Five for Friday and Funny Kid Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday and with Kidpeople Classroom for Funny Kid Friday!  My summer Fridays are really winding down,
                                        
 so I am trying to take advantage of my moments- cause this feeling will be coming soon...
                                    
I've been going into school a lot and getting ready.  I already love my class, and they are just on paper right now!  I'm excited to meet them and make us a school family.

Earlier this week I wrote a post about this book, the OK book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  I LOVE her books.  I also posted about some of her other books.  This one is fabulous for Writer's Workshop- similar to Ish and The Dot, with a little Beautiful Oops thrown in, too.  It just says to me, teachers, adults, kids, "Go ahead, be OK at things that you try. You don't have to be perfect!  In time you will find different things you want to do better, so you can go after them.  Meanwhile, it's great to be OK!" (That wasn't really a quote from the book- that was just me quoting AS the book...Sometimes I like to pretend I am a talking book, I guess-)

She also has a book trailer to go with it that I posted.  I cannot wait to use this book.

I made a simple writing activity that I'm going to do with my class. Click on the picture below if you would like a copy.

                               

I also included a page with just lines under the picture box, because "I am ok at" are all great words for the children to write on their own, if I decide I want them to try to write a sentence.  

I  made this little Draw and Label book to use early on for Writing. If you'd like a copy, just click the picture below.

                            

It's simple, but will give the children a chance to be creative, draw with detail, and begin to learn to label pictures.  You can print out and use only the pages that you want- you don't have to use all of them! I made quite a few- I think 19, but I'll probably choose five pages.  I made it so you can just double staple the side and cut in the middle to have two books.

I thought this was a great quote to go along with all the "I can" statements we live with!

Our "I can" poster is one of the first things we make in the classroom. 

I liked this "I can" poster, too:

I feel awful because I don't know where I found this. I had just saved it as a picture- with no link- and I can't find where I got it.  I'm sorry! If it's yours, please let me know, because I love it- and I'll put your link right in here!

It would be lots of fun to make this chart after reading Eric Carle's book From Head to Toe.

My sister's Kindergarten classroom made an adorable class book that she shared with me. I love how she made the pictures  look Eric Carl-ish!

Don't forget, if you want some FREE ELA and Math "I Can" statements to use in your classroom, I have some HERE  at my TPT store!

           

I found these fabulous things in Walmart!  They were $1.97- and will be great handy for math, high-fiving sight words,

and I love yous! Plus LOTS more fabulous things, I'm sure. I bought 2 packs, just because I knew I should.

I made some bulletin boards for the end of our hallway.  This one was my favorite.

This was my other one.

Here are some other Friday Favorites...  I LOVE this little saying. What a comfort!

I also love these guys (Paul Sirimarco and Tina Cleveland)!  I just smile when I watch them sign the songs. I think it's because I really would love to be able to sign that beautifully.  Love them! I watch every single video they make- and it makes my day.  HERE is their Youtube channel, in case you want to smile, too.

      

                                                 

      I am also linking up with Kathleen, from Kidpeople Classroom,  for Funny Kid Friday!

      Here is my Funny Kid Friday for the week.  

      This little boy will turn out to be a great negotiator of  some sort.   Three children wanted to play  with  one boy's truck.  So he said, "You can be first.  You're second. You're third."

 So the 3rd boy said, "So, I'm last?"

   

      Without missing a beat, the boy with the truck said, "No, you're THIRD. That's still a good place.  If  you were 6th- THAT would be bad." 

     Have a happy, happy weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

    

Five for Friday and Funny Kid Friday

Today I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday and Kathleen from Kid People Classroom for Funny Kid Friday!  Happy Friday!

Of COURSE this article was my favorite of the week: How Finland Keeps Kids Focused Through Free Play.  The premise of this article is that there is data to PROVE that children (and teachers) are more productive after an unstructured break to PLAY. (I never needed data, by the way- if you are a teacher- you experience this data.) This article focuses on a 5th grade classroom. In Finland, students are given 15 minutes of play time after every 45 minutes of lessons. The article is about a teacher from the US, who at first tried to stop this practice and teach like we do here- and what he found out about the benefits (for both students and teachers) of this break.

I feel like I am preaching to the choir, here, but I also feel like it helps me to remember that kids. need. to.  play.   It's not only okay.  It is essential.  Teaching today seems to focus so much on more rigor, more tests, and more paperwork and data- that it's easy to feel like you  have to sneak in playtime. 

Somehow the benefits of play for the child are forgotten.  It's easy to feel like there isn't time for play and that play is somehow frivilous, out-dated, and not justified.  But when  I read this article, I was reminded that there isn't time to NOT let children play.  

Here is my Play Every Day Prezi with some of my FAVORITE quotes about the importance of play. Sometimes I just quickly go through it to remind myself. 

In our world today, I don't think there can be enough emphasis on treating others kindly, looking someone in the eye when you speak, sharing, and playing well with others.  Children don't get the opportunity to practice this like they used to. I have more teachable moments during free choice time than any other time in my day. Talk about individual instruction!  

Here are some of my favorite quotes about play that I included on my Prezi.  I thought it was good for me to revisit before I begin the new school year, to remind myself not to be overwhelmed with everything else, but to remember that both play and academics are what children need.  

 (I love this one so much, and think of it every time my husband and son go off to play golf.)

 (This is my VERY favorite because these 2 princesses are my girls when they were little! :)

To go along with what's important, how much do you LOVE this letter?

I posted all about some fun activities to go with Frog and Toad Together,with lots of FREEBIES earlier this week. I use each story in the book to introduce something that we work on.  For example, one of the stories is The List.  

Lists are a great way to get children thinking and writing. I made a list of list ideas, as a matter of fact! You can get a copy by clicking on the picture below if you would like it!

I also included LOTS of cookie freebies to go along with Cookies, which may be one of my FAVORITE Frog and Toad stories!

I posted some great TPT Writing Freebies that I love to use in my classroom in my Beginning Year Writing Post.

Matt Gomez posts a FABULOUS post sharing 170 Online Ebooks for Young Kids! This is a fabulous resource if you haven't seen it.  Just go there. It's great!  

Here is my Funny Kid Friday for the week! 

This story is about my OWN son.  I was so proud of him when he was really catching on with his reading when he was little- maybe a little more proud than I should have been.  We used to go to Walmart's One Hour Photo a lot back then- when we used to get film developed (remember that?!).

One day, as we were just a few feet from a sweet girl working at the Photo Lab, my son said, "OH NO- Do we have to go to One Whore Photo AGAIN?!" 

I'm PRETTTTTY sure my face (and the face of the one sweet girl working at One 'Whore' Photo)  went through all of the following phases of "WHAT did you say?":

My friend and I still laugh about this - and use it whenever we get the chance. She will write, "I have whores and whores of housework to do this morning..."  It never seems to get old.  I still laugh. See, it worked out well that I didn't teach that "wh" blend too well. 

Have a fabulous weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!