Can Do Kinders

A Little Something You Might Like!

2012-03-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

Yeahhh! I finally posted during the week.... I am setting goals! One goal is to post about 3 times a week. Another goal of mine is to post some pics of my classroom. I am so terrible about pictures. I take them, but they never seem to wind up here. Anyway, I decided it's time to change my blogging habits!

I have some kinders who still need help with hearing beginning and ending sounds. I made this simple beginning and ending sound literacy station. I wanted to share it with you. Let's hope this will help them to move on!
Just click on the picture above to get your copy and please leave a comment. I would really appreciate you following my blog too.... It would make my day!
Have a great rest of your week!

And...... The Pack is in the Sweet 16! Whooooo Hoooo! Let's go Pack!

Spring is Here and so is a Freebie!

2012-03-18T12:25:00.002-04:00

The weather has been wonderful here.... in the upper 70s and I definitely have spring fever! I have been so jealous of everyone who has been out on spring break. Ours begins the last week of this month and I am so ready for a week long vacation! I think my kiddos need a break from me too. :)

Thank you to these 2 more great bloggers who awarded me with this:

Wow! I am feel truly honored to receive this award from my blogging friends! Thank you so very much! Thank you Mrs. Greene and Mrs. Egley! Make sure you visit these ladies and see what they are up to in their classrooms. You'll be glad you did!

On March 2nd several cities across the US was devastated by the destruction of 44 tornadoes. The tornadoes went across 5 states and thousands of families lost their homes. At lease 27 people died. Also, several schools were damaged severely. Can you imagine ever losing your school?

Many teachers have united together to help schools that were affected by this devastation. If you can help in any way, please visit Crystal who has put together a list of schools and teachers who could use our help! You would be helping children and if you come to my blog... you know how passionate I am about helping children and their teachers across our great country! Please click on the link below and show how we as teachers not only teach lessons of love but, we walk the walk!

My kiddos need practice with blends... I made this cute write the room activity using graphics from Goodness and Fun and Scrappin Doodles. You've got to check out both of these sites for clip art! I fell in love with the spring clip art from Goodness and Fun and knew I had to make something with it! If you are interested you can go to Goodness and Fun here. She is having a sale on her cute clip art and I think you will love all of her things! Also, if you go to the right of my blog you can go to Scrappin Doodles and use the code March2012 to get 15% off your purchase! I am a Scrappin Doodle affiliate... have to tell you that just in case the blog police come around. :)

And the borders come from: From the Pond! They are free in her TPT store... go here to visit her store.... cute cute cute stuff!

If you would like a copy of Blends Write the Room.... just click on the pic and get your copy! Thank you for coming to my blog and if you download.... please think about leaving me a comment and I would love it if you would follow my blog and get your friends to follow too...... I noticed I am close to 1000 followers! Yeah........!!!!!! I can't believe it!

And... almost forgot! Go Pack! Sorry Georgetown Fans! My daughter and money go to this school! :)

Whew! It's Been a Long time!

2012-03-04T13:23:00.000-05:00

Warning.... Long Post! :)
I have been sick my blogging friends.... I used to say I never get sick... I am immune to all the germs that fly around my kinder class. Well, I have got to say for the last 3 weeks that is not the case. From walking pneumonia, ear infections, upper respiratory infection: I have had it! I went back to the Dr. this past Tuesday for the 3rd time... left to go get more medicine! But, today I am feeling so much better! So I am back and with a cuteeeeeee St. Patrick's Day Freebie.

First, thank you so to 2 bloggers that gave me this award! I appreciate it so much!

Be sure to visit these 2 blogs and again thank you ladies so much! I appreciate it so much!

Have you heard? Now we have to give permission for you to pin from blogs... So here is my permission for you and please pin away! I love pinterest and I think it is another great way to find great ideas for our children! All I ask you to do is link back to my blog if you pin from my site! There is a little button on the right side of my blog if you would like to follow me on pinterest!

If you follow my blog, you know how much I love The Old Lady Series of Books by Lucille Colandro! Scrappin Doodles came out with the graphics that go along with this book and I knew I would have to make a small book for one of my guided reading groups. These books are so wonderful for retellings and that is something we continue to work on in the classroom! I included words and pictures for you pocket chart! Click on the Old Lady above to download!

This would be a great addition to Tammy's Old Lady Unit that she created and is at her TPT store! Check it out!

Thank you for hanging in there with me!

Don't you love this little graphic from MelonHeadz Illustrating ?

Click here to go to her blog! http://www.melonheadzillustrating.blogspot.com/

More to come about this cute little old woman too!

Goldilocks and The 3 Bears Emergent Reader Freebie

2012-02-19T13:37:00.000-05:00

Hi Blogging Friends! It is cold and rainy here... great day for a little blog stalking!

I hope all of you have been doing great. I missed 2 days of school this week because I had some kind of flu bug. I am not 100% but as teachers we must go on..... :)

This past week we read a lot of fairy tales and studying these in our guided reading groups. I made this cute emergent reader for one of my guided reading groups. It contains a lot of sight words from TRC/Dibles. I thought you might like it too. My kinders had a lot of fun taping Goldilocks to a 0opsicle stick and using her to help read the story. It is a 9 page book in color but you can set your printer to run it in gray scale if you would like. It is also easy to assemble! Just print, cut in half, staple and you have 2 books.

Google docs is not cooperating with me today..... :( Is anyone else having this problem? Please visit my Teachers notebook shop or Teachers Pay Teachers shop to download for free.

I am sorry to have to send you there but, I think you will won't mind after seeing this cute book.

If you go there, I would appreciate it if you would follow my shops!

Also, this week Teaching Blog Addict is hosting a Dr. Seuss Week giveaway! More to come on this tomorrow..... so stay tuned in for some fun freebies!

Graphics used to make the Goldilocks and 3 Bears book--- Scrappin doodles!
Use the code February2012 to get a discount of 15% off of all orders over $5 at Scrappin Doodles.... Denyse has made some really cute graphics... just click on her button on the right side of my blog to go there!

Math Write the Room

2012-02-11T13:14:00.001-05:00

Happy Weekend! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! I slept in this morning and it was great! No alarm clocks!:)

Several of you have emailed and asked if I would make a valentine's write the room. My kinders are working on putting sets together... adding. I thought this might be a fun station for them this week.

I will laminate and put the cards around the room. Using their recording sheet, the children will look for the matching letter on the cards you have placed around the room. They will count and fill in the numbers on their recording sheet and then record the sum of the 2 numbers. I have not introduced the + and = signs yet, but I included a recording sheet for those of you that have.

I hope these directions are clear.... let me know if you need more details.

Fun and easy!

Hope you enjoy!

Click here for the write the room cards and here for the recording sheet!

Graphics by one of my favorites...... KPM Doodles!

Happy Valentine's Day Freebie!

2012-02-09T19:40:00.002-05:00

Happy Early Valentine's Day Everyone..... To send some love your way, I made this easy math station for my children and decided to share it with you! My kinders have been using it this week and have had a great time learning to count and write to 20! I still have kinders that are practicing this skill.

How about you?

There are 2 versions.... Roll count and write could be used with dice and the children use candy hearts to make the set.

The second version can be used with a scoop.... I bought mine in the kitchen utensil department in the Dollar Store. You can also use candy hearts and have them scoop the candy hearts from a bowl, count using the tens frame mats, then write. After laminating the children can use dry erase markers to write directly on the mat! We only get so many copies a month so this was a life saver for me.

Thank all of you who tagged me! I am so sorry that I didn't get to participate. It has been a crazy time for me.... I appreciate all of you who always think of me!

Hope you enjoy this easy math mat and if you download, please leave a comment because I miss hearing from all of you!

Click on the picture to download your copy.

Graphics by KPM Doodles!

I'm Back with a Freebie!

2012-02-04T10:10:00.005-05:00

It seems like forever since I have been able to blog..... Thank all of you who emailed wondering what had happened to me.... You guys are tooooooo sweet!
I have been so busy with school. We've had professional developments with homework, visitors from another school, report cards and..... the list is never ending.
To make matters even more stressful, I had the worse time trying to download my dental health mini unit .....grrrrrrrrrrr I think it was some of the graphics I used. Anyway, I decided to download each piece separately in my Teachers notebook store and hopefully by tonight to my TPT store.

Thank all of you who wanted to view it... I want to apologize to those who could not download it from google docs. I want to thank those of you who could for the great critiques you gave me! In fact, I wish I could give it away free, but, because of the terms of the graphics I used, I can't. :( However, I have placed everything pretty cheap for you to purchase in my Teachers notebook shop so please head over there and take a peek......... aaaaannnnnddddd........ here is a freebie from the unit!
Thank you for hanging in there with me! Click here for Help the Tooth Fairy count Her Teeth... it is so cute! Hope you like!

Please Help!

2012-01-24T22:15:00.000-05:00

I just finished a mini dental health unit that I am going to place in my TPT store and Teacher's Notebook store. Before I do, I would appreciate it if I could get 3 of you to review it for any mistakes and give me constructive feedback. The first 3 people to comment I will send my unit to you by tomorrow... Please help! Oh, don't forget to leave your email address in your comment!

Thank you so much for your help! :)

Anyone ready for.... Groundhogs!

2012-01-16T15:03:00.001-05:00

I was going through my files... trying to plan ahead and saw an old pocket chart poem I use for Groundhog's Day. It had seen its last days.... so I decided to redo it using these cute graphics from Scrappin Doodles.... it turned out soooooo cute that I wanted to share it with you! I have included pictures and words for your pocket chart.
Please leave a comment if you download. It will make me feel better since I needed to be doing laundry and grocery shopping. Oh, well! This was much more fun! Click here to get your copy.

A Day In My Shoes Linky Party!

2012-01-15T22:37:00.000-05:00

I know ... I am breaking the rules but this linky party sounded like so much fun and I don't have to go to school tomorrow so here goes!
I get to share a day in my life with you and many teachers email me and ask me about my schedule, so this is a fun way to do just that!
Here is a peek at my day last Thursday... It was crazy!

6:00am---- I have 3 alarm clocks that go off at different times. I really do because I am such a heavy sleeper that I am afraid I won't get up. The only thing that would wake me up is when R was a baby and I would wake up automatically if she even sneezed. I guess it is a mommy thing. :)

6:20am--- Go get coffee from the kitchen. I couldn't do anything else unless I do this first. Feed kitty. I don't eat breakfast...

6:30-7:00--- Get ready to go to school. I have everything done the night before... clothes ready/lunch packed/shower. I just wash my face in the morning.

7:00--Leave for school

7:10--- Arrive at school if traffic is good and I don't get behind any buses.
            I sign in. Go to my room. Cut on the computers. Open the blinds...
           (We have an energy Czar in our district this year and she ~~stalks~~ checks
           schools to make sure we follow her rules of cutting all electronics and
           etc... to save money! Even though she will get a "bonus" if we reduce
           our power usage. ~~Doesn't~~ Makes sense to me. :)

7:25--- Children arrive ... some come in room and some go to breakfast.
            Morning work. Me... running around room greeting children, drinking
            coffee and putting out fires.   Praying that some of my sweet babes
            received everything they needed for a successful day....

8:00--- All children are in room and we begin announcements.

8:15-9:00 --- Morning Meeting/ Journals
9:00-10:30 ---- Guided Reading groups/literacy stations/testing this week
                        Principals come in to make sure everyone is doing great.
                        Sometimes to do a quick evaluation of what was seen. These
                      are emailed to us.
10:35-11:00--- Recess.... I go out with the children.
11:10-11:35--- Brunch. I eat with my children. I am jealous of all of you that
                       get adult interaction here. Another teacher and I talk back and
                       forth from one table to another while I clean up any spills, etc...
11:35-11:50--- Read Aloud
12:00-12:30--- EXCEL --- This is our RTI block. Some children go to ESL and I
                        pull my babies for extra help 2 times a week. Other times it is
                        math stations.
12:30--- Snack
12:45-1:30--- Specials or my planning time.... Today the social worker came in
                   and I didn't get to any planning because we were helping a child.
                   Also, another child came in who had an accident... so I helped
                   her. and.... that is usually what happens--- no planning. I do get
                   to go to bathroom here too. On Monday.... no specials... Friday is
                   computer lab and I go in the lab with my children.
1:30- 2:15 --- Math Groups
                      Science/Social Studies is integrated... or I may do this first thing
                      in the morning.
2:30---- I take children to buses....Get on assigned bus to settle children down
            before they take off.  Then I run across campus for a meeting on
             a child who is in School Support.
3:30--- I sit down at my desk.... for a minute.... wipe tables with clorox wipes
            and put up chairs if my assistant didn't get to it.... Then I get to talk to
           other teachers.... adult time! Or... I might have to go to a school
           meeting or district meeting...
4:00-- Arrive at home and work on my school plans.... I like working at home...
           because it is quiet and I can put on comfy clothes!
           During this time....I cook or talk on the phone to my brothers, mother or
           daughter... answer emails..... blog stalk.... anything I want. I do miss
           times I took R to dance, etc.... Lately I have been trying to spend time
           reading my bible study.
Rest of night I get my clothes, lunch ready, take a shower and go to bed! Usually, I get to bed around 11:00.

If you made it down here... thank you! Now, link up with Mrs. Klohn and tell me about a day in your shoes!

A Freebie to Keep You Warm!

2012-01-15T13:27:00.000-05:00

It is cold here.... very cold. After reading comments from my northern friends though I shouldn't complain... no snow here!

We have been testing our children this week.... dibel away! So far I am impressed with what my children have learned! They are doing awesome...

However, some need help with segmenting and blending phonemes.... Is it my kinders or are you seeing the same? Even though we have practiced, (everyday during guided reading groups) I still have children who do great until they get to the ending sound. For example.... the word is hat... They segment it .... h/a/s.
So, today I am working on some more things with hearing the ending sounds in words... With more practice, I know they will be able to hear the ending sound. Fingers crossed!!!!

Great news.... We have tomorrow off! Yippeee.... I can work on some more things for you! I am so excited!

I love pinterest and it is so addicting! If you would like to follow my boards, just click on the pinterest button to the right of my blog.... So many of you have already done this.... thank you! Let's keep pinning!

Help.... What types of things would you like to see here on my blog? I make things my children need. Please tell me what you want and I'll try to make it for you! Also, I need to remember to take pictures and share more with you. We have strict policies about showing pictures of showing our children on the internet..... but I'll try to get it together without showing their faces. Please leave me a comment about what things you would like to see more. :)

I have a cute CVC word literacy station for you! Click on the picture to download. My children are having a great time playing this in my classroom. I thought yours would too. Hope you enjoy!
Have a great rest of your weekend and stay warm!
Graphics by: Scrappin Doodles.

Thank you and Something Fun For You!

2012-01-10T21:24:00.000-05:00

Bad Blogger here! I have been so busy spending time with my baby before she went back to College I've neglected you! Sorry!

But I hope I can make it up....

First, I want to thank these really sweet ladies for nominating me for the Versatile blogger award. Yeahhhhh! It is so nice to know others think you are doing a great job.

Love this little turtle...... Teachers Can't Live By Apples Alone!

(I give an amen to that!)

Thank all of you ladies so much! Please click on their buttons above to visit their blogs. You will love their many great ideas!

Now I am suppose to tell you some things about me...

Hmmmm... this is tough to think of something new but here goes:

1. I grew up very poor... no phones.. air conditioning .... in a rural community. My parents are wonderful because they made sure we were first in their lives. They made sure we had all of our needs met before their own. I adore my parents! They placed a lot of emphasis on education so all 5 of us went to either a technical college or a University.

2. Which comes to my second thing you may not know..... I have 4 brothers and I am the only girl in my family.... Yes they spoiled me.:) I didn't go on a date until College by myself because I always double dated with one of my brothers and their dates... My brothers and I are very close! Love you guys!

3. I love to watch Criminal Minds.... Law and Order type programs on TV. I don't know why.... maybe I like trying to analyze the bad guys!

Enough about me.... Now this is where I break the rules... I am suppose to nominate other blogs but I love so many..... I wish I had time to list all the blogs I love to stalk.. but it would take forever.... There are just toooooo many bloggers that I admire and I don't want to hurt any body's feelings...

I would nominate all who take the time to blog and share goodies with us!

So, what do I have fun for you? Well, my Kinders have had a blast with the activity above, Scoop and Count. I bought small scoops from the Dollar Store. I put out a bowl of marshmallows. Each child takes a scoop of marshmallows and counts them by using the tens frames. Then, they record the amount on the recording sheet. Easy, fun and covers a math common core standard! Can't get any better than that! and... they get to sneak and eat a couple of marshmallows while having fun!

If you like, click on the picture of the activity and download your copy!

Graphics by KPM Doodles!

Cold lady, snow, pipe, stick... Can you guess?

2012-01-04T22:04:00.002-05:00

If you guessed the book, The Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow.... you were right!

Even though it has been very cold here .... no snow! We never get snow here which is not bad... I am not complaining! It just comes in handy when you need a break because everything closes! That includes school! Until then, we get to read about snow, see pictures of snow and hope that we have just one day of that fun stuff!

Marlana over at Lil' Country Kindergarten has made a mini unit to go along with the book, The Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro.

The cute graphics are from Scrappin' Doodles!

This mini Math and Literacy unit includes:

Shared Reading
Magnetic Board Retelling Pieces
Pocket Chart Sequencing and Vocabulary Cards
Syllable Sort & Self-Check
Spinner & Graph
Snowman Roll & Color
Pattern Pieces

To go along with her mini unit I made a cute little emergent reader that I plan on using with her mini unit next week. You can click here to get the emergent reader! Click on Marlana's button to get her mini unit! You can get it at her TPT and Teacher Notebook stores.
I hope you enjoy!

Do any of you get a lot of snow? I can't imagine how it would be going to school everyday with lots of snow on the ground. Do the children go out and play? I am so curious..... Please leave this southern girl a comment and let me know how you deal with snow and school! :)

It's My Birthday! Let's Celebrate!

2011-12-30T12:00:00.001-05:00

Today is my birthday! This is a firstie for me.... usually I don't tell anyone it is my birthday.... why? well... I don't like the spotlight on me. I am one of those quiet, let's keep it hushed, I don't want to think about my age, it's just another day kind of person. But most of all I would be totally embarrassed if the fire department had to come to my house to put out a fire only to discover it was just the candles on my cake! :) And... I am totally embarrassed when people sing happy birthday to me. I appreciate it! I really do, but it's that spotlight thing.
But, today I thought .... why not? Let's just go ahead and announce it! But most of all, I wanted to share this with you and so decided I'll give a birthday present to you.

I love thinking maps! I use them all the time with my kinders... To me it helps them organize their thoughts and so much more. I think I am going to put this brace map in my writing center for next week. Here is a model of the snowman brace map and the vocabulary words to go with it.
Hope you enjoy my birthday gift to you! You can download it here.
Graphics: Scrappin Doodles
Font: Lettering Delights!

And I do not have to take down my DJ Inkers activities I have shared with you. After several days of clip art confusion... DJ Inkers changed their terms of use.
Yeah!!!!

Great News and Some Challenges!

2011-12-28T12:13:00.002-05:00

I am loving my days off! I could really get used to this. I miss my kinders though and wonder what they have been up to.... I am sure they are practicing their reading instead of playing with their new toys...:)
Here is some really sad news..... I emailed DJ Inkers this morning and they are not letting us use their clip art to share creations anymore. :(   This means that I will be deleting posts with any of their graphics later today when I have more time. It is so hard to find graphics at a reasonable price and teacher friendly.

Good News! I can use Scrappin Doodles Graphics..... on the top of my graphics fav list!     And.......
Just enter coupon code DECEMBER2011 to receive 15% off all orders over $5. I am an affiliate for her site... so just click on the Scrappin Doodles button on the right side of my blog to go to her site! Don't you love her graphics!

More Good News! I have finally opened my Teacher's Pay Teachers Store! I would really appreciate if you would go there and follow my store... You will get an email when I post a new product there and I would jump up and down but .... most of all you would really make my day and I would really appreciate it!

Thank you all that bought my Winter Math Stations unit..... It helps me purchase more graphics to bring you fun activities and it helps this Mom put her sweet daughter through College!

I debated whether to make you go to my stores to get this freebie....and ask you to follow me while you are there, but then I decided that I trust you will do this for me during your free time, like right now...like just go ahead click on my TPT button... or Teachers Notebook button to the right of my blog .....
just kidding.... :)

I appreciate all of you who take the time to come to my little 'ole blog to see what I am up to..... so, if you click on the picture above you will get a cute oldie but goldie emergent reader that I have used for years. I don't remember where the original came from and if you know, please leave a comment so that I can give the original author/creator credit! After seeing Denyse's cute snowman graphics I had to put some love on one of my favorite emergent readers for this time of year. Included are the words and pictures for your pocket chart. Hope you enjoy!

It's Time for Winter Fun!

2011-12-26T20:08:00.001-05:00

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! I had such a great time with my family. I don't want to think about how much weight I probably gained from all the great food we had on Christmas! The weather here has been very mild, ranging anywhere from the high 50s to low 70s so I need to get out and ~~waddle~~ walk before it gets any colder.

I have been trying to get in the Winter mood and have been creating some things for you! I am so excited that I finally finished this math station fun pack and added it to my teachers notebook store!

It is a 50 page math stations pack! I think you will love all the engaging games it has in it..... 10 frames game to 20, measuring, geometry, and so much more!

If you would like to take a look, click here! and it is at a great price!

Later tonight I plan on adding an emergent reader I made that is tooooooo cute!

So many of you have written and requested a 10 Frame Write the Room to 20 and I finally finished it! All you have to do is laminate the cards and have the children count and write. The numbers on the card match the recording sheet. For example, the child will find card 1 and record the amount on the recording sheet on sentence 1. You can have the children write the word or the number in the blank space. Hope you enjoy! Click on the picture above to download....

Graphics from DJ Inkers!

For You.. Merry Christmas!

2011-12-17T10:40:00.002-05:00

I wanted to give you a little gift to say how much I appreciate you coming to my blog and supporting me. I love hearing from you and the impact my activities have had on your children. It makes my day.. month.. year! Many of you have even taken the time to go to my Teachers Notebook Store and made it a favorite. Wow... You amaze me by taking your valuable time to do those things for me!

I have 2 more days with the children before they break for the holidays. Even though I look forward to this break and I definitely need a rest.... I am going to miss my kinders. I pray for my little ones and hope they remain safe.

I hope to get a lot of things done over the break. One thing I am working on is a math activities pack. Right now I have about 4 games in it and I am so excited to use it in the new year! Please let me know what skills you will be working on and I'll try to include those too. I am working on another math write the room too. So make sure you visit over the break for those things!

Again, thank you my blogging friends! I pray the most wonderful blessings for you and your families! Just click on the picture above for your gift!
Graphics: DJ Inkers and Scrappin Doodles!

The 11th Day... A Gift!

2011-12-11T10:19:00.002-05:00

I am teaming up with TBA to bring you 25 days of gifts! Everyone loves a gift! I am so excited.... what could it be? Want to sneak a peek???? No fruit cake here.. sorry fruit cake lovers!

Here is a CVC writing activity. One of my teacher friends asked me to please include my first grade friends so I also made a CVCe activity for you!
Just laminate and use in a small group or literacy station. Also, it is flexible enough for you to use as a Write the Room. The children just use the numbers on the picture to match to the recording sheet. Graphics from DJ Inkers.

Thank all of you for coming to my blog and supporting me! So many of you have gone to Teacher's Notebook and made my store a favorite. You have taken your valuable time for me and I appreciate ya'll so much! Thank you!

If you bought a product of mine, would you go back in and rate it? Someone who did not know how to download their products from Teacher's Notebook left a sad rating for me :( and I hope to get my rating up. If you didn't like the activities... you don't have to rate them.... LOL just kiddin'! However, it helps me to know what you like and how to make more activities similar to those! Just click here to go to my store. Oh... and I am working on some more stuff to go there. I am excited about these products!

Now I am asking that you vote in Edublogs Awards for the best blogs!
These blogs are up for awards and we want to show them our support so please take a moment to vote for them!

Here is the link to vote: http://edublogawards.com/vote-here/

1. vote TBA for the category of BEST GROUP BLOG
2. vote Kleinspiration for the category of BEST NEW BLOG
3. vote HeidiSongs for 2 categories: Best Tech Ed/Resource Sharing, and also Best Media

Are you ready to unwrap your gifts? Click here for your CVC activity and here for your recording sheet. Click here for your CVCe activity and here for your recording sheet. Enjoy and would you leave me some Christmas love?!!!

It's All in the Retelling Bag

2011-12-07T22:25:00.000-05:00

I love using these lunch size paper bags in my classroom! Every time I go to the grocery store I have to pick up a pack. I use them for puppets and a way to help my kinders retell stories!

I love the way you can decorate the front and then keep all the small pieces you are using all in one place! It is a great way to send home activities you want parents to reinforce!

I am going to have my children retell the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell using these lunch bags. After we read the story several times, I am going to use the colored pictures in the pocket chart to help model the retelling. (See earlier post)

Then using the black and white pictures above, the children will color and glue the old lady and title on the front of the bag. They will color the rest of the pieces and cut them out. Then the kinders can practice retelling the story to a partner by placing each piece in the bag. They can take the bag home and practice retelling the story to their parents or who ever takes care of them and loves them.... (my way of recognizing grandparents, etc... who may take care of my sweeties at home. :)

Thank all of you who visited my Teachers Notebook Shop and made it a favorite!

I appreciate your support so much! I was so surprised when I saw how many of you made my shop a favorite. You are awesome!

If you would like the Old Lady Retelling, just click on the first picture above! I hope you enjoy!

It's That Time of Year..For....

2011-12-04T12:34:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year for numbers in the teens... I know... every time I think of the word teen I have to have a attitude adjustment and a prayer for patience.

These numbers are so hard for our children, but we can also make it fun for them!

Right?

I promised I would have you something else to go along with the book,

The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell and here it is. I made this write the room for the numbers 10-19.

You have left so many compliments for the other Write the Room activities and I thought you might enjoy this one too.

Thank you so much for going to my Teacher's Notebook shop and making it a favorite. 24 of you have done this.... You have made my day!

All you have to do is go to my TN shop here and click on my store and make it a favorite. I would appreciate it so much! You can get the Old Lady Little Book there for free! :)

Now here is the Old Lady Write the Room...... You can get it here and the recording sheet here.

Enjoy and please leave feedback for me. What else would you like to see?

What skills are you working on?

Thank you so much!

I Couldn't Resist!

2011-12-02T01:12:00.001-05:00

I happen to go to Scrappin Doodles tonight and saw this cute clip art that went along with this book!

And I couldn't resist..... This is inspired from Marlana, My blogging buddy who had done The Little Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie. You can see her post here.

I didn't have the time to give you all the great activities she had to go along with the book, but I did get this much finished.

I made a big book in color, and a pocket chart sequencing activity. I hope to get it together to make a student sequencing activity....
Also, there is a black and white guided reading book to go along the big book. I put it on my Teacher's Notebook store as a freebie.... so go there to download it and please..... take a moment to follow my store. I would so appreciate it! Please click here to get that freebie. You'll be glad you did!

However, you can download the big book here and the sequencing activity here.

Thank you so much and please visit this weekend to see if I can be as creative as Marlana and come up with some more great stuff to go along with this cute book!

A Little Something For You!

2011-12-01T18:24:00.000-05:00

                 I hope everyone is having a great week after a few days off!
Today my little ~~stinkers~~ "angels" were having a very challenging day... ~~they were totally off the hook!~~   I wonder if my little friends were feeling the excitement of the upcoming holidays or if the colder weather froze their little brains.... hmmm Anyway, I hope tomorrow will be a better day!
and.... I was observed by my awesome principal!   I have the best principal in the world!

Thank all of you for going over to my store at Teacher's Notebook. I have 3 products over there.... and I am so appreciative for making my store a favorite....    I feel so special!   If you would like to see the products, just click here!

Also, I need to thank Dee at ..... Over the Moonbow for giving me the Sunshine award!   Thank you for thinking about me. I love all my blogging friends! You can read about the Sunshine award in an earlier post.

OK..... guess what? I know a lot of us do Dibels and TRC, but at my school we also get to do Math Dibels.... yeap, you read that right! We just started a couple of weeks ago. That means more progress monitoring.... sigh............. Do you feel like sometimes all we do is test?

Anyway, I made this little game to help with numbers before and after...... I plan on having the kinders place the number cards face down... then, they will pull a card and put it on the math mat. They will write the numbers that come before and after that number. After we practice in small group this little game will go in the math stations... and I pray it helps them with their dibels!
Just click on the picture above to download.... and if you do download, please take a moment to leave a comment! I love hearing from you....
Graphics from DJ Inkers!

A Little Bit of Magic...A freebie and More Good News

2011-11-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving break.... I am gearing up for the next few weeks... In my classroom the children will learn more about reindeer, Christmas Around the World and all the fun, but educational things we do as teachers!
A fellow teacher pointed out to me that in my Christmas Write the Room, I should have written ... There is instead of There are for the first sentence. Thank you for pointing that out to me and I have corrected it..... You can find the new recording sheet here. I am so sorry!
First, I need to thank 2 more fellow bloggers for giving me the Sunshine Award! I am so amazed of the generosity of my blogging friends! Thank you so much! Please click on their buttons to visit these fantastic blogs!

Also, I have great news.... I finally took the advice of many of you and have opened a Teacher's Notebook store! I have a couple of math games there I think you would love. I will so appreciate it ... if you would take a moment to check out my products and like my store.... Right now I have one super follower who is a favorite of my store... I am sure this person feels lonely! :)
You can click on the button to the right under my pinterest button to go to my store or just click here!
I will continue to have freebies on my blog. However, I am excited to use graphics where the terms of use use limits me to post here.

How many of you have the children make Magic Reindeer Food? I love this crafty project and we have to do it every year! We use ~~bird food~~ authentic reindeer food, and ~~glitter~~ magic, then place it in a small paper bag. Then we decorate it like the model above in the pic. I made a new label to go on the back or front of the bag.... I like to put it on the back because I hang the bags on my bulletin board.
If you like, you can download the labels for the bags here!
The graphics of course are from scrappin' doodles and DJ Inkers!

Fun in the Sun!

2011-11-26T18:44:00.000-05:00

I have been a terrible blogger this week.... I have been so busy with family and my second job.... I work at a teacher's store :) that I haven't checked my blog until now.... I love reading comments from all of you... I really appreciate you coming here and reading my blog and downloading my creations.... AND
I love getting awards from other bloggers....
This week these fantastic ladies sent me their sunshiney love and I so appreciate it! Thank you so much!

One of the rules is to tell you more about me through these questions:

* Favorite Drink --    I love me some diet sundrop! (it's a southern thing ya'll)
* Favorite Animal -- I love all animals... I have a cat who thinks he is a
                                   dog :)
* Favorite Color -- Red! Love NC State Wolf Pack!
* Facebook or Twitter -- I don't have time for either... but my daughter takes
                                      up my slack!
* Passion --  Love God and his wonderful blessings!  Teaching!  Spending
                      time with my daughter!  and of course bloggin'
* Giving or getting presents --   I absolutely love giving... it is so much fun!
* Favorite Day-- Saturday and Sunday---I know that is 2 days.. but I love my
                           weekends!
*Favorite Flower-- Gardenias, sunflowers, magnolias, and weeds that my
                                little ones pick for me at school.

Now I have to give this award to other fabulous blogs... This is soooooo tough for me because I haven't seen a blog I don't like reading.   There are so many great blogging teachers .....   Here are the ones that inspired me to start my own blog!

Thank you for reading this long post if you made it all the way down here!
I'll be back tomorrow because I have some things up my sleeve for you!

It's Here!

2011-11-19T20:19:00.001-05:00

Are you like me and can't believe Christmas is right around the corner?

I received an email from a fantastic follower who asked for a Christmas Write the Room. This is very similar to the Thanksgiving Write the Room I shared earlier with you. You know how I love to integrate math and literacy!

The graphics are from KPM Doodles on Etsy. You can go to her Etsy shop here.

I have 2 days next week with the kiddos and then on Wednesday a workday! A workday with no report cards to do, no staff development, just time to work in my classroom. I am so excited! Then, I am headed out to spend time with my family and eat some great food. I have so much to be thankful for... I am truly blessed!

Anyway, here is the Christmas Write the Room I made. Hope you enjoy! Just click on the picture to download. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and please know I am thankful for all of you who take the time to visit my blog!

PS.... Leave a comment and let me know what your are planning for Thanksgiving. I love to hear from all of you!

What Happened to the Turkeys?

2011-11-13T11:52:00.002-05:00

What? It's turkey time.... so why the frog?

Some of my fantastic followers asked me to do a "generic" beginning/ending sound literacy station. In this station the children take a mat, then place a picture in the middle of the mat...where the cute frog is. Isn't it adorable? You can use your own foam letters or use the ones I made for you to place on the mat. The beginning sound goes to the left of the frog and the ending sound to the right. Bonus: 3 different recording sheets! I think you will be able to use this station for awhile! :)
If you download, please leave a comment and thank you for following me! Just click on the pic to download. Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!

You've Gotta See This!

2011-11-08T17:20:00.001-05:00

Don't you love the Old Lady Series? Well, my blogging friend, Marlana, at Lil Country Kindergarten has made some of the cutest activities to go along with the book, The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie. Here are a few things she has made:
You'll see her book above... then a retelling activity...

Magnet Board Printables

and that my friends is not all.... a shared reading lesson, a graph, a sequencing activity and a syllable sort. Wow! She really outdid herself! I plan on using all of her creations next week. Run over there to download all of her goodies! Just click on her button below.

Marlana gave me the idea to create a book for one of my guided reading groups for next week. This group is also working on beginning sounds. And... I could tie it all together in my writing station. So this is what I came up with.....

If you like you can download the book here. The beginning sound sort here. The writing station and vocabulary words here. I am going to encourage the children draw pictures to go along with their writing. Please email me if you have any questions. Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!
Thank you for all the kind comments you have been leaving me.... and please think about following my blog if you download. It would be awesome to know you like my things enough to join my blog!

Surprises! Freebie! Excitement!

2011-11-05T11:53:00.001-04:00

I am so excited! I have so much to share with you today. Where should I start? First, 3 great blogging friends gave me this award! Wow!

Thank you Barbi, Kerri and Laura! You can see their awesome blogs here! I love these bloggers .. and they always have great things to share!

Then came the double Pow ---- Wow!

I have asked to be an author for the #1 blog for teachers...

Me? I have been doing a happy dance.... I am sure my neighbors think I have lost it! I am so honored to be recognized by all of these great bloggers!

Now for my super friends that come to my little blog everyday and leave me all the great comments about the things I share. This is my first attempt at this... Write the Room. I love integrating math and literacy. So, my little ones will have to find the picture, count the tens frame and then write the number word as they fill in the sentence on their recording page.

What do you think of my Write the Room activity? I am hoping you guys help me with this to make sure I am on the right track! Just click here to download.

Graphics: Scrapppin Doodles!

The icing on the cake.... Today is my beautiful daughter's birthday. I will call her R on here..... She is 19!

Gobble Up This Freebie!

2011-11-02T18:01:00.000-04:00

Do you think this year is going fast or is it just me? It seems like yesterday we all began school and here it is the first of November.. Wow! My class is great! However, I am beginning to see children who are moving along and those who are stuck. I begin to worry about this little group. How about you? Do you see this with your class? Then, one night something happens... they wake up and progress begins ..... Please tell me that I don't need therapy!

I have been so busy with all the happenings at my school: report cards, dibels, professional development and meetings, that I haven't checked my blog for the last few days... To my surprise, there are almost 600 of you that like my blog... I am so amazed! Thank you so much for visiting my site and for taking the time to leave a comment. It makes me so happy that you like the things that I make and hope your children do too! Learning should be fun and engaging!

So, I need to do something for all of you because you take time out of your day to visit me here. Should I do a give away or would you like for me to create some things for you? Please let me know what you think.

Anyway, I am sure you saw the turkeys ten frame game above.... For now, I hope this will do .... Click on the picture to download and know that I appreciate all of you!

Beginning/Ending Sound Bats

2011-10-27T20:10:00.002-04:00

Next week my team and I are starting our Nocturnal Animal Unit. One of my reading groups needs more practice with beginning and ending sounds. This is something I made for this group. First, I love to practice what we are learning using a pocket chart. I am going to place the pictures you see above in the pocket chart and have volunteers come up and help find the beginning and then ending sound. They will place the beginning sound to the left of the picture and the ending sound to the right of the picture. I have made letters to go along with this part.

After practicing and when I feel they are ready... into a literacy station it will go! I plan on making the bats into a book (you know how I love to laminate and bind my stuff :) and have the children use foam or magnetic letters in the boxes. If you don't have letters, you can always have them write using dry erase markers. I have made a recording sheet to go along with the activity. If you would like a copy of my activity, please click on the picture above.

Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!

Please leave a comment because I love hearing from you and please join my blog.... or ask a friend to if you already have! Many of you have emailed and asked.. how do you follow a blog? All you have to do is click that little button above all of my wonderful followers that says join this site..... Then, follow the directions...easy peasy! Thank you for taking the time to do this!

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-24T17:30:00.000-04:00

Trick or Treat.... Give me something great and free! My Gang is having fun this week offering everyone some treats and maybe a few tricks..... Join in the fun with us..... ~~Knock~~ Click twice on the the trick or treat door above to reveal what I have for you! Happy Halloween everyone and join in the fun by going to My Gang with the button on the right of my blog!

Bat Wings and Rhyming Things!

2011-10-22T23:36:00.001-04:00

I love Halloween! At my school we are not allowed to have Halloween "stuff" but we do a nocturnal animal unit and a pumpkin unit around this time of year. So, that sort of makes up for not being able to have Halloween things up.

I still have little ones who have difficulty rhyming. I made this bat rhyming sort for one of my guided reading groups. First, we are going to read, 5 Little Bats together, discuss what a rhyming word is and then circle the rhyming words in the poem. I have the poem below for you. I like using this poem because it integrates great with our math standards. Then, I'm going to get my little ones to help me sort the rhyming, not rhyming bats in the pocket chart. Later, I will put the trees and the bats in a literacy station along with the recording sheet.

If you would like a copy just click on the picture at the top of this post. Please think about joining me on my blog! And of course you know bloggers love comments!

Please join us on Monday at Our Gang for treats and maybe a trick or two! All you have to do is find My Gang button on the right side of my blog to go there. I think you will really enjoy all the fun you will have!

A Little Bit of Math Practice

2011-10-20T22:26:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone has had a great week. I am so glad Friday is right around the corner! Today a 5th grade teacher and I teamed up so that our kiddos can work together once a week. We see it as a win-win situation where both classes will benefit educationally as well as socially!

My kinders need extra practice with writing their numerals 6-10. This is a quick roll and write game that I plan on laminating. I have a few blank foam dice where I will write the numerals on each face. Since there are only 5 numerals... I think on the last face on the dice, I will draw a pumpkin. If my kinder rolls the pumpkin, they will find a friend and orally count to them. It will be a good time for me to assess their counting ability. We have been working on counting to 100 through songs. Just click on the pic to download! :)
I know patterning is not a common core goal, but my county is expecting us to teach patterning. This is just a fast morning work activity I am going to use to see how my kinders are doing! You can download that activity here.
I use DJ Inkers clipart for both activities!

I have been thinking for a long time now about opening a TPT store. I haven't done it because I enjoy making things and love sharing with you. On the other hand there are many things I can't share because of the graphic artist's terms of use. I would still keep as many things as I could free on here, but, provide you the opportunity to purchase my stuff you like. I hope you will give me honest feedback.... I really value your input!

Where is the Pumpkin?

2011-10-15T17:51:00.001-04:00

The weather is beautiful here! It is in the middle 70's and the sky is blue!

I love weather like this... I wish it could stay this way all year long.

I have seen pumpkin patches everywhere. I love all the activities that you can do with pumpkins in your classroom. I bought a small pie pumpkin for my classroom as a decoration to go along with some mums and my children went crazy over it. I can't wait until they see the large pumpkin I have for them!

My kinders, especially my ESL students, could use more practice with positional words. I used the same positional words as I did with my earlier book. They are taken right from our common core standards. This time the children can trace over each positional word if you would like.

Anyway, I hope you can use this and if you download, please leave a comment or think about following me! Just click on the picture above!

The graphics are from DJ Inkers!

P.S. I have some fun surprises coming for you soon, so stay tuned!

A Peek at My Writing Station

2011-10-12T22:02:00.001-04:00

I have been trying to change up my writing station each week. This week I am going to laminate the sample of the beginning sound match above and bind it into a book. There are 4 beginning sound mats in all. The children will use foam letters in the squares to make the beginning sound. There is a recording sheet to complete the center.
What are some things you are doing in your writing station?.... I would love to hear some new ideas! Thank you for following me and all the nice comments. You guys are great! Just click on the pic above to download your copy! Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!

Another one! Pumpkin Math Mat!

2011-10-11T22:37:00.001-04:00

One of my kinder team members and I were talking about the pumpkin math mat from yesterday's posting. We decided this is another way, we could use the candy corn ten frames and numeral cards! You can click on the picture above to download the new pumpkin math mat. Please leave a comment and follow if you like! Graphics: Scrappin Doodles and DJ Inkers.

Do You like Candy Corn?

2011-10-10T19:23:00.005-04:00

I do not like to eat candy corn! It is toooo sweet for me! However, when I saw these cuties, I changed my mind! Don't you love them? I also love when I can use the same things several different ways with my kinders..... work smarter not harder!
I can use the candy corn as a memory match or I can use them on this pumpkin math mat and use real candy corn or candy pumpkins.
You can use dice like these and have the children roll, match the number or 10 frames and then count out candy corn.
Graphics: DJ Inkers and Scrappin Doodles

I would love for you to visit Scrappin Doodles and look around for other cute graphics! Just click on the button to the right of my blog. You can use the code OCTOBER2011 for 15% off your order! The pumpkin is from DJ Inkers! Click here to go there!

You can get the candy corn ten frames game by clicking on the picture above! You can get the pumpkin math mat here. If you download, please think about following me.. and leave a comment on how you will use them. You have great ideas and I would love to hear them! Happy Fall my bloggin' friends!

Hot off the Press!

2011-10-06T18:03:00.001-04:00

Many of you have emailed me to send you the vocabulary cards I use with the book I am using this week in my writing center. I couldn't email you the ones I use because of copyright laws, but I made some for you! Click on the picture above to download! Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!
My blogging buddy, Mrs. Roper over at Really Roper sells whole sets of word wall themes at her TPT store. They are only a couple of dollars..... well worth the money! Click on the button below to go to her blog. You'll be glad you did!
Please think about following me if you download the cards! Thank you so much
for your support!

It's All For Fall!

2011-10-05T19:34:00.002-04:00

I wanted to share a couple of things I have been working for fall for y'all. :)
I am trying to create things for my writing center. My kinders have grown tired of the activities with play dough that I have had out the last couple of weeks. So, I came up with a fall vocabulary book where the children stamp the words and illustrate them in this cute book. In my writing center, I have fall vocabulary words with pictures so that they can use them to help with stamping the words.
In the next couple of weeks we will begin a spider theme. I made this spider roll, cover and write math station. My kinders still need help with making numerals even though we have done this a bezillion trillion different ways! I'm hoping this will do the trick! Any way, I hope you enjoy as much as I love sharing with you! You can download the book here. You can download the spider station here. Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!

Harvest Beginning Sound Match

2011-10-04T20:12:00.001-04:00

I love Fall and all the wonderful experiences we can provide for our children!

My teamies and I were discussing how much our children needed more practice with beginning sounds.

I made this little game this afternoon and decided to share it with you too!

Click on the pic above to download. Enjoy and leave me some love if you download! Graphics: DJ Inkers

Thank you!

2011-09-29T18:57:00.001-04:00

This week I had been praying and wondering if I wanted to continue my blog. Just so many things had happened and I have really been feeling like maybe this wasn't for me. There has been so many things going on at my school and
I felt I wasn't giving a lot of time to my blog......my followers!

Then, I think I got my answer from emails and also from these special ladies that maybe I need to keep moving forward! Wow! I got the I Heart Your Blog Award from 4 very special ladies!
This is a very special award because it comes from the heart!

You don't know how much I appreciate this award and all of your sweet and kind words. Please visit these fantastic blogs that sent me their love!

Jody from Camp Kindergarten

Allison from Climbing the Monkey Bars!

Rachelle from Life Is Sweet in Kindergarten

Laura from Kinder Kraziness

Let's Work on Positional Words!

2011-09-28T21:41:00.000-04:00

     I couldn't help but make another book with these adorable graphics from scrappin doodles. This week you can get 15% off clip art from scrappin doodles by using the code SEPTEMBER2011 . You can click on the scrappin doodles button on the right hand side of my blog to go there. I love Denyse's creations!
Next week I wanted to begin using positional word vocabulary with my kinders.  I made this adorable book to share with my team and decided to share it with you too. The vocabulary comes straight from the math common core standards.
I am going to cut the book apart. It is easy if you run the copies, staple on the side then cut. There are 2 of the same pages on 1 page. So, you can get 2 books from 1 complete copy. In other words if you run 10 copies you get 20 little books. (I am trying to save paper and copies! We only get a few copies each month at our school) Then, tape the crow to the end of a piece of yarn and the other end of the yarn to the book. The children will be able to manipulate the crow on each page to match the positional word.  Did this make sense? I think I might be a little tired tonight... it has been one of those weeks!
Click on the picture above to download. Hope you enjoy and I would love if you would consider following me or if you could let me know if you will use it in your classroom with a comment below!   Thank you!

Fall Freebies for You!

2011-09-24T22:53:00.006-04:00

Isn't this scarecrow adorable? This is a graphic from Scrapppin Doodles! Love! I was inspired to make a few things for my guided reading groups with him and some other fall clip art. First, my children need more help with beginning sounds... so I put together a fall picture/beginning letter sound match. I made the words to match the fall pictures too. We are working on syllables, so I can use the pictures for the children to sort syllables too. I will laminate all the activities and then place them in a pocket chart to work with a small guided reading group. Below you can see a sample of the lesson.

I wanted to share this with you tonight..... Please think about following me if you download and leave a comment if you like! You can get your copy here. Stay tuned because I am working on a couple of books that I will have for you tomorrow to go along with this lesson!

Love Love Love!!!!

2011-09-23T16:31:00.000-04:00

Look what DeeDee (Mrs. Wills Kindergarten) has on her blog for free! Paths of Motion ABC! Some of my kinders come in with few writing skills... some have never held a pencil! When I saw this on DeeDee's blog I was jumping up and down! This will help my kinders so much!
The fantastic Mrs. Wills also has a TPT and Teacher's Notebook store with lots of great goodies that your kiddos will love! Click on her button below to visit her blog. You'll need to get something to drink... and get comfortable because you'll be there for awhile!

Data Notebooks.... Helping Children Set Goals!

2011-09-22T19:41:00.001-04:00

I am so sorry but this is going to be a fast post because I have so much to do tonight. I have been at beginning teacher mentor training for the last couple of days and I have a lot to catch up on...... whew!

So many of you have been asking for the data notebooks that we use at my school. My kindergarten team is amazing. They are the best group of teachers in the world! Mrs. Howell, (who is right across the hall from me) is my life saver! She is the one who designed our data sheets and is allowing me to share them with you. We place the sheets in folders or binders. We work with the children to show what they know with their alphabet letters, numbers and core words. We also have a reading level graph. All of these are done as a graph to show growth. We help the children at the beginning of the year with their graphs. They share these during student led conferences. The children are motivated to learn these skills and to get their graph filled up to the top. They take responsibility for their learning! Here is an example of the lowercase letter graph.

We are redoing our numeral recognition graph and core word graph and I don't have it for you today. But as soon as it is done, I will have it as a download for you. But here are the rest for a download for you.

For the cover click on the picture above. For the goal setting document you can get it in an earlier post. You can get the rest here and here and here !

Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!

Tuesday night is our student led conference night and we are having the children share their reading levels, alphabet and numeral recognition graphs. They will also share their academic and personal goals for this 9 weeks. Let me know if I can answer any questions you may have.

Please leave a comment if you download, so I can tell my team how much you appreciate them!

Literacy Centers--I Love Choice!

2011-09-20T21:01:00.001-04:00

So many of you have asked how do I manage my literacy stations.... See the library pockets and colored popsicle sticks? .... This is my management board. Yes.. this is the way I have done it for years! It works for me and my children! Every year I glue then laminate library pockets to a poster board. Add the children's names and different colored popsicle sticks in the pockets and voila choice! I write the children's names on each popsicle stick so that I know who is in each station. I love giving my children choice to go the station they choose to work in each day. After reading workshop, my children go pull the popsicle stick that matches the color of the station. For example, the blue popsicle stick is for the listening station.

Do you see the blue tote and cup?.... That is where the popsicle stick goes. This one is easy for the children to determine only 2 children can go here daily because there are only 2 places ... On some totes and cups I have placed a number for the places available.

Here is my alphabet station.... It is orange and the children know that 2 children can go here because I have it written on the cup inside the tote. Believe it or not the children learn the number of children very quickly. This station is on a cart and the children push to a table.... teeny tiny room ... but it works!

Here is the green station... this week the children are working with alphabet mats from Kindergarten Works.... They get to use play dough and alphabet cookie cutters. They splat the play dough on the mat and then use the correct alphabet cookie cutter to cut out the correct letter. They are loving this station! Again there are 3 places here so 3 children can choose this station.

At the end of literacy stations, the stick collector places all the sticks in a cup. We keep the sticks in this cup until Friday. The children have to make a different choice each day. Then on Friday, we place all their sticks back in their library pockets for Monday! I have about 9-10 different stations and change them out as needed. Some of the stations, I change out weekly.

Here is another picture of the pockets and sticks....

Hope you enjoyed.... Do you give your children choice during stations? Please leave a comment below... I would love to know how you do your stations!

Great News... Yippeee!

2011-09-18T19:56:00.002-04:00

I went to school today to work.... yeap, I know it is Sunday. I had so much to do and I have a huge week ahead of me. I know all of you have felt the same way! On the way home I kept thinking... when do things just slow down?????
Then, I opened my email .... and it was unbelievable!

I was nominated by Jess from Rambling About Reading and....

Kristen from A Teeny Tiny Teacher

and a couple of weeks ago... Jeannie from a Class Full of Special Kinders

for the Versatile Blogger Award! Wow... double pow! It made my whole entire week!.... year!

Thank you ladies very much! I love their blogs because I learn something new every time I visit! Please click on their buttons to visit!

There are rules for receiving this award!

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

*Share 7 things about yourself.

*Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.

Thank you again ladies! Now to share the 7 things... hmmm...

1. I cannot sing..... Not the first note.... I love music, but, I sound horrible. It is bad when your kinders say.... Can we turn on a CD?:)

2. I love Diet Sundrop. Love it and gotta have it everyday!

3. I love warm weather... I like snow, but just for one day! Then it's time for some sunshine and warmth! Sorry my Northern friends.

4. I work at a Teacher's Store every Saturday! I love it!

5. I have a fabulous, beautiful and smart daughter! She is a freshman at College this year. See #4. The reason I work on Saturdays.

6. I grew up very very poor. We didn't have a phone until I was in high school. I didn't realize we were poor because I had fantastic parents! My brothers and I were the first to go to college in our family.

7. I have 4 sweet brothers! No sisters... I grew up playing with toy cars and playing sports... but I loved pink!

Now I am suppose to award this to 15 other blogs. That is easy to do because there are so many wonderful blogs out there.... But, I want to give the versatile blogger award to my awesome followers. Thank you for coming to my blog and saying all the nice things you do! You are appreciated!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank You!

And The Winner is.....

2011-09-17T21:08:00.001-04:00

Congratulations Andrea!
I will be contacting you to make sure I have the correct email and to send you the gift certificate for some DJ Inkers clip art!

Thank all of you that participated! You are super awesome for following my blog... Stay tuned for some new downloads!

A Give Away! Yippee!!

2011-09-13T17:44:00.000-04:00

I Love DJ Inkers!

I adore their fonts and I adore their clip art..... Every time I see DJ Inkers clip art, I break out into a huge smile.... Just so cute! and the clip art comes in color and black and white! If you're not familiar with DJ Inkers just click on the pic above to visit their site!

I appreciate all of you for following my little kinder blog! Hopefully,
this giveaway will make up for my lack of posts lately! It is just crazy this time of year!!! I haven't forgotten you!

So, here's how to enter for 5 chances to win a $35 gift certificate from DJ inkers! So easy.......... and for everyone!

1. Leave a comment below and don't forget your email address. (1 entry)
2. If you have a blog... just blog about my give away and leave a comment that you did! (1 entry)
3. If you have a blog.... place my site on your blog roll and leave me a comment letting me know. (1 entry)
4. If you're new to my site.... sign up to follow and leave a comment that you're a new follower. (1 entry)
5. Add my button to your site and leave a comment to let me know you did this! (1 entry)

That's right...... You can get up to 5 chances to win this awesome give away!

I will announce the lucky winner on Saturday, September 17th @ 9:00 EST.

Good luck blogging buddies!!!!!!!!! :)

Math Station Freebies

2011-09-07T19:37:00.001-04:00

My children and I love dice games.... They are just perfect for math stations and reinforce some of the math common core standards we are working towards! Fran from Kindergarten Crayons inspired me to make these after I read her posting on dice games. You can click here to go to her posting!
Like Fran, I love easy and I especially love easy activities that are engaging and help children with their math skills! You can click here and here and here and here for the dice games I made! Yeap, I kinda got carried away! You can print these games in gray scale or laminate to use over and over again!
If you download.... please think about following me and leave a comment below. I love followers and I love comments! Graphics: Scrappin Doodles!

Thank you!

2011-09-07T19:09:00.000-04:00

A huge thank you to a Jeannie from A Class Full of Special Kinders blog for nominating me for the Verstile Blogger Award. It is such a wonderful feeling to get recognized! But you know..... it is even more special to know that maybe some of your creations and ideas have helped children! That is what we're all about .... right? Please click the cute button and go see Jeannie's blog. She is a new blogger that you will want to keep up with!

Reading Strategies..Redone plus Reading Comprehension Strategies

2011-09-05T15:53:00.000-04:00

Hi Blogging Friends,
Isn't great to have today off? I am trying to catch up on some things for school. I don't know about you, but I could really get into having Mondays off!
Something new... You can now follow me by email! Look to the right and sign up!
That would really make my day! Wow!

In an earlier post I redid the Beanie Baby reading strategies with Scrappin' Doodles clip art. I couldn't remember where I saw the idea, but one of my fabulous followers reminded me.... www.realclassroomideas.com. Please visit this site because there are many great ideas there! I didn't have all the strategies, but now I do! So here is.... Flippy Dolphin and Fix-Up Bear with the rest of the strategies in case you didn't get them from the first post! Just click here.

Bonus!
Diane had asked for the Reading Comprehension Strategies too....Just click here for those! The graphics are toooooooo cute! I hope they can really help our children! Isn't that what we're all about?!!!

You can also go to Scrappin' Doodles from my website.... I have Denyse's affiliate button and I do get a small percentage of sales from customers that go from my site to purchase her graphics. You can enter September2011 to get 15% off. Thank you so much for considering doing this the next time you need some awesome graphics!

Out of this World Blogs!

2011-09-02T17:49:00.003-04:00

      I love Tamara's idea of posting the ten blogs that inspire you!   I love so many blogs, but I call these my go to blogs.....   I love the ladies behind these blogs.... so creative!   Just rock star teachers!!!!!

                                              1. Really Roper
     Mrs. Roper has been such a great help to me.... She taught me how to embed a PDF on my blog and she has so many great ideas!   Thank you Mrs. Roper!

2. Chalk Talk --- A Kindergarten Blog

Mrs. Larremore's blog was one of the first I discovered. I love all the wonderful ideas she shares. She is a inspiration to me!

3. Kindergarten Crayons

Fran Has the greatest ideas. It is always fun to go visit her blog to see what she is up to... She knows her stuff!

4. Little Miss Glamour Goes to Kindergarten

So many great ideas and so positive! She is the best!

5. Rambling About Reading

One of the sweetest bloggers around with so many super fun ideas on her blog!

6. Lil' Country Kindergarten
Just the name of this blog makes you smile... So many great ideas!

                                              7. Crayons and Curls
                      I think she has fabulous ideas and is an inspiration!

                                                                 8.   Little Warriors
                   Such great ideas and so many freebies! She is an A+ teacher!

                                                 9. My Kindergarten Kids
              A sweet and kind blogger... great ideas and many creative ideas!
                                   Plus this little monkey had me at hello!

                                                         10. The Schroeder Page
               Love her blog and a go to for computer tech ideas.....and a fellow
               NC blogger!

Thank you all for all the wonderful things you do for teachers and children! Love you all!

Any blogger can give this award to those blogs that make you smile!

1. Just write a blog post proudly displaying your Top 10 teaching blogs. Make sure that they do not already have an award.

2. Contact these bloggers by leaving them a comment with 2 links- a link to your blog's Top 10 post AND this link-http://bit.ly/rtHPbL so they can grab the fantastic award button below.

WOW.... I am so honored! and speechless!

2011-09-01T17:12:00.001-04:00

Today was a rough day at school..... So many children with so many challenges.. Then I opened my email..... Wow! Double Wow! The sweet Tamara Chilver nominated me for this award. Thank you Tamara... You are one of the reasons I got into blogging! :) Please take time to go to her site..... You will love it there. She is a homeschooling Mom and a great inspiration to others... ( I have many of her inspirational printouts in my plan book and on my desk!) and I share her ideas with teachers at my school.

Click on her button below to visit her blog! PS.... She is also one of the inspirations behind Teaching Blog Addict...and an author there!

I'm Back and Goal Setting!

2011-08-31T22:21:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile but it has been so craaaazzyyy lately! Between hurricanes, our second day of school cancelled.... I had so much to catch up on... Are you feeling the first days of school hectics?
On a better note.... I survived the hurricane... just had a few limbs down, power out for a day and just a piece of siding off my house.... I am so blessed after hearing about the devastation Irene caused. Thank you for your kind words and prayers.
This past Monday we had to move 5 kinders out of 5 classes because of the large number of children that registered this year.  Now we have 6 kindergarten teachers/classes at my school.   I have the cutest class of 20 Can Do Kinders.... We have a lot of work to do though.... only 2 children know all of their letters.... most of the rest know only 1 or 2 letters.

This week we have been learning routines... working on rules and introducing the 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey!
Next week we will work on our goal setting and place it in our Data Notebooks. The children take this very seriously because they are practicing their habits and know how to be proactive and make a plan to meet their goal. For their first goal setting, I make it very simple by having them make 1 goal and then make a plan to achieve that goal. I think having each child generate a plan is the most important element to success in achieving the goal.
Here is an example of a child's goal setting paper from last year. I redid this so you could see an example. She was an ELL student and wanted to do well in school.... Just a delight!

The amazing part of this story is .... she learned all of her letters in a couple of weeks and went on to become an amazing reader! She took charge of her learning and success! Each time she met her goal, I helped her set new goals and plans.  Also, she shared her goals with her Mom at parent/teacher conferences and student-led conferences.
Later on with more academic experiences, the children can write and draw their goals and plans.  It is important to change the goal setting document to include academic and personal goals.  A great book to read about goal setting is The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey. It gives a lot of important information on the philosophy of the 7 Habits of Happy kids.
If you are interested you can download this chart here to use with your children!   Do you set goals with your class? I would love to hear more about what you do in your classroom. So please...... leave me a comment!

Hurricane Irene...Yikes!!!

2011-08-25T18:29:00.000-04:00

Living on the coast has its advantages..... I am just a few minutes away from the beach and it is absolutely beautiful! However, we do have disadvantages.... hurricanes! Hurricane Irene is coming up our coast here in North Carolina. I have been through several hurricanes and they are scary, especially when you see huge trees bent completely over and things like trash cans flying through the air. I am so lucky that I only have had one tree to blow down in my yard and it didn't hit my house. (knock on wood)   The worst part is the flooding....It is very similar to the pictures you probably saw with the hurricane that hit New Orleans.... I've only seen one similar to this one but it was only a level 3 but dumped a lot of rain on us! The water rose up to my front door but didn't come in. It is weird seeing people boating down your street instead of driving cars.  However, I did see the water line on some houses up to the roof.
Another bad thing that happens is you lose electricity... cable.... everything that you have come to rely on. The power doesn't come back on until trees are cut off power lines and then put back up.... This can take several days.
Our school system is closing early tomorrow! Some of our schools are used for evacuation sites...   They are still predicting how close the storm will come here but hurricane Irene is so huge we will see effects of it.... we just don't know how bad.....I hate unpredictability!
Well friends I don't know when I'll be back.... It is suppose to come through Friday night through Saturday. Please say a little prayer for us that it stays on a Northern..... northeastern track!   Hope to be back soon!

Finally! Room Pictures.... My favorites

2011-08-23T18:19:00.003-04:00

Hi Blogging Friends! If you are linking to Blog Hoppin' this week, pictures of your room are suppose to be tomorrow, but I wanted to get these out now because we start school Thursday and I don't know if I would have time to post later.. As you probably already know I am not a very good photographer. maybe a new camera? or a new photographer? :)

Above you will see my my math stations! Loved the way they turned out! Ready for Can do Kinders!

Didn't these turn out great? They are next to my pencil sharpener. I found the idea on pinterest .... Don't you love all the great ideas there?

When I saw this on pinterest I knew it would be perfect to help my kinders with directions. Some of my children are ELL students and visuals are a plus for them and me.

This is my behavior chart ready to go.... soon it will hold 25 clothespins!

I love my calendar. Even though I have a smart board and will be doing calendar/morning meeting on it this year, I knew I would need this as an anchor chart for the children to refer to throughout the day! Part of our evaluation on 21st century skills is how we intergrate global learning throughout our day. I plan on using the small map and my smart board to find temperatures, seasons, etc...around the world and compare to our city. Because the the map is laminated, I will be able to write what we discover right on it.

Here is a closer view! Do you see Pete?

I made 2 stools for my listening/reading center! You can't tell it in the picture the material is red and white polka dots. The apple came from a lunch box I found on sale at JoAnne's. I cut it apart and glued it on the top of the stool. I have 2 of the stools and I love them. I know the children will too.

Here is a larger view!

And.... this is my Write the Room tub! Do you see the new clipboards?

These are the pictures I took today of my little classroom. It doesn't show everything, but I hope you enjoyed looking at them. Have a great week.... and I'll be back over the next couple of days... Cross your fingers I have a great first day like so many of you and hurricane Irene stays off the coast!
Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! I love your comments.

Meet the Teacher

2011-08-22T14:30:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone,
It is Meet the Teacher over at blog hoppin' and I thought it would be fun to participate. First, the above picture is not me.... I hate pictures of me but this will do.

A little about me...

1. I have been teaching for a long time.... 20+ years and I still love it very much!
2. I have taught many different grade levels--- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, math, reading, but kindergarten is my favorite.
3. I teach at a high poverty school in North Carolina..... where we are closing achievement gaps... yeap, I work with an amazing group of teachers and administrators.
4. I have my National Boards as an Early Childhood Generalist.
5. I have one daughter who attends NC STATE---Go Pack!
6. I love to blog and to make stuff like classroom games.
7. And I love me some diet Sundrop----it's a southern soda thingie!
8. oh.... I have a cat.... who thinks he is a dog.

One thing I am trying to improve on this year is helping children to become more responsible for their actions.... Can Do Kinders!
I really believe in the book, 7 Habits of Happy Kids and want to implement more
of that philosophy into my teaching this year. How about you? What are some things you want to improve on.
Now enough about me.... I want to know more about you!

I hope you link up here so I can learn more!

Me and My Gang

2011-08-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

Hi Guys,

Sorry it has been awhile since I blogged. I have been getting my room ready and attending meetings... However, I made myself a promise this week to sit down and post some things I have been up to....

Have you visited My Gang??? There you can visit other teachers in your grade level lounge. Hop on over there and check it out! You'll be glad you did! Just click on the button you see on the right side of my blog.

How do we get home?

2011-08-18T19:58:00.000-04:00

Hi blogging buddies.... Hope everyone is doing great. I am still working on getting my room ready for my kinders. I hope to be finished with my room tomorrow! Yeah!!!

We received our class lists yesterday. I have 23 kinders this year! Whew! On Monday we have open house. Then next Thursday we have half of the children come and on Friday the other half. It gives us the opportunity to get to know the children and to assess them. I want to make sure I know how these children are going home on the first day for school. One of my fears is to put a child on a wrong bus. So, I am going to use this to help me to put the children on the right bus and right place on that first day. You can download of a copy of it here

We are Problem Solvers!

2011-08-16T00:43:00.000-04:00

First, thank all of your kind words about my daughter moving to college. I have already talked to her several times on the phone. She is doing great!

I can't believe how great you guys are for following my little blog. I never thought I would have close to 250 followers. I appreciate you taking the time to come here! :)

We begin school this Wednesday. I am so not ready! For the first time that I can remember my furniture is arranged but that is about it... Wow! Usually I have everything together. I am beginning to feel very overwhelmed, but I have the workdays to finish it and I plan on "burning the midnight oil". I have enjoyed seeing your beautiful rooms. I hope I can make mine as inviting for the children as you have made for your kiddos!

In an earlier post I promised to have my Math Journal covers done for you. I use composition books just like my writing journals. The children use their math journals to solve problems or a way for me to check their understanding of a concept/skill. I usually type out the title or problem on the computer, cut them out and have the kinders glue it on the next clean page in their journal. At first I have them work in pairs to solve the problem in their journals. Also, I begin by teaching them the strategy of ... draw it out. Then we move on to other problem solving strategies. I love having the children share their journals at the end of a lesson. It is a great assessment tool for me!

Now for the goodies! These labels are made for Avery 5126 internet shipping labels or you can cut and paste. They come 2 to a page. I like them large because they do cover most of the writing on the front of the composition books and the labels make the journals more engaging for kinders. If you would like a copy of my math journal covers just click on the pic above. And.... I love to hear your comments.... especially how you use math journals in your classroom. I learn so much from your great ideas! Enjoy!

Tomorrow is the Day!

2011-08-13T19:44:00.001-04:00

It seems like yesterday I was holding my daughter's hand and walking her across the hall from my room to her kindergarten room. I cried. I felt so silly because she was right across the hall from me and I could see her all the time. Tomorrow she will finish moving into her dorm room at NC State University. I am so excited for her, but, I hope I can hold back the tears until I am in my car. The years go by way too fast!
I'll be back Monday with a download of my math journal cover and soon pictures of my room. We officially start on Wednesday! Thank you for reading my personal post today my blogging buddies!

Writing Journals TLC

2011-08-12T13:00:00.014-04:00

Last year I bought these notebooks at Target for 10¢ each. Yaaayy!!!! In fact I bought so many I have enough for this year too. I love to use notebooks for writing and math journals. I had to put some love on them for my Kinders... So now I have these....

Writing Journals!!! So much better! I used Avery Internet Shipping Labels --5126. They come 2 to a sheet. I bought mine at Walmart for around $9 for 50 labels. Enough for my writing journals and math journals. Just peal and stick on the front of each notebook. At the top right hand corner, I plan to add another label with each child's name. I love labels! It saves a lot of time for me. I am sure you can still use these even if you decide against the labels..... Just cut and paste!
What do you use as writing and math journals? Please leave a comment below! Oh.... if you like click on the picture above to download! Look for my math labels coming soon... :)

Communication Notebook Downloads

2011-08-11T20:29:00.005-04:00

I had the opportunity to work in my classroom today and I am beginning to get everything together..... I'll post pics when I am done. I know a lot of you have already started school, but we don't begin our workdays until next week. I hope if you have started back everything is going great! In an earlier post, I showed you pictures of different Parent/Teacher communication notebooks. Here is mine ... I call it the BEAR book---- Bring Everything Always Ready. Inside there is a folder where I place things the children will need for that week. On the left side of the folder, I put in the weekly newsletters and homework. On the right side are papers to keep at home. To help the parents and children with organization, I place labels... Return to School and Keep at Home on the bottom of the folders. These labels are made for Avery template 5163.
They are here and here so that you can download them.

Also, I wanted to let you know a blogging buddy let me know that I had made a couple of mistakes on the reading strategies download. I corrected those and you can download those in the earlier post! I am so sorry!
Comments are always welcomed!

More Dibels As Requested

2011-08-09T19:38:00.000-04:00

Hope all of you are doing great! I haven't started school yet, but it won't be long. I am thinking of all of you that have already gone back to see your new kiddos.

Some of you had requested my dibels practice sheet without the dots. Please click on the pic above for your new dibel practice!

I'll be posting more of these from time to time! I love comments! hint hint :)

Behavior Chart

2011-08-08T19:22:00.003-04:00

At my school we implement Sean Covey's, "The 7 Habits of Happy Kids". This year I wanted to change my behavior system based more on this philosopy. I love the habits and it has made a difference in the children and their attitudes at my school. The children take the responsiblity for their own actions. If you would like to know more, go to my earlier posts on the habits. You'll be glad you did! :) I had seen a behavior chart on pinterest that I loved! So I decided to make mine like this. You'll have to excuse the pics... I'm not a very good photographer!

I haven't finished my room yet, but I wanted to get a better view of what the chart would look like and if it would work for me and the children.

Here is a closer view!

And this is the bottom half.

I decided I am going to laminate it again for durablilty. Then I am going to label clothespins with the children's names. We will all start on Ready to Learn everyday. Then, depending on the behavior have the child move his/her clip up or down. In the past I did not recognize the children who had a great day visually, but here they get the opportunity to be recognized by moving their clip to Fantastic. I also listed the habits there in positive terms. On the page of Make Better Choices, I decided to remind children of the habits again.... and of course I like to take the time to remind them of what habit they need to practice 1 to 1. Teacher's choice is where I send a note home or a phone call. The child may be bounced to another k classroom for timeout.

If you are a Leadership School I have the download of my behavior chart here. I can also tweek it for you who use other behavior support methods. In the download you will see Phone Call Home, but I decided not to use that part because I think I will use it if I need to in Teacher choice. What do you think? I love hearing your comments!

Letter Naming Fluency

2011-08-07T15:02:00.002-04:00

My kinder kids come to me with different experiences about letters.... Some can say their letters and sing the alphabet song. Some know their letters and some of the letter sounds Some don't know the difference between a letter and a squibble on paper. :) Do you see this with your kiddos? My district has implemented dibels. Dibels is a way for us to teach and monitor each child's level of reading skills and provide early intervention for those children at risk. I am giving you a download today of a letter fluency practice that I use during guided reading groups. It is engaging and the children love to use it. I just copy enough of these for my small groups and laminate. The dots under each letter is for children to point to and stay on track and not all over the page. Hope you enjoy! Click on the picture above for your copy.
If you like this copy, head over to Donna's ( KinderGlynn) TPT store. She has letter naming fluency activities as well as some more resources for dibels!
Click on her button below to head to her blog!

The winner is.......

2011-08-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

The winner is ..... Kristen of the Teeny Tiny Teacher Blog! Congratulations! I will be contacting you soon! Thank all of you for participating. I have had a great time learning about you and getting to see new blogs. I haven't finished visiting all of your blogs, but I will soon! I am very lucky to have such wonderful followers! Stay tuned in...... because in the next couple of days I will have a lot of things to share with you. I am working this weekend at our Teacher's Store and it has been very busy! Everyone is getting ready to welcome their students. I can't wait to see my new Kinders!

PS If there is something you would like to see or me to create, please send me an email or leave me a comment below! Questions.. please feel free to ask. I like to help you out any way I can! :)

Run! Don't Walk! Give Away!

2011-08-04T20:26:00.001-04:00

Thank all you who have entered my give away! I can't wait. The winner will be announced Friday at 10:00pm EST by random.org! If you haven't entered, you still have time.

ooohh myyy HELP!

2011-08-03T21:26:00.001-04:00

This morning I went to school to see my room. I haven't seen it since the contractors came in to put in our new air conditioners. This is what I saw!

That is my teacher assistant's desk on top of mine. LOL It is a small room, but I love it. So much to do... so little time.

This is the view from the back of the room looking to the door that leads to the hall. At our school we have pods or buildings with about 6 rooms to a pod. My room has 5 walls. Two of the walls are windows. Even though the building was built in the 50's I love our school. Outside each room there is a huge area where we can take children for small groups! I love being able to do this because sometimes we have about 24+ children in our classes. Look at this pic. Here is a table in the small group area. Wow!

Well it looks like my work is cut out for me. I am going in tomorrow to put some love on my stuff! Wish me luck.... Does anyone have any tylenol?

Thank you for entering my give away! Last day is Friday... I can't wait!

Give Away to Thank My Awesome Followers!

2011-08-02T21:20:00.001-04:00

I have the best followers in the world! You have shown me so much love and appreciation by following me! To show you my appreciation and love, I am having a giveaway. Many of you have made so many great printables where the children stamp their letters or numbers. I thought these uppercase and lowercase alphabet stamps and numeral stamps will help you with those printables in your learning stations!

I am also including some other little surprises to help you start out your school year! :)

Now to enter: You can have up to 3 entries! woooohoooo!!!!!

     *1. Enter a comment below and let me know you're a follower. Now that's
          easy!

     *2. Put my button on your site! It's a cute button! :)

     *3. Blog about this giveaway on your site. I know you guys love to blog!

            **** Leave a separate comment for each entry****

           I will announce the winner on Friday, August 5th at 10pm EST
            using random.org.

          Thank you again!   I am amazed that you believe in me to follow!

           PS.....   I am trying to follow you too... Please check my Blogs I Heart list to see if your blog is listed.... if it is not send me a separate email so I can begin to follow you and read about all the great things you are doing! My email is listed on the right hand side!

Teaching Blog Addict--Addict

2011-08-01T21:44:00.001-04:00

If you haven't joined this site you have to ~~run~~ (click on the button below) over there right now and join! It has been on the top of my blogging list of sites to go and learn so much about other bloggers and the great things they are doing and offering. It has helped me to grow as a teacher. Show your love today by following this great site!

Hot off the Press.. Reading Strategies

2011-07-31T17:35:00.001-04:00

Hi Blogging Buddies,
Hope you're having a great day. It is raining here and a great day to blog hop!
Just as I promised.... Here are my reading strategy posters. They go along with
the one I am placing in my kiddos BEAR book. You can get that one in an earlier post. The reading strategies are not my idea. I have used them for several years and can't remember where I got the idea from. Please let me know if so I can give credit to the awesome person who created them. They are a great visual for my kinders to remember their reading strategies. You can download them here.
Please leave a comment! I love your feedback!

Every time I look at my blog I get so excited to see all the new followers! Thank you so much. I have added my pinterest button next to followers. Check it out! I so love pinterest!... so many great ideas! It is almost time for a give away for all my super followers. I am thinking of something wonderful for you! Stay tuned. :)

Look What I Made!

2011-07-30T14:38:00.003-04:00

Even though I love crafts... I am not very good at matching things. However, I decorated hand sanitizer for my teammates today and I think they turned out pretty cute.. :) I hope they like this little gift. I have found so many things on pinterest I want to do .... now my next project is this:

I think this will look so cute for the beginning of school.... or for all year. I love it when the children bring me little flower weeds they picked on the playground! :)

What projects have you made or will make? PS I am working on a really cute math game for us right now. Oh, please leave a comment! I really like hearing from you!

Reading Strategies --Redone

2011-07-28T23:34:00.000-04:00

Hi Blogging Buddies,


These are the reading strategies I place in my B.E.A.R ( Bring Everything Always Ready) parent/teacher communication binder. I put them in a page protector so the children can refer to them at home. I did not like how the old one looked and it was hard for the children to read.
I had read somewhere that these are called Beanie Baby strategies, but I could never find all the beanie babies.... remember those? So, when Scrappin Doodles came out with the clip art I was so excited and so were my shopping feet!
This is not my idea and I cannot remember where I read about these strategies. I would love to give credit to the person because this strategy has really helped my children when they come to unknown words and it helps parents with reading at home.
I am redoing the posters I have up in my classroom and hope to have them redone by tomorrow.   Please click on the picture to download if you would like a copy and leave a comment. I love hearing from you!

We Are Leaders Because We All Have Gifts

2011-07-28T00:47:00.008-04:00

Have you read this book??? It is based on Stephen Covey's Book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . My school is in its 2nd year of implementing the habits. It has made an incredible difference in the students at my school. It is refreshing to see children take responsiblity for their own actions (self discipline) and learning! It has been a truly amazing transformation! I had the opportunity to visit AB Combs, a leadership school..... wow! double wow! I highly recommend both of these books to you.

This is the review from Amazon.... It says it all!

The world has entered an era of the most profound and challenging change in human history. Most of our children are not prepared, and we know it.

Parents around the world see the change and know that the traditional three R's -- reading, writing, and arithmetic -- are necessary, but not enough. Their children need to become far more responsible, creative, and tolerant of differences. They need to increase their ability to think for themselves, take initiative, get along with others, and solve problems.
Business leaders are not finding people whose skills and character match the demands of today's global economy, including strong communication, teamwork, analytical, technology, and organizational skills. They need young people who are self-motivated, creative, and have a strong work ethic.
How will we bridge this ever-widening gap? The Leader in Me is the story of the extraordinary schools, parents, and business leaders around the world who are preparing the next generation to meet the great challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.
In 1999, the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina was on the verge of being cut as a magnet school and needed to find new ways to educate its students. Teachers and administrators began teaching practical, principle-based leadership skills -- with remarkable results. In a short time, the number of students passing end-of-grade tests vaulted from 84 to 97 percent. Simultaneously, the school began reporting significant increases in students' self-confidence, dramatic drops in discipline problems, and striking increases in teacher and administrator job satisfaction. Parents, meanwhile, reported equivalent improvements in their children's attitudes and behavior at home. As news of the school's success spread, schools around the world began adopting the mantra to "develop leaders, one child at a time." Business and civic leaders started partnering with schools in their communities to sponsor teacher training and student resources. Each school and family approached the principles differently, but the results were the same -- attentive, energized young people engaging in the world around them.
The best way to prepare the next generation for the future is to emphasize the value of communication, cooperation, initiative, and unique, individual talent -- for nothing undermines confidence more than comparison. Whether in the classroom or at home, it is never too early to start applying leadership skills to everyday life. Drawing on the many techniques and examples that have already seen incredible success around the world, The Leader in Me shows how easy it is to incorporate these skills into daily life. It is a timely answer to many of the challenges facing today's young people, businesses, parents, and educators -- one that is perfectly matched to the global demands of the twenty-first century.

Have you or your school implemented the habits? I would love to hear your comments.

Just chugging along.....

2011-07-26T22:18:00.000-04:00

Yoooohoooo! I am joining Little Miss Kindergarten for my first linky party! Her linky party is all about dice and how you use them in the classroom.... I wish I had a picture to show you all my dice... I have an obsession and I probably need an intervention. I have numeral dice in all forms, alphabet, picture, shapes....large, medium, small ... I think I could start my own casino. :) I believe dice or in teacher terms "random number generators" are a valuable learning tool for children. This past Easter I found frog egg holders. My kinder kids had a blast shaking their dice in them for whatever game they were playing at the time. Right now my dice are stored at school in a large ziplock bag, but I love the storage idea that Empowering Little Learners uses to store her dice. Here is a dice game that I would love to share with you. You can get the game and directions here and here. I cut the second page, taped it together and then laminated it. I hope you enjoy it all my blogging friends! If you download, please think about joining Little Miss Kindergarten here: It's Getting Dicey Linky Party!

Measuring With Fido

2011-07-25T23:14:00.001-04:00

Hi my blogging buddies! This is Fido! Isn't he adorable? This year he is going to help my kinders with measuring. Usually I don't start measuring until the end of the year, but this year I want to start earlier. I am going to make this into a 6 page book... laminate, then bind on the side. I like for my kinders to keep all their stuff together, so making it into a book may help to keep them more organized. However, you can use it for what works best for you and your students. The last page is a recording sheet.... sorry it's in color, but just set your printer to print in gray scale. I will modify the recording sheet later for differentiation. I think you can use many different objects to measure .... I think I'm going to use pennies.
Please let me know if you find any mistakes. I cut my finger today and have a butterfly bandage on it.... makes it hard to type. Don't you hate finger cuts? If you download to use, please leave me a comment and think about following me if you haven't already! I heart comments! Click on Fido to download! Happy measuring!

and the Winner is?????

2011-07-25T00:27:00.001-04:00

Jess!!!! Please email me so I can get your address! Thank all of you who entered my giveaway! I appreciate all of you so much.

Math Work Stations

2011-07-24T22:06:00.004-04:00

I have been ~~reading~~ ok stalking :) other blogs about Debbie Diller's book, Math Work Stations. Then, I knew by reading this book it would help me make changes I needed to make math more meaningful for my students. For years I taught math as a small group while my teacher assistant took the other group. I taught the skill and then the children practiced that skill mostly through games. Then I assessed and went on to the next skill.... After reading the book, I decided work stations are the way to go to meet the needs of the children that I teach. I teach at a Chapter I school and I love it! ---- Can Do Kinders!

Now enough already with the "confession".... let's do something about it! I have been working on ideas to use with my kinders during math stations. I have made a cute game with the instructions. It may be better if used later on in the year but it is a start. I have other games up my sleeve to make. Summer vacation is almost over! If you have any ideas you would like to see, please comment and let me know.
You can click here and here for the game, Clear the Deck!
Please leave a comment. I love hearing from you!

Reminder.. Give Away!!!

2011-07-24T15:12:00.001-04:00

Don't forget my giveaway ends tonight at 12:00. Winner tomorrow! I am so excited! Also, I will be back later on to post some more creations sooooo....please check back.

Thank you!

Give Away!!!!!! and a Thank you!!!!!

2011-07-21T20:20:00.000-04:00

Today when I got home I could not believe my eyes!!! 64 yes 64 followers… whooooooooooo hooooooooooo!!!!!!!! I want to thank all of you so much and especially to April on Chalk Talk Kindergarten for giving me a shout out.. Now look at the pic above ….. so cute!!! Throw away those jars because this is an estimation station elite. You can open the top and put in anything, any amount … and estimate the day away. It comes with a portion cup so that the children can make a better prediction with their estimation. Now, there are 3 ways to enter….
1. Leave a comment below on what objects you use with the students for estimating.
2. Follow my blog.
3. Optional…. grab my button for your blog
Give away will end at midnight on Sunday, July 24th. Winners will be chosen by random drawing and announced on Monday, July 25th. Please make sure you leave your email address and Good luck!!! I appreciate all of you for following and beginning this journey with me.

I love this!

2011-07-20T19:38:00.000-04:00

I work part time in a teacher’s store…. gotta put my sweet daughter through college! Today this come in a shipment from Learning Resources. It is a magnetic spinner for your white board… It comes as a pencil, finger or a spinner. Wow a center for your white board…. hmmmm So many possibilities so little time! Doesn’t it get your creative juices flowing? How would you use it?

Do you Elkonin?

2011-07-19T22:08:00.000-04:00

Elkonin boxes are used to teach phonemic awareness by having the child listen for individual sounds and moving a chip or unifix cube in the box where they hear the sound. Each box in represents one phoneme or sound. We all know that segmenting words can be a difficult skill our children to acquire, but it is one that our children need for future success in reading.
I used to use this an elkonin box like this one:

My children need something more engaging during guided reading groups. So I can up with this one!

Most of the children that I teach need explicit instruction in phonemic awareness. So, at the beginning of the year I give each child 3 chips that they house in the boxes. I say a word such as fish. They repeat by stretching the word and sliding a chip to each circle in the submarine.
For example, fish /f/ /i/ /sh/ Then they place their pointer finger on the dot and blend the sounds together.
I hope you found this helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions. If you like this idea, I have the submarine elkonin box for you to down. Just click on the picture above!

More Parent/Teacher Cover Sheets for You!

2011-07-16T16:55:00.000-04:00

You can see my Parent/Teacher notebook in an earlier post. My class uses a BEAR book. BEAR is an acronym for Bring Everything Always Ready. Here are some more acronyms. I just made some parent/teacher communication cover sheets to share. Right beside the name is a space for you to add the student's picture. It helps the children learn each others names and help pass out the notebooks at the end of the day. Just click on the picture to download! If you would like other covers please let me know and I will try my best to make a cover sheet for you! If you download, please think about following me. I feel lonely here!

Parent/Teacher Communication

2011-06-29T14:38:00.000-04:00

My school uses plastic folders for home/school communication. These folders go through so much wear and tear with the little ones and don't last to the end of the year. Instead of folders I use a binder that can be organized with the classroom newsletter, a reading log, core words and many other things that is useful for the children and parents at home. It also helps the children organize their work and provides a means for home/school communication. The acronym I used for our binders is B.E.A.R. book. (Bring Everything Always Ready.) I place the school's folder inside and use plastic sheet protectors for various papers like the reading log, core words, etc...
Here is a picture of the BEAR book cover sheet that I will use this year.
What do you use to promote home/school communication? Do you use binders or folders? Here is the cover I will use this year!

I am so excited!!!!

2011-06-23T18:10:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I confess I have been a blog stalker for awhile now. I love going from one fabulous teacher's blog to another to see their awesome ideas. Thanks to Alicia (Dream Like Magic) on Etsy for creating my most absolutely cute blog so that I can join in the fun. Please contact her if you are thinking of making the leap into blog land. I hope that you will join me on this amazing journey!

Testing Post

2011-06-22T12:21:00.001-04:00

testing 123