October Lately

I've been so busy this past week preparing for our school's fall festival. Being my first year this was my first fall festival. It was last night and it was a major success. I had to come up with a game to play in my room and went with "pumpkin golf". I found it on Pinterest and thought it would be fun. We also has a door decorating contest and I think mine turned out too cute. They haven't told us who won. It's going to be a tough call because there were lots of super cute doors. 

The witch is in! Look at our cute little hoot owls. 

This game was super easy. Just carve a jack-o-lantern, use a piece of cardboard to make a little ramp inside the pumpkins mouth. I used green butcher paper to make the putting green and brown paper twisted up to make a barrier. And ta-da!  You have a putt-putt game. 

Anyway, back to "lately"....

{Listening} to a little Taylor Swift throwback on my way to Hobby Lobby... Man I love me some Hob Lob. 

{Loving} this beautiful fall day. We've got chilli in the crockpot and will be watching some Sooner football today. Boomer! 

{Thinking} I need to get a long run in today. I was supposed to run 8 miles this morning but slept in. It's such a beautiful day though I may go after the OU game. 

{Wanting} to finish Gone Girl..this weekend. I'm so hooked. My mom is wanting me to hurry and finish so we can go see the movie! 

{Needing} to work on next weeks lessons. It's our pumpkin unit and we are going to the pumpkin patch as well. Can't wait to post about it. 

{Trick or Treat} a treat for new followers. If you found my blog and follow me, leave your email on this post and I will send you my Freaky Phonics and Monster Math bundle for free! It's worth $5. I will offer this to my new followers today-Oct 10. 

Happy Fall Y'all! 

Not so fast September!

Wow! I cannot believe October is nearly here! It feels like we just started school! I have been busy busy creating and preparing for fun fall activities. I love fall but it goes by way too quickly... Last week we were all about apples! We made applesauce, investigated apples, collected data, and got artsy with our apples. I'll have to admit, when I did apples during my internship I had tons of pictures. When you are actually teaching and don't have a second set of hands to help, it's hard for me to snap pics. It's my first year teaching though so hopefully I'll just keep getting better and better at that :) Here's some highlights of our week. I unfortunately don't have a picture of our adorable graph. This week and next week we are all about pumpkins, so hopefully I'll be on my game for pictures!

Happy last days of September!

Apple pickin', I love my vintage apple basket.

 

You can find this apple investigation FREE on TPT  in my shop! Very Kinder friendly.

Measuring our apples.

The kiddos painted a picture of their apple, I think it is so cute! It's a crafty graph.

I used a lot of Deanna Jump's apple activities. This is a great bundle! You should really check it on on her TPT, just click on the image.

For a free apple investigation download just click on the image above!

 

 

 

What's new this week!

I sure loved my 3 day weekend of doing nothing! However, I came back to school full speed for a busy week! We are learning the last bit of our letter recognition before moving onto sounds! In a 4 day week we are learning T-Z! But thanks to Heidi Songs it is making it easier for the kids to learn their letters, sounds, and letter formation. I've been hearing the kids singing her songs to themselves while they work. I'm not going to lie, I've been singing them too.. They're pretty catchy! Our reading series that we use focuses on A-Z letter recognition during the first 4 weeks of school. Then we move on to a letter sound a week. I like just focusing on 1 sound a week because we get to read lots of books that use that specific sound, make letter crafts, etc.

(Heidi songs) 

Also, on a different note, I now have all of Unit 1 for Kindergarten Reading Street on TPT. I have all stories for the 2008 and 2013 editions. Don't forget to check them out! They are great resources!

September Print and Go

I've been working on my September Print and Go for awhile. My print and go bundles are meant for morning work and independent practice. This bundle focuses on a-z letter recognition, numbers 1-10, and matching same/like objects. I thought the football theme was a great way to kickoff September! I went with the football and cheerleader theme to try something different for September rather than the usual apples. Don't get me wrong, I love apple units, it actually might be my favorite to do with my class. I just thought I'd offer something a little different. Here is a preview of my bundle! I hope you like it!

Writer's Workshop

Writing has always been something that I enjoy. I love teaching writing to my Kinder's. They get so excited about Writer's Workshop. I've really gotten some interesting stories from them. Everything about a pet goldfish, catching turtles in a pond, spending time at the lake with family, and much more! I use Deedee Wills and Deanna Jump's Writing Through the Year units. They are in a workshop format. There are no prompts, it is all student choice. It encourages risk taking! I do not help them with spelling or give them ideas. However, I do model writing by showing them how to think of a topic and tell their story with words and pictures. This really encourages creative thinking.

This is usually how my Writer's Workshop goes:

Children gather on their Sit Spots as I begin the writers workshop with chart paper. I model writing, and show them how to think of a topic. I explain that writing is just telling a story on paper. I first draw pictures then together we make words with just sounds we hear. I don't focus on spelling, I want them to be risk takers!

After the mini-lesson on the chart paper I have them close their eyes and think of a topic. (I am usually playing classical music or nature sounds in the background). After they choose their topic they can go to their seat and begin writing. I play the "quiet" music while they write. This helps them know that they are quietly working.

I walk around and praise them for their work and notice their details. I am also reminding them about working on stamina and using their strong writing muscles.

After we write, I choose three students to share their work. The students also practice fine listening skills. Deedee and Deanna's units go into much much much more detail of the how writer's workshop should go. This is a vague overview. I really encourage you to use their units!

 

 

 

 

 

What Friday Linky!

What I love to teach??? Oh man that's a hard one! I believe my favorite thing to teach is anything that involves science, literacy, and math. I love literature focus units/thematic units where you can work on all subject areas. This week I actually did some fun stuff with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

On Mondays is when I like to usually do a craft, that way we can display it through the week and the kids can take home on Friday. I found an adorable craft from Deanna Jump's  Literacy and Math Fun With Names. This is a great bundle for back to school. (I failed to not get a pic of the cuteness of the craft but my goodness it was cute! It was a coconut tree with the letters of the their name in the tree)

I then found an awesome Chicka Chicka bundle from the Kindergarten Smorgasbord. It had everything you need for math and literacy centers. My kids loved the letter hunt the most. They got so excited about it!

I then busted out the science!

We did a coconut investigation! I brought a coconut and they had to form a hypothesis of whether they thought it would sink/float..I also let them do a coconut milk taste test and we composed a class graph to show our data of who did and didn't like the coconut milk. It was so fun!

We are coconuts about Kindergarten!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peek at my Week+When Thursday Linky

I am still trying to get into routine! I am on week two of school and boy is it busy. I'm first year k-teacher so I'm still taking note of what is working and what needs to go. Here is the schedule that I've been using that is working. Afternoon, after writer's workshop is where I get in a pickle... It's not quite enough time to effectively do centers... I am thinking of using this time to bring in a thematic/literature unit? Something fun and simple, like an apple unit, or Three Billy Goats Gruff... Something that is fun and can also tie in literacy. Any advice would be appreciated. :)

The first part of my day focuses on Calendar Time and I use Deanna Jump's Chit Chat series to build their phonics skills in a fun way.

For my shared reading we using Scott Foresman's Reading Street Series. You can find Kindergarten Reading Street bundles in my shop.

For my Math Workshop I use Deanna Jump and DeeDee Wills Guiding Kinders math units. They are amazing and work out great for the time I'm given for my math block.

For my writer's workshop I have started using Deanna Jump's Writing through the Year units. The kids love the freedom that comes with the writer's workshop approach. It really encourages risk taking.

Teacher Week 2014: Where I teach!

Please forgive me for my iPhone pics. Someone I know who takes pics professionally is going to take pics of my room for my blog. Until then I am the photographer and not a good one at that. My theme for my K room is puppies and chevron! Sticking to bright colors. I really love my room and the theme is very fun for the kiddos.

I will be changing this bulletin board out each month for seasons and hanging art/crafts! 

This is where my lap top for my Smart Board goes... Don't ya love my skittle jar? 

My teacher table! Complete with my Teacher anchor! 

Birthday board! Still waiting to get more birthdays up there! And yes I need to fix the spacing. Please pay no attention to the tacky ceiling tile. 

Reading center/library 

An organized mess. 

My Top Dog of the Week seat

Dog bowls to hold crayons!

Cute calendar time! 

Where I sit during carpet time! This chair holds my flash cards, markers, books, etc! 

My SitSpots! Love them 

Word wall

Supply shelf! Wish you could see my cute labels.. Silly lamination. 

Kitchen center and chalkboard table. 

Alphabet pennants!

It's all good in Kindergarten! 

 

 

Teacher Week 2014: Who Monday!

Hi y'all! I'm a newbie to the blogging world and am a first year Kindergarten teacher. I graduated in December 2013 with my bachelors in Early Childhood Education (prek-3rd) I got hired in November and got to leave my internship early (blessed) to finish out the year for a 3rd grade teacher who had to move to be with her husband and his new job. I was the moved to Kindergarten (where I truly belong) and am now a first year Kindergarten teacher. I interned in Kindergarten and fell in love with K. During my internship I started following teacher blogs and really got inspired. Here I am now starting out in the blogging world and a new TPT seller and I am enjoying every minute of it. There are many teachers that I follow who have inspired me in so many ways. One in particular whom I adore, is Deanna Jump. I buy all of her goodies and my Kinders love them. I also believe she is a great woman of God and shows that in the work and passion she has with her kiddos. Anyways, Here is a little about me:

 

 

1- I married my high school sweetheart, Clint. We got married 2 years ago in Vegas with all of our family and friends. That is our baby Boomer. He's seriously the cutest.

 

2- I do not think the diet coke needs any explanation ;)

 

 

3- I love my job, it's seriously what I was meant to do and I am so blessed to have a job I love. My job does not end when the bell rings. I am constantly thinking and working on stuff for my Kinders after school and on the weekends and I will never complain.

 

 

 

4- I love OU game days

 

 

5-

I love being on the lake. Thankfully enough, my in-laws have a lake cabin and it is my favorite place to be. This is a pic of me doing paddle board yoga on the lake.

 

 

6- Another pic of the cutest pup, Boomer!

 

7- I started running last January and will be running my second half-marathon this November. I love how my only competition is myself, it's also my little escape.

 

 

8-  I work at a very little rural school. I love it! It's like one big family!

 

9- Chick-fil-a, Yes, I'll have an 8 count with waffle fries, Chick-fil-a sauce and a diet coke please!

 

10- Jesus really is my bestie. I talk to him daily and ask for guidance in everything, especially with my Kinders. I don't want to just "teach" but I want to be someone they feel love from and safe with, because you never know if they get that at home. I ask God to work through me daily and to help me be the best I can for my kinders.