Random Updates!

Here are some random ideas and updates of what I have been doing since I have been MIA. (Sorry y'all... Grad school is KILLING me.)

Easy Hands-On Addition Practice

This is an easy way to make a simple addition worksheet a hands-on learning experience. Just add manipulatives! We drew two circles and used beans to solve the addition problems that came from this set of  free worksheets. Easy, no-prep practice!

International Day--Mexico

Every year, my school has "International Day" where each classroom researches a different country. We then make a banner and bring a food item from our country for all of the other classes to try. The kids LOVE it. I am always surprised with how willing they are to try all the different foods and how eager they are to learn about different cultures.

Our country this year was Mexico. We made Day of the Dead Masks and our food was Mexican Wedding Cookies. The cookies are pretty much all butter and sugar--but of course the kids loved them!

Long/Short Vowel Anchor Chart

My curriculum teaches long/short vowels by having the children mark the vowels in the word. I am curious to know how others teach it? It is a hard skill for my kiddos to grasp, but we are working on it! I made this anchor chart to help them.

St. Patrick's Day and Spring Centers

We have busted out the St. Patrick's Day and Spring Centers. Spring Break is next week (woopwoop!) so we are using some of them this week! 

(Don't judge me for the nasty glue desk. If you teach kindergarten, I KNOW you'd be lying if you said your desks don't look like this the majority of the time! At least I hope so.)

Need some more St. Patrick's Day ideas? Check out these posts from last year.

Valentine's Day Giveaway

Hi friends! I have recently updated my Valentine's Day Mini Unit. (If you have already purchased it... re-download it for free!) It was one of the first products I ever made and it has been revamped and includes many more activities! Stay to the end of this post for a chance to win it for yourself!

Do you ever look back at a product you made a while ago and think... "ummm this is not half as good as I remember it being"? Well I no longer have to think that about this product. =) It is finally getting to the point where I can re-use activities I made last year... buuuut some things have needed a little touch up.

Here you can see the majority of the activities that are in this set.

In this mini unit:

-4 Math Centers (each center includes a cover page with visual directions as well as a recording sheet)
--candy heart patterns
--scoop and tally
--lovely tens frames (numbers 11-20)
--time to the hour and half hour match (color and B&W)

-4 Literacy Centers (each center includes a cover page with visual directions as well as a recording sheet)
--There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose sequencing (2 levels)
--short vowel sort
--loving long vowels (2 levels)
--sight word BAM! game

also... Valentine's Card graphing, interactive sight word reader, and more!

EVERY center now comes with a cover page that has visual directions. This makes it super easy for your kiddos to complete the center independently. I find it hard for my students to not ask me a million questions without it. It helps me have peace when I am working with a small group. =)

Check out my class using some of these centers last year in this post. 

Want to win this Valentine's Day Mini Unit? Just "follow" my blog and leave a comment with your email address. I will pick a winner over the weekend. =)
Congrats to #4, Laura!

'Tis the Season and Giveaway

It is December and you know what that means... Christmas, CHRISTmas, CHRISTMAS! Yippee!!

We busted out the Christmas-y centers this week. I am giving some away again! Be sure to stick around until the end to see how you can win them.

These are a few of the literacy centers from my 'Tis the Season Math and Literacy Centers. These centers are festive, but they could easily pass as "holiday" centers if you aren't allowed to celebrate Christmas at your school.

(Please excuse my not-so-great pictures. Do anyone else's kiddos get super distracted when they catch you taking pictures?)

ABC Order

Students put the cards in alphabetical order and write the words in order on the recording sheet.

CVC Stocking Stuffers

Students match the picture to the word and write the words on the recording sheet.

Deck the Halls... with Ending Sounds!

Here students put the pictures on the tree with the corresponding ending sound. Then they write the ending sound on the recording sheet.

Write the Room

Kiddos find pictures around the room and write the word beside the matching picture on the recording sheet.

(My kids are obsessed with write the room! Why are clipboards so fun?!)

All of the centers have a cover page with visual directions as well as a recording sheet.

Want to win these festive centers? Head over to the K-3 Connection facebook page, like it, and leave a comment on the latest post with your email address! I will pick a winner by the end of the weekend. 

Congrats to Thursday, Breanne, and Marie! Check your email ladies!

Good luck!

Christmas Centers Giveaway

I have finally finished my 'Tis the Season Centers. Y'all... these took me a MONTH to finish. I am so glad to be done and I love how they turned out! Stick around until the end of this post for a chance to win it!

There are six math and six literacy centers included in this set--all common core aligned! It is "Christmas" themed but I tried to make it so that the activities could be used even if you can't technically celebrate Christmas in your classroom. Here is a look at what centers are in this set...

I will be using these after Thanksgiving so I will add pictures of them in action then!

While you are here, be sure to enter my Tieks $100 Giveaway! You can also see my review of Tieks here. These shoes are seriously the. best.

Did you see my Pumpkin Pie Tasting Freebie? It is perfect for the last few days before Thanksgiving! We will be using it tomorrow. Pictures to come!

Last but not least... leave a comment below with your email address for a chance to win my 'Tis the Season Centers. I will pick winners in the next couple of days! 

Busy, busy, busy! with a FREEBIE

Sooo it has been a busy week to say the least! We only had a four day week, but it seemed like it was six days long. How does that work? The end of the year is creeping up and I absolutely cannot believe it! We started learning the song we will sing at Kindergarten Graduation. It made me want to cry! I am going to be a mess the last day of school. I'll miss my sweet kinders.

 

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, we created the cupcake coupon book that was in the TpT newsletter. I still remember giving things like that to my mom and how much she loved them. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever and can't wait to help their mommies with some extra chores. (You're welcome Moms, haha!) I think they turned out pretty cute!

 

(This came from Amanda Gregory's TpT store. You can grab it for free here.)

 

Tooth Extraction Subtraction

We have been working on subtraction and we did this super cute activity from Heidi Songs blog.

Here's how it works: The kids each get a page that shows a kid with ten teeth (put the sheet inside a page protector). They roll the dice to see how many teeth to knock out take away. They black out those teeth and count how many are left. Then, they write down the subtraction problem they have created. 

My kids had a blast with this and were SO ENGAGED. Dice + dry erase markers = FUN in kindergarten.

You can get the pictures of the kids from Heidi's blog. Here is a free recording sheet I made to go with it. Just click here to download.

Summer Centers

I got to bust out the Sizzlin' Summer Centers this week. Woohoo! We will be using centers from this pack until the end of the year.

Teacher Appreciation Sale

I was so excited for the TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale that I filled up my cart the day it was announced. I can never pass up a good sale. Here is some of the stuff I bought:

You can see that I kind of went clip art crazy. Oops.

I had orientation for grad school this week. My summer break won't be much of a break, but I am excited and nervous to go to school again. Completing two classes in one month may kill me!

Earth Day

We had lots of fun starting our Earth Day mini unit today. We will be celebrating all week long!

This morning, we planted flowers outside of our school. The kids thought it was pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Here is a look at some of the centers we are using. They are from my Hip Hip Hooray it's Earth Day set. Each of the centers have a recording sheet even though most are not shown.

This center is a true or false addition sort. The kids decide if the addition sentences are true or not and sort them under the correct "recycle bin".

Here the kiddos practice skip counting by 2.

The kids find the number that is missing in this center.

Here the kids practice subtraction by using the pictures shown on the cards. They cross out the correct number of flowers and then record their subtraction sentences. They LOVED this. Why are dry erase markers so fun?

Don't forget to grab my Earth Day freebie center if you haven't already. Just click the picture.

Happy Earth Day!

Boot Scootin' Blog Hop with a FREEBIE! and Let's Get Acquainted

Howdy y'all!  I am so happy you stopped by! I am joining some of my fellow Tennessee bloggers and taking part in my first ever blog hop. Woo hoo! So exciting. =) Be sure to click through to look at all of the fabulous blogs and grab some freebies. Thank you to Elizabeth from Kickin' it in Kindergarten for putting this together for all of us! You're amazing!

Without any delay... here is your FREEBIE!

It is a skip counting center with a recording sheet and a cover page with visual directions. With this, your kiddos can practice skip counting by both 5 and 10. Not to mention, it is perfect to add to your spring centers! Click on the picture above to grab the freebie.

If you like the freebie, be sure to check out my other springy centers in my April Showers Bring May Flowers set.

Your next stop in our Boot Scootin' Blog Hop will be with Kelly at Young & Lively Kindergarten.

She has tons of great ideas with pictures so that you can see exactly how she does things! Her blog rocks!

Now "scoot" on over to check out Young & Lively Kindergarten and don't forget to check out the other Tennessee bloggers so that you can grab up your freebies!

Let's Get Acquainted

This week we are supposed to tell what three things we would want if we were stranded on a desert island.

1. Cell phone

Even though I'm sure I wouldn't have service on a desert island, I would still want to have my phone close. You never know, maybe I would get lucky and it would work. Oooor I would just play on it or listen to music like I always do (until it died anyway). 

2. Chap stick

I always HAVE TO have my chap stick and it HAS to be Burt's Beeswax. I would definitely want it if I was stranded somewhere. I put it on all the time at school and my kids always ask me why I am putting on lipstick. It makes me wonder if they go home and tell their parents that I put on lipstick all day long. 

3. A Hair Tie

I can't stand to have my hair down most of the time. Its always in a ponytail unless I am working (sometimes even then) or somewhere I need to look nice.

Don't forget to link up and hop through our blog hop!

Thanks for stopping by =)