Sunday, September 30, 2012

October Math Journals

Per one of my favorite 1st grade teachers, I made these October themed Math Journal Prompts! I had so much fun making them!! Some of your Kinders may just be super smart and could knock them out ;) Click the picture below to grab it!

But.... I do have something for all my Kinder teachers! A little bit of decomposing numbers, Halloween style! Grab it below :)
 5 Ghosts                                                                                                   

I hope you have a fantastic Sunday! Tomorrow is back to the grind :(

Friday, September 28, 2012

Sale :)

So Madden is going to be 6 months old tomorrow :( Where does the time go?! But, since it is going to be a special day for us (PUMPKIN PICKING), I wanted to share something with you, also.

How about a sale?! Good! I thought you would like that. This is a great time to pick up my Common Core Math Journal Prompts!! 

Head over to my TPT store for 15% off everything or you can check out my Teacher's Notebook store for the same deal! 

I'm working on a new Math Journal unit for October. It's going to be SPOOK-TACULAR!

 
It should be out by tomorrow. Finger's Crossed!! 

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Mid-Quarters... Already?!

So I am working on our mid-quarter reports that are do on Thursday. I can't believe it is already that time! The school year really goes by quickly.

I am working on my apple unit & I am having so much fun! My kiddos love the apples, and they are so smart! I have been pulling things from a few different units:
Kindergarten Hoppening's Shannon Martin has an awesome post called "Way up High in the Apple Tree." It includes some great freebies, too!

Jen, at Jen's Kinder Kids has an awesome FREE unit called "Apple Time Fun" 
 
 

And, of course, Mrs. Freshwater at Mrs. Freshwater's Class has her FREE Appleicious Adventures unit!

image

 applepic3
Wait till I get the pics from all my classroom Apple projects! Ah. They are so fun!! 


PLUS
I just finished my Farm Math Unit! Head over to my TPT store to pick it up. Inside, you will find 7 math centers for various Common Core areas. You get activities for one to one correspondence, ordering numbers, ten frames, graphing/surveying, spin and graph, roll and record, and tally marks.

Click on the image below to grab it! 



Saturday, September 22, 2012

Grab, Count and Sort

I have few 4 year olds in my class this year that need a little extra help with fine motor. I love tearing paper crafts and was so happy to come across this cute craft on Pinterest courtesy of Finally in First

 Leaves Tearing Project
I plan to add this to practice some the sight word down:

Red leaves are falling down.
Yellow leaves are falling down.
Orange leaves are falling down.
Falling down, onto the ground.

 Down Sight Word Poem                                                                                                   

We use Math Investigations in my school. One of our lessons is called grab and count. It works just like it sounds! You grab a handful of manipulatives and you count them. Then you record what you grabbed and counted on a recording sheet. Easy, right? Well for some kids. They get it with practice.

I am fortunate enough to have a few high flyers this year. I needed something a little more challenging for them. So, I came up with this fun way to "grab and count" Teddy Bear Counters.


Grab Count Sort                                                                                                   

P.S. If you haven't already, Heather, at Heather's Heart, is having an awesome giveaway. Head over there and enter! Plus, you can browse through her blog and snag up some great freebies for your kiddos!

Hope you have a great Saturday :)


Friday, September 21, 2012

Reversals

So, many of you know that it has been a very busy transition back to teaching. I have been spending A LOT of time at home working on things for school. Our school has started a program called Reader's Workshop, which has taken the place of our centers/stations. We have also been working at this Balanced Literacy adoption in our district, and with it comes a lot of different things. It has been stressful and overwhelming to say the least.
I really want to get back to creating and blogging, because it has been a huge passion of mine since I started. I am slowly getting into a great routine with Madden and school so that I have the time. Those of you who have sent me sweet thoughts, I greatly appreciate them :)

So, we have done a lot in the first few weeks of school. Shapes have been my favorite so far. We, of course, did Fran's shape flip-book. We also made this AWESOME headbands that I was so proud to show off.




He has his hat on upside down, but it's Foxy Triangle! You can actually open his mouth, and inside you will find a poem:
Foxy Triangle is the name for me. Tap my sides: 1, 2, and 3.
They are really fun to make and wear! You just fold a square in half to make a triangle, add a triangle nose, two triangle ears, and two oval eyes. Glue the poem inside the mouth! Waaaahhhh-lah!

We have also started a program called Words Their Way. It's a lot of picture sorting, letter sorting, word sorting, etc. You can make your own sorts, too, and my kids really need b and d practice. It has been AH trying to get them to understand the bed technique, so I made a sort to help them out. You can grab it for free if you'd like :)
b and d letters                                                                                                   

Monday, August 13, 2012

Sale!!

Wow! I got some very interesting news today! We are no longer having IWT (Independent Work Time or Centers) anymore! We are focusing on reader's workshop, interactive read alouds, Words Their Way and RTI. I'm a bit disappointed, because I loved having so many fun centers for the kids.I am very anxious to see what the structure will be like.
On another note.. I totally missed the TPT sale because I have been so absorbed in my child and my classroom. And, because I missed it, I am throwing my own sale. Don't miss your chance to grab up some goodies before heading back to school! 


I hope you are all enjoying your last few days of Summer!! 

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Recording Sheet and Freebie!

I have been so busy interviewing nannies :( :( :( and working on my classroom, I haven't had the chance to breathe. Let alone blog. Yikes! I am so excited, because Faithe helped me paint an accent wall in my classroom this beautiful blue! It looks awesome! Once the paint was dry, I went back and used a circle painter to create bubbles, for an "under the sea" look. I will post pictures once it is all finished.
I was so excited two weeks ago when I found out that I only had 16 kiddos. That was short lived. I now have 20! I'm just glad it's an even number, for now anyway.

If you downloaded my Surfer freebie last week, you may have noticed that it didn't have a recording sheet. Silly me! So here you go.
Recording Sheet                                                                                                   

And because I have the beach on my mind, I have another little freebie for you! A syllable sort! The recording sheet is at the very end for your Kinders.
Syllable Sort                                                                                                   


Now I know that patterns aren't part of the new Common Core, but I love this adorable idea I found on Pinterest! Not sure where to credit it to, but it links up to Pleasantdale Elementary School in New Jersey. Hm..
cute zebra for teaching patterns

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Writing Rewards

 Ya'll need to get to the Dollar Tree! I got some serious goodies there. I mean, who can pass up organization tubs for $1 each or mini-dry erase boards?  

So, I have seen this writing fairy idea MANY places so I'm not sure who the original creator is. Isn't that the downfall of the web? You don't really know where an idea started or who actually came up with something first. I have seen it all over Pinterest, in many different versions, so I wanted to make them, too

So... Grab yourself some cello goodie bags from the Dollar Tree with some sweet iridescent ribbon. Then load up on some goodies:
https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=7ef2c91642&view=att&th=138b0822aca26d51&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_4pcasAOuRcDnAZl3mhOTX&sadet=1342991788760&sads=EIcgoJCj97g0u7EYTERNZPRiabI
Pencils, sharpeners, erasers, stickers, pencil grips, candy, whatever you want really.

Then print yourself some tags: 
Writing Fairy                                                                                                   

And.....
 The ticket to fantastic handwriting!! I hope, anyway.


I got my list of Kinders yesterday and I only have 16 kids! Wow! I'm so excited! That means more one on one time. I printed out my letters and got me envelopes all stuffed to send home to my kiddies! This year, I am sending home this cute little note for my Kinders...

 
I'm hoping that the whale tail is a dead giveaway :)