Five for Friday

It's Friday! :) Yay! Time to link up with Doodle Bugs & *Teaching Maddeness* and share 5 things from my week...

We have been having all kinds of dino-fun this week! It's kind of sad that the kids have more schema about dinosaurs than I do. Pitiful! I butcher dino-names like no one's business, the kids cheer for me when I get the names right! Oh my! They don't care though, they are having too much fun and I'm learning SO much! Today we were measuring dinosaurs using cubes. This was  a hit for sure. The kids talked and recorded the dino's height, weight and length.

There are dinosaurs all over our room, even in our ELA centers!

This week my grade level had "In Awe of Authors". The kindergarten classes rotated among all the kindergarten teachers to learn about different authors. It was awesome! The author that I shared was Audrey Wood. I read Silly Sally and The Napping House. The kids had fun acting out the story The Napping House.

The teacher next door did Jan Brett. She was so cute- she read the Armadillo Rodeo. She was dressed up as a cowgirl and had these fun displays. I loved it! I have to remember that a tablecloth works decorating magic!!!

With 12 days of school left I am looking forward to getting familiar with Fountas & Pinnell Prompting Guide over the break. Have you used this Prompting Guide? I am hoping to get the language, vocabulary and questions from this tool in hopes of being even more effective during guided reading and read alouds. I have had it for a while, and I won't lie...it's been collecting dust. (shame)

Lastly, today we were working on updating our goal book, it is almost time to send it home! Just can't believe it! I snapped some pictures while the students were working. It is such an encouragement to see all the learning gains the students have made! How can I be discouraged when I see how much the kids have grown- either through reading, writing or even drawing! The best part though was listening to the kids reflect on how much they have grown and changed. They were proud of themselves!

I'm half asleep, it's time for cuddling in bed! I hope you had a great week! Head on over to Doodle Bugs & *Teaching Maddeness* and link up! 

Happy Weekend! :)

Top 5 Classroom Projects Linky

When I saw this link party, I just had to link up!

Ok...I'm going to warn you now- I cheated and just couldn't choose just 5! So here are my top 7...

#1- My students completed a "Jack-O-Character" as a Home Project. The students chose their favorite book character and created a pumpkin character. I know that the parent probably did most of this work, but the kids loved talking about their favorite characters and books.

Jack-O-Character

#2- We had lots of gingerbread fun in December! We read all kinds of gingerbread stories- so much fun!! We made real gingerbread cookies and houses, and then created these craftivities. During this unit I saw my kids becoming independent and really starting to be "team players". It was exciting!

Gingerbread Time 

#3- Presidents' Day was the first time I did a directed drawing with my class. I fell in love! This directed drawing was created by Kindergarten Planet.

Presidents' Day

#4- EVERYTHING Suess! 

Seuss Mania

#5- Our fairytale unit was so fun, and the kids totally got into it. I probably loved watching the kids act out the stories the best. 

Fairy Tale Fun

#6- Everything Cinco de Mayo was so fun. My kids wore their sombreros back to school for like 3 days after we made them. (That is huge considering most of them usually don't wear the hats we make for more than an hour!!!) We had so much fun with our pinatas and eating chips, salsa and tacos. My kids are still randomly saying "OLE!" and "Ay Caramba!" throughout the day. 

Cinco de Mayo

#7- Mother's Day was so special! I loved how everything turned out. Maybe I especially loved this one because my mom was here and helped out with it!

Mother's Day

Go link up! I want to see your top 5 (or 7!?! ;) ) Happy Wednesday!

A Mother's Day Five for Friday

I had the most fantastic week, and I can't wait to share it with you! :)

This week was filled with preparing for today, when we hosted Muffins with Mom.

We made special hats for our mom's to wear for the occasion- the hats were a HUGE hit and amazing for pictures! They were SO easy to make. All you need is coffee filters, construction paper, string, tape, scissors, a stapler, a water bottle and markers. The students cut out the hat template and used a marker to draw "band" on the hat. Then the students colored a coffee filter any way they liked and used the spray bottle to spray it with water. After the coffee filter dried the students crushed it together to form a flower and stapled it to the hat. Last with the tape we attached a string to use to tie the hat on...VIOLA! 

We made a little recipe card holder for a little gift for our mothers. We used medium size paper clips, a picture and a recipe card. Keeping the "muffin" theme, I took each student's photo and place it inside a muffin template. Each photo read "Happy Mother's Day 2013 From Your Little Love Muffin". Then The students created a "Recipe for a Great Mom (Aunt or Grandma)". We just attached the muffin photo to the paper clip and then placed the recipe card in the holder. 

My mom was such a HUGE help getting ready for this event and even serving as "mom" for a few students whose mothers were unable to attend today. She is the best mother EVER! :) I am so blessed to have her...she has always been my biggest cheerleader and in all my failings she is always proud of me! I don't know what I would do without her! Isn't she gorgeous! LOVE HER!

This week we did a mini science experiment. I was so fascinated by this activity! We took a head of red leaf lettuce and cut it off at the bottom. We placed the bottom root portion, in a cup of water. After just a few days, the lettuce started to sprout and regrow! Yes, the lettuce grows again! I have thrown away so many bottoms, who knew that I could have had lettuce growing!

This week I was so spoiled for Teacher Appreciation Week. I feel like I don't deserve all that I was given. My students are too much! I forgot to take a picture, but my favorite gift this week was a "Love Jar" filled with Love Notes from my students! I will treasure this ALWAYS!

Today we received our placements for next year and well, I am sooo happy! I will be teaching...

I hope you had a wonderful week! Only 18 more days for me...how many for you? Go link up!! 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Shopping!, Muffins for Mom & Tacos!

I am about to head out and go shopping, I got to make sure I have everything for the week. It is another busy one!

We will be having our special ladies come in on Friday for Muffins with Mom, so we have to finish up our books, make a movie and practice our songs. I am still looking for a little gift idea that would go good along with our muffin theme...if you have any good ideas leave me a comment! :) I also have to get the supplies for "Tea Time"- muffins and tea! Do you do anything special for your students' mothers?

We started our books last week, here are some of the pages that the kids wrote...

"My mom makes me feel special when she hugs me. I love it when my mom takes me for Menchies."

"My mom makes me feel special when she reads me a special story. I love it when my mom takes me to a special place."

"My mom makes me feel special when she gives me love. I love it when my mom buys me jewelery."

"My mom makes me feel special when she tickles me. I love it when my mom takes me to Menchies."

"I love it when my mom kisses me." *I love this illustration and speech bubble!*

We aren't done with our Cinco de Mayo fun...we HAVE to make some tacos this week! Yum!! We will be making this fun "How To" book to go along with are delicious learning! 

Is anyone else as excited for this TPT sale as I am?! I am running on "E" and I am looking forward to making some end of the year purchases to energize me and keep my instruction engaging for the last 23 days! :)

Thanks to The Wizard of Boz for this Graphic!

I hope you have a fantastic week! Don't forget to join in the Instagram fun this Tuesday! #teachertalktuesday :) @msshopesclass

Calming the Chaos

Welcome to the Calming the Chaos Blog Hop hosted by 2peasandadog.

All of us bloggers have come together to share our top tips for making the last month of school run smoothly. Visit each of our blogs to learn something new and catch a freebie or two!

Happy Hopping

I know that at the end of the year it can be really difficult to keep the students engaged...I am not sure who is more "done"- the students or us teachers, right?! We have to keep things fun and exciting for EVERYONE! :) To keep my kids engaged I like to offer things called bribes incentives! A new fun way that I am keeping my students on task is by doing a QR Code QUEST!

Here is what you do...

I use the QR codes and hide one or two in the activities that we will be doing each day. I might hide a QR code in a book, at a center, under a chair, etc. Throughout the day the students are on a QR Code QUEST. I hype it up really good, reminding them that the QR Code is small so if they are not paying close attention during an activity or while completing a task they may miss the QR Code. Missing the QR Code would be awful because once you find the Code you are the lucky winner and get to scan your reward! How fun!

Grab your copy here...

I hope you and your students enjoy it! Wishing you a happy and terrific rest of the year!

Calming the Chaos Participants

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