Snowflakes, Penguins, Groundhogs, and Valentine's Day ~ OH YEAH!

Down, down baby, down by the rollercoaster,

Sweet, sweet baby, I'll never let you go,

Shimmy shimmy cocoa pop, shimmy shimmy rock,

I met a girlfriend, a triscuit, she said a triscuit, a biscuit,

Ice cream, soda pop, vanilla on the top...

I sing this hand clapping chant in my head everyday when I come to school.  Do you know it?  Are you singing it now in your head?  In the morning when I walk by one of my kindergarten team members classroom (Rockstar Teacher Mrs. Ramseier) I see the words down ~ down and I can't help but sing the chant in my head...or outloud.  Here are some pictures of her outside bulletin board...."Snow" Adorable!

Here are some pictures of our I KNOW & I LEARNED charts for all about penguins.  The students really enjoyed playing in the Insta~snow looking for letters to place in alphabetical order on the floor chart. 

Groundhog's Day is coming soon.  I am praying that the groundhog does not see his shadow.  If we are not going to get any more snow...I am ready for spring.  Cindy from For the Love of Kindergarten  Click {here} for freckleteacher's blog site posted recently about "Shadow Writing" and I love the concept.  What a great time to create an activity using shadow writing...Groundhog's Day!  

Click below for a copy of the shadow writing booklet we are using in our classroom.  I am going to attach a pdf and word document for you.  You will probably have to play with the fonts on the word document...but this way you can change it!

 Groundhog Shadow Writing ~ PDF

 Groundhog Shadow Writing ~ Word


Where do you get your inspiration from for creating activities?  One of my students brought in cupcakes for her birthday.  Check out the pictures below.  How cute is this?  My students are going to make paper versions of this cupcake by stamping a saying of their choice on their conversation heart and using fun scissors to cut out the cupcake wrapper.  LuAnn came up with the great idea to use shaving cream and glue for the white frosting to make it 3D looking .  What a "sweet" idea!  She is so smart...she should kiss her brain...as Dr. Jean would say.

 

Please take the time to check out our Valentine unit on Teachers Notebook. 

Click {here} to go to our Teacher Notebook shop!

Amber

You're A Sweetheart....if you check out our first Teachers Notebook Valentine Unit!

If you've been thinking about making a purchase from Teachers Notebook...now is the time! 


We have posted our first unit for sale..."We're Learning By Heart".

We put our heart and soul into creating a variety of math and reading activities including:

 Here is a sample view of one of the activities: 

Don't let these "SWEET" activities melt away!  

How "SWEET" is this?  The first 10 people who purchase our unit will get a copy of our second unit for free! You must leave feedback on our shop with your e~mail address to recieve the second unit for free.  Sorry this is the only way we will know who are the first 10 buyers.  Thank you for understanding! 

Here's the link to our teacher's store if you are interested: 
Click here to go to our TN shop!

Thank you so much, Amber & LuAnn

Calling all bloggers....is your dashboard different, too?  I am not sure if I am going to like this change or will I have the time to get used to it...HE HE HE!  I will leave you with this kid friendly quote...“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” -C.S. Lewis

A Sledding We Will Go!

Check out this AdOraBle sledding bulletin board.  Oh....what fun it is!



Love this...our principal is the snowman!



Mrs. Caral Lokken is an early childhood and special education teacher in our building.  Last year she won the golden apple award...and I was so proud of her!  This is one of her amazing bulletin boards she displays for all the students, parents, and staff to see!

Student Teachers Rock...TOO!

You will be a super teacher....because you like us!

You will be a super teacher because...you are nice!

You are a super teacher because....you read a lot to us.

You will be a super teacher because...you are funny.

On the back cover of the book I wrote a special thank you note to her. 

All the "teacher goodies" that the students and I gave to Miss Heusi. 



I HOPE that Miss Heusi has her own classroom soon to use all these goodies!

  Click here for a copy of our "Leisure in Learning" Day Parent Letter

Click here for copies of our classroom~made book from students

It is such an odd and sad feeling knowing that this is my student teacher’s last day.  So what else to blog about, but….  my adventure!  This was my first student teaching experience, and was I ever SPOILED!  She was a perfect fit in my classroom!  She taught great lessons that were both meaningful and fun..  She related well to the kids and had super classroom management skills.  Plus…a skill that is hard to teach, she just naturally possessed – she was self-reflective and took constructive criticism very well.  Way to go!   

It sure was different having someone else with you all the time…all day long.  She got to see the good, the bad (hopefully not a lot), and the monotonous.  Sorry…some lessons just are not as fun, but we have to teach them.  I feel when you are teaching kindergarten, it’s okay to be silly once-in-a-while!  I will do whatever it takes to keep 16 active kindergarten students attentive and engaged.  Yes… I know…only 16!

Anyway, I am ready to have my students (and classroom) back and teach full-time again. It is going to be hard at first because the students ADORED her (obviously I do, too!).  I am sure we both will miss her presence in the classroom.  I just hope...I love that word….HOPE…that she learned just as much from me, as I learned from her. 

The class and I made a Good-Bye Book for her to keep as a remembrance or our time together.  I will share some pictures below.  Earlier this week, I also sent home a note to the parents letting them know that on her last day we were going to have a “Learning in Leisure” day to celebrate our time with her.  The parents were also asked to send in some teacher items for her “best wishes” basket.  The parents were very giving, and I hope very soon she will be able to use her basket of “teacher goodies” in her very own classroom!

Blogging and Respect

Everyday...I try to be a better person...and today I would like to blog about the DO'S and DONT'S of Blogging.  I will admit; I have made mistakes (which resulted in hurt feelings) in the blogging world and I am learning from them.  All I can say is...SORRY...and move on to be a better blogger.  I truly enjoy sharing the materials I use in my classroom with all of you!  Actually...Lindsey from the blog the teacher wife wrote an inspiring posts click here TO CHECK IT OUT! about the DO's and DONT'S of blogging.  I could not have written it any better than she did. Thank you!

Frosty Fun

It is almost 11:00 pm and I got my hallway bulletin board up before midnight.  YEAH!  Annnnddd....this is all that my brain can think of writing at this time so here are some pictures to share of my, My Heart Belongs To Frosty !, Bulletin Board.  I believe I got the snowman idea from the very busy kindergarten blog.  Check it out!  

Had to share my cutie patutie... Cayden. 
He is showing off his cowboy boots! 

This was our fun for the day....sheet sledding in the house!

Then we played with insta-snow before we went outside to have some fun in the real snow...which I am so happy we have...FINALLY!

 Have a great Monday...if you have school!  Thank you so much for stopping by our blog!!!

Amber

I can't wait to build a SNOWMAN with my son!!!

We still do not have snow in our area...but tonight I hear we are going to get like 10 inches!!!

The Snowman Song
I am a little snowman.
I am so fat and round.
I started from a snowflake
    that fell upon the ground.
I have two buttons for my eyes,
    a great big scarf of red,
I have a carrot for a nose,
    a hat upon my head.
Watch
    me
      as
        I
          melt
            to
              the
                ground.   Poem from www.CanTeach.ca

These are the cutest snowman I have ever seen.  Our fifth grade teachers made them to display in the hallway.  Such talent! 

The Mitten

I have always enjoyed acting out the story, The Mitten.  The students really get into the story by acting like the animal and squeezing into the mitten.  Yes....all my students that have a headband can fit in the mitten at once!  The students need to take off their shoes before they can crawl in and listen to the story quietly.  They sure like to giggle in there...but isn't that what makes learning fun!  I made the mitten out of 2 white sheets and sewed them together.  I used headbands make each animal.  See pictures below!  



You can go to Jan Brett's website to find a sequence printable of this story www.janbrett.com OR....
you can go to KPM Doodles and grab her digital clip art characters for the story. 
I JUST THINK THEY ARE SO CUTE!   
http://kpmdoodles.blogspot.com/

 Amber