Five for Friday August 28th

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. Thank you for hosting, Kacey! It's been a busy couple of weeks. We've been moving/settling in.  My daughter got a job teaching 6th grade ELA- and it is SO EXCITING!  We've been doing quite a bit of shopping- in the real world and on TPT.  Fun, fun, fun!  

Here are some of my favorites from the week.

When we were moving,  I discovered that we had LOTS of shells.  They are beautiful, and apparently I kept thinking I needed to collect more and more. I kept a lot- but I decided the others would make a great sorting center for the beginning of the year- keeping a little summer in the air!

I found this fabulous sandpaper- 10 sheets for $1 at Valu Home Center!  I also got 40 smaller sheets for $1- because I KNOW I'll think of something... and they were a DOLLAR! (I am the classic sucker shopper who says, "It was only a dollar."  But come on- it really was a dollar! Paper without the sand would be that much.  Right?!)

This...  happens...

OR they have to go to the bathroom SOOOOOO BAD!

Herding Cats in Kindergarten shared some favorite clean up songs at her blog last week.  I LOVED seeing the variety! You can check out all the different songs at her blog.  The kids always work better/faster when they sing or try to finish before the song ends.  SO- I decided to put these songs together on my Character Education Prezi so I can have them handy whenever we need to clean up- AKA always.   

I, of course, got carried away and found lots of songs I loved so I added all of them for variety-so we can choose a different one each day.

And then, I decided to add a "Be Kind Friends" section to the Prezi- because we always in case we need reminders. 

 THEN- I found some relaxing guitar music that I liked- and thought there may be days I would need that playing peacefully in the background as the children worked, so I added that.  Basically, what I'm saying is that I redid the Prezi.  It's free at my TPT store if you would like a copy of it.  I leave it up all the time- and we visit and revisit videos all the time for reminders.  

I had fun working on that Prezi, so I went back over all my other Prezis at my TPT Store to check the links and videos.  I use Prezis all the time on my Smartboard.  It's such a great way to use technology in the classroom, because the links are all right there together- AND it's also a great way to show some anchor charts and tips through videos right at your fingertips.  I don't have a lot of extra wall space - any extra wall space- so during Writer's Workshop or Reading Centers, and even Free Choice time, I leave up an anchor chart or reminder for the children.  It's just another way to reinforce any and everything.  

You need to be able to access Youtube videos at your school to use these.  (And click the "allow pop-ups" at the bottom so you can access the links for the educational games.)  Many times if something is blocked at your school (like Youtube) and you bake cookies or get donuts explain why you need it - for teaching- the IT person will unblock it for you. 

I have lots of free Prezis:

Earth Day

 Frog and Toad

My Favorite Things

 Kindergarten Websites (This is a good link to send home for parents who are looking for some good sites for home!)

and lots of other Prezis that I use all the time!  I always have two or three up so I can switch back and forth between them. 

Learning is Fun!

Letters and Sounds

Common Core Math Prezi Bundle (4 Prezis)  This one took FOR. EVER.  to make, because I searched for all the best links and videos to go with each standard. But, now that it's done, everything is right there for me!

 

 

Primary Writing

Beginning Reading

Eric Carle

Fun in the Fall United States

Fun in the Fall- Canada

The Five Senses

Discovering Great Artists

Bird Nests

Perspective and Optical Illusions

Authors Prezi

I kind of like Prezis.  :)

I also spent a lot of time with Eric Carle this week.  Jeff may have been a little jealous.  I put everything together in my Eric Carle Packet- my Prezi, QR Codes, and writing prompts.  

I scanned each video through Viewpure to take out ads and anything extra you don't want on there.  

In this packet, I also scanned the videos through SafeShare because a sweet girl bought the set and realized she couldn't access Viewpure and needed SafeShare- SO - since I did it, I just added it to the packet in case you need that version.  

You can check the sample codes to be sure you can access the videos.  Again, sometimes your school will unblock a site if you beg or bake need it. Our school LOVES technology and nothing is blocked, so we're lucky.  

I am just a tiny bit over the top about Eric Carle because his books can be used for SO MANY things and are such a wonderful springboard for so much science, art, and discussion.  

We have our Kindergarten Picnic next Wednesday- a week before the children come back.  This year I made these Super Year super balls for their little surprise.  It was so simple and went along with our Superhero theme.  

If you would like a copy of these tags, you can get them HERE .

This song will be a definite part of our first day!  

Thank you so much for stopping by!

  

Have a ...weekend!

Five for Friday May 8

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. Thank you for hosting, Kacey! 

I am presenting today at our district conference day about how I use Prezis in the classroom.  I made a Prezi about it (of course...).    I included videos about how to make and use different parts of the Prezi.  I looked at a lot of tutorials and found the best (simplest to understand) ones for me. Here is the Prezi about Prezis if you'd like to learn a little more about them.

 Prezis are a different way to present material.   They're easy for older students to make and present, too.

I have been using the Prezi app on the kids' iPads.  I am updating my Prezis so I will have one that I use to teach and one for the students to use on the iPad with less links and more educational videos. I'll post more on these as I complete them.

I posted before that during our technology time, my class is working on making iMovies to go along with our My Favorite Things lessons.  Last week, we wrote about our favorite books.

 My friend ( and tech teacher) Jen just finished working with three of the kids on their iMovies.   She made QR codes for the movies so I can put them all up in the room  on a book recommendation wall.  The kids are having so much fun seeing each other's iMovies!

You can scan the QR code to see their little movie if you want.

I love how this little sweetie is taken with the fact that there are GRAY pictures in the book.

That really made an impression!  

We are loving our Frog and Toad Unit this week. I made a Frog and Toad Prezi (free at my TPT store) that I use all the time in the spring when we are watching our eggs- if I'm lucky enough to find them, and read our stories.    The Prezi has lots of videos of the stories, videos about frogs and toads, ideas, games, and charts to use if you are reading Frog and Toad, or having a science lesson about frogs and/or toads.

I posted all about frogs and frog freebies from TPT here at Pre-K and K Sharing last month.  I also wrote posts about how I use and what I do for each story in Frog and Toad are Friends and Frog and Toad Together.

                  
 A List is a perfect story to introduce list writing to the children.  Lists are such a great way for kids to practice writing- at any age.  When I taught my own children writing, we used to always warm up by writing a list of something - even when they were in middle school.  It's a great way to get your mind thinking of different ideas.  In fact, I made a list of list ideas- how is that for a list!  You could use this list with any age, really.  Click on the picture below if you would like a copy. 

My class had so much fun with this.  After we read the story, I gave a topic to the kids ( like farm animals, ice cream flavors, blue things, big things, small things...the topics on the list above!).  They turned and talked to a friend about all of the items they could list for that topic.  

This sounds very easy, but it's actually a very good exercise for the children to have to stay on topic and only list items that would fit the category.  I rang a bell after a minute or so and moved onto the next topic, so it was a fast moving activity. 

After we practiced a few times, I had to kids go back to their seats to write a few lists of their own. 

Some of them even illustrated their lists!  Once I ooohed and aaaahed about these illustrations, guess what everyone else started to do?! It was great. 



                                                             

This was a big week for fitness- not for me, but for two people very special to me!  First of all, my daughter, Emily, ran in her first half marathon!

I was so proud of her!  She hasn't run that far since her knee surgery- and wasn't sure if she ever could.  What a happy day! It was a gorgeous day, and Jeff and I cheered her in! 

Next, my sweet "school daughter" won first place over all in her first fitness competition.  OH MY GOODNESS- who knew that was under those "teacher clothes?"  She trained and worked so hard, and is the sweetest person. I am so proud of her, too!

   (That's her with her trainer.)

Me... I ate less cheese this week.   That's it. That doesn't even really register as a baby step...

Anyway, I'm so proud of my girls! 

This is so random, but it made me laugh, so I'm sharing it.  I found this picture on Pinterest the other day- and normally I wouldn't have thought much of it...

Except that that very day, when my mother came in to work with the kids, this is what we both were wearing.  When she walked in, I thought it was so funny, so I took a picture.  And then when I got home, I found the picture above on Pinterest!   WHAT kind of black-and-white-checked-day was it?!

Also, I realize that taking a picture from that horrible angle is not flattering. Eww.  Sorry, too, mom...
Happy Mother's Day... I love you so much! 
                                       

Have a happy, healthy weekend. Thank you for stopping by!