Hibernation and a Freebie

This past week my Kinders had fun learning all about hibernation.  Little kids are naturally drawn to animals, so they really got excited about this topic.  To get the topic started we turned to books ~ there are lots of great fiction & nonfiction books available.  Here are some that we shared:

    

     
Before we read any of these books, we began a KWL chart to see what we already knew about hibernating animals ~ it was pretty skimpy.  The kiddos knew that bears hibernated in winter, but not much else. On Thursday (no school Friday) we completed the L part ~ we needed another piece of chart paper to list everything we learned!  Here are some pictures (just in time for Five for Friday) of some of the fun we had!

1. Collaborating to make posters.  This was the first time I had my Kinders collaborate to create informational posters.  The kiddos worked with their partners (I have paired up the kids ~ they sit next to their partner on the carpet, and work work with them for partner activities.  We change partners every month.)  I was super happy at how well the kids worked together!  They really demonstrated collaboration and created some pretty great posters!

 It makes me so happy to see how nicely they worked together (even the trio ~ those three worked together because one student was absent). 

 The Kinders proudly presented their work!

Of course, we needed to show off a little!  We made some cute craftivities and did some writing for our hallway bulletin board. 

 2.  This sleeping bear craftivity is included in my Hibernation Mini Unit.  It is a new addition to the set ~ if you purchased it, redownload it to get the pattern.

3.  Here is an outstanding example of some writing.  The little author wrote this All. By. Herself.  (Can you see me doing the Happy Dance?) 

Writing pages are also included in the updated version of my Hibernation unit.

4.  One Dollar Special.

Click HERE to snap up your set for $1.00 this weekend!  The companion Literacy & Math Center set is only $2.00 this weekend so you can create a fun themed week for your students.

5.  Friday Free-forAll

OK, so this has absolutely nothing to do with hibernation, but it is handy.  I have a very bad habit of not remembering usernames & passwords, so I created this to help me to be a little more organized.  Grab it HERE, and then head over to The Primary Gal to pick up some more freebies!  If you like any of my products, please rate it.  Not only will you help me, you will get TpT credit to use towards more purchases.

Two great linky parties:

Have a great weekend!

New & Improved Focus Wall

Over Christmas break I decided to spend a little time revamping my focus wall. I wanted to make it even more interactive than it was before, plus I decided that the calendar really didn't need to be in the center section.  What helped me to realize this was the fact that I have a visually impaired student in my class who usually isn't in my room during calendar time.  Given the fact that he doesn't usually participate in our calendar activities and the fact that the calendar activities aren't the most important things hanging on the wall, it made sense to put the things we refer to throughout the day in the middle section.  Not only will my new configuration help my little V. I. guy, but everyone will get a better view of the "What are We Learning this Week?" materials.

Here are some pictures of the progression of my focus wall.

My 2011 - 2012 bulletin board.  Lots of space was taken up by pocket charts with kids' names ~ centers, stations, etc.  It looks pretty messy ~ I only had one section covered with fabric!

  2012 - 2013 Focus Wall.  It looks so much better with all the panels covered in matching fabric!  I like to cover my bulletin boards with fabric.  It lasts so much longer than paper, plus the holes don't show!  I have all of my bulletin boards covered with blue fabric because blue is a pretty good neutral ~ just about everything looks good against a sky-blue background!

2013 - 2014 Focus Wall.  This is pretty much how my bulletin board started out this school year.  I actually had moved the pocket charts on the left panel to a smaller bulletin board before the first day of school and hung some Daily 5 posters there.  I guess I didn't take a picture after I moved them.

My new & improved Focus Wall!  As you can see, I moved the calendar to the right panel and put the important skills stuff in the middle.  I was also able to hang more interactive items by moving my Daily 5 posters to another bulletin board in the room ~ I now have space to hang math things over the hundred chart.  There is a little space for a skill activity by the calendar ~ the snowman is a word family activity.  See a close-up picture of it HERE.  Even it its former state my focus wall met the requirements for posting weekly learning objectives.  (Click HERE to purchase my Focus Wall  Skills Headers.)  I am happy with the new arrangement because I feel it really puts the focus on the skills we are learning each week.

Christmas Break is (finally) over & a 1/2 Off Sale

We had a much longer Christmas break than was planned!  Thanks to the crazy snow and cold, our vacation was extended by three days!  I guess I can't really complain ~ a two day week was just what was needed to ease us into the new year. (And, today was even a 2 hour delay thanks to freezing fog!)  It is now raining with a forecasted high around 40 for the weekend.  Weird weather.  But, given the fact that it is January, and I live in Indiana, winter is by no means over.  Therefore, I decided to put all of my winter themed items for sale this weekend for 1/2 off!  Hop over to my TpT store and grab some bargains for your winter activities.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kinder-Doodles

1. SUPER cold!  It's hard to believe that just a few days ago we were under a state of emergency and pictures like the one above were floating around Facebook.

This is a screen shot of my ipad this past Monday.  The background picture doesn't really look like Indiana...  Plus, we did have a lot of snow on the ground.   But, check out the windchill!  BRRRR

2. Indoor snow day!

Sarah brought in some snow so the girlies could play in snow despite the frigid temperature!  I started doing  this when Sarah & Emily wanted to play outside the winter Gabrielle was born.  I covered the floor with beach towels and brought in buckets of snow.  I dressed the girls in snowpants, boots, and mittens & gave them kitchen utensils.  Once they were tired of the snow, I simply tossed the towels into the bathtub & wiped up the melted snow (water) off the floor.  My girls had fun in the snow, I didn't have to try to go outside with a newborn, AND my kitchen floor got "mopped!"  I'm glad that Sarah has continued this tradition!

3.  Military Ornaments

  

Gabrielle's boyfriend is in the Marines & when she heard that the library was hosting a Christmas tree honoring our local members of the military, she created a pretty patriotic ornament.  She got such rave reviews of her contribution to the "Hero Tree" that she has decided to sell them.  If you are interested in purchasing one for your military hero ~ any branch, not just Marines ~ email me at kindergartendoodles@gmail.com and I will pass your request along to Gabrielle.

4.  Chevron Planner

Do you need a new planner for 2014?  If you love a "certain brand" of planners, but don't want to spend $50, check out Sarah's cheveron planner.  She made this for Gabrielle for Christmas & it is available on Teachers pay Teachers!  Click HERE to purchase.

5.  Friday Free for All

My freebie for the week is something I made to help my Kinders to practice adding & subtracting using manipulatives.  Grab it HERE.

Well, that's my Five for Friday.  Hop over to Doodle Bugs Teaching & link up your five random things!

Snow Day # 2

Due to the super cold temperatures we will be having our second snow (cold) day tomorrow!  This is a pretty unusual event ~ the wind chill was -44 today!  It's going to be "warmer" tomorrow ~ windchill of -37 ~ but, it will still be too cold to go to school.  BRRR

Because of the continued cold weather, the Indiana Snowpocalypse $1.00 sale will continue.  Check out the links below for some great sales!  Now is the time to grab my Dr. Sss Nonsense Word Sort & Green Eggs and Rhymes for $1.00.   (I have added two additional  products to this sale, but the collection is closed, so I put the links to these products just before the collection of sale items.)

My Very Hungry Caterpillar set is on sale for $1.00!

My new Book Study anchor charts set is on sale for $1.00!

A Peek at My Week & a Sale

I am linking up for the first time with Mrs. Wills for her Peek at my Week linky.  I have been a long time follower of hers, and use lots of her amazing TpT products, so I thought that it was about time that I joined her linky!

Here is what I will be doing this week ~ or at least planned to do.  We won't have school because of the frigid temps that are predicted for Monday.  (hey, I'm not going to complain about an extra day of Christmas vacation!)  So ~ I will  need to do a bit of tweeking as the week goes on.  Which is really OK.

 Click HERE to purchase.

Click HERE to purchase.

Because of the cold cold weather, and the fact that many of you will be home on Monday, I decided to have a sale!  Please visit my store and grab some things for your winter planning (and beyond).  Click HERE to go to my store.

 Click HERE to go to the Snowpocalypse $1.00 sale.  Hooray for a snow day!

Stay warm!

Friday Linkies

It's the first Friday of January & it's linky time!

First up is Five for Friday.

1. My Friday Freebie

My freebie for today is my Snow Buddies Sound Box set.  This set would be perfect for literacy centers, small group instruction, or RTI. 

2.  My January Currently

I am soooooo tired of the ringing in my ears!  I'm on week 4 of some miserable flu/virus/bronchitis type illness.  I know I'm not alone in my misery ~ I've heard that this ailment is very difficult to kick.  Which, is why I really wouldn't mind an extra day of Christmas break.  Yes, I know we will have to make it up, but one more day to try to get better would be a blessing!
We put up five (Yes, 5) trees and lots of decorations.  It takes about a week to get everything up, and just about as long to take everything down.  I really need to start un-Christmasing my house.  I did go into school yesterday and took down Christmas decorations in my classroom.
This was the first Christmas without my mom (Dad's been gone for five years).  It was difficult, but I have great memories of her at Christmas.  We did get together with my siblings and their families for Christmas ~ we had fun playing a Wasemann Family Trivia game.  It's good knowing that our memories will go on.

3.  I'm part of a new blog!  I was so excited when I was asked to be an author of Who's Who and Who's New.  The blog will feature a daily post by different teachers about lots of interesting topics.
 

4.   My new Hibernation mini unit.

The first week back in January will be spent with lots of review (both skills and procedures).  There are a few things to finish up so I can complete my report cards.  I also want to do a mini unit on hibernation, so I made this set.  Click HERE if you are interested in purchasing it.

5.  Winter Wonderland!  Here are some pictures of what my yard looked like this morning.

 The barn and pasture.

 Our front yard looking towards the old barn across the street.

 My front porch.

 Our driveway.