What's on Your Wish List?

It't time of year when we are making lists of things to purchase for your loved ones. I'm almost done with my shopping (I only need to make a trip to The American Girl Store & check out my Amazon cart). Then, I can think about what's on my Wish List ~ my TpT Wish List! I'm joining some amazing teacherpreneurs to showcase our top three wish listed items. Are any of my items on your list?

Visit my store ~ HERE.

Click HERE to purchase.

Read a blog post about this set HERE.

Click HERE to purchase.

Click HERE to purchase.

Read a blog post about this set HERE.

Click HERE for more great Wish List items. Happy Shopping!

Cardboard Day

Recently my class participated in a school-wide Cardboard Day. We spent the entire day (when we weren't at recess or specials) creating. It was so much fun! My Kinders love to create & build things, so this day of STEM was right up their ally. 

For about three weeks students brought in boxes ~ I wish I had taken a picture of the huge pile of boxes that accumulated. It seemed like an overwhelming amount of boxes, but with the all the K-5 classes participating there wasn't much left over. In addition to cardboard parents donated lots & lots of duct tape. (I spent a lot of the day tearing strips of duct tape for the kids.)

Each grade level chose a task for their kids: kindergarten: something that you can fit in, first: something for their year-end camping theme activities, second: rocket ships, third: something that will hold a third grade, fourth: marble roller coaster, fifth: zoo animal habitat.

We began the day with some planning. Before starting we discussed some guidelines: only take the boxes you need, return what you don't use, don't cut corrugated with classroom scissors, etc. The kids were allowed to chose their partners/groups. Because this was a fun day of creativity I wanted to let the kids pick who they wanted to work with, and it worked out well. They pretty much split themselves into the same small groups & duos that they usually hang out with during play time.

These two pictures show the planning stage. The kids were instructed to discuss what they wanted to make with their groups & to sketch out a plan. 

The bulk of the day was spent creating. It was fun watching the kids figure out what to do when confronted with a problem. These girls are working on a wall for their house.

This group of boys started out making a fort, but ended up making a robot. Not exactly something that you can get  inside of, but, hey! we're in kindergarten, a very flexible kind of place.

This little girl and her partner made a musical "playground." The top of the box features some musical instruments (you have to love their imagination!). M is putting the finishing touches on the dance mat portion of their creation.

These smiling boys had a lot of fun creating an ever-changing project. 

They are the ones who ended up with the robot below.

The little guy in the picture below decided to work on his own to make this car. He was really proud of the fact that it was sturdy enough to hold his weight & had cargo space under the seat.

This girl and her partner worked on a house that featured a chimney, mailbox, and outdoor TV. They even  created a chair to relax in while watching television.

Another solo worker. This little guy made a comfy seat.

This day was tons of fun, but really tiring. One of my kiddos said, "I'm so tired." at the end of the day, and others agreed. It was so busy ~ the kids worked all day long! I think they could have done more than one day of "cardboarding." I guess they will have to wait for next year.

The Bees Knees!

Kids love bugs! We ended our bug unit with a visit from a beekeeper. One of my teaching partner's students has a grandfather who grows hops (which he sells to local microbreweries). To help with pollination he also keeps bees. He came to school yesterday to teach the kids about bees and their hives.

Z. was proud to stand with his grandpa as he talked about raising bees. The big jar on the table has a piece of "natural" honeycomb from wild bees. The small jars hold dead bees ~ the kids were a little nervous that he would bring bees that would sting them. But, they did like getting to see the specimens close up without fear of being stung. :-)

Everyone got a kick out of the beekeeper's hat and gloves! 

After learning about how the smoke of burning pine needles calms the bees the kids got to check out the smokers. They had fun squeezing the bellows to feel the air puff out of them.

We learned how the bees make their waxy honeycombs and even got to touch them! The kids made me proud when they recognized the fact that the cells are hexagons! 

Of course, no presentation on bees would be complete without a little taste of honey! The kids got to dip a stick into honey from the very combs we held. On a side note ~ if you suffer from seasonal allergies try local honey. I've been eating a tablespoon of honey every day for the past few years & my allergies are greatly diminished. Not only does local honey make me feel better during the bothersome allergy seasons, it tastes great!

Of course, we needed to create some cute bees for our classroom! I love the personality of the bee in the inset picture. It's one of the quirky, less-than-perfect Kinder craft that I like best. 

 

April 1st Five for Friday

Happy April 1st! I always kinda dread April Fools' Day at school ~ Kinders aren't really good at "fooling." One example from one of my little cuties: "Mrs. Phillips have you ever petted a bird?" I said yes. His response was "April fools!" Hmm, I don't think he really gets the spirit of the day. :-)

We began our science fair project (Watching the Grass Grow) this week. As a kick off we brainstormed this list of things Scientists Do. I'm pretty impressed that the very first thing they came up with was "think!" 

I was "mugged" at school this week! This fun little treat was given to me by an anonymous coworker who must know me pretty well ~ there is a Chapstick in the mug. I'm never without a Chapstick. The rules of this game is that I fill & give away two mugs. It will be fun shopping for two teacher friends!

What's in your pocket? I'm sure you have taken small treasures home, too. It's always interesting the things that I pick up throughout the day. 

#teacherfeetupfriday is a fun Instagram link up! I wore my glittery Kate Spade Keds today and had to snap a picture of my feet. :-) Look me up on Instagram HERE.

A little girl came bounding into the classroom and handed me this gift card. It wasn't in an envelope or card, so I thought that it could be something plucked from her mother's purse or picked up off the floor of their car. I went on Steak n Shake's website to check if it had a balance before contacting her parents. LOL ~ it was not even activated! She apparently lifted it from the display at the restaurant. 

Well, that's it for me! Hop over to Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday linky.

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! 

Penguins

OK, I know it's March and the last thing anyone wants to think about is penguins...  Well, I never got around to writing a post about our fun with penguins (in January), but I guess it's better to be late than never.  

Our hallway bulletin board.  The wonderful ~ realistic ~ penguins were made by our wonderful primary aide Mrs. O.  They really complimented our penguin writing!

Are you bigger than a penguin?  My kids had fun measuring themselves against the different sizes of penguin breeds. 

The following are some samples of our penguin writing.  Every level of learner successfully wrote about penguins.  We really had a lot of fun researching the flightless birds!

The little author of this piece was very concerned about what penguins do during storms.  It was her "What do I Wonder."  I had to do a little Google research to find out that they "huddle up together in a storm."

If you aren't totally sick of all things winter, then hop over to my TpT store and get my top-selling Penguins unit.  It's half price for a while.  (Grab it now & prep it at your leisure.  It will be ready for you next January!)  Click HERE to purchase.