade students - and it is also a great activity for Kindergarten... probably even 2nd grade, depending on their needs.  I am talking about...

 

CALENDARS!  :)

 

 

I know - this is totally NOT a new idea.  However, I really like the way Shari Sloane incorporates student art into her calendars and so I have taken her approach and also added a writing piece.

 

(Before I continue, I have to ask a question:  Are you familiar with Shari Sloane?  If you are not, do yourself a favor and visit her website!  Kids Count: Shari Sloane  She is a-ma-zing!!  AND...her music CDs are so awesome.  I own "Singing with Shari: Get Ready!"  It is worth every penny.  If you want to read more about the calendars I am about to write about, click on her link - left hand side - that says "Monthly Calendars.")

 

So there are 3 parts to our calendars:

 

1 - The Artwork:  In the daily rush of things and with the pressure teachers regularly face to meet standards, it is so easy to overlook the importance of allowing children to demonstrate their artistic abilities.  And, in the case of many young students, it is important for them to practice simple cutting and pasting / fine motor skills.  What I like about Shari Sloane's artwork ideas is that they are EASY and can be done in a short amount of time.

 

The artwork changes from month to month.  Here is what my kiddos did in September:

 

 



 

This artwork was from October.  They colored a tree, then used their finger to paint the leaves:

 

 

My students are currently working on their calendars for the month of January.  The artwork is a snowman.  Here is what Shari Sloane's idea looks like:

 

 

I am going to give my kiddos some fun scrapbooking paper to use for the scarf, mittens, and hat.  For the snow, they will use white chalk OR white crayon OR glue and glitter (I know, I am crazy)... I have not yet decided.

 

Shari Sloane includes a traditional poem about a snowman on her calendar.  I think it is super cute, so I typed it up for you!  If you would like a FREE copy, stop by my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking HERE!

 

I printed off Shari Sloane's ideas and I write myself little notes about what I will do differently, so I remember for next year.

 



2 - The Writing and Illustration:  My students always respond orally, then in writing to the following prompt:  "What can we do this month?"  So, for example, my students and I were just talking today about what types of activities we can do during the month of January.  Some of their ideas were... build a snowman, have a snowball fight (and, of course, I stressed that that can only be done at home!), build a snow fort, drink hot cocoa, go ice skating, go sledding, and make snow angels.

 

If you would like to grab your own FREE copy of the simple writing template I use in my classroom, stop by my TPT store by clicking HERE!

September:

 

This was my example for September.  We talked about how the weather is nice, so we can take walks... so here is me walking my baby in his stroller.  I know, I am such an artist!!  Haha!  By the way, this was before I added the writing piece.

 

October:

 

 

"In October, we can watch scary movies."

 

3 - The Calendar:  I feel strongly that students should understand how to read and use a calendar.  And I believe primary teachers should take the time to teach it, especially those who have ELL students in their classrooms.  (Yeah, yeah - I know calendar is not even in the CCS - Common Core Standards - for Kindergarten and I had a daily calendar block in my Kindergarten room, but sometimes I think we teachers just need to use our own CS - Common Sense.)  If nothing else, the kiddos are practicing number writing and I do not think anyone is going to argue that THAT is not important!

 

Click HERE to snag a FREE copy of the very basic and blank calendar template that I use in my classroom.

 

 

TIP:  If you use a yellow highlighter to put a large slash through the center of your paper or a little "M" (for "Master") in the corner, you will always know which is your master copy.  And the yellow highlighter does not show up when you make photocopies.  Too often I would accidentally give my master copy away to a student.  But then an awesome Kinder teacher at my school gave me this idea and it has not happened since!  Yippee!

 

We also highlight special days on our calendars, such as birthdays, holidays, and important events that are going on at our school.

 

 

 

 

The students glue their calendars and their writing on a long sheet of construction paper, which gets folded in half (the artwork goes on the front flap).

 

 



 

Wow!  It is late...er...early - however you want to look at it.  I hope you are able to use these FREEBIES in your classroom.  As always, thank you for stopping by!  :)

 

 

My kiddos LOVED this easy-to-implement activity! Check it out!

Agh!  I cannot believe I have let almost an entire month slip by me without posting anything new on my blog.  In my defense, however, I am nine months pregnant and expecting baby any day!  (How exciting!!)  Also, my work situation has been scary and stressful lately.  (Not exciting.)  Anyway, I hope you forgive me!

So I saw this cute idea on Pinterest.  Click HERE to go to the pin.  It looks like the original idea and photo came from Tammy at "Forever in First," though the Pinterest link does not take you back to Tammy's post about this cute idea.  I guess you would have to search around her blog to find it.

Anyway, this idea is a neat twist on the traditional Venn Diagram.  Instead of using your whiteboard or chart paper, you use your students!  Here is what we did:  I named one student the "penny" and another student the "nickel."  Our "penny" and "nickel" linked arms.  All the other students shared things they knew about the penny, the nickel, or both.  I wrote all of their information and knowledge of sticky labels.  The students who shared the information were then allowed to come up and stick the label to the "penny" or the "nickel" or both.  They ALL thought this was hilarious!!  And in the meantime, I was able to informally assess their understanding of our current Math topic.  A formative assessment that was FUN and ENGAGING for my Kinders!?  How about them apples!?

Here is a picture of my cutie-patootie "nickel" and "penny."  (I hate that I have to cover their precious faces.)

We did this activity again!  This time we compared the nickel and the dime.

This activity was too awesome to stop!  Here are a couple more of my kiddos acting as a "dime" and a "quarter."

 

Easy, right!?  Try it out.  If you do, I would love to know how it works for you and your kiddos!

Thanks for stopping by.  :)

"This Plus That" Addition and Dr. Seuss FREEBIE!

My school celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday today through a school-wide event we called "Wacky Wednesday."  Oh what fun it was!  Each class had a guest reader, many from the community.  Our reader was our school principal - also known as "The Cat in the Hat!"

He read my kiddos And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss' first published book.

After the story was over, my students used this mentor text as an example in order to create their own classroom book, which we titled And to Think That We Saw It on Wisconsin Street since our school is located on Wisconsin Street.

(By the way...I would be happy to post this book cover on TPT.  However, it is specific to the street my school is located on.  I can certainly give you the Word document to edit, if there is any interest.)

The students completed this writing activity by first writing the high-frequency words "I see a..."  Next, the students had to think of and write a rhyming phrase in order to complete their sentence.  For example, one student wrote "I see a fish in a dish" and another studnet wrote "I see a dog on a log."  Finally, the students illustrated their pages.  I combined the pages in order to create a classroom book, which I have displayed in our hallway.

If you would like a copy of this writing template FREEBIE, go to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store by clicking HERE!

One of the awesome Kindergarten teachers I work with had her kiddos make these "-at" family word "Cat in the Hat" hats last year and then I saw the idea again on Pinterest.  Click HERE to go to that pin!

My Kinders loved their hats, but they especially LOVED when we painted whiskers and a red nose on our faces (though you cannot tell from this picture...sad).

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My students recently wrapped up their "Addition" unit in Math class.  I was so excited when the book This Plus That: Life's Little Equations by Amy Krouse Rosenthal arrived at my doorstep.  I love using this book to teach the idea of adding and joining groups!!  I originally saw the idea for this lesson on Pinterest.  Want to check it out?  Click HERE!  The idea came from Literacy and Laughter.

My students brainstormed and shared their own "this plus that" addition sentences and we wrote them on chart paper.

Then, my kiddos went back to their desks to work on writing and illustrating their own "this plus that" addition sentences.  Here are a few especially interesting ones!

cat + dog = fight

you + me = us

boys + girls = kids

chocolate + milk = chocolate milk

The baby in my belly prompted me to write this one:  Oreos + milk = yummy snack

I highly recommend posting your district targets or standards whenever you hang something in the hallway or your classroom.  It is easy for us teachers to see the academic connection in these fun activities, but it may not be so easy to figure out for visitors in your school.

That is it for now!  As always, thanks for stopping by!