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! 

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!

The Truth About Teaching Kindergarten ~ Linky

Not too long ago as my class was walking to a special one of my little girls asked me to help her tie her sash.  Our school secretary was also in the hall.  She made the remark that she was surprised by the fact that Kindergarten Teachers do so much more than "simply teach."  That got me to thinking about all the different hats I wear as a Kindergarten Teacher.

In the course of the day I often am asked to play one or more of the following non-academic roles: wardrobe fixer (untied sashes, twisted straps, bunchy sleeves, stuck zippers, etc.), first aid administer (bandage applier, nose bleed stopper, lost tooth baggie giver, tissue hander-outer), lost & found director ("Mrs. Phillips, I can't find my other glove!" "Did you look in your pocket?"), drill sargent ("Walk facing front & keep your hands to yourselves."), coach, ("Keep up the good work!" "You can do it!"), yoga instructor ("Take a deep breath."  "Let's stretch."), mediator ("How do you feel when she said that?"  "What is another way to handle that?"), mommy (I give out & receive lots of hugs!), and the only stable adult in your life (this role makes me sad & happy ~ sad that it's needed, but happy to be it).  

Don't get me wrong ~ I'm happy to wear those hats.  But, it's no wonder I come home tired!  My good friend (fourth grade teacher) asserts that there is a special pass to Heaven for Kindergarten & First Grade Teachers!  (I taught fourth grade for one year.  I liked it, but do prefer working with the little kids.)

Here are a few more Truths About Teaching Kindergarten...

Kindergarten Teachers need to be crafty and organized.  Pinterest has really upped the creative teacher ante.  I have always been a crafty sort (it's in my genes), but now I find myself wanting to make things that are Pinterest-worthy.  (I do love to see my things pinned by others!)  With eighteen busy little kiddos to keep in control, I need to keep my stuff in control.  (This is a real challenge...)

Kindergarten teachers really appreciate the small stuff.  I was over the moon when a student gave me a pack of Sharpies during Teacher Appreciation Week last year.  Our elf had fun sitting in the sleigh a student made for me (it's sitting atop JOY blocks given to me by a student).  We are also peace keepers.  Helping little kids to learn to respect others is a a part of our job.

Kindergarten Teachers are good sports.  I DO NOT like bugs on me (in fact I really don't like nature to touch me). But, when the agriculture vocational students included the Kinders in a Monarch release I allowed this butterfly to ride around on my shoulder ~ to delight of my students.  When the Rainbow Loom craze was in full force I was gifted with many of these colorful accessories.  One day I wore them all!  I was such a fashionista!

Kindergarten Teachers know how to include others.  We plan field trips (we went to a county park & saw farm animals & hiked through the woods).  We schedule special guests (we learned about different types of soil by using food products, and got to touch the pelts of animals native to Indiana while we learned about what they do in winter).  We host parent (and in this case grandparent) volunteers.

But, the biggest Truth About Teaching Kindergarten is ~ I wouldn't want to do anything else!  

What are your truths?  Hop over to The Kindergarten Connection and link up yours!  

$1.00 Memorial Day Sale!

Yay for Indiana bloggers!  Some of my fellow Hoosier teachers & I are linking up for one of our great $1.00 sales.  Ladies & Gentlemen, Start Saving!

My $1.00 items are:

Click HERE to purchase.

Click HERE to purchase.

Click HERE to purchase.

Click HERE to purchase.

 

An InLinkz Link-up

May Second Five for Friday

Hello Five for Friday fans ~ I'm back!  It's been a few weeks since I last joined the linky fun, and I'm glad to be back with Doodle Bugs for this fun linky party.  :-)

                                

This week just flew by!  We worked so hard and had so much fun.  I'm starting to get a little sad that the school year is coming to an end ~ only 24 more days left!  My little cuties have come so far since the beginning of the year, and have made such an imprint on my heart.  It is going to be hard to let them go.  But, I am overjoyed at the progress they have made!  Here is a peek at the fun we had this week.

 

 

 

Baking with the principal.  This week our feature story was Bread Comes to Life ~ a book about how to make bread.  I was reading this book to my kids when my principal came in with the dreaded iPad.  She stayed (and evaluated me) while we had fun with this book.  Happily, I was given a good review.  She also evaluated one of my teaching partners while she read this book to her kiddos.  I guess hearing this book two times provided inspiration to her inner baker.  She asked us if we would like her to pay a visit to talk about baking bread with a bread machine.  She is a very good baker, so of course we jumped at the chance to have her give a guest lesson!  Here are some pictures of our baking fun.  Our classroom smelled so good all day as the bread machine worked its magic! 

 

 

Penny Necklaces.  We worked with money all week long.  To celebrate the fact that they can identify coins, we made these cute star necklaces adorned with a real penny.  It was so cute how excited the kids were to get a real penny! 

Writing!  I am blown away by the writing that my little cuties are doing!  I have never had such wonderful writing ~ and such excited writers as I have this year.  I want to do the Happy Dance every day when I see how excited my kiddos are to write & read the wonderful pieces they write!

A little Shameless Promotion...  Hop over to my Facebook page for this month's Freebie!

Sale!  Need I say more???  My store will be 20% + off.  Please visit, shop, and follow.

I am also excited to be a part of the Spring Clean-Up Blog Hop!  Check back on the fourth to see my post.

And, finally... here's my May Currently!

 

 

Have a great weekend!

  

Wordless Wednesday

I can't believe it's Wednesday again!  Here's another link up with Sugar and Spice.

The Manipulative Center.  Do your kids get time for free-choice activities (AKA play)?

I Like Money!

                                            

 I am linking up with Teaching MOMster for her Math Madness Wednesdays linky party for the first time!

We are learning about money this week ~ with the help of a fun Dr. Jean song & my new Piggy Bank product.  We began singing Dr. Jean's "Money Song" last week so the kiddos would know the words before using their new piggy banks & coins.  They learned it very quickly, and sang it during snack & free choice centers! 

These two pictures show the little cuties with their coins in position, and ready to go.

As we named each coin in the song, they held up the correct coins.  They really had fun, and of course wanted to sing the song several times.  I recorded it ~ oh, my how they love to see themselves performing on the "big screen!"  I have found that any time we can sing a concept, they seem to learn it quickly!

Click HERE to purchase.

My set includes everything you need to create your own "piggy bank," and coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter).  Also included are cards for your pocket chart, a sorting mat, anchor chart & eight pages of differentiated worksheets.  And, it's on sale until May 1st!