Eeeeek...It's SPIDER week!

We made our weekly art project based on our Spider Unit.  In Reader's Workshop we have been talking about fiction books vs. non-fiction books.  The kids loved learning all the fascinating facts about spiders.  Above is a sample of our project.  Yep, I made it up myself!  Actually, I was originally going to make it into a headband for the kids to wear around, but we needed to display a new art project because we were going to be having families in for a breakfast called "Pastries for Parents"...so I tweaked it a bit so we could hang it up.  I gave the kids the option to glue the legs down on the paper or they could make it more dimensional by stapling  the ends of the legs to the outer edge of the paper.

They looked great in the hallway above our lockers and the kids were very proud explaining all the fun facts to their parents at our "Pastries for Parents" morning. 

One of the most exciting things that we discovered is that some spiders have as many as 8 eyes!  We then discussed if that was a good thing or a bad thing.  After our discussion I gave each of my Littles a kaleidoscope to look through which resembles a spiders eyesight...how fun!!! They had so much fun and were able to tell me many interesting facts about spiders & they now have a better understanding of the difference between fiction and non-fiction books!  WIN-WIN!!!

This is a view from the kaleidoscope... Can you see why my Littles were so captivated by learning about spiders this last week?!?

My new home... For the next 9 months!

Here's what I had to work with:

Here's what it became:

Lockers

These are some of the lockers right outside of our room. I have a set on each side of my doors.

I still have to get a couple of posters up, they keep falling down!



Here's my desk.

My favorite part...my document camera!

I also LOVE how I have my lesson plans displayed this year.  Looks so clean!

 



The Front of the Room

The view from the back of the room.  This little area is the classroom library. 

I still have to get my new big green rug in there!  I also have a set of kiddie furniture

to add once I get it re-upholstered...no fabric allowed! 





The Window Side of the Room.

The view from one of the entryways.  Nice picture, huh?  I missed the 2 other windows.  I think it was around 11:00pm, hence the darkness outside!  We are lucky that we got some fabulous window shades for those babies.  It gets bright in there during the day!



The Entrance Side of the Room

The view from my desk.  I have choice time totes under the brown sheet. 

I didn't want them exposed during open house so I covered them up!

 



The Back of the Room

The view from the front of the room. A look at my guided reading area.  On the left of the table is where my Title 1 teacher will work.  On the right of the table is where my volunteer Grandma will work. 

Our Classroom Motto:

Believe in yourself...nothing is im-POSSUM-ble!

Star {word}Gazing

One of my favorite bulletin boards to display high frequency words, student names, colors & etc. When I introduce a new word I will clip it onto the ribbon hanging from the star.  I still need to finish adding the ribbons on letters J-Z...they are supposed to look like shooting stars.  It seemed like a good idea in my head at the time!



Going BUGGY for Birthdays

(& the listening center!)

Each jar has a month at the top and each students' name is

written on a jar in the month that we celebrate their birthday.

Camper of the Week

In a couple of weeks I will be sending home posters with the Little's

that they can fill out with their families telling all about themselves.

My cute black bears to help complete our "Camp" look!

I still need to find the marker that goes in the bear's hand so it looks like

he's the one who crossed off the word "don't".



Table Signs

I made these this year to color code with my tables.

Actually, it think I made them more for me...sometimes I have

trouble remembering where my colored tables are, now all I

have to do is look up!

And my favorite part of my new space...

Yep, this whole storage space is all mine!!!  Actually, my neighbor and I share this closet but I have my side and she has her side and we also have a couple of different "shared" spaces.  I LOVE that I can see what I'm looking for when I need it.  I also LOVE that I have my own little work area and all the supplies that I need.

I may have a slight addiction to plastic storage containers!

Well, that's my classroom space.  I'm sure there will be more to come as I work out the kinks of being in a brand new school!  Thanks for looking!

I Just Got A Letter...

I Just Got A Letter... I Just Got A Letter... I Just Got A Letter... Wonder Who's It's From??? {think Blues Clues} I love it when I get mail...the real stuff-not any bills or junk mail! Well, today waiting for me in my mailbox was this little letter waiting to be opened. This letter is from one of my Littles from this last year, one of the sweetest students I've ever had! The content does not surprise me because she typically wears her heart on her sleeve. Check it out!!! Ü

GREAT News!!! All-Day...Hooray!

I just got word that I will be teaching All-Day Every-Day Kindergarten next year!!! It's official!  I cannot tell you how excited I am!  I don't think that it would be that big of a deal except that I've been teaching 1/2 Day Kindergarten for 2 years now.  Prior to that I taught Full Day Kindergarten for 3 years and LOVED every. single. moment! Cannot wait to get to "fully" know 20 kids as opposed to getting to "kinda" know 44 kids.  Oh, and the conferences...I will only have 2 nights instead of 2 nights and 2 days!  Ooooh, and the lessons that I will be able to teach them now!  So, so, so EXCITED!!!

{Insert Happy Dance here!}

ARRRR...Ya Ready For A Treasure?

Work, Work, Work!  It seems everywhere I turn there's work to be done!  All work, no play...what a sad, sad day!  School is crazy busy with all the assignments needing to be done, teaching is insane with conferences coming up this week and my house-well, that's another story that I don't want to think about.  If I acknowledge my MeSsY house, that means that I'd have to start cleaning...What house?
So here I am, done with some of my assignments for the week and thought I'd get a little play in... Usually it takes me a couple of days to create a week long unit, this time it took me close to 3 weeks.  I have been doing a good job focusing on my Master's classes...hopefully my teachers would say the same, who knows!  Anyway, here in Minnesota it is still cold & there's more snow in our future and I have been getting a little Spring Fever.  So here is the FREEBIE I have come up with...

Click on the picture below to get your FREEBIE!

 

 

Here are my Pirate Math Centers that I
just posted to my TPT Store.

 

Click below to head back to the

Fabulous Freebie Friday page!

 

Love Your Teeth

Well, February has almost come and gone and I am just beginning to talk about Dental Health with my Littles!  We began school early this year because we are moving into a BRAND NEW:} building this summer...so, we got to celebrate the 100th Day of School early.  Therefore, my Dental Health unit got pushed back to when we normally celebrate the 100th Day of School.  Did you follow all that?  Oh well, pish-posh, no biggie!  Anyway, every year when I go to teach about healthy habits to my Littles, I try to integrate this theme naturally into my reading and math lessons as well.  Every year I tell myself: "Be prepared...", "Search for hands-on activities..." and "Plan well in advance!"  Well, every year I find myself scrambling to find appropriate activities-at the last minute, of course!  Not this year!  (Maybe pushing this theme back a few extra weeks was beneficial!)  I was able to create a couple of activities for my Littles that are Dental Health themed, but with reading and math skills!  I just {heart} it when things work out!  Click on the picture that will bring you to my TPT Store for the Dental Health CVC activity and the Tooth Fairy Race to 100 Game that I created. But wait, scroll down to find your differen Roll & Cover FREEBIE!  AND.....Don't forget to show the love and follow me and/or leave a comment! 
P.S.  The first two people to leave me a comment will get the CVC Activity FREE...don't forget to leave your email address though!

 

 

 

Tooth Fairy Race to 100!

 

 

Click on either of these pictures for your FREEBIE!

 

 

 

 

 

Don't ya just LOVE Freebies?!?!?!

Head back to Freebie Friday...

 

 

 

 

BRRR...it's Cold!

BRRRR...it's cold here in MN!  We are having a good old fashioned BLIZZARD! However, I am nice and cozy sitting in front of the fireplace with my puppy cuddled up on my lap and my laptop warming up my legs.  The kids are outside playing in the snow and the husband is shoveling.  (P.S. I do feel a little guilty for not helping him, but I figure if he is going to do it- I don't want to get in his way! :)  I am feeling quite creative today and so naturally I figured that I would do some creating. 
I shouldn't be thinking about St. Patrick's Day already, especially on a day like today!  Last week I noticed that a few of my kids were still having a difficult time making connections with beginning sounds.  So here is an activity that can be differentiated to fit the needs of various levels. 

I made it so the kids could match beginning sound pictures with uppercase letters.  However, it could also be used as a Write-the-Room activity if you used just the beginning sound pictures.  All you need to do is hang the pictures around the room, give the kids a clipboard, pencil and the accountability page and they should be good to go!  They walk around the room looking for the beginning sound pictures and write the letter beside the picture on their own accountability sheets! For those kiddos that are secure with beginning sounds, you could have them write the word of each picture they find.  So, click here and head on over to my TPT store to get your own copy.  Happy Sound Hunting!

St. Paddy's Day FREEBIE

St. Patrick's Day Measurement

Welcome Friends, I have been so excited by the amount of visitors to my little blog.  It is fun to watch the statistics and view the comments that people post.  I really appreciate all your kind and encouraging words, thank you so much!  Please feel free to follow me by clicking on the button to the right.  After you follow my blog, click on the above picture to get your next FREEBIE!  Enjoy!

Freebie Friday!

Well, hello there! If you are here, chances are that you would like a FREEBIE!?!? Let me be the first to officially welcome you, you are among some of the first sets of eyes viewing my new little blog! I am fairly new to this side of the blogging world and have been inspired by so many fellow teachers out there. I can't tell you how how excited I get when I see some of my favorite bloggers posting new activities, ideas, stations, etc. That IS what education is about... Teachers-HELPING-Teachers. After all, it does take a village to raise a child! So, with that being said, I hope you come back and visit often.  Feel free to follow me and enjoy your new FREEBIE!

 

 

Valentine's Day Measurement

Math Station

 

Valentine's Day Place Value

Math Station

 

Valentine's Day Telling Time

Math Station

 

Counting Groundhog Syllables

To go along with the "Groundhog" theme, here is something that I just created and posted in my TPT store.  I am becoming so addicted to creating activities for my Little's that I can't seem to stop!  I think I need to be enrolled in a Creator Anonymous Group...is there such a thing? HELP!!!

FREEBIE: How Tall Is Your Shadow, Mr. Groundhog?

Here is a fun Groundhog activity that I have been working on.  We have been talking about various units of measurement and I thought that this activity would fit in nicely with our theme.  I actually have the littles do this activity twice. Once using pennies and once using paperclips.  I then have them compare and contrast their data.  They loved this!

I HEART the Blogging Community!

Well, here goes nothing!  A couple of years ago over my winter break I discovered the wonderful world of blogging.  I stumbled upon a blog and one thing lead to another.  Before I knew it...it was 6am and the sun was {almost} coming up.  That was a really long day, especially since my children get up around the time the sun does!  Since then I have been frantically searching (and some may call it stalking) my favorite blogs.  I guess you could call me a "Blog Hog."  Please be patient with me as I am trying to learn the lingo as I go.  My goal is to {try to} blog at least once a month week...maybe!  Since I have been so inspired by my fellow educator bloggers, I would like to share my world as an educator and share some of the creative activities that I make. So, with that being said-Wish me luck!