Five for Friday! August 30th

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my last Five for Friday before I start back to school...

I hope you all had a great week!

Here are my five for the week!

 

I finallllllly finished and listed my Kindergarten Common Core Math Prezi Bundle.  This was my summer goal and it took me FER-EVER-but I did it!  I know these doggone math standards inside and out.  Here is the description of the Prezis at my TPT Store.

 

This Kindergarten Common Core Math Prezi Bundle includes 4 separate Prezis: Counting and Cardinality/Base 10; Measurement and Data; Geometry; Operations and Algebraic Thinking. I scoured the internet, searched, and found the very best interactive activities, links, anchor charts, and videos to teach and/or reinforce each of the 22 Common Core Standards for Kindergarten Math. Each Standard is separated so that you can zoom in on the one you are working on and have all of the links right at your fingertips, ready to use for whole group instruction, small groups, RTI, math centers, or even for the extra few minutes you may have throughout the day. My sample Prezi includes 2 of the standards: K.NBT.1 and K.OA.2, so that you can get an idea of the set up of the Prezis. Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoy these!

 

Here are some screen shots of each entire Prezi.  They aren't great pictures, but give you an idea of the divisions and links I have on each one. 

 

Here is a sample of two of the standards to give you an idea.  ( I first wrote smaple- and thought about leaving it because that is about where my brain is right now! ;)  These are K.NBT.A.1- Base 10, and K.OA.A.2- Solving addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10. 

 

 

 I am not sure it will work correctly embedded here.  You have to "allow for pop-ups" so the links will work.  Even then, I am not sure how it will do here , but it gives you an idea of what each standard looks like. They are all different and fun!  I would "think" I was done with one- then move on to something else, and find something GREAT for the one I thought I had finished... But we will appreciate it when we want to work on a math standard and have the links right there!

 

We had our Kindergarten Picnic on Wednesday night. It was fabulous!  I loved meeting the precious people I have been making things for all summer!  Our Principal cooked hotdogs outside, and the families came, ate, sized up the teacher , met me, and saw the classroom.  One of my favorite parts of having this picnic is to see tensions just ease for both the parents and the children, as they explore the room.  Here is the little name packet I sent home. The laminated name is underneath the letter. 

 

I have two boys with longer names this year, so I thought I would ask each of them if they had a nick name they would like to use at school .  The first little boy I asked decided that he would prefer I call him his firstmiddlelast name.  I explained that I thought he may like either his first name or a "SHORTER" version.  He enjoyed having the power to  decision, and after a good, long time decided on the shorter version "for now."

My other little sweetie explained that they were both REALLY nice names, so I could call him whatever I wanted.  Love him already.

Even those little interactions reminded me that kids LOVE choices.  Sometimes it is easy to forget that little trick of  saying, "Do you want to clean up the Legos or the animals first?" 

(Last week, my #3 looked haggared.  This guy looks much more spunky!)

 Last weekend, when we stopped in Target, Jeff had to run to the bathroom- leaving me moments in the Dollar Spot.  Oh, dear.   This is what transpired from those moments:

My sweet friend Amy just got back from a wonderful trip to Hawaii- and had to get right back into getting ready for school.  She needed this.  (She usually dresses much more informally...) I made it quickly- not my best work (as evidenced by the back of my head...).

So- she put a picture of this on my Facebook.  A week later, she went to a Teacher Store in a town by us, and she said a lady came up to her and said, "Are you Amy? I recognized you from the notebook picture on Carolyn's facebook."  :) Oh my.  Thanks, Target.

We finished re-doing our new room.  Matt moved downstairs when Ellie got married, and so we made his room into a den/extra room. It was blue- which I didn't feel like repainting LOVED- so we went with that.  The cheetah move was unexpected. It just happened. BAM.  Some of it happened in Pier One. Some happened in Home Goods.   The lampshade on the desk happened in Walmart. 

 

 

The picture beside the TV is one Ellie painted when she was 8!  I love it- and it is sort of her room when she comes back- if her husband travels or the weather is too bad to drive back to her house in winter. She works close to our house.  The beach picture over the desk is just...  ahhhh... a beach.  Nothing more needed.  Except maybe me on it.  

I found my picture to keep in my teacher bag this year! I always keep a picture of me at the age of the children I am teaching- so I never forget who I was at that age, what kind of teacher and friend I wanted to have, and my little worries and hopes.  Apparently I had just lost a tooth in this picture!  This was right before I started Kindergarten, in my all time FAVORITE little nightie. (I do actually have both arms in real life.)  Also, on a side note- my sister had long ringlets much like Goldilocks.  My mom kept my hair short to "thicken it up."  :)  Oh, Carolyn... 

 

 

 





Go find a picture of yourself to keep in your bag! 

Just from getting to "know" all of you from blogging- I can say for sure, the children you once were would LOVE the adults you have become!  :)  

And go grab my Fun in the Fall- US or Fun in the Fall -Canada Prezi for FREE at my TPT Store!  I am keeping them free for this weekend! Happy Back to School!



 

 

 

 

Fun in the Fall Prezis- FREEBIES! :)

I am so excited about the newest Prezis I am working on-which I hope to have done and listed on Friday!  I investigated and screened this internet with a fine tooth comb to find the best Kindergarten Common Core Math activities for each Standard.  There are 22 Kindergarten Math Standards- by the way. I now know each of them more intimately than I even want to- BUT... because of it- I have made Prezis that put resources for each RIGHT AT MY FINGERTIPS. Each little line of print you see is a link to a great game to support that Standard.  The Standards are spread out so that you can click on that area and pull that part forward- to only show the Standard you are working on at that time.  These are SO great for whole group, small group, math centers, RTI, a few extra minutes here and there, mini lessons...  Ahhh. No more searching to find good activities or videos to help teach/reinforce a Standard.  (Why do you think I capitalized "Standard" each time like it is holy or something...oh goodness... I am leaving it, though because it makes me kind of smile.)  ALL DONE.  Well, not all done. I am still working on my 4th Prezi of the group-  Geometry.  I have finished these:

Counting and Cardinality/ Base 10:

Measurement and Data:



Operations and Algebraic Thinking:

I hope you will find them as useful as I do.  This was one of my summer goals- and I have a few days left to finish it! I will be listing them on Friday. :)

To celebrate my excitement for these coming Prezis- I am offering my Fun in Fall Prezi FREE today and tomorrow at my TPT Store!. I have both versions- United States and Canada.  These Prezis are perfect for the beginning of school ( Well, duh- because it is fall... ha!) .

Here is the description of what the US Prezi includes:

 

 

 

This Prezi is a zooming poster FULL of information, videos, songs, stories, activities, and links to everything FALL for a primary classroom. It is a great way to incorporate Science and Social Studies into your classroom, as well as generating ideas for Writer's Workshop. Just click on a topic and have all those resources at your fingertips! Underneath the title are songs about fall. In the Prezi, I have included the following sections: 1.Back to School- which includes songs, online stories, the Pledge of Allegiance (saying, singing, and signing-regular and slow motion) The Star Spangled Banner, Grand Old Flag, a crayon box with videos of how crayons are made, a pencil box with videos of how pencils are made, Pinterest links, and activities/links for The Kissing Hand; 2. Why Leaves Change Color ; 3. How Does a Pumpkin Grow? -includes videos, a lifecycle chart, songs, stories- and some bonus bat and skeleton songs/stories for Halloween; 4. Apples- which includes videos of the lifecycle of apples/apple trees, songs, making applesauce, cider, and donuts, and Johnny Appleseed videos; 5. Monarch Butterflies-which includes activities, lifecycles, videos, a male/female chart, and links to great sites about monarchs; 6. Columbus Day; 7. Election Day- which includes 4 videos and 3 online stories about elections( Duck for President, If I Were President, Grace for President); 8. Veteran's Day- with videos explaining Veteran's Day to children.
Each section also includes a link to Pinterest boards/pins for that subject for easy teacher access to more activities and ideas. 

Here is a description of what the Canadian version includes:



This Prezi is a zooming poster FULL of information, videos, songs, stories, activities, and links to everything FALL for a primary classroom. It is a great way to incorporate Science and Social Studies into your classroom, as well as generating ideas for Writer's Workshop. Just click on a topic and have all those resources at your fingertips! Underneath the title are songs about fall. In the Prezi, I have included the following sections: 1.Back to School- which includes songs, online stories, Oh Canada- with lyrics, sung, with pictures, and in sign language, a crayon box with videos of how crayons are made, a pencil box with videos of how pencils are made, Pinterest links, and activities/links for The Kissing Hand; 2. Why Leaves Change Color ; 3. How Does a Pumpkin Grow? -includes videos, a lifecycle chart, songs, stories- and some bonus bat and skeleton songs/stories for Halloween; 4. Apples- which includes videos of the lifecycle of apples/apple trees, songs, making applesauce, cider, and donuts, and Johnny Appleseed videos; 5. Monarch Butterflies-which includes activities, lifecycles, videos, a male/female chart, and links to great sites about monarchs; And several learning songs about Canada. Each section also includes a link to Pinterest boards/pins for that subject for easy teacher access to more activities and ideas.

I would REALLY appreciate your feedback if you grab a free Prezi!  Thank you so much! :)





This afternoon I will be once again on my search for monarch caterpillars!  OOOOH. The excitement.  (No, that really wasn't sarcastic. I LOVE looking for them.)  I still remember when I taught in the late 80's driving around with my mother, stopping at the medians and sides of the road looking for them.  I loved every minute!  Last year, Emily and I were in the median area on some backroads and a Town truck stopped to ask if we had lost something. I explained my quest for caterpillars- and he said he remembered doing that as a little boy! :)

Here is my sweet story of the week:
How does a Kindergarten teacher's husband show her that he loves her? Let me tell you...
Jeff mowed the lawn Sunday and I noticed a little tiny plant behind our little  tree in the yard-

 

When I went to look closer- it was this:

He left that little milkweed all summer, just in case a monarch decided to stop by and surprise me with an egg/caterpillar for school.  I guess he knows my "love language" pretty well, because that was better than any bouquet or present he could have given me.

Go get your freebie, and  check out some of my other Prezis while you are there for back to school! 

HAPPY HUMPDAY!

My Relationship with Lamination: It's Complicated.

Like so many of you- I have a love of lamination.  Don't worry. Jeff is well aware of my relationship with all things laminated.  He has had to watch as I have been all over my laminated treasures any chance I have had these last few days- cutting, cutting, cutting- and he has had to live with the mess my laminating leaves behind.   (not me... the laminating-) He is always game to join in on the straight cutting (sliding scissors) but draws the line at the fine detail work. I completely understand.  The honeymoon is over with my lamination.  When I printed out all my fabulous materials and made my adorable center activities, name tags and activities, cubby inserts, Common Core Standards, environmental print books... life was so good and hopeful. Now it is a houseguest who has overstayed his welcome.

 

Here is a little story to explain my life as of late.  When our kids were little, we used to describe trip distances by way of TV show times.  For example- my kids loved watching Kratts' Creatures- so if we were going someplace about an hour away, we would say, "It's about 2 Kratts' Creatures away."  Really. We did.  It still makes me smile.

This entire summer, during the day when I have been  home alone, I never turned on the TV at all. I just did other things and didn't even think of it.  The other day, Emily was home with me, and we sat down to watch some TV and cut.  Let me tell you how long I have been cutting lamination...  3 Will and Graces, 2 Duck Dynasties, 2 Secret Millionaires, a Chopped, 2 House Hunters, even some Sports Center and Golf with Jeff... and I am still not done. And you know golf goes on FOREVER!  I had to throw in some Enjoying Everyday Life with Joyce Meyer to keep me grounded.  I am afraid if there is a marathon of The Real Housewives of Orange County this afternoon, I will go down that slippery slope...  This laminating has driven me to drink TV land.

Last night was the last straw because I even had a dream about it. I dreamed that I had broken glass all over our rugs and kept finding little shards of glass when I looked down. This morning when I walked into the family room, I looked at the rug and thought, "OH MY GOSH- shards of laminating!"

Let me say that I am so lucky to be able to send off anything I need to be laminated.  Ladies at our BOCES laminate it for me and send it back.  Every so often, I put in a bag of chocolates with my things to thank them. This time, it was a HUGE bag of Hershey hugs and kisses.  I am SO appreciative.

As I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of my roll of laminate- I do know that this will all be well worth the effort, like any relationship.  I will be so glad I stuck it out.  I do love the things I made, bought, and printed, and so will my class.  I know you are probably thinking that instead of writing and complaining about it, I could be cutting.  Yep.  I am on my way! 

Here I come, Real Housewives!
Have a wonderful Sunday!

Five for Friday! August 23

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

Thank you for hosting this linky!

 My friend Susanna, at Whimsy Workshop just put together an adorable Fairy Tales Masks MEGA pack at her TPT store. Here are a couple pictures she included with her listing:
      

She bundled masks and scripts for acting out Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Goldilocks! I can't wait to use these!  The timing was perfect, because instead of working on what I "should" be doing to start school, I was so excited to make this Jack and the Beanstalk idea, that I made these first.  Now I can't find bean seeds, which is probably good, because we do a plant lesson in March/April - so I will probably not use them until then.  BUT they are all set to go, and I thought I would show you. 

I got my idea from my friend Bobbie, at Kindergarten Shenanigans .(She is a sweetheart and just started blogging- stop over and say "hi!")    She  posted this link from Lessons from a Teacher, and I just loved it!

I made a PDF of some different castles to use and printed them on cardstock. I just copied and pasted different castles- 6 of each on a page, and printed them. If you would like this PDF just let me know and I can easily send it to you- I cannot for the life of me figure out how to embed the PDF here...  :( 

I bought some dowels, cut out the different choices, and hotglued the castles onto the dowels.  After we plant our bean seeds, the children will choose their castle, add some cotton clouds to the bottom and watch Jack's beanstalk climb up to the castle.  I just thought these were adorable!

Fairy tales are so good for sequencing, retelling, character and setting discussions, acting... I love to use them because the children are usually familiar with them (although not so much anymore as they used to be!) and they are usually easy to break down into sequencing parts. (I was going to say 'easy to understand' but they are really pretty crazy when you actually think about them- and not the least big easy to understand! "OK- so this giant lives on top of a bean stalk that grew from these magic beans, and he has this goose ..."  WHAT?!  ;)

My friend Sandy, from Kinder-Gardening posted this sweetest post about what she does to celebrate the children's birthdays in her classroom.  What a sweetheart she is!  I just found these two pins that I am going to use for my classroom birthdays and thought you might like them if you haven't seen them!



Someone suggested this last one to play as the snacks were handed out because it is more subdued. :)

(My poor little #3 looks exhausted! )

I saw this precious idea on Dr. Jean's blog.  She got it from Ashley Swedell. Thank you, Ashley!

I actually bought sparkly silver sneakers for the kids to use. :) The plain black ones were cheaper, but-hey, you only learn how to tie shoes once! (Plus, nobody can walk off with them because it is practically impossible to lift that easel! ;) 

Her picture is better:

I am also using Donna's download from her post here from her blog Peace, Love, and Learning. (I laminated the sign and hung it above the shoes. I did fix my camera setting-but AFTER my picture. (Oh my.  How do I even make it through a day?!)   And I cut out the circles and made Pete necklaces from the badges.  Donna sings, "I love my tied shoes. I love my tied shoes. "  The kids will LOVE that.  We will celebrate BIG when someone learns to tie- believe me!  It's a biggie.

A few years my wonderful mother made little sneakers with shoe laces as pins for the kids. They were SO proud to get one of these! They could actually tie their pins! :)

Last year, I was lazy and gave these certificates- and a gold medal.  I just had to share this picture because...look at that face... and also he wore this gold medal for WEEKS.  <3  AND he told a friend in the class next door all that was required to earn one of these babies-  so the little next door sweetie showed me he could tie and walked out with a medal which he wore proudly, reminding me that he had won from me- every time I saw him!  (I didn't encourage spreading the word about these birthday party favor fabulous, golden  medals because I only had so many!  Now, knowing the power which they hold,  I have stocked up!

All this shoe-tying talk made me think of this :





I saw these this morning on Teaches With A Sense of Humor facebook page and they just made me smile. ( I can hear my 19 year old son groaning if he knew -and yes, Matt, it amused me...)

This one was extra dear to my heart because I remember when my daughter Emily was JUST learning to write her name, and wrote it on the wall in the corner of my dad's office... hmmmm... and we just didn't know who had done it...



And finally- my friend Terri, knowing my love of punctuation marks, sent me this:
8 New Punctuation Marks We Desperately Need.  Are you ready?!?! 

And I will leave you with MY FAVORITE...

 Have a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!