Martin and His Friends

I head back to school tomorrow and although I enjoy my days of pajamas, tv and family...I look forward to seeing all my little friends again!

When I get back to school I plan on doing a few new year and goal setting activities but then I will start to teach about Martin Luther King, Jr. Even though black history month is in February I usually introduce other heroes while celebrating Dr. King's birthday.

If you you have never read the story of Ruby Bridges, it is a must!!! A few years ago my next door neighbor told me that I HAD to read this book to my class...

What she didn't tell me was that I should have read the book privately by myself first!! (Granted I am a cry baby...Publix commercials can make me tear up!) Oh my, I started reading this book to my class and I was so touched by the end I was fighting back the tears. My students responses were amazing, and their connection to the story was deep and impactful! Every year I read this story to my class and the results are the same- I fight back the tears and my students are touched by a young girl who is so close to their age who made such a difference in the world!!

Here are some of my other favorite books for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black History Month--

Here are some fun craftivities that we will be doing...

For how we dream like Dr. King----

After we learn about Rosa Parks and how she "sat down" for what she believed in--

And we will document how we will be courageous in changing the world and follow in our heroes footsteps--

All of these activities can be found in Learning with Martin & His Friends {Black History Craftivities & Printables}

I was having so much fun with Dr. King, that I created this little timeline craftivity for older students (more suitable for grades 2-4)!

The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. {A Timeline Craftivitiy with Printables}



Hope you are enjoying your weekend!



Busy Week & Planning Calendar

What a busy time of the year! My to-do list is getting longer by the minute! :)

I have now met all my little friends. I am amazed how every year the kids are so different...and so wonderful! It is impossible not to love your job when you hear things like "I love this school!" and "This is the best day of my life!". How awesome is that! I love how in kindergarten we have the priveledge of shaping each child's learning adventure and helping to develop their love of learning! It is so great to see how excited and eager they are to learn, and it is my goal to keep them this dedicated the whole year!

So on that note I sat down to start planning. I started thinking when I want to teach what theme and what concepts in science, etc. I think that planning can be the most overwhelming part of teaching. How do you plan? Do you have a method to make it an easy process? Do you plan with your team? I am trying something a little different this year. I made a detailed calendar(scope and sequence) with what I am planning to teach when, for all subjects with standards. I hope that this tool will be useful and make planning a little less time consuming! I wanted to share this with you! Go get your copy for FREE! Please leave me some feedback or a comment!  While you are at my TPT store, make sure to follow me! If you utilize my planning calendar throughout the year I will be posting units to correlate with the calendar and you will have everything lots of resources for the year!

While at my TPT Store check out my new All About Numbers 0-10 Unit!