Snowmen {freebie} and an Award!

My class had so much fun with the turkey and Santa, that I decided to do a snowman. To help my class with their snowman and to give them ideas, I first read Snowballs by Lois Ehlert.

I then asked if they wanted to decorate a snowman at home and bring it to school. They squealed so loud I think my Principal heard it! (and I am at the end of a very very very very very long hallway!)

Here is the letter I sent home, along with the snowman (I had the students cut the snowman out and glue it to a piece of construction paper. Next I printed out the letter and stapled it to their snowman):

Snowman Letter to Parents

 You could use the snowman I attached, or you could give the students white construction paper and have them tear out circles and glue them on a piece of construction paper (I used blue construction paper). I was short on time yesterday when we did this activity, so I just used the template, but if I had more time it would be so much cuter and lots more fun for the kids to make their own "snowballs" and "snowman".

Speaking of snowmen, have you visited Playing with Pixie Dust? They have the cutest snowman freebie for you! I just love it!!! :)

Now, onto the Awards!  I was graciously given an award from some super sweet bloggers -  Holly from Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade, Julia from Loving and Learning in Pre-K, and Michelle from Inspired by Kindergarten gave me this award:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I am so honored!

Here are the rules for accepting the award:1. Thank the person that nominated you with a link back to them.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass this award on to 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know that they've received an award!

So, here are 7 things about me:

1. I LOVE to cook! Especially Italian food!

2. I am full blooded Italian (I am 3rd generation American - My great grandparents came to America)

3.  My husband and I have been married for going on 19 years and have been together for going on 22 years! (Yes, I am old! But when I say that to my 6-yr-old he tells me "Mommy, you aren't old, your pretty!" Gotta love the words of a 6-year-old!)

4.  I have lived in Texas all my life! (But I have family all over the US - so I get to visit some fun places!)

5.  I love College football! I have loved watching all these bowl games! Can't wait for the LSU vs Bama game! :)

6.  Maroon is my absolute favorite color! (Can you guess why????)  But I do LOVE Pink, Purple, Blue, and Red! (Although, I wear a LOT of black!)

7.  I am a blessed with some wonderful friends and family who support me and help me get through each and every day! Without them I would be completely crazy right now! (Well... If you ask my kids, I am already crazy! But aren't we all, just a little bit crazy?!!!)

Now, to pass this award on to some other bloggers!

Kindergarten for Teachers and Parents

Playing with Pixie Dust

Time 4 Kindergarten

Little Miss Kindergarten

Eberharts Explorers

Cole's Little Pups

Ok - I know I was supposed to give this to 15 blogs, but my daughter is begging me to take her shopping... So I am breaking the rules! Sorry! :(

Have a Happy Saturday! :)

Pinkalicious and Conferences!

First Grade Fanatics has the cutest new unit - Perfectly Pinkalicious! Don't you just want to eat it up?   I LOVE it!  I must admit Pink and Purple are my colors! And I LOVE the Pinkalicious book series! So adorable! So this unit just calls to me! What fun it will be in my classroom!  They were so sweet, they gave away 2 copies and I guessed right, so I got one copy! SO excited! Can't wait to get it and print it out! :)  

Now my excitement is slowing down, because I have to prepare for conferences next week.  We have conferences from 1 - 6:30 next Monday. That means every 15 minutes I will be speaking to my sweet parents about their sweet children. Whew! Exhausting! I have been trying to make positive contact with as many parents as possible so Monday will not be so overwhelming.

A few years ago a teacher friend of mine shared her tips for conferences. One of the big one was to have notes for the parents to take home. This is so helpful!  So each Fall and Spring I type up a list of Strengths and Areas of Concern and give to each parent. If you follow my Scribd account, you probably saw it this Summer when I uploaded it, just waiting to share it with you now. :)

Conference Student Form - Blank

I type up personal notes about each child and give each parent a copy at Conferences. Mrs. Wills has a great form! Take a look at hers also! :)  If you have conferences coming up, wishing you luck and blessings! If you have already had your conferences - Smile and breathe! :)
Have a great week! :)

Question? Answered and Freebie!

I made a letter sort for my classroom (using letters M, S, A and P). Is it okay to post a freebie with Microsoft clip art? Thanks for the answers Kerri , Allison and Holly! :)

My class has been learning the letters M, S, A and P, so I made this sort: (the graphics and Font are from Microsoft clip art - I made this in Microsoft Word)

M S A P sort

Hope someone can use it! Have a great week! :)

Halloween Making Words

I have a sweet Kinder student who blows me away everyday! The ability of this student is beyond imagine! The mother of this student requested a little bit harder homework, so I created the document below. The student loved it! I guess I will be creating more -  What fun! :)  I love when the students rise to challenges! :)

 The font and artwork are from DJ Inkers

If you enjoyed this, you can find more Halloween ideas over at Ginger Snaps Halloween Linky Party.

And there are some great Freebies at Teaching Blog Addict!

There are some great ideas at both sites! :) 

If you love my Making Words and you download it, please leave me a note! I love your comments! It makes me smile! :) Thanks! Have a great week! :)

Letters for names

http://maggieskindercorner.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-many-letters-in-my-name-what-sound.html



Maggie posted the cutest apple name activity! She inspired me to create the attached alphabet letters to use with her apple! Thanks Maggie! :)

Letters for Name Apple

Well, I did have a different font, but it didn't upload right :(  I uploaded it as a word doc so you should be able to change the font. Enjoy! :)

(Just in case Scribd doesn't work for you.... here it is in Google Docs)
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_YzxXBxooahNnQ3STJkSk5EWE0

Lakeshore and Target Shopping Spree!

Well, I finally hit the Target Dollar Spot - Woo Hoo!!! Got some great things! I found the Capital Alphabet Stampers and Number Stampers, ink pads and pocket charts. Gotta Love Target!

Next I headed to Lakeshore for their back to school sale! Another Woo Hoo!!!! 20% off the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree! 20 % off all their stamps and stamp pads! I also had a  Buy one item, get the 2nd for 50% off coupon - Yay!!! So I bought a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Game and some wonderful foam dice for my class to use!

I am so excited! Now, to organize and use my new goodies in my classroom! I decided to make some Roll, Write and Stamp pages for my class to use.  I know we all are a little cash strapped by now, so I am sharing these for free (and because I don't have a TpT store!)  

The first page is for beginners, the second page is a little harder and the last page is more challenging.  The fourth page goes with page 2 and 3. You will need to copy page 4 for the students that use those pages and then they cut out the dice and put them in order at the bottom of pages 2 and 3.  I made them in word then saved them as a .pdf file, so if you can't open it, please let me know!   I hope you like it, and if you do, Leave me some love! I love all your comments! :) 

Roll Stamp and Write (dice)

Until next time, enjoy what Summer you have left! :)



Color Mixing!

During the first 9 weeks we introduce colors to our Kindergarten students. At the end of the unit we teach color mixing. I LOVE this unit! It is so much fun! We start with the primary colors (red, yellow and blue) and we mix colors a variety of ways:

• use food coloring and water - mix and put in an ice cube tray - as the colors melt, they mix
• use water colors - they mix with paint on white construction paper
• use those fizzy tablets

We also read books about colors - Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh,  A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni, Cat's Colors by Jane Cabrera, White Rabbit's Color Book by Alan Baker and, of course, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.

A teacher at my school made a cute song to help the students remember color mixing and I made it into a file. You will need to print it on a Legal sheet of paper to get it all on one page.

Color


Here are some great color idea websites:


http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Colormixing.shtml

http://www.kidzone.ws/science/colorwheel.htm

http://prekinders.com/color-ideas/

http://childrensbooksguide.com/color

How do you teach colors and color mixing?

A Freebie!

All my school stuff is at my school computer, except for this one thing I created at home. This is my first time to add a file from Scribd - hope it works! I used DJ Inkers artwork and fonts (don't you love DJ Inkers!)  You can leave me a message and I will email you if it doesn't work.  I plan to create a few more things before school starts! Follow me so you can add them to your personal collection! :)

 (NOTE: I am sorry, but I had to remove this freebie, because DJ Inkers changed their T.O.U and no longer allows you to post your creations) :(

Enjoy! Until next time! :)