I'm Back!!!

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted. As many of you know, I was moved to third grade right before school started. I had my kindergarten classroom set up, all my bulletin boards were up and all my lesson plans were ready for the first month. I was so looking forward to starting the year
So after taking everything down in one room, moving upstairs and putting everything up again and moving everything around several times until the room worked, I'm exhausted. However, while I miss my kinders so much, I really love my class of third graders. They are so sweet and funny. I really enjoy them. I'm still struggling to figure out routines and procedures. Checking planners and homework every day is still killing me. It takes waaaaay too long.
Hopefully all that will smooth itself out in a few weeks. We're getting ready to study antonyms so I came up with a sort that they kids could do in the pocket chart. Hopefully someone can use it.
Antonyms Sort

Changing Grades

I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted. Right before school started, I got a call from the assistant principal that I would need to move to 3rd grade (at least for the beginning of the year) to be in compliance with class size. I was devastated. My room was done, my bulletin boards up and I had my lesson plans and copies ready for the first month of school. Never mind, all the work and stuff that I had bought over the summer. I couldn't even talk about it for the first couple of days. To make a long story short, instead of the easy week that I had planned, I had to pack up my room, take down my bulletin boards and move upstairs. Talk about being overwhelmed. I'm still trying to figure out procedures, etc. I was going to stop my blog since I feel that I don't know enough about 3rd grade yet to create items but I think that I will keep it up for now. I still have some Kindergarten stuff that I've made that I need to post when I find them. I'm starting out slowly and trying to figure out my day. I haven't done anything yet but reading and math. Bear with me and I hope to have some kindergarten and 3rd grade stuff in a couple of weeks.

Friday Freebie

I have one more week before heading back to school and the sense of panic and what did I do all summer has kicked in.
So far today, I went to Staples to buy ink to print some of my stuff and when I put it in my printer, it said it wouldn't work. So, now, I have to go back and replace it. Meanwhile, I can't get my printing done and it's pouring here in sunny south Florida.
Then I made dog color posters and dog shape posters but can't print them.
But anyway on to the freebie. I made these at the beginning of summer when I was full of good intentions and then forgot all about them. ABC Friends
Enjoy

Encouraging Reluctant Readers

Amy in Adventures in Teaching is having a linky party on how to encourage reluctant readers.
My feeling is that reading should be fun and children shouldn't be forced to read (except at teacher's table). I worked in a school where children were yelled at for not reading in the morning. That to me is against what we should be doing. A quick story, both of my daughters are avid readers, they never go anywhere without a book, quite often you'll find them reading instead of watching t.v., etc. Yet they both did poorly on their AR points because they couldn't always find books that interested them.
So, apart from teacher table, I never force a child to read. I give them plenty of choices at the library. We have either library or big books every day at centers. I never have had much of a problem with reluctant readers. I make reading as pleasurable as can be. Reading and big books are the only centers that I don't require a response sheet. I don't want them to think they're working. Usually children get upset when they can't go to one of those centers. I have stuffed toys for them to read to. I have lots of different books for them to read and change the books out often. I don't put a lot of books out at a time. I think this helps.
I did have one child last year who hated my reading materials so when I conferenced with him, he told me that he only liked reading magazines so his mom sent in lots of different magazines and by the end of the year, he was reading my books.
I hope this helps.

I Hate Painting

Can I tell you how much I hate painting. For the last 2 years, I have been promising my youngest daughter that I would paint her room. That's right I have been putting it off for 2 years
So, this summer, I promised again that I would paint her room and there was no way she was letting me out of it. She even helped lol.
So, long story short, I have been painting for 3 days - still not finished. Was hoping to be done tonight but the paint was not cooperating so I stopped.
I have been covered in paint. I was in Publix this morning and one of my neighbors commented on what a nice shade of lime green I was using in Noelle's room. I asked her when she saw it and she said that the back of my legs were covered in it and that was after 2 showers. I'm one of those people who opens a can of paint and is immediately covered with it
Anyway, on to a freebie. I made this to use with my kiddos at the beginning of the year. For the last couple of years, I have had major problems with copying so I give each child a basket with 4 words in it and they have to write the word.
Letter Sort On another note, has anybody been watching the Target commercials for back to school. I'm loving them

A Happy Day

It's hard to believe but today is my 25th wedding anniversary. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by and how different my life has been. I immigrated to Florida, went back to school, had 2 beautiful daughters and am more in love than I was 25 years ago. I still get a thrill when I unexpectedly see my husband.
Anyway, on to my freebie. I decided to reprint my calendar pieces and updated some of them. I've completed August, September, and October. Hope you can use it.
August Calendar September Calendar October Calendar
Have a great weekend.

Moving On Up

I have received a third award, a Lovely Blog Award. Thank you to both Cindy from Kindergarten Loves Me and Ms. Pasqua from Ms Pasqua Kinders.
Now for the rules...
1. Follow the person who gave me the award. I already follow Cindy and I'm now following Ms. Pasqua.
2. Link back to the person that gave me the award. I'm getting good at this. Kindergarten Loves Me and Ms. Pasqua Kinders
3. Pass to 15 new bloggers and then let them know they have received the award. Hopefully I can find 15 who have not received this award. I'm starting to hunt.
1. Krissy Kindergarten
2. A Teacher's Touch
3. Work Smart Not Hard Kindergarten blog
4. Kindergarten Days
5. Creating and Teaching
6. Lisa's Kinderland
7. Mrs. Gilchrist's Class
8. Kinder-Cuties
9. Kindergarten Hoppenings
10.Under the Alphabet Tree
11.A Place Called Kindergarten
12.Welcome to Room 36
13.Mrs. Ayala's Kinder Fun
14.Kindergarten Lifestyle
15. Carried Away in Kindergarten
I'll be back on Friday with a freebie.
Sharon

The Versatile Blogger Award

I was very excited last week when I received 2 awards in the same day for the Liebster award. I am just as equally excited today when I got 2 awards yesterday for the Versatile Blogger Award.
It made my day especially when I had to bring my two nieces back to the airport for their trip home to Ireland. They have been visiting me and my family for seven weeks and I was very sad to see them go.
Hopefully I can remember all that I learned Sunday night. I remembered how to create paragraphs.

Thank you so much to Scrappy Teaching in Fl and Ofishally Learning for the award
Versatile Blogger Award:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you. DONE
2. Include a link to their site. DONE
3. Include the award image in your post. DONE
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself. DONE
5. Nominate 5-10 other bloggers, include their link, and let them know. DONE
7 Random Facts about me:
1. I'm originally from Ireland.
2. I'm addicted to reading - my Kindle makes it worst.
3. I'm working on getting a black belt in Jeet Kun Do. I'm one belt away.
4. I have been married to the most wonderful husband for 25 years on Friday.
5. I'm a frustrated organizer. I keep trying but never seem to get there.
6. I have 2 maltese dogs, a father and a son. The mom and sister live down the road.
7. I hate chick flicks and love action movies.
Now on to my nominations:
1. Whooo Loves Kindergarten
2. Joy of Life
3. Wild About Teaching
4. Laugh Live Love Learn
5. Grade School Giggles
Now I'm going to try and figure out how to add a signature.
Sharon

2 Awards and a freebie

I was very excited when I checked my blog Sunday morning and saw that Nicole at Lanier's Lion had given me the Liebster award. Then imagine how excited I was when I checked my blog Sunday evening and found out that Bobbie from The Daily Cupcake had also nominated me for the Liebster award.
I don't know if it's correct blog protocol but I'm going to accept both awards in the same blog.
I've have two of my Irish nieces visiting for the last 7 weeks and they are getting ready to go back on Tuesday. We're heading to Orlando Monday morning for a last hurrah.
Anyway, on to my awards, (did I mention that I was excited about them).
The rules:
1. Link back to the person who gave it to you.
2. Post the award to your blog.
3. Give the award to at least 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.
4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.
Thank you to both Lanier's Lions and The Daily Cupcake for my award.

Here are the blogs that I have nominated for the Liebster Award
1. laughlivelovelearn
2. ofishallylearning
3. kindergartenlovesme
4. kindergartenkidlets
5. kinderkidsfun
Just so you know, it has taken about 4 hours so far to complete the above. I learned how to add a picture to my blog, how to make paragraphs and how to add a link. I'm exhausted.
Now for the freebie (good thing I made it before)
These are center icons that I have made for my classroom - I made large icons and small icons for the pocketchart.
Center Icons Small Center Icons Hope you enjoy
Sharon

Newbie Blog Hop

I just linked up with Grade Three is the Place for Me for a blog hop for newbie bloggers. 1. what state you are in 2. your current teaching position 3. your teaching experience 4. when you started blogging 5. share a blogging tip / blogging resource 1. I live in sunny South Florida. 2. I currently teach kindergarten. 3. I'm going into my 17th year of teaching. I've taught kindergarten for 6 years, 1st for 9 years and 3rd for 1 year. My heart is in kindergarten and hope to stay there for the rest of my life. 4. I started blogging back in February. 5. I don't have a blogging tip. I can't even figure out how to get the image from Grade 3 on my blog. My favorite blogging resource is Kindergarten Hoppenings. Sharon

Back to school book

Hi everybody, this is the last of my back to school books. I did this one so that the kids could practice color words. I am working on the pocket chart version and should have it finished this weekend so check on back. Crayon Box What Do You See I'm working on center icons and should have them finished by Monday. Have a great Friday. Sharon

What day is it?

How many of you have the same problem that I do while on vacation. I can't remember what day it is. I went to an appointment today and found out that no it's not Friday, it's only Wednesday and I need to come back on the right day. Anyway, still have not accomplished anything on my to-do list - hopefully will start next week when my visitors leave. I've had visitors since April but we're having lots of fun together so that's not too bad. I did find time today to finish my school house pocket chart that goes with the book I posted earlier. Hopefully by Friday I will have my crayon version finished and posted. If you find any mistakes, please let me know. I proof read it several times but my mind is still on Friday. School Bus School Bus, What Do You Seepocketchar If you download, please leave a comment. Thanks Sharon

A Request

I had a request for the books that I posted without the dots. I changed one of them but I don't know if I can get to change the other one. I am working on one more and it has dots but if I make any more I'll post them before I add the dots. School Bus, School Bus What Do You See2 I also had a question about how I make the dots. I use a dot on the flowchart shapes and place them as close as I can to the middle of the word. It takes a few minutes to do it but I really feel that the children benefit from it at the beginning of the year and I use it for my low children throughout the year. I have a crayon book that I'm almost finished and I'm working on the pocket charts to go with both of them. Check back during the week. Sharon

Off to the Beach

We're off to the beach and then shopping but I wanted to post a freebie for you all. I will post the pocket chart version of it soon. School Bus, School Bus What Do You See Enjoy Sharon

Summer is Flying By!

I'm beginning to go into full panic mode. I have 4 more weeks of summer and haven't checked off anything on my summer to do list. I have my nieces visiting for one more week and then it's time to get ready to go back to school. And I'm exhausted. I feel like I haven't had a good night's sleep all summer. I had great plans in June of all the activities and projects I was going to complete but not one of them is finished. Anyway, I created a pocket chart story to go along with the Scarecrow, Scarecrow story I posted last week. I'm also working on 2 more what can you see stories - one using school supplies and one using different colored crayons. I'm hoping to have those ready by next week. Scarecrow, Scarecrow, What Do You Seepocketchar Have a great day. Sharon

Follow the Road to Freebies

I copied this title from Kreative in Kinder who's hosting a blog hopping party with wonderful freebies. So I decided to join and post a scarecrow book that I made. I'm in the process of making the pocket chart to go with it. I hope you can use it. Scarecrow, Scarecrow, What Do You See Now hopefully I can link up. Sharon

Oh Boy, More Homework

I can't believe how quickly summer is flying by. I'm excited to get back into the classroom but my summer to do list is not shrinking so I'm beginning to panic about that. I have visitors from Ireland until the end of July and I having too much fun with them. Anyway, on to the serious stuff,my team usually starts homework after the first couple weeks of school and I'm sure that many of you can relate but I have a hard time getting it back consistently. Since I expect parents to help with homework, I don't consider it the child's responsibility and don't penalize children for not returning their homework. Last night, at 3 a.m., when my 8lb malteese dog decided he needed to sleep on my side of the bed and pushed me out, homework popped into my mind. I want to acknowledge the children who return their homework but wasn't quite sure what to do. Then, ta-da, this morning my daughter handed me a reward card from an ice-cream shop that they punch everytime you buy an ice-cream and when it was full you get a free ice-cream. So that got my creative juices flowing and I came up with a homework achievement punch card. I put 10 punches on it and if they fill the card during the quarter, I will think of some reward for them. (I'm thinking lunch with the teacher since I never do that). Homework Achievement Awards I'm probably going to make a dog themed card as well since my theme is dogs but am not allowed post them because of copyright restrictions. My first main theme is friends (can't figure out who thought that would be a good unit) but am working on some activities for that. If you download, please leave a comment. Have a good Sunday Sharon

Center Time

As I was blog stalking (no point calling it anything else) tonight, I noticed that a lot of people are talking about center time and Daily 5. So, I thought I would add my 2 cents. I tried Daily 5 and just wasn't happy with it. I didn't feel that it was effective with my lovelies. I could not get them to increase their time reading and felt that I was spending more time arguing with them than reading time. So what works for me now is a mix. I do centers but try to incorporate Daily 5 into them. I have 6 centers every 2 days. I don't always do centers on Friday. I try to use this time to make class big books, complete writing projects or special art projects that we just don't have time to do during the week. I have 4 centers daily. The kids meet with me every day. They complete 3 centers during the rest of the time and the other 3 centers the next day. One of my centers is always some kind of reading - listening to, reading to self or reading to a buddy (usually a soft toy). Another of my centers is always word work (sometimes two of them). This varies with our skill and theme. I had computers this year as a center but next year probably won't be able to as one of my computers crashed and won't be replaced. I always start out the year with a writing center - either write the room or handwriting. As the year progresses, I start writing centers and we complete those activities then. I try to have at least 1 book tub center a week. This is when I give them a book that emphasizes our sight word. When the books are completed, we read them at the teacher's table and then put them in our reading box. I send them home every few months. I try to have a response center at least once a week which is usually some form of art activity. As the year progresses, we use these art activities as a writing project. I was very lucky this year as I have a special needs aide and also had 2 wonderful moms who came in and played games with my kids. I have many different versions of Candy land that I have made over the years (abc, cvc words, sight words, phrases, etc). This helps to differentiate this center without any extra work on my part. I usually prep all my centers on Friday and keep them in baskets and then just change them. I tried introducing all my centers on Monday but found that I was spending way too much time explaining them and having to review them. Not all my centers are differentiated (that is one of my goals for next year). I am working on new center cards both for my center chart and larger ones to display in the classroom. When I get them finished, I will post them here. Post a comment and let me know how you do your centers. Sharon

Awesome Giveaway (Part deux)

Believe it or not, I wrote this post last night and pressed publish but it disappeared. So, second time around, I wanted to let you know about the wonderful giveaway over at Buggy in Kindergarten. I found her site last night and haven't had a chance to explore it yet but summer starts tomorrow so I will have the time. So scoot on over and good luck. I have never won a giveaway yet so fingers crossed. http://buggyaboutlearninginkindergarten.blogspot.com/2012/06/100-follower-giveaway.html I will be back in the next few days to talk about memory books. I know I'm getting ahead (ya think) of myself but that seems to be when my creative juices flow. Sharon

Summer's Almost Here

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted. The sad part is that there is no reason for it except that I have been reading. Can't even use the excuse that they were school related. Since I have last posted, my school has had our big multicultural celebration. I was away that weekend and missed all the fun. I also forgot to take pictures of our work. I have 9 more days of work but who's counting (not me). We're finishing up our ocean unit but honestly my heart is not in it. I want to start packing and get ready for next year. I have a couple more ocean activities to post. If I don't post before summer, have a great summer. Rest, relax and revitalize for next year. Crabby Jack Words A Diving and a Jiving

Ocean Fun

I hope everybody is enjoying the start of Teacher's Appreciation Week. I have been downloading lots of free stuff all day long. We're still working on our insect unit. Between swimming and assemblies, we have gotten very behind. We have made dragonflies, fireflies, ladybugs, butterflies, praying mantises, ants and bees. I'll try and take pictures and post them during the week. I have some ocean activities that I was planning on using next week but will have to wait for another week. I made 2 shelling around games one up to 20 and one up to 30. Shelling Around Shelling Around2 Star Words A Fish Sandwich Have a good week.

Down by the Sea

We're still working on our insect unit and probably will be for the next week or two. We're still swimming. Hopefully the weather co-operates tomorrow. I started working on the activities for our ocean unit. This will probably take us to almost the end of the school year. I think we have 27 days left but who's counting. Anyway, I figured that some of you would probably be ready to start an ocean unit and wanted to post some of the activities I'm planning on doing. I will have some more activities during the week. If anybody has an idea for an activity let me know and I'll see what I can do. I plan on using fishing rods (I found mine at the dollar store). I will also staple the fish (works better than paper clips). Fishing for Sight Words Turtle Numbers Clamming for Syllables If you download, please leave a comment. Thanks Sharon

Bugs R Us

We finally started our bug unit this week and I'm bugged out already. I'm behind in the activities I'd planned for last week. We start swimming next week for 2 weeks (at least 1 hour a day gone) so I'm losing all that time as well. The children are loving what we've done so far. I purchased Deanna Jump and Growing Kinder's insects unit. I love both the units. I just read Deanna Jump's post about using vocabulary in K and have to agree with her. My old school used a vocabulary program (can't remember the name of it) and when I was told to teach it, was horrified because we weren't teaching the words in context but in isolation but the kids loved it. They loved learning "big" words and using them appropriately. What surprised me the most was that my low students soaked up those words even more than my high students. But I digress. I have two more bug activities that I thought I had posted weeks ago but like I said, I'm slowly going senile so I'll post them now. I'm starting on working on my ocean activities. If anybody has any requests, let me know and I'll see what I can do. The Beefore and After activity I was just going to use with my low students. I figures my high kids would fly through it. Boy was I wrong. Not one of my students (including the student who's reading on a second grade level) got all the cards right. I probably will make an ocean themed one as well. I haven't used the Beehive activity yet but plan to next week. Beefore and After Bee Hives Sharon

Going Buggy

I know I'm slowly going crazy (my husband says that there is nothing slow about it) but I knew that I had made some sight word activities for my insect unit but could not find them. They weren't on my school computer or my home computer. I can't tell you how many times I looked for them. I finally gave the computer to my daughter and told her she couldn't go out until she found them. Within seconds, she was back. I had sent them to my home computer as an email and deleted them from school. Anyway, now that I found them, I thought I would share them with you. This is based on an idea from Heidisongs. I hide the butterfly behind one of the other cards and the kids pick a word, read the word and see if the butterfly is behind it. Caterpillar This one I plan on using hand lenses and having the children read the words and then write it on the answer sheet. Butterfly Words I hope to be back during the week with some cut up sentences. Enjoy Sharon

A Creepy Crawly Day

I was hoping to post some freebies today but time got the better of me. However, as I was perusing (stalking) other blogs and sites, I came across a web site that has lots of bug related freebies. I especially loved the bug books and how they are already differentiated levels for us. If you get a chance, check it out its Lovetwoteach.com. Old age is definitely rearing its ugly head. I have another site for you. The books came from lovetwoteach.com but there is another site teachwithme.com that has different books and activities on it. Good thing I checked my downloads. I hope you enjoy. Our district is starting its FCAT testing next week. No specials until Friday, no recess until all clear is announced. It's going to be a long, long week. Sharon

Ladybugs All Over the Place

When I was blog stalking (at least that's what my daughter says) I came across 4 really cute activities on worksmartnothardinkindergarten.blogspot.com. She has an addition, subtraction, write the room sight word and missing number hunt. Race over there and check them out. Sharon

Free Did I Mention Free Giveaway

Nicole over at Rowdy in Room 300 is having a giveaway where everybody is a winner. Hop on over there and follow her blog and TPT store and she'll send you her year long tens frame. If you blog about it, she'll also send you her Farming Math & Literacy Pack. Have a wonderful Easter and Passover everybody. If you're on spring break I am so so jealous.

Bugs, bugs, and bugs

I wrote a blog, my computer crashed and it was lost. So second time around, I'm getting ready to start my bug unit. I don't have much created yet but there are some wonderful stuff on kinder-pond.blogspot.net. Shannon Martin has some awesome stuff. Anyway here are the activities I have created. I'll be posting more next week. If you have an idea for an activity, let me know. Insect Word Wall Bee Happy Sight Word Game Buggy Addition Sharon

Garden Party

Apologies first. The Sort the Seed activity that I uploaded yesterday was missing a page so I deleted the old one and am uploading the corrected version. I also made a math center. I should be posting a couple of other centers during the next few days. Fran at Kindergarten Crayons has a couple of cute garden books on her blog if you're interested. Sort the Seeds Next in Line Sharon

Spring is in bloom

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's back to work I go.  I had great plans over spring break and never even thought about school.  Well I thought about it but that's as far as I got.  So now I'm scrambling trying to get some activities ready for centers on Wednesday.  I made 2 literacy activities tonight.  I'm planning on making some math activities so check back during the week.
If you download something, please leave a comment. Sort the Seeds Turnip Those Words Around Sharon

K-2 Linky Party

Jeannie from Kindergarten Lifestyle is having a linky party for K-2 blogs to link up.  Hop on over there and see all the wonderful blogs that are already there.

Sharon

St. Paddy's Day

I don't usually spend too much time on St. Patrick's Day in my room but I know that most everybody else does.  If you go to mrsriccaskindergarten.blogspot.com, she has lots of wonderful St Paddy's day's centers for free.  Don't forget to visit kinder-pond.blogspot.com as well.  She has some Irish freebies for you too.
Sharon

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

I was so excited last week when I had this week's activities all ready and had started on the 2 weeks after Spring Break. Then I hurt my neck (same type of injury as whiplash but when I explained that I hadn't been in a car accident, the doctor said are you sure). Then my workshop was postponed so between those two incidents I'm way behind. I was supposed to have my formal observation on Monday but was at the emergency room (there goes the wonderful planned lesson), fell asleep in front of the principal and assistant principal at a meeting (blame pain pills) and now I'm having my observation tomorrow (Spring break anybody) but I will survive. Anyway, I made a quick sentence building activity to use with my lovelies when we come back and start our plant unit. I only did 3 sentences as this seems to be all my lovelies can do at centers. Mary, Mary - Sentences I'm planning on making some more activities next week. If there is a specific skill you would like to see, let me know. Sharon

St. Patrick's Day

So being from Ireland, you would think that I spend a lot of time doing St. Patrick's Day activities in my classroom but it's exactly the opposite. I don't have a problem with other people doing it but in Ireland St. Patrick's Day is a religious holiday and not a secular holiday. Also (don't kill the messenger) leprechauns are not the cute, cuddly little people that you hear about here but nasty, baby swapping, milk curdling, tricky (I can't think of enough bad adjectives) little people and to be avoided at all costs. One of my biggest pet peeves, however, is about St. Patrick's Day and it's when people shorten his name to St. Patty. Patty is actually the girl form in Ireland and the shorten version of Patrick would be Paddy. Anyway I didn't start this post with either of these thoughts in mind but got sidetracked. One of my favorite blogs is kinder-pond.blogspot.com and Shannon shares all of her activities. She doesn't sell anything or ask for donations or anything. She is one of the reasons that I started my blog. She's asked for people to share some of their St. Patrick's Day activities so I made a CVC word game which I hoping she'll post but I wanted to share it here too. pot of gold If you get time, check out her post on Friday and see what other Irish goodies she has for you. Slainte Sharon

Math Journals

I had no family this weekend and instead of working on my next unit I read about 5 books and not educational books but just for fun books. It was wonderful. I did, however, make some shape math journals so my lovelies would have something to do next week. The first two pages are self explanatory. The other pages are based on a book I used to do when I taught first grade. The children need to use the shape to make a picture e.g. the circle could become a sun. Shape Math Journal Sharon

Weather

I know most of my northern friends think I'm crazy but I love the cold and here in sunny south Florida we're not getting too much of it this year. Never mind that I bought not one but three coats this year just to be prepared and stylish. It got a little cold last week and I wore my heavy jacket to school and everybody laughed at me. But if I can't have cold weather, I can at least teach my lovelies about it. Here are some of the activities that I plan on doing over the next few weeks. Please leave me a comment if you download anything. I'm feeling very unloved lately. Weather Sentences Snow Many Syllables Catch the Missing Sound Over the RainbowCloudy SkiesSweet Suns at Ions Cloudy With a Chance of Numbers Singing in the Rain If there's a specific skill that you would like an activity for, please let me know. I can't promise to make it but I'm always looking for some ideas to incorporate into games. Enjoy the rest of President's Day Sharon

How I Met my Hunny

Hopefully I'm going to link this up to Buzzing with Mrs. B's linky party. The first time I met my husband was at my future father-in-law's funeral. I was intrigued but he didn't even notice me. I was at a disco a couple of months later and I was hanging out with people from work when he and his brother came in. He pretty much ignored me the whole night. By the end of the night, we ended up[ sitting together and started talking. Since he still did not seem inclined to ask me out, I asked him out. If you knew me, you would know how unusual that was. I'm pretty shy. That was 28 years ago. This year we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.

Community Helpers Again Oh My

As I was surfing the web and looking for ideas when I came across a wonderful community helper unit. I haven't figured out how to link to somebody else's blog yet so if you're interested go visit growingkinders.blogspot.com. Scroll down a couple of posts and you'll find the whole unit and best of all it's free.

Community Helpers Part 2

Well I went to post the rest of my community helper activities over the weekend and lo and behold my computer wouldn't start, wouldn't charge, would do nothing. So after desperately calling some friends (since all I know about computers would fit on a small index card) the theory was that the battery had a bad connection so now that I removed the battery, I can use the laptop. So here are the rest of my community helper activities. If you download, please leave me a comment. I would love to know if you have any suggestions. Who Has SightwordUnoneighborhood Rhyming Cops Stay tuned. If you use Treasures, I will be posting some weather activities over the weekend.

Community Helpers Part 2

I promised some more community helper activities.  I'm still working on some other ones and will post them later but here are some for now.  I try to make them so you don't have to use as much ink.  Hope you can use them.

Construction Bears Be a ChefA6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block; text-decoration: underline;">What's in the Bag Beginning Sounds Community Helpers Syllable Where's the Beautician Be a Cheferibd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })(); Be a Chefi Be a Chefo Be a Chefu

States of Matter

I've been struggling to teach my little ones the different states of matter.  They have done well with solids and liquids but we're still struggling with gases.  So I started researching on the web and other blogs and haven't found much to help.  We did have a science assembly at the beginning of the year and the lady did a nice job teaching the concept.  Too bad that the kids can't remember any of it.  One of the things that she did was bring 3 different color balloons.  One was filled with air, one was filled with liquid and one was filled with cornstarch.  Here is a pocket chart sort that I made to help my kids.  Hope someone find it useful.
I'll post some more community helper activities tomorrow.

Solid, Liquid, Gas

Community Helpers

We're learning about community helpers at the moment and I'm trying to figure out how to embed a document into my file so bear with me.

You'Ve Got Mail! Ending Sounds

A Whole New World

Hi everybody.  After seeing so many wonderful blogs and so many wonderful ideas being shared by everyone, I decided that I wanted to share my ideas with others.  I teach in SE Florida and my county is currently using Treasures reading posts.  We are presently working on community helpers and I have some great ideas (I think) that I need to upload (if I can figure out how).  So please bear with me as I take baby steps into blogland.