Shimmy~Shimmy Shamrock Unit, Freebie, & Giveaway!

Hello Bloggers....Are you feeling a little lucky lately?  We feel lucky that we got our 103 page unit done in time for you to get it ready for your kiddos in your classroom.  This unit is full of St. Patrick's Day themed ideas for your literacy and math centers.   

Here are some pictures of the "magical" activities that are in our unit...check it out for much more.

ABC...As Lucky As Can Be!
The students will build different patterns with the horseshoes.  Then the students will color in the pattern and write what type of pattern it is on the line.   Patterns are:  ABB, AAB, ABC, AABB, & build your own pattern.   

Hats Off To...Sight Word Phrases
The students will choose a Leprechaun hat and read the sight word phrase out loud.  Then the students will find the number word on the recording sheet and write the phrase in the correct box.  (I forgot to add the numbers to the hats before I took the picture.  Got a little excited!)  The last thing the students will do is choose one of the sight word phrases and make it into a sentence and write it on his/her recording sheet.  

It's a Pot of...Middle Sounds
The students will choose a numbered pot of gold/rainbow, say the word out loud, and record the middle sound heard in the picture on the record sheet. 

You will be able to print the clip art rainbow in color or use the black and white rainbow clip art on different colors of construction paper.

Lucky To Have Each Other
The students will choose a rainbow (number is printed on the back of the rainbow), say the picture word out loud, add the beginning and ending sound clouds to the rainbow, and write the answers on the recording sheet.  

How Sweet It Is To Be Measured By You!
The students will use Skittles to measure the boy & girl Leprechauns.  Then the students will record their answers in the booklet.  The students will feel very lucky at this center because he/she will be able to eat the Skittles when finished.  

My Lucky Coin
The students will flip the coin in the air and read the letter that is face up..."b" or "d."  The students will graph each time they flip the coin until one of the columns is all filled in.  Then the students will answer the questions in the three boxes.   (How many, tally each, and which has most and least?)  Hint, Hint...glue a coin in between the "b" and "d" to make the coin easier to flip in the air.

My Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow
The students will match the pot of gold (answer) to the rainbow (subtraction equation).  Then the students will write the equation and answer on the recording sheet.

We would like to do a MAGICAL giveaway!  3 LUCKY winners will win our "Robotic Nonsense Unit."  All you have to do is add KindergartenRox Shop to your favorite shops and comment on this post that you did!  (Don't forget to leave your e-mail address).  Click {here}  to go to our shop to view our Shimmy~Shimmy Shamrock Unit and follow us!   Winners will be randomly chosen on St. Patrick's Day!!!

We can't post without a freebie!!! Click {right here} to go to our Teachers Notebook store to grab our St. Patrick's Day Addition Freebie. 

Remember...as a teacher...you are better than any treasure found at the end of the rainbow!

Amber & LuAnn

You are lucky....

We are positng our St. Patrick's Day Freebie and it is all about MaGiCal number words! 

Coming soon...our St. Patrick's Day Literacy & Math Unit.  We cannot wait to share it with you.  You are going to feel like you found "a pot of gold" when you buy it for your classrooms!   

Click (here) to FIND the freebie!

Sight Words & Nonsense Words...2 of our favorite things!

Sight words do not follow commonly taught phonics rules and cannot be sounded out.  The only way a child can read these words is to recognize them by sight.  Knowing the sight words by heart will also make a faster and fluent reader. 

If children have to sound out every word, reading becomes so hard and slow that children might want to give up, or if not, they will have a difficult time comprehending what they are reading.  Learning high frequency words by sight helps children build confidence and fluency in their reading, and thus, reading becomes easier and makes more sense.

All I have to say is that learning to read is a lot of work...especially at the age of kindergarteners!  Here are some things I enjoy doing in my classroom to drill these sight words into their growing brains.



On the way out the door to recess or specials the students will say the sight word on my hand and then give me a high five for getting it right (with or without help)! 



My intention was to have the hand  a little bit bigger...but the kiddos still love it!  I will be posting the hand print freebie in the next couple of days!

The special student of the day gets to wear this extra special hat.  The student will choose the sight word he/she wants to wear for the day.  At some point in the day the students will have to say the sight word on the hat to the special student or....the student will come looking for your to say the word to him/her!

My favorite...and the students, too!  I call it the M&M Game.  It is just like "Hangman"...but I choose not to use those words with the kiddos.  I use this game to introduce new sight words or play it then we have a few extra minutes.  You could probably come up with something cuter than my drawing.  This is what I drew the first time and it has stuck with me.  You woud be surprised how many times the students figure out the word before I draw the letter M in the middle. 

Each day the students enter the classroom he/she has to whisper the "Secret Password" in my ear.  I start this the first day of school.  The students get into a nice routine of not entering the classroom if I am busy with another teacher, student, or parent. 

I have also added a couple of pictures of my students from one of our sight word powerpoints.  I take a picture of each student (and me) holding a sight word card and build a power point to share with the kiddos.  Sometimes we will see how fast we can go through all the words and sometimes we will stop at the color words and sing the color song (by Frog Street Press...love it!) and if we know the little song~chant~ditty~dance from Heidi Songs (LOVE HER, TOO!) we will perform it all together. 

I just posted our Robotic Nonsense Unit on Teachers Notebook.  Check it out!  My kiddos had so much fun with this unit and LEARNED A LOT, TOO!

Click {here} to see our Nonsense Unit!

SMART Notebook FREEBIE!

"Let Us "Snow" If You're Here!" is a Notebook 10 file that can be used as a fun way to take attendance!


Enjoy this freebie which can be downloaded from our TN Shop.

Click Here for the link to the FREEBIE!

Having Fun in a SMART Way!

We have recently created a few SMART Notebook files. 
Please take some time to check them out and give us some feedback. 
Thanks!

CLiCk HeRe To gO To OuR TN ShOp!

Kindergartners are full of love...teachers are, too!

Here is an example of one of our "Valentine Kiddos" we are going to display in the hallway for everyone to enjoy.  The title of the bulletin board is....Kindergarten Kids are Full of Love!   I hope to get pictures up by the end of the week.

Click {here} for a FREE valentine math worksheet....what number comes next

Click {here} for patterns


Have a "sweet" week!

Amber






  

Yahoo...I've been tagged!

 Here is a little bit about me (Amber Osterman)...

Questions from Kinder Kiddo

1.  What is your favorite store? Target

2.  Do you have a class pet? Yes…African Dwarf Frog

3.  Do you prefer Dollar Tree or Dollar General?  Dollor Tree

4.  How many pets at home do you have? 1 cat, & 1 dog (both outside pets!

5.  Do you have kids of your own? 17 year old Kelsea and 3 year old Cayden.

6.  How do you deal with help helicopter parents see your side of life? Make them feel comfortable and invite them in the classroom.  I would also show them how independent their child can be!   

7.  How do you involve absent parents in school activities? Great communication and personally invite them in the classroom (many times).

8.  What is your favorite sport? Hockey

9.  What is your favorite team of #8's sport? Detroit Red Wings

10.  What is the piece of jewelry you wear most often? Wedding ring ~ earrings

11.  Do you like curtains or blinds? blinds

12.  What can brighten your day when nothing else can? Frappe Mocha from McDonalds and my kindergarten kiddos!

Thank you, Mrs. Taylor, for tagging me/us!!

Questions from Apples and ABCs Adventures in Kindergarten

1.  If you were an animal, what would you be? Mustang horse

2.  What is your favorite breakfast meal? Yogurt with frozen berries

3.  Do you have any pets, what kind? 1 dog & 1 cat

4.  What is your best classroom management tip? Read about Responsive Classroom ~ using guided discovery lessons at the beginning of the year.

5.  Where did you go to college? UW Stout

6.  Do you have a Pinterest? Yes!

7.  Do you believe in giving homework? Yes…I do!

8.  If you could travel anywhere, where would it be? Right now…New York City.  

9.  Do you have a nickname? No

10.  What is your favorite movie? I have so many favorite movies…probably Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Breakfast Club, and Mama Mia.

11.  What is your favorite subject to teach? Phonemic Awareness   

12.  What is your favorite blog entry that you have done? Shake of the Day…Post.  It is located under my Literacy Link.

Thank you, Michelle Baldwin, for tagging me/us!!

12 Fun Facts about me...

1 - I grew up in the U.P. (Upper Michigan)

2 - I was in Las Vegas this summer at the Kindergarten Conference

3 - I truly enjoy presenting and sharing my ideas with others

4 - I would love to be a mermaid for a day

5 - I work with the greatest kindergarten team!

6 - I love to go thrift sale shopping

7 - Once Upon A Child is my new favorite place to shop...for Cayden 

8 - My daughter, Kelsea, is graduating this year and has been accepted to UW~Stout.  That is where I went to school!  

9 - I hope to be teaching kindergarten until I retire

10- I love to share on the blog and pin on pinterest

11- I have the greatest best friend in the world!!!

12- I went to our last staff Christmas party dressed up as a gorilla.  It was about 45 minutes before anyone knew it was me!

Tag....your it!.
Growing Kinders

Playing With Pixie Dust
Can Do Kinder
Polka Dot Patch
Camp Kindergarten
Kinder Kraziness
Krazy in Kindergarten
Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten
Kindergarten Crayons
Kindergarten Hoppenings
Little Warriors
Mrs. Mayas' Kindergarten

Questions for you...
1. What is your favorite drink?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your favorite meal to make?
4. What is your favorite movie?
5. What is your favorite reality show?
6. What is your favorite book?
7. What active things do you do in the summer?
8. If you could go anywhere in the U.S., where would you go?
9.  Where did you go to college? 
10. What is your favorite theme to teach in kindergarten?
11. What is your favorite post you have shared on your blog?
3. What is your favorite "thing" about teaching kindergarten?

So here are the rules:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.

4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

I will also share our Groundhog's Day graph. 
Enjoy....6 more weeks of winter!