Moon FUN!

So... My morning started out with a clogged Keurig. I've been cleaning it out all evening. Thank goodness I will have my coffee first thing in the morning tomorrow! I should've take a picture. It was pathetic. The thing was spitting at me! Practically teasing me with the coffee it was keeping for itself wasn't making.

Then my teammate's little boy was sick and we didn't get a sub. Had to split the class! Don't you just love those days?! We still had a lot of fun though!

We've been studying the moon for the past week and I finally have a minute between signing my life over to a realtor and cleaning the Keurig to share with you guys!

My sweet blogging friend Kristen shared this crater experiment on her blog. We dropped play-doh in flour to represent the asteroids hitting the moon and creating craters. We experimented with different sized play-doh to see the crater sizes. Of course, the large balls of play doh were a favorite to drop!

They loved this and it was such a powerful visual!

We also created these cute little moons using bubbles to look like the rocky texture of the moon! SO much fun!! I based this on this blog's tutorial. I did this with Ella this summer and it didn't turn out quite as good. The missing ingredient? Corn syrup! My teammate had seen it somewhere so we just played around with the concoction a little bit.

All you need:

-black paint

-corn syrup

-dish soap

-and a little water.

I'm not a measuring kind of person, so I just kinda mix it until it looks right. Put equal-ish amounts of the paint, corn syrup, and dish soap and then add a little water. It'll be a little goopy but not thick. Wear a paint shirt! I had a dentist appointment after we did these and had little black specks all over my neck from popping bubbles! haha!

I used a pie pan because it's perfect for the size of a paper plate! I used the cheapie paper plates that don't have the kind-of waxy cover on the back. Just paper. I blew through the straw and had each kid dip 3 times. We dipped the backs of the plate onto the bubbles. Be careful not to touch the actual paint and just press on the bubbles!

We used the circle crease in the plate to trim it down into a circle.

Then we made these cute little scenes with some moon facts:

Want to snag these rockets? Just click the picture to grab from Google docs!

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Linking up with Love!

Hi!

I'm linking up with Tessa from Tales Outside the Classroom for her Valentine's linky! This linky is all about who and what you love!

 

Always first on my list is my wonderful family! My husband is always so supportive and loving in my endeavors and I'm crazy about him these two little nuts we have! Ella is a little mother and such a good big sister! Luke is into EVERYthing and loves a good car or train, he's such a boy!

 {Valentine card template from Walmart}

Second- I LOVE my job! I love my littles and their bright smiles and the progress we see from beginning to end! I love seeing the lights go on and the aha! moments. I love all their hugs and the sweet letters! I especially love those little challenges... you know the ones!

 {sweet picture from one of my kiddos!}

Something else I've been LOVING lately is the deals website "Very Jane." Almost everything on the site is from etsy and is SO SO cute! Click on the picture to check it out!

I'm also loving the mild weather we've been having lately! It's been SO nice outside! We've been able to go to the park after school and play outside! We usually have pretty cold winters here (for Texas) and I am a WIMP! I reeeeallllly dislike the cold! And waiting outside with kids after school? Hasn't been bad at all!

Lastly, I LOVE LOVE blogging and all the wonderful people I have "met" because of it! I have become a much stronger teacher because of it and seriously have made the best of friends online! I love creating resources for my own classroom and knowing that I am "in" other classrooms all around the world! How cool is that?! I've truly been blessed by TpT and all the other fabulous bloggers I happily call my friends!

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TWO!

 Gosh.. when I typed that title it might be misleading. LOL

No- I'm not expecting (anymore- ever! whew!) and definitely not two!

Our best couple friends have twin boys. They just turned 1 and are the most precious little twins ever. But I can not imagine doing two teeny tiny babies at one time! Bless any of you who have twins!

The baby I've been working on is my Kindergarten Comprehension pack TWO!

I've had such a wonderful response to my first pack and several requests for more- so here it is! 

I printed and laminated a few things from the pack this weekend and started with it in small group today. They LOVE these pages! My kids like having the visuals to dig through to figure out which picture goes with the story.

I don't know if your kids are bananas for sight words like mine- but they LOVE to find them in EVERY (and I mean EVERY thing) that we read- random ad on the side of YouTube?! "I see go Mrs. Alderson!!" "I see like! play!" So the color code in the story is right up my kids' alley!

 

I love the blue hair on that little guy- this was extraordinary work for this student! Comprehension? Easy check!

Don't worry- I'll leave you with a little freebie from this pack. Scrambled sentences!

 Just click on over to the product description and "Download Preview" to snag this one up!

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V-Day Giveaway!!

I'm teaming up with some SUPER fabulous bloggers for a Valentine's Day giveaway. You know us teachers like to plan ahead! {I really like the "idea" of planning ahead, but it almost never happens. ha! Anyone else?!}

Caitlin from Kindergarten Smiles, Teri from A Cupcake for the Teacher and I are throwing a super sweet giveaway for our fabulous followers! Look at the sweet prizes!

From Caitlin:

 

From Teri:

 

And from me- a personalized burlap heart!

The giveaway will end tomorrow night, so hop on it fast! Just enter with the rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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MLK Day FUN!

Happy Saturday!

We worked on MLK all this week in Social Studies. My kids really enjoyed learning about him and how we can all make the world a better place! I just love the thoughts of Kindergarteners!

My blogging buddy Erica {Texas teacher!!} had a fabulous post about Black History month last year that I snagged this idea from (thank you Erica!!)

We started by reading "The Colors of Us" by Karen Katz. I did not have the book, so we watched it on YouTube.

We looked at our skin and talked about how we are all different on the outside but the same on the inside. We talked about our similarities, and "think, pair, shared" with a friend. Then we looked at the skin on our arms and brainstormed some names from the book to name our skin colors. I had all the butterscotches stand together, all the fudges, all the cinnamons, etc. and then after that the kids in their groups compared skin colors. Even those who all labeled themselves "sugar cookies" were not the same!! They loved this! There was some great discussion about diversity!

We then mixed our own skin colors with white, brown, and yellow on top of our hand.

After we found that "just right" color, they used their finger to paint a little stick figure of themselves.

I love how these turned out and the wonderful discussion about diversity it created! We decided that MLK was a pretty bright man and that we are grateful that we no longer have to be separated by our color!

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Math fun!

Is this the longest week ever, or what?!

My little monkeys were great last week and this week it's like we're all falling apart! Ahhh! 

It doesn't help that it has been in the 20's all week and we haven't been able to go outside. Talk about stir crazy! {thank goodness for YouTube Just Dance Kids!}

We've been super busy with MLK and also doing some really fun things in Math!

I mean, how boring can learning numbers over and over and over be unless you TRY to make it fun?!

We've played all sorts of bingo games..

 {flip a ten frame over, count and find the number!}

We played a super fun snowball game {thanks to Teeny for the idea!! Go read her post!}

I cut 10 pieces of paper in half and wrote numbers 10-20 on them. Each kid got a number and had to build a set with it for me. Once they built their set they were able to crumple the paper up. Now... I like being the fun teacher and all, but I didn't let them throw balls at each other. I stood in the middle of the carpet and on 3 they all got to toss one at me. I knew someone would get poked in the eye and it would just be all bad new bears from there. This was a good compromise!

They *LOVED* it!! They've never been so excited to build sets! {and it took me all of 2 minutes to prep!}

We've also been working really hard on subtraction. Why is it such a booger to teach?! They get addition..but subtraction can be a doozy! I made up these little subtraction cards as a part of my new Ten Frames Game pack to help practice. Click on the picture to check them out!

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Visual Plans!

Hi sweet friends!

I'm going to *try* and jump on the band wagon with Visual plans! {thanks Reagan and Jen!}

These lesson plans are like giving birth! LOL! Seriously, so much goes into them but I Love with a capital 'L" the way they turn out and how easy it is to see everything right in front of you. (And how many times do you have a great idea and then completely forget about it when it comes around?!)

To get the plans, click the picture of the plans and it'll take you to a PDF document to download...when you download the PDF, you can click on all the pictures and links to take you where you can find all the activities (TpT, blogposts, websites, or Freebies!)

A brief synopsis:

ELAR: We are continuing out Animals unit, focusing on Animals and their babies. We will be working on adjectives in writing and in phonics we will focus on "f" and  blending with short O and I.

Social Studies: We are learning all about MLK this week. I've got some fun things to post about this week!

Math: We are focusing on numbers 15-20 sets, writing, and comparing. We are also still working hard on concrete subtraction.

Science: We are focusing on Day and Night and the pattern of day and night.

I've found some fabulous resources to use this week, so click on over to the google doc to go the links! There are several freebies included!

Hope your week is fabulous!

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Animals?!

Hi y'all!

So.. let me tell you a little bit about Treasures. It doesn't make sense.

Nope, not one bit!So I get major jealousy when I see all you alls posting about your fabulous Christmas themed stories and centers and such! Now.. I do all of my stations thematically, but I *really* wish my district wasn't so strict on the curriculum. Like, there's no veering from it.. we get a few weeks a year that are "free." So we go to town doing all the fun stuff we can't do any other time! I try to sneak all my theme-y stuff into Social Studies time! ;)

Shuna from Pocket Full of Kinders sent me this fabulous animal centers pack.

It worked out perfectly that we're working on an Animals unit by our curriculum now. I know, in January?! And not the penguin and seal and snow type of animals... but PET animals. Don't you guys just love Treasures?! {those that use it! It really makes no sense whatsoever} 

 How did she know that it would fit right in to the curriculum we're in right now?! ;)

The packet is all about beginning, medial, and ending sounds. Perfect for Kindergarten curriculum!

Here's the one I used for my intervention group last week. Beginning sounds with animals! They really enjoyed placing the tiles on the cards and writing all the animals out on the recording sheet.

{I just love those letter tiles! I use them for everything!!}
Click HERE to check out her stations pack!

Shuna's packet has much more in it and everything is perfect for our little guys any time of the year!

Now click on over to Shuna's post to see what has been going on in her classroom {hint! It's from me ;)}

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Potato Chip Champ

Finally Friday!

 Can I get an Amen?!

I don't know what it is about the first week back after Christmas break that makes it SOOOO long- and we had a Monday without kids! I'm just glad it's behind me! :)))

I am participating in Maria Dismondy's "Virtual Blog Tour" for her new book, "The Potato Chip Champ." Her books are so well written and relatable to real issues that primary students go through. She is such a kind person and it reflects through her writing!

Inspiration for this story came from experiences in her own life. Maria has witnessed children struggle with wanting it all. She was inspired by stories of children who have barely anything and give away what they do have. After years of researching bullying, Maria has found that what the world needs is an increase in EMPATHY. The Potato Chip Champ teaches empathy and contentment in a silly story with witty characters. Maria writes stories that children need to hear.

Watch the trailer below!

This has to be one of my new favorite books! It is a wonderful introduction to teaching your students about being 1)grateful for what you have and 2) being kind and giving to others. I am using this little web map to brainstorms ways that we can be kind to others this next week {and tying it in to MLK, too!} Snag it up if you want!

  Now.. the best part of this little tour is that Maria is giving away an autographed copy of her wonderful book! It's easy peasy to enter!  a Rafflecopter giveaway

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