Shapes

Last week we taught 2D and 3D shapes!  I love to teach shapes because they are everywhere!

To help teach them, I hunted for ideas.....

I first hunted for music - that is one of my favorite things to use when I teach {My class sings all day long! It's so cute!}

I love Harry Kindergarten!

And I love Have Fun Teaching!

But I wanted more ideas, so I went to some of my favorite bloggers and saw this post by Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives!

I love how she uses real pictures to help the students really connect! I showed my class the pictures and they had to tell me what it was and if it was a 2D or 3D object - they are so competitive! It was fun!

I also used a great poster from Kinder Craze.  Click{here} to check out her post and get her freebie!

I also used this book and poem from from Lil Country Kindergarten {click on the word book and poem to get your freebies from Marlana}

I haven't made them yet, but you can make a Shape Monster from Smedley's Smorgasboard of Kindergarten.

I also copied the shapes and made flashcards for each student and we played "Who can find the shape first?"  They had each shape in a baggie and the whole table that pulled out the shape flashcard first and held it up first won one goldfish snack cracker! {Of course I made sure they were all winners!} 

We will continue to work on shapes. This is just a little peek at a few things we have done so far!  Hope you have a great Monday!

Do you like to Shop?

Do you like to shop?

I know I do!

I was given $25 to shop at MPM School Supplies.  After looking through their great website and doing a very easy search for my some of my favorite items... Teacher Supplies... I found some great things!  I had the hardest time deciding what to pick! They have sooo many items at such great prices!{Okay... I spent a little over the $25 they gave me, and now I am adding more to my cart for another shopping spree... Please don't tell the husband!}  Everything about the ordering was super easy. Want to see what I bought?

I love the Toobaloo! And I always need glue and stamp pads!

{I really want this and this and this - they are in my shopping cart!}

 I ordered on a Monday and my package arrived at my school on Thursday! Talk about fast!  I am definitely ordering from them again!

Do you want to shop for some new items for your classroom?

MPM School Supplies are giving a 10% discount to the first 10 people to order. Just click on the picture below:

If you are looking for awesome supplies for your classroom, you will love shopping with them! :)

I have seen sooo many cute Valentine goodies on several blogs, so I just had to drive an hour to my nearest Target this past weekend and get a few great items:

and Dollar Tree and found these great items:

Do you think I have a shopping problem?

Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener Review!

I was sent an amazing pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies a few months ago, but with the holidays, I am a little behind in posting the review.

Check out the pictures of this awesome sharpener from their website:

 When I got mine in the mail, the first one was broken {insert sad face!}

So I emailed the company and within days they sent me a new one! {of course I asked if I could mail the broken one back and they said I could keep it! My Mister Fix-it husband spent a few days on it and now it works great! So I have one for school and one for home!}

It did take me a while to figure out how to use it, but once I watched the YouTube videos, it was easy to figure out!

My husband is in love with this pencil sharpener! We have a cheap electric one from Wally World, but he always turns to this one! 

Want to try it out for yourself?  Click {here}and check them out for yourself!

Happy Sharpening!



***Even though I was not paid to post this opinion, I was sent a pencil sharpener for Free, so that I could tell all you how awesome this sharpener really is! All the opinions are my own!***

CVC words in Kindergarten {Freebie}

Hi!  If you are visiting me from the Kinderland blog - Welcome! I am so glad you found me!


My class has been really working hard on sounding out words.

We began our first 9 weeks working on sounding out VC (vowel-consonant) words.  The second 9 weeks, we moved to CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words.  This was a much harder concept for some little ones in my class. 

This 9 weeks we will be moving right along to CCVC and CVCC words. Knowing that I still have some struggle with the CVC words, I made a CVC mat to help them. {See freebie below - you can download it from Google Drive} I plan to work one on one to help my Kinders grasp this concept.

If you enjoy my freebie, keep a look out! I am currently working on a bigger CVC packet that I will put in my TpT store!

If you can use this freebie, please leave me a comment and let me! I love hearing from you!

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_YzxXBxooahdlJOWjdER2R3aU0/edit



I am linking up with Teaching First - head over there for more Freebies!

Facebook Scavenger Hunt

Hi!

Are you on Facebook?

If you are, I have some exciting news for you!

A bunch of your favorite bloggers have teamed up for something special this Sunday at 3:00!

I am joining a few of my fabulous friends to host a

FB Blog Fans Scavenger hunt!

There are 16 blogger participating and each is donating a fabulous prize that  you won't want to miss!

To win the hunt, all you have to do is follow the clues and leave a comment on the person's FB page with 

the correct answer.

Shuna P of Pocket Full of Kinders. has the first clue on her FB page here at 3 p.m. central time on Sunday.

Once you have figured out what fabulous blogger her clue refers to,
 leave their name or link in the comments!

All fans who answer the clue correctly will be entered into the individual drawing as

well as the big drawing!

To find the next clue you will hop over to that person's FB page, {you can get to it by visiting their

blog and clicking on the FB button in the sidebar},  and read your next clue.

There are 16 clues

 so that is 16 chances to win.

There will be one winner for each clue.

Each winner will then be put into the big drawing where they will have a chance to win it all!

Before we look at the prizes here are the rules

* You must follow each person's FB page!

(You can do this before hand but we will check to make sure that you are a follower!)

* You can only comment  once to each clue {So make it good}

*You can comment between the times 3p.m. central time and 7p.m. central time

*Winners will be announced at 8p.m.central time.

( If the random number thingy chooses you as a winner and you have not followed each FB
another winner will be chosen)

Take a look at the prizes that will go into the big drawing

(pay attention to who is donating prizes......)

First up is 

Shuna of Pocket Full of Kinders!

Can't wait to see you on Sunday!

Currently January 2013

Wow! Where did 2012 go?

I am linking up with Farley of Oh Boy 4th Grade's Currently January!

Listening to my kids play the Wii!  They are having so much fun waiting for Midnight!

Loving that they are actually playing nicely together!

Thinking I need to organize my closets!

Wanting a Silhouette Cameo to really get organized {and get cute while doing it!}

Needing to take all my Christmas decorations down!

and One Little Word - Blessed! 

I had a great 2012 and looking forward to a great 2013!

I have a wonderful family and friends! I am having a wonderful break!

What more could I ask for?

Now, it's your turn to go and link up with Farley!



Organization.... Help!

I am linking up with Hope from Second Grade Shenanigans.

She has some great ideas for organizing your classroom!  I love this linky because I need serious help to organize my life! {My husband would also like you to come help me! Any takers?}

I think when I was born the organizational gene was lost in the maternity ward.  I try to organize myself  ~ {I really honestly do}~ But then life takes over and I somehow lose that organization! 

Resolutions:

1. I resolve to organize my books in my classroom.  I love First Grade Blue Skies library organizational tips!  This was an easy tip I know I can do!

2.  I resolve to make my teacher drawers cuter!  Kinder Craze has the cutest drawers around!  This Summer I saw her cute sticker organizer and organized my stickers! It has been so great - I am giving out more stickers because I can find the one I want so much faster!

3. I resolve to organize my posters. I love how Growing Kinders organizes her posters - I know I can do this!

Tips:
The one tip I can share with you is to organize your memory book for your class as the year goes on - It will make it that much easier come May/June.  I have a folder for each student that I keep their items in.  Okay, I am not the best about printing their pictures, but when I find a sale, I print as many as I have at the time! And through Saturday, Dec. 29th - Walgreens has their prints for 9 cents each! Can't beat that deal! So I am uploading and heading to Walgreens today!


Okay, I think I can do 3 new things this year to organize my school life.... Now to organize my home life!
Is anyone willing to come over and organize me? Can you give me any tips? {My husband would greatly appreciate it! He does try to help me on a daily basis!}

Here's to a organized 2013!

December, Freebies and Technology

{Warning.... This is a long post!}

I wanted to share what a busy month we had in our classroom.... We were very busy this month!

At the very beginning of the month I got to finally go to a workshop! I was sooo excited! I went to a Love & Logic workshop! Learned some great tips!  My favorite tip from speaker Jim Fay was "I love you too much to argue."  When my teenager tries to begin an argument with me, I just calmly say "I love you too  much to argue" and walk away (of course, she loves to argue and will follow me and try to continue).

Meanwhile... back in the classroom (while I was at this awesome workshop).... the electricity at my school was out! School was released at 10:00am. Any students that did not get picked up went with my sub to a neighboring school, where it was warm! {OK - great day to be gone! I couldn't have taught, tested or did any Christmas projects anyway! But my poor students! I was a wreck all day worrying about them!}

Our school's football played so great this year we got out early lots of Fridays so we could go to the playoffs - which we did! We played in Dallas Cowboy Stadium! It was an awesome game! Of course, with all this madness, I taught new concepts, did some report card testing, DRA testing and  finished up some cute Christmas projects! Want to see what we did?  Okay, this is a long post, but there are some freebies, so please stay with me.......

These were our Christmas presents to the parents. They turned out super cute!

Sarah from Kindergarten Korner created these.
You can find these here and read more about them here

This was the calendar and the picture below is the page I stapled them to - I put a picture of each student on a piece of construction paper (we took these outside on our swing in our school garden), painted their hand and put it on the page and had them write I Love You! and their name. Then I put a label in the bottom corner with their name and Kindergarten 2012-2013. I also put a magnet on the back so they could hang them on the refrigerator if they wanted to!

I am sooo sorry this is side ways - I can not get it to turn around!

My kiddos took a plain envelope, added some strips of red construction paper

and made it look like a present! We put our calendars in them!

They turned out so cute!

This was another parent present we made. I found the idea 2 years ago, when a sweet student celebrated Christmas, but NO Santa Claus {she could not make anything with Santa}, so I found these ornaments and have made them ever since!   

I bought the ornaments at Garden Ridge and used white paint from Wal Mart.

I used sharpies to decorate the faces. I attached a cute ribbon and added a poem.

To send these breakables home, I went to my favorite restaurant, Pei Wei,

and asked for 20 of their take home boxes!

Put a label on, put tissue paper in the bottom of the box, 

added the ornament, taped the top shut and put on a bow!

Super cute and super easy!

Would you like a tag for these? {Click here} I made it for 2013. If you need it for a different year, please email me.

This is the take home box from Pei Wei - perfect to take home their ornaments!

 We made these pretty poinsettias to decorate our tables and to decorate 

the students homes! Aren't they pretty?

For my class Christmas party, I made Gingerbread Play dough for my kiddos to play with and take home.

They had sooo much fun playing with it and it was super easy to make!

I got the recipe {here} and I put a label with the recipe on the bag
(in case their parents wanted to make more). Each recipe made 4 large balls - so I made 5 batches.

You can download the labels {here}  - I used Avery labels 5163.

I gave each student a playdoh mat I got free from Over the Moonbow

  

Our class also had to make this cute Santa craft from Miss Kindergarten!
It turned out super cute and I know the parents will love it as much as I did!

Again, I am sooo sorry - I wish I knew how to rotate a picture! I rotated on my computer, but when I download it, it is always the wrong way! So Sorry!

For the Christmas Party, I had my class make these cute Christmas Trees I saw all over Pinterest
and found some great tips at Kinder Craze.
Some fabulous tips I found:
* Put icing on the plate and the cone on top, to hold it in place.
*Give each child their own small cup with the green icing and a knife to spread it on the ice cream cone.
*Put some of the sprinkles on the plate and let them have fun!
I didn't send them home - I let them eat them!
Then we went to recess so they could run that sugar off!

So my kiddos could take all their goodies home, we made
these cute reindeer bags (using a grocery sack)!

Of course, I also had to teach and test this month!

We learned our numbers 11-15 (and boy, they are having a hard time with these)
To help us with that, we used

Kinderglynn's Number Books - you can find {here} and

Babbling Abby's RTI Number Sense - you can find {here}.

We also used lots of Christmas erasers I found at Dollar Tree for counting out 

on Math Mats from my I See Christmas pack.

We also worked on letters, rhyming and sentence structure.
To make the learning more fun, we used Deedee Wills awesome December Poetry Station!
My class loved it!  I can't wait to get her January Poetry Station!
I know they will sooo love it!

We also used our SmartBoard! My class LOVES it!

We use Lakeshore's Numbers & Counting Adventures.

It is my classes favorite game!

To help my class learn their letters, I used Lakeshore's Letter of the Day Activities.

I use both of these as part of one of my educational centers.
The class loves them!

I want to get some more of their awesome software!

It is amazing!

You can read more about how much I love my SmartBoard {here}

I am linking up with Growing Kinders.
She has a great post on Technology!
I love that she has iPads in her classroom!
I plan to start a DonorsChoose project to get one for my classroom!

Go visit Growing Kinders and see all her awesome technology and get some new ideas for your classroom!

 I am also linking up with Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera!

I hope you enjoyed this long post and got a few ideas for your classroom!

Happy Holidays!

Holly Bloggy Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

What a wonderful day! My little one woke up way early to show us everything Santa brought him! I am way tired {that means a nap is on my agenda for later today!} but I am sooo excited!

This Christmas season has blessed me and my family and my classroom!  I have taken lots of pictures of the projects we made and will blog about that another day.... Today I am linking up to show you my Holly Bloggy Christmas 2012 present!

I received my package in the cutest Snoopy envelope!  I should have known it was from Teri!  She is amazingly crafty and has the cutest crafts! I so love her blog!

 

This year the theme was your favorite things!  She got me my favorite Bath and Body scents!  I am burning the candles she gave me right now {spice scent!} and my little one is just ooohing and aaaahing! It smells so good right now! {But I did bake cinnamon rolls this morning, so it is a good mixture!}

Isn't this precious?!!! And it smells soooo good!

Look at that adorable Snoopy package!!! Super Adorable!

Now to show you what I gave my Bloggy Exchange partner:

I had Farrah from

and she said she liked pink and bling, so I found her this.....

I hope she loves it!

 I have plans to hang out in my PJs all day long and love on my kids and husband! They are begging me to get off the computer.... So I will blog again another day!  Happy Christmas and remember the reason for the season.... Jesus was born today!  Blessings to you and your loved ones today!  Hugs!!!