A Freebie to Keep You Warm!

  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!

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?

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!

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!

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!

For You.. Merry Christmas!

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!