Assemble the Minions!

Wow it has been a crazy time in my life.  My dad was rushed to the hospital with pancreatitis and will eventually need to have his gall bladder out.  Going back and forth to the hospital every day was exhausting and I'm so glad to have a long weekend to try to get myself back to normal.

While all of this happened, my students earned their first party by filling up the jar with Mr. Wiggle counters.  I decided to give the party a minion theme and it was a hit.  They had so much fun...and so did I!

First I decorated and yes I may have went a little overboard blowing up 20 balloons and drawing faces on them with a sharpie, but the kids loved it.  And then there were the cupcakes I made with little Twinkie minions. Delicious!

 The look on the children's faces when they came in were priceless.  They were so excited, but of course we had to still have some learning time so I created these minion practice activities.  They had a great time counting the minions and reading the book.

Then we did my favorite activity of the day.  I found this video on Youtube where someone was going step by step on how to draw a minion.  He had 2 kids drawing next to him which was great.  My kids (and their teachers) really listened and followed his directions and we all drew our own. What a fun way to practice our listening skills and following multi-step directions. Here are a few I managed to snap a picture of... too cute!

Then we made a minion visor and chose whether we wanted a one-eyed minion or a two-eyed one.  Most chose one-eyed.  Here's my sample.

It was a fabulously fun day.  I seriously don't now how I am going to top it!

In other notes we also completed our Veteran's Day projects thanks to Deanna Jump for this adorable project in her Veteran's Day packet.

Lastly, here's a look at who will meet next week...

The fur was flying today!

Today we did one of my favorite activities! Now I am very much a girlie girl and I don't like gross things, but this activity is way cool!

We began by reading about owls using a non-fiction book by Gail Gibbons called Owls.  While reading this book, we discussed what we were hearing and cleared up any questions the children had.  I paid special attention to the page about how an owl eats.  An owl will often times swallow it's prey whole. It can't digest all of it, so it "spits" it out in the form of a pellet.  In these pellets you can find the bones and fur of that unfortunate animal.

I love to watch the looks on the faces of my students as they go from uncertainty to excitement.  I couldn't even count how many times I heard how cool this project was.  They learned so much and were so intrigued by what they could find in that little pellet.  I always buy my pellets from Genesis, Inc.  The pellets always are cleaned and full of bones including skulls.  Below is a photo of the bones found in one pellet by one of my kiddos.  So very cool!

And just for fun we made Frankenstein in preparation for Halloween.  I love all the "boo-boos" on these two.  Too cute!

A quick update

Things have been so busy with preparing for a performance with the dance company I am in and trying to keep up with planning for school, I've barely turned on my laptop much less had time to blog. So here's a quick update to the goings on in my classroom.

We are moving right along with our Reader's and Writer's Workshop.  The children are doing great in both.  We have even started writing our own personal narrative books. I can't believe how far they have come in just a the first couple of months of school.

October brings Fire Safety Week and Christopher Columbus, so here are a few of the projects we created.  Credit to Kim Adsit's Columbus Unit for the craft activity.

And just for some letter sound fun, here is "M is for Moose!"

It's been too long...

but boy are we having a good time in kindergarten!

Routines are becoming just that, routines finally and we are getting wrapped up in learning.  Pretty soon, my minions will come off my door to make room for mummies.  I'll post a picture of the door when it's done.

Anyway, we are really building our writing stamina in Writer's Workshop and are beginning working on our reading stamina.  My students are really doing great with the writing. I have never had a class that will just go for it and write.  I am more used to being asked over and over about how to spell words.  These kids are just going for it- some are writing the actual sounds and others are just writing a jumble of letter at this point, but they are trying which is awesome.  I used Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills Writing unit and I am happy to say it has made a huge difference.  The children's drawings are becoming so detailed and I think it is really helping them understand what a setting is in a story. We have backgrounds in our stories/pictures, not just a character! Awesome!

The children really enjoyed shopping for "Good Fit" books like Kim Adsit's Reader's Workshop unit suggests.  The had a ball choosing their books and then going deeper in their books and making substitutions.  Lean and Tell and Turn and Talk have also been introduced and they are starting to understand the difference.  I love listening to their conversations with each other.

Both of these workshops occur daily, but we are still able to fit in creative time with some fun projects.  We started our study of letters with the letter A and made ourselves into astronauts.  They turned out so cute as you can see.

We also got introduced to Nelly Noun thanks to Kreative in Kinder for her ELA Super Heros pack.  I created a project to go along with her and the kids loved her.  I think it is going to make such a difference in getting them to remember what a noun is.

Finally, we also celebrated the coming of the fall season with some scarecrows and the seasons of an apple tree.

We are off to a great start in kindergarten and I can't wait to see what comes next!

I can't stand how cute!

Here are all my students' paintings from last week.  Those rectangles are covering their names. How sweet they all look! This is why I love this project!

So much fun in kindergarten!!!

First two days!

Wow, I'd forgotten how exhausting the first days of school can be.  Just getting up at 5:15AM was a shock to the system, but the constant energy needed to keep myself moving was C-R-A-Z-Y!

Anyway, it was a great start to the year.  My kiddos are adorable and seem so eager to get learning.  Just what I like! The first day was a half day and we got to know each other and dived right in with some projects- decorating a picture frame for their first day photos and I traced each child for a painting project the next day.  Here is how 2 of the frames turned out! We are experts with glue bottles already!

The next day we really got in to the routines of Kindergarten. We began our math series with a unit on Position and Location. The kids really enjoyed the memory game that comes with this one.

Then it was time to paint.  I love this project! I have to love it to do it every year.  It can get insane with all of my students painting at once and needing different colors and spilling the paint and trying not to get it on their uniforms... You get the idea.  However, it is awesome to see how much they enjoy it.  They really love to recreate themselves, as you can see by these two that I took a picture of- I love the ears on the first one and all the hair on the second one.  Too cute!

 After lunch, we spent the afternoon working in our Poems, Songs, and Anchor Charts notebooks.  We started by putting in the 5 Little Monsters poem (credit Deanna Jump) that we read and then put in our first anchor chart for Reader's Workshop (credit Kim Adsit).  This chart reminds us what being ready to learn looks like.  After they glued the chart in, they drew a picture to go with it.

We ended the day with a visit from our 5th grade buddies where I think we got out every bucket from the toy shelf.  I'm pretty sure the 5th graders wanted that playtime more than my kiddos! Thankfully there was a surprise waiting for me at home... delicious!

Thanks Dad!!!

Time to Go!!!

I am so ready for this school year to begin! I have met the parents and my little kiddos.  They were so cute at the open house, playing together, you could see their excitement...and their nerves.  Now we are just waiting for the first day.  I kind of think this part is worse.  I'm ready, plans are ready, supplies have been put away, projects and activities are prepped and yet... I'm just waiting for it to begin.  I know I will regret these words when I am exhausted, but I want to get started!

See you on September 5th with the fun of the first day and then one of my favorite projects.  I'll be up to my knees in paint on Friday, but I love how these turn out!

I love to shop!

More importantly, I love to save! I don't go crazy about it, but I love it when I see that 50% off sign in stores... better yet 60% or 70%.  I love shopping for clothes and I pride myself on not ever paying full price.  When it comes to teaching materials, sometimes you have to, but not today!  Thanks to the Teachers Pay Teachers Back to school sale!

Some of my favorite purchases today (I hope I do the links right!)

These are great activities and they come with multiple ways to complete them.

The pages in this packet are a perfect way to work on letter sounds while practicing cutting.  I love activities that the children can work on their own and they are not just printing and coloring.

I am so excited to use these this year.  I am getting each student their own necklace.  I will be busy this week printing these and getting them ready for the year.  I think my kids are going to love this!



It's so hard to find good religious materials that are appropriate for kinders.  I love this packet. The posters and follow up writing activity are great!




So much in this packet it is ridiculous!




Penguins are a favorite of mine.  I love this packet and will be adding to my already fabulous unit on penguins from Deanna Jump.

Can you tell I love Teachers Pay Teachers? These are just a few of the things I purchased. All of these teachers are so talented and it is so perfect that there is a place that we can all benefit from their talent.  Sale ends tomorrow, so teachers get on that! 

My bad...

So I guess I missed the rest of Teacher Week '13.  I got wrapped up in things school related and didn't have time to post.

Truthfully, though I had nothing to add to the classroom management conversation.  I don't use any clip charts, incentive charts, or behavior charts.  I expect my students to pay attention, follow directions, and do their best.  Don't get me wrong, it's not all sunshine and puppies in my room, but it works.  However I think I may try something I read on another blog this year, Behavior Beads.  I'll be putting that TPT sale to good use tomorrow.

Anyway, a few tips:

1.  I used to keep my craft projects in bank boxes.  First I had 2 boxes, then 3 and so on and so on.  It took up a lot of space and things kept falling out.  I bought these 4 bins that I can stack on the shelf and keep closed.  I labeled them this year so I know where everything is.

2.  My favorite piece of organization is my Lakeshore daily bins.  I used to use a folder for each day's work, but sometimes the projects were bigger and wouldn't fit.  These bins make it so much easier and if I am ever out unexpectedly, everything the sub needs is in that day's bin.

3.  These are the chair pockets that I have used for years.  Someone made them for me from ebay.  I don't remember the seller, but I do remember that I got 25 for less than I would have spent for sacks I had to replace every year from a catalog.  I sew the name tag holder on every summer after I wash them.  They're great!

4.  Lastly, my children's books.  Like every other teacher, I have an addiction to children's books.  My book cart only holds so many books, so I keep the ones I am not using in labeled boxes.  I use a sticker system to keep things organized and when I switch them out I simply replace the same colored sticker.

Well, I am taking a short break this week from my classroom while they clean the hallway floors.  My room is ready for kids to come and take a look around on August 27th and my parent folders are ready for the 26th.  Sadly, summer is almost over.  And yet I am excited to meet my new group of sweeties!

Teacher Week '13- Now Teach!

I like to think of myself as pretty organized.  Everything has it's place.  After teaching for over 10 years, I have learned what works best for me.  I am blessed to be in a classroom that has great closets.  After moving classrooms this year, I discovered that the closets in my new room are at least a foot wider.  Woohoo!!!

This is my arts and craft closet.  I also store my Reading teaching manuals and listening center CDs.

This closet has math manipulatives, readers from our series, my math manuals, and various other teaching tools.

As you can see, I have a lot of stuff.  That is what happens when your mom worked at a Teacher Store for years.  It's crazy that I use it all- not every year, but often enough.

I didn't take pictures of where I keep student supplies.  I have closed containers of crayons, markers, pencils, glue sticks, and scissors.  I keep them in one of those wheeling carts.  This way when we do a project that needs them, we just grab the container and bring it to a table.  The children have their own crayon boxes with crayons, pencil, and glue stick in their chair pockets.  I purchased my pockets from someone on ebay 5 years ago.  They are made of denim and I wash them every year and they still look great!  

In my area of my classroom is where I organize my handouts, workshop activities, and work station centers.  I use those awesome 10 drawer carts- one for each month.  In one cart I have workshop and work station centers and the other has my master copies for the month.  On the shelf, I keep my materials for the week in the Lakeshore Organizer.  One of my favorite purchases ever!

So that's how I try to stay organized.  I'm sure I'll get more ideas from the other posts.  Check them out at Blog Hoppin.

My Classroom Tour

I had to move classrooms this year due to increased enrollment in our PreK (yeah)!  It meant I had to pack over 10 years of stuff and move it down the hall, unpack it, and deal with the panic moments.  Fortunately I only had one real panic attack when my furniture didn't fit, but thanks to my ever so calming father, all is well now.  I still have some work to do, but it is looking more like my home away from home every day.

My favorite thing I have done so far is my door.  I haven't written my student's names on them yet, but this is what I expect my door to look like.   Assemble the Minions!

Here is the view as you walk in the door, excuse my pile of junk on the table. 

This is the area where most of the "play" happens.  Also, please excuse the computer mess.  It still needs to be set up.

This is to the right of the last photo.  I just hung up a curtain today that covers the cubbies.  I love storage especially when you can hide it.

Here is the front corner where one of my work stations is located. Also a spot on the board for the anchor chart we are working on and you can see my laptop for the Promethean Board on the left.

Another work station area where the kids work with the pocket chart activity, begin the Write the Room activity or use materials on the shelf.

The view from the back of my classroom.

My area- notice my love of penguins on the windowsill. 

And I just had to add the table of to be finished work.  So not done yet...

So that's my classroom all set up and neat.  I should take pictures after the kids have "lived" in it for a month.

Teacher Week '13

Well, let's see if I can mess this up! I am going to try to participate and add my thoughts to Teacher Week '13.  No idea what I am doing here, but here goes...

Meet Me!
   

Photo from Nacre Dance Company website

    I've been teaching kindergarten for over 10 ten years in a Catholic School.  I taught 3rd grade for a couple of years before being switched to kindergarten.  I always thought I wanted to teach K, but when the switch was made, I knew I was where I belonged.  I love teaching these little ones and being their teacher when they learn so much.  Let's face it, those kids that come in on the first day grow so much by the time they graduate.  So many milestones and so much fun along the way.

         Now with the Common Core Standards, things in kindergarten have changed.  Since I started implementing these standards, I realized that my students could handle more of a challenge and higher expectations.  However, I am not ready to let go of the fun that needs to be in kindergarten.  There is no reason that meeting these standards means you have to cut out the fun.  Not in my classroom!  We work on reading, writing, math, religion... ok too many things to list, each day, but you'll still see craft projects, block play, and time at the kitchen center.  And let's not forget that all important part of the day, RECESS!!! 

         Outside of the classroom, as you can see, I am a dancer who thought she had retired only to join a modern dance company last year.  I am continuing to dance this year.  It makes me exhausted in a good way! I've danced since I was about 5 years old and majored in dance in college.  Coming back to it after a few years, I realized how much I loved and missed it.  I'm so glad I found it again.  It really helps to have something to focus on outside of teaching.

         Well that's me...oh and one more thing