Five for Friday

It's been a while since I've joined this fun linky, so I'm happy to be back with five things to share. This week seemed to go by so quickly, but I feel pretty good about all that we got done. And, I even remembered to snap some pictures!

First up ~ a bowl of my hubby's famous (and, should be award winning) chili. He doesn't use a recipe, but my oh my is it good. It's topped with cheese, chili flavored Fritos, and freshly made guacamole. A glass of Riesling isn't exactly the typical beverage to drink with chili, but it is my favorite!

#1b ~ every Friday my family (daughters, their husbands, and kids) come to our house for dinner. Tonight we had French inspired food based upon the French wine my hubby collected this week. Last Friday we had Italian wine & Italian food. Next week we plan to have Mexican and will serve something a little more authentic than Riesling. Maybe Margaritas.

I decided that this year is the year I work on updating older products. My "office" is our family room couch. Chip & Joanna are frequently my companions as I work. Check out my newly revised Cupcake Literacy Activities HERE.

Last week we had fun talking about snowmen & made a couple snowman crafts. The first is a Sneezy the Snowman craft from Deanna Jump. The shape of their snowman's head (round or melted) the the type of hat were determined by spinning & graphing information. So, no two snowmen were exactly alike. (But, when do any kindergarten crafts end up looking alike?)

Olaf is surrounded by little snowmen that were painted with Q-tips. There is something more fun about painting with cotton swabs than with brushes. My kids love to paint, but they really get excited if they get to use something other than a regular paintbrush.

Last week was Polar Bear Week! I really love having a theme to my week ~ especially if it's an animal. I think I have as much fun learning about animals as the kids do! We shared the pen (a Sharpie!) to complete this chart. I was impressed by their "kindergarten spelling." A couple of kids were spot on with their spelling!

We made two polar bear crafts this week ~ this glittery friend is from my Polar Bear Science & Writing set. (Purchase HERE.) This project took a while to create. First, the kids cut out & assembled their bears. Next they created a snowy background. Some, like the one in the lower left corner had seals & other Arctic elements. Of course, no frosty scene could be complete with a little (and in some cases, a lot) of iridescent glitter!

Our other polar bear craft was this cute directed drawing. I have come to really enjoy doing directed drawing with my students. It not only gives them practice listening & following directions, directed drawings give them a fun, creative experience. Like I said earlier, no two Kinder projects are ever the same. We drew onto gray paper, colored the bears white & used water colors to paint the background. I love how they turned out! They look so cute hanging on our hallway tree.

Dude! One of my Kinders' favorite literacy stations is the "Games" station. In this station I have a variety of literacy games & activities. One popular activity is clip cards. Get these in my Montly Literacy Stations bundle HERE. I got the cute green clips at Michaels. (Do you remember to show your teacher ID when shopping at Michaels? They give a teacher discount on almost everything!)

Thanks for visiting! I welcome your comments. :-) Hop over to Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday fun! 

Winter Science & Writing

Happy New Year! I hope that you are off to a great start to 2016. We started the new year with a little bit of snow ~ just enough to cause excitement, but not enough to make a snowball. Geez, you would think my students were plucked out of some tropical locale and dropped into the middle of Antarctica! We had to stop everything to go to the window to admire the snow for a few minutes. (Because, you know how rare snow is in northwest Indiana...)

Really, though this has been a very snowless winter so far. We did have a lovely snowglobe type snowfall the weekend before Thanksgiving, but that's really all the snow we've had. It does feel a little funny reading snow themed books when the grass is still green. But, it is winter ~ snow or no snow!

With that in mind I thought I'd showcase three of my winter themed Science & Writing units. First up is my Hibernation mini unit. In this unit you will find vocabulary cards, hibernating animal cards, facts about hibernating animals, writing pages, and a fun craftivity. Click HERE to purchase.

Waddling in second is my Penguins unit. This set includes a fact sheet, posters, penguin species trading cards, writing pages, and a penguin craftivity. Click HERE to purchase.

New this winter is my polar bear unit. It includes facts, charts & posters, vocabulary cards, writing pages, and two craftivities. Click HERE to purchase.

And, now for a freebie (or three)! Click HERE for Penguin Problems, HERE for Snow Buddies Ten Frames, and HERE for Snow Buddies Sound Boxes

Here's to a great 2016 & a mild winter! 

PS Here is a picture to prove that I really don't totally dislike winter... On the first day of Christmas break I went ice skating (for the first time since college) with my daughter & two of my granddaughters. It was so much fun! And, I didn't fall down!