I Love Mrs. Wishy Washy!

I recently won a Mrs. Wishy Washy big book from Hameray Publishing Group!

Maggie's Kinder Corner  was giving it away and my name was chosen! I was sooo excited!

Well, it came in the mail this week and my class loves it! 

This is one of my sweeties

{her mom gave me permission to take her picture reading the book - don't you love her socks?} 

Want to win a Mrs. Wishy Washy book? I found a few blogs giving one away!

Kathleen from Growing Kinders is giving one away - but hurry - you only have until April 26th!

Michelle from Fabulous in First is giving one away - but it expires in 3 days!  Click here to enter

Earth Day!

April 22nd - Earth Day!  What a great day to get your class excited about taking care of our natural resources!  Even though this was officially our Science for the day, I tried to include it in some of our other areas today!

We talked about what was recycling and where we have to go to recycle in our town (we don't have curb side service - we have to take it to a container in town where a larger company comes and picks it up). We also talked about what you can recycle.

Then we talked about items that could be reused. I gave my class the challenge of reusing some items in their home to make crafts or projects. {I hope they bring some in to share with our class!}

We also discussed reducing the amount of water and electricity we use everyday {even in the classroom} - what we could do to help save our planet!

We also went to Starfall.com and clicked on their Earth Day picture (bottom right) and read the story and played the game on our SmartBoard. They loved it!

We then read this book, Dinosaurs to the Rescue! and talked about what we could do to help save our natural resources (like cutting off lights, turning off the water, and so on).

Next, we made this craft that I saw on The First Grade Parade! It was so cute, I knew I wanted to make it with my class! (and they did such a good job!)

What a fun day it was!  I hope you enjoyed your Earth Day! Did you have some fun activities planned? Leave me a note! I would love to hear what fabulous activities you had planned for today!

What We Have Been Up To {and a Freebie!}

We have had such a great week! Yes, my students have been super active {Spring Fever!} and I have been super busy with my own family, but overall it was a great week!

We worked on Past, Present and Future this week.  We picked stuff on the calendar that happened last week (and I had them point behind them), today (they pointed to the ground) and next week (and they would point straight ahead). They totally got it! I have such smarties!!

I had them draw themselves in the Past, Present and Future. They were so cute!

Here is a sample:

I love that she is "old"! :) So cute! I just love Kinders!

And here is a freebie for you!




I also received some sweet love this week {From such a sweetie!}

Don't you just love their sweet notes! It makes a bad day turn into such a great day! :)

Well, I am headed to my son's baseball game!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Freebie time!

I am sooo sorry I have been MIA lately!  My kids have been keeping me extra busy!  I am working on doing better in the future!  Has this Spring been just as busy for you?  I am sure it has! :)

I have some wonderful news!  Would you like some freebies? TBA (Teaching Blog Addict) has some freebies for you! 

If you teach Pre-K to 6th grade - they have the freebie you need!

If you love those freebies, I have another one for you

This one is from my I Can Read the Alphabet pack

If you download, will you leave me note? :)

And make sure you follow me!

I am working on a few Spring things! :)

Quick Freebie!

I am on Spring Break and spending lots of quality time with my two children, but wanted to share a quick freebie with you! 

When I return to school next week, my class will be working on the letter Uu, so I made this for my morning work {while I check folders first thing in the morning, they do a little review work - they will probably do this on Thursday or Friday, after we have done lots of learning about the letter}.



I hope you can use it! 

And, have you heard about Educents?  They are a daily deals site for educators. They will have daily deals 30 - 90% the latest educational products! They launch April 2, 2013 and, if you sign up now, you can earn a $15 gift card!  Just click here to learn more! 

And because I love a sale, Carson Dellosa is having a big sale right now!
What a great way to get some new pocket charts or Bulletin Board sets! And there are over 100 items under $2! Click here to check it out!


Now, if my children give me a spare moment to visit with you, I will be back later in the week!  '
I hope you have a Super Happy Week!!! :)

Love for Issy Books!

I was recently asked to review some Issy Books {check out their website www.issybooks.com}. After receiving these sweet readers, I could not wait to take them back to my classroom and have my class read them! They are precious!  They are the perfect size for little hands. The words are clear and just right for some of my little Kinders!  And we love the adorable illustrations!

First, let me tell you about the sweet author!  {her picture is above}

Here is the press release they sent me:

"Compass, the educational imprint of Brigantine Media, announces the release of the Issy Books, written by Pat Calfee and illustrated by Isybilla Gee. The first eleven Issy Books (trade paper, 12 pages each, $6.25 each) became available nationwide March 1, 2013.

            The Issy Books are for “emergent readers”—children who are just beginning to learn to read. The books are written by educational consultant and teacher Pat Calfee, and are illustrated by Pat’s five-year-old granddaughter, Issy. Like the children who read the Issy Books, Issy herself is just learning to read, and her ever-present optimism and charm shine through her art. Issy draws and paints from her imagination and from life, using animals, flowers, and the world around her as reference.

Her grandmother, Pat Calfee—whom Issy affectionately refers to as "Gigi"—writes the stories that Issy illustrates. Using sight words, controlled vocabulary, and illustrations to support the beginning-level stories, the Issy Books are specifically designed to engage young minds in reading. Picture clues and predictable text help early readers gain confidence in their new reading skills.

The first ten Issy Books tell the stories of different animals, such as Snappy the crab, Oscar the octopus, and Bam Bam the dog. The books are available in sets of 5 books (ISBNs 978-1-9384061-3-3 and 978-1-9384061-4-0) and 10 books (ISBN 978-1-9384061-5-7), and are packaged in a clear carry tote, sized for young hands. The eleventh book, “Meet Issy” (ISBN 978-1-9384061-6-4), lets readers learn about the young illustrator herself.

These emergent readers are different from any others because their characters are created by a child of the same age as those reading the book. The Issy Books are meant to be read again and again. Readers of all ages will delight in the stories this young artist and her grandmother tell about the animals that inhabit their imaginations."

Wow! What talent at such a young age!

Your class or child will love these books!  My class loves these books!

I have made it one of my reading centers and it is one of their favorite centers! They love to read them!

If you would like to get your child or class a set of these books, they are available at their website or  Amazon!

March Weather!

In like a Lion and out like a lamb!

Living in Texas, we can expect warmer weather... so 70's in January is not shocking.  But now it's March.  It is windy - I am talking really windy! Hold on to your skirts and hats windy!

We had a rodeo today... outside - two hours! My kiddos made cute cowboy and cowgirl hats... They had to run after them because the wind stole them off their heads! {But it was super fun!}

So, last Friday, March 1st, we were learning about the letter L and we were learning about weather, and we read

and we made {from Miss Kindergarten - click here to check it out at her TpT store}
{I love making her crafts! The kids have fun, they learn something new, they get to practice writing... It is a win-win!}

And since I was taking pictures {with my phone - so please excuse the blurry pictures}

I finally took pictures of the cute bear craft we made for Valentines!

(we were also learning the letter B, so it worked out perfect!)

{Also from Miss Kindergarten - you can click here to get it from her TpT store}

(and she did not pay me to say these things - I just Love her crafts!)

Blogger Meet Up!

I was so lucky to get to meet up with some amazing bloggers!

I was so excited! {My husband was nervous... He is very protective and knowing that I was meeting complete strangers worried him. Of course, I told him that everyone was a teacher and it would be fine}

Here is a group pic {See all those beautiful blogger smiles!}

Lindsay from My Life as a Third Grade Teacher set up this Meet Up. {As you can see from the bags, we met at The Cheesecake Factory}

Here is a list of the bloggers that came {I copied the list of bloggers from Lindsay's blog - I hope I didn't miss anyone!}

Cara from The First Grade Parade
Sara from Kindergarten is a Hoot
Sandy from Fearless in 5th
Heather from Heather's Heart
Megan from I Teach. What's Your Super Power?
Rebecca from Ladybug's Lounge
Kristin from Teach n'Tex
Donna from Math Coach's Corner
Lynda from Curls and a Smile
Diane from Teaching with Moxie
Jessica from Welcome to Room 36

Jennifer from Teaching and LaughingKelly from Love N 3rd Grade
Barbara from Mrs. Balius's First Grade
Carla from Sewing Sassy in Texas
Lindsay from My Life as a Third Grade Teacher

and Me! :)

I made place mats and name tags for everyone -

I got to eat with Sara {Kindergarten is a Hoot}, Carla {Sewing Sassy in Texas}, Heather {Heather's Heart} and Lynda {Curls and a Smile}

and Cara {The First Grade Parade} and Lindsay {My Life as a Third Grade Teacher}

(can you tell the sun was shining bright?!)

 It was so much fun to get to meet so many blogs that I follow! We sat at 3 booths and I got to visit the other tables and talk school and blogs with everyone! It was so much fun to hear how different schools do things so differently!

Of course we ate too! {and yes, there was cheesecake involved!}

I can't wait to meet up with these fabulous bloggers again!

100th Day!

Not too long ago, we celebrated our 100th day of school!

What an exciting day!

We found 100 Hershey Kisses (okay, we were missing a few, but I have since found them)!  We also counted to 100 using HeidiSongs

 (this is not my class, but aren't they cute?)

We also made a hat with 100 stickers and 10 strips of construction paper (each student put 10 dots on each strip - then we counted them all the way to 100!)

(Can someone please help me figure out how to turn pictures!)

And we made these 100 glasses (The students cut out the number 100 and we glued them to popsicle sticks)

(this is my son - isn't he cute?)

I also took each student's picture in front of this 100 Day Banner holding the Happy 100 Day sign you see in the picture above from Mrs. Gilchrist's Class - I made me a matching t-shirt - you can find it here)

We read Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten.

We wrote about what we would buy if we had $100 using the 100 Day Activities packet from Lidia Barbosa

And the last thing we did was make a 100 Day snack mix!  This is the note I sent home with my students ~

I do have one student with allergies, so I made sure I had separate snacks for him to count!

Whew! We were busy, but we had sooo much fun!

I am linking up with TBA
and Learning with Mrs. Leeby for some 100 Day Linky Fun!

If you need more ideas, head over to find some FABULOUS ideas!

 

Valentines Week! (and a Freebie}

We are getting ready for our Valentine's Elegant Party on Thursday!

Here are few pictures from previous years:

 

Our chair covers are just pink butcher paper cut and slipped over the chairs and then tulle that I have tied around the chairs in a bow (I do this for our Mother's Day Tea also).

All the students get dressed up in their best Sunday dress - {here is my little one from his party last year} -

 The boys escort the girls into the classroom and to their chairs. {They even pull the chair out for the girls}. The students use their best manners while seated and eating {which we have discussed at length}.  Then the boys ask the girls to dance and they dance to elegant {slow and classical} music.

It is a fun event! 

In the afternoon we sort our conversation hearts by color and count and graph.  I got mine from Carson Dellosa years ago, but here is a super cute one from Babbling Abby {click here}.

Of course, I had to decorate my classroom, and I made these from First Grade Blue Skies (these are from last year - I forgot my camera)

Click here to get it from her TpT store

and I had to make the cute Valentine craft from Miss Kindergarten {well, I forgot my camera - but they are super cute!}

We also made these cute Heart Men! {Whew! This has been a busy month!}

Want to make one? Click here to get your Heart Man!


With President's Day coming up, I can't wait to make the cute President craft from Erica Bohrer!

What are you doing for Valentines?

Are you Ready for the Sale?

Have you heard the news?

Are you getting ready to shop? 

I know I am filling my cart with some great goodies!

You can get 20% off at my store and then an additional 10% off using code SUPER at check out!

I just posted my Mitten CVC Words pack if you want to get it while it is on sale Sunday!

I have some great Kinderland friends that are also having a sale - so you can stock your cart with some great items!

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?