October Promethean Calendar

It's done! It's done! It's done!  My October Calendar for the Promethean Board is done!  I know my kids are going to be super excited about the new songs, pages, and features!  For something that appears pretty simple, these things are very time intensive to create!  (If you are a perfectionist like me and have a board, you know what I mean - BUT they are definitely worth it!)  I don't know if it's just me, but that software is rather glitchy!  It never fails that as I go to click "save" the program freezes up and needs to be restarted... Ahhhh!   Despite my personal issues with the software I can't even begin to tell you how much I LOVE my Promethean Board.  I use it ALL the time and the kids are soooo engaged!  It has definitely changed the way I teach!  Everyone can FINALLY see, and it's so interactive the kids are always involved, and  "sharing the Pen" has additional meaning now - everyone gets a turn to do something - even when it is not a writing lesson! Check out my latest creation for yourself!

You can purchase it HERE

Chicka Chicka

OMG! Where does all the time go??? I have so much I want to add and share but don't have the time!  (Maybe that's just the beginning of the year in kindergarten for you... plus I coach middle school girls softball everyday after school and have one of those beginning of the year colds... again...)  Anyways, enough excuses.  I plan on updating this on a much more regular basis - which also means I can't spend as much time blog hopping :(   I don't know about you, but these blogs are ADDICTING!  BUT... they are definitely making me a MUCH better teacher, so THANK YOU to all of you out there!  If 1 idea I post on my site helps at least one person in some way, then it is worth the time!

OK, enough rambling for now...  We have spent the last week doing a big Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Unit.  One of my favorite parts of the unit was when we were exploring and opening a REAL coconut!  (After several discussions that coconuts don't grow in places that get cold in the winter, one of my little darlings asked if I found it on the street!  Ummm... we have very cold winters in Wisconsin, so remember, we don't have coconut trees here!)  Anyhow, their faces and excitement was priceless, but wouldn't ya know it - the battery in my camera died!  I must have left in on or something because I just charged it!  So, here is what I have to offer you instead.  About every week I send home a simple "Family Project" that the students are to complete and then bring to class the following week to share.  (Kind of like show and tell, but without the toys :) )  This week, they were to decorate a letter to place on the large "Chicka Tree" I have hanging in the classroom.  They all are so creative and they turned out great!  The kids keep waiting for the tree to tip over, just like it did in the book!  (I'm just waiting for the masking tape to give...)  If you want a copy of the letters, just below and they are all yours!  Enjoy!

Download the letters HERE

We make a "special snack" every week that relates to our theme.. of course we had to make "chicka trees"!  Look what a great job one of the kids did! It was WAY better then my example!

Each week we make one of these theme related "special snacks" which I have compiled into 2 cookbooks.  (Vol 2 is not quite done yet...)  Anyways, feel free to download the recipe card for this snack.  If you like what you see, feel free to purchase vol. 1!  Each recipe comes in 3 different levels.

Click HERE for the chicka recipe card!

Literacy Centers - Round 1

We began our first rotation of literacy centers this week, to actual cheers! (This is one of the many reasons why I love kindergarten!)  One of my centers is the pocket chart center.  The first few weeks I want the kids to focus on learning the routine, where to find the materials, how to choose a center and staying at it the entire time, etc.  Since these are my main goals, I purposely try and put fun/easier centers for the kids to do.  Typically, at the pocket chart center I have kids sort pictures by either shapes, or colors - but since the addition of 4K at our school, I decided I would make it a little more challenging and see how they do.  I planned on having them sort cards into letters, numbers, OR shapes, to see who knew the difference!  (Of course I kept my color and shape sorting nearby for those who needed it.)  I was pleasantly surprised to see how well everyone did with the activity!  Only a few kids needed the "easier version" (but isn't that what differentiation is all about?)  Anyways, you can download the pieces I used for free below and try it out for yourself!

Download it HERE

Landslide of Laminate!

I've been so busy blog hopping from one awesome blog to the next (and picking up a TON of new ideas in the process!) that I sort of forgot to add to my own blog! I had every intent of blogging away about the first day of school, complete with pictures, but when the mercury decided to rise to 95, and the heat index well above that (did I mention I am one of 6 rooms WITHOUT air conditioning) all I could do when I came home was change my soaked clothes and fall asleep on the couch! 

Now that the temperature is more manageable, I went into school (yes, on labor day) and printed out and laminated the TON of new ideas, centers, etc. that I will be using in the upcoming weeks.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the long trail of laminated papers I came home with...  Oh well, here I am halfway through cutting it all out - can you think of a better way to spend a Monday night? (Yes, I could have a parent do it for me, but I need a lot of them for this week - nothing like planning ahead!)  At least my cat was pleased with the piles!  For some unknown reason, she LOVES eating the plastic laminate scraps! (Did I mention that this is the same cat that will eat the bag the cat food comes in, but not the food inside?!) Anyways... have you ever noticed that no matter how hard you try to clean the floor afterwards, there are ALWAYS clear undetectable scraps lying around that you find for the next several days, or until you vacuum, even though you swore you picked them all up?

Here is is everything AFTER I finished cutting it out!  I can' believe how much less space it takes up!  That is a small bag, with 8.5X11 paper standing up in the back!  If only it was that easy to lug it all home to cut out!