Totally Reading Tuesdays

This week we are working on the letter Rr.

I made these CVC puzzles for just words beginning with Rr (by the way, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be!). There are several out there, but not many that a kindergartner would understand. So, the word "ray" sneaked in there, even though it's not technically a CVC word.

Work with me people! =)

Click on the picture to go to Scribd and download the puzzles.

I also got back to the lap booking this week.  The last one I did was letter Ii and I about pulled my hair out!  Way too much info to get done.  I may have to scale that one back a bit or maybe better planning on my part?  Not sure =)

The Rr Lap Book is fairly simple and we are using it with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

The kids are LOVING it!

Check it out.

I started writing my poem a little too fast and spelled reindeer wrong, but I've got it right for all of the kids.  Notice that I also added a dictation test. We have begun really working hard on our spelling and I thought this would be another easy way to review their CVC work.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Math Mondays

This week is back to normal! Back to work, back to actual scheduled posts that follow my normal weekly plan.  And back to a normal 3 weeks of school before Christmas break. HA!
My kiddos will be crazy these next 3 weeks and I am going to be prepared!
My stations for math are ready for at least then next 2 weeks and plans are set.
Luckily, we have some easy topics these next few weeks.
Patterns, Classification and Review.

Here are a few things I've done for patterns.
One of my first Scribd docs when I started my blog was a patterning game for the different units of study we did at the beginning of the year.  So I've pulled that out of the archives and here you go.
*Content Removed due to new DJI Copyright ruling.*


We've been learning about patterns since the kiddos walked through the door in August. So the concept is not new to them.  However, during our actual week of learning patterns, we break them down and call them by their names. AB, ABC, AAB, ABB, you get the idea. I made a recording sheet to see which patterns they truly understand and which ones need a little more work.
Create a Pattern

I have an evaluation a couple weeks ago and I made exit slips using patterns.  Now, I use these anytime we are lining up, going back to our tables, dismissal, entering in the morning..whenever!  Great little trick.  However, I found one that I got a little cut and paste happy on and I didn't exactly edit my work..so if you find it..please do not leave a nasty comment that it's not pattern..just kindly throw it away and forgive my human error =)

*Content Removed due to new DJI Copyright ruling.*

Oh, another fun thing that I want to do this week is make some pattern strip books that Mrs. Fran at Kindergarten Crayons made way back in June. She's an awesome lady!

Someone New Sunday

This week I am proud to feature:

Mrs. Rachel

who has a great Special Education blog called:

Ages Taught: 

I teach a non-graded program for moderately cognitively impaired students ages 12-26

 

State:

Michigan

 

What is your teaching "style"? 

My teaching style is hands-on and and very structured.  My students thrive on structure and consistency so I believe it is very important to provide that to them.  I love doing all types of hands-on activities.  I try my best to meet the needs of every student in my room as they all learn at very different paces and in very different styles.  I love teaching life skills to my students, everything from cooking to laundry to eating out in restaurants! We go on a CBI (community based instruction) trip at least once a week.  I also teach academics but with a functional twist!  I love teaching special ed!

 

What is your most memorable teaching experience? 

I am a second year teacher.  Last year (my first year)I had a new student to the district. He had a ton of behavior issues and was very violent. This year (after a year of hardwork and behavior planning and intervention) he is doing  AMAZING!  He is a new kid! 

 

Why do you blog? 

I blog to share ideas, to meet new teachers and to get new ideas! What a great community!

 

Where else can we find you?

 

Freebie:

Here's a cooking freebie I created: YUM!

 

Take a few minutes today and go check out Ms. Rachel's Room.

You can also check out the over 1,000 pins she has on Pinterest!

Wow..I thought I was addicted =)

Say What You Want Saturday

Sorry for no post yesterday.

I've been relaxing and chilling out with family.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday.

I'm almost done with the decorating and am having an Open House for Uppercase Living today.

We just got the weather report that we may possibly have our first snow this Monday.

Yipes!

Enjoy your last few days before back to work we go.

Thematic Thursdays with a Thanksgiving Twist

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Check out a few things that we did to prepare for the Holiday!

Thankful Trees

On each hand I recorded something they said they were thankful for.

Our hidden turkeys.  I had more Monday, but forgot to take another picture!

This one was my favorite though..very creative!

This one is pretty awesome too. Go Cowboys!

We did ABC patterns on a paper plate and turned it into...

this! 

Lots of pattern turkeys!  Many of they got it..some..umm not so much!

 We did a few other projects like stained glass ornaments and Thanksgiving books, but I don't always remember my camera!

Our favorite time though was meeting with our buddies across the hall for a Thanksgiving Feast!

My class were pilgrims and Mrs. Morrow's were the Native Americans.

We had so much fun!  We also made pilgrim hats from fudge striped cookies and Reese's PB cups.

Yum!

Everyone have a blessed day today.  Enjoy time with loved ones!

But I Am Not Thankful For...

Ok, I know I shouldn't post twice, but I just found a great linky party over at 

First Grade Blue Skies.

And yes, you read the title right...I am NOT thankful for:

Believe me, I am thankful for MANY things in my life, but we all know there are a few things that you just can't be thankful for.

Here are my Top 5!

1. I am not thankful for the added stress of evaluations this year.  I'm not very stressed over it, but am seeing the stress that it has caused other friends at other schools and I just think it is SO unnecessary!

2. I am not thankful for pet hair.  I love my dog and cat very much, but do not love the mess they leave me everywhere in the house.  Luckily, hubby has no problem sweeping it up..I on the other hand..do!

3. I am not thankful for my current internet connection.  I have a wireless connection and for the past 2 days it has been going in and out.  I have to log out and back in about 15 times during a 30 minute sitting at the computer!  Annoying!

4. I am not thankful for this heart monitor I have to wear right now.  Although, it may keep me healthy, it is not the most comfortable thing to wear.  I can't take a shower for the next 24 hours and forget about wearing a bra out today..if I go out.  

5. I am not thankful for the process of taking down fall decorations and putting up Christmas decorations.  I wish there was a fairy or maybe if I were Jeannie who could just blink her eyes and wiggle her nose and poof it was done.

So, what are some things that you aren't thankful for?

Come link up over HERE!

What I'm Pinning Wednesday

Sorry for the missing post yesterday...let's just say that I am thankful for my dog who barks at neighbors at 7a.m.  Without him, I would not have made it to work yesterday and that's pretty much how my day went!  Everything was crazy until I walked out of the building at 3:30 then it was on to a girl's night to finally see Edward & Bella get married and have a little nudger (which *spoiler alert*, I was slightly disappointed that the nickname "nudger" was never used in the movie!)

Anywho..on to the important part...my pins this week!

First off, is one from my friend Becca.  She does not have an educational blog per say, but you can learn a lot from her creative mind! And yes, it's Thanksgiving tomorrow, but maybe you can keep this in mind for next year.

Source: cookieandclaire.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Next is sight word typing from makinglearningfun.com. I am making these this weekend and introducing them into my sight word station next week! LOVE!

Source: makinglearningfun.com via Laura on Pinterest

I also LOVE these Busy Bags from Second Story Window.  Some might be a little too easy for my kinder kiddos, but they love playing any kind of game!

Source: sstorywindow.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

I also found another GREAT procrastination poster...Ha!  So me!!!

Source: iiiinspired.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

One quick thing before I sign off today.  Send a quick prayer up for me.  I get to spend today and part of tomorrow morning hooked up to a heart monitor.  Doc hasn't said much about why, just that he wants to take every precaution after my heart had a few flutters a couple weeks ago.

Have a wonderful Turkey day tomorrow!  I'll have pics up of some of the activities the kiddos and I did this past week to get ready for the big day!

I'm Thankful! Linky Party!

I am linking up with What The Teacher Wants and her What I'm Thankful For Linky Party!

No Math Monday today...sorry!  I thought I would take a break from some of the norm this week and dwell on the spirit of Thanksgiving!

Won't you please come and join me!

1.  What are you thankful for in your classroom?

First of all, I am thankful to have my new classroom at a new school!  I am so blessed just to be where I am.  I am thankful for my students.  They may drive me crazy sometimes, but I love them to pieces!

2. What person are you most thankful for?

My wonderful husband.  He puts up with a lot from me.  I know it's not easy being the spouse of a teacher.  He endures a lot from me, listens to my sad days, rejoices in my happy days and cuts lamination like a pro!

3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?

Jennifer at Herding Kats in Kindergarten

Kerri at Ms. Kerri and her Krazy Kindergarten

Meghan at The Tucker's Take Tennessee (she's my awesome cousin who kind of got me started with this blogging obsession!)

4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for?

I am so glad that it's Thanksgiving...that means I can watch

without feeling guilty about it, like I do when I watch it in the summer!

I am also a closet fan of 

and cannot wait for 

to come out this Thursday! Yay!

5. What are you most thankful for? 

For my God and Father.  For the family he has blessed me with and the time I get to spend with them this week and always.

Someone New Sunday

It is Sunday again! My favorite day of the week!

This week I have a NEW blogger!

She only has 15 followers and needs a few more to visit her awesome blog.

Meet Joni Alford

and her blog:

Grade you teach: 

kindergarten (K-5)

Town/State:  

South Carolina

 

What is your teaching "style"? 

I am a very hands-on teacher. I love to do investigational activities in my classroom because the kids enjoy them and they learn to so much.

Why do you blog? 

I began blogging because I wanted to give back since I have found so many useful things on the teachers’ blogs that I have visited. I love to create new things to use in my classroom. I also like to get new ideas from other teachers on how they are using the new Common Core standards. This is my first year back in kindergarten in 4 years so a lot has changed.

You can get a great beginning sound freebie from Joni HERE!

These are concentration games that she made to focus on beginning letter sounds.

Click her button at the top of the post and show Joni some blogger love!

Say What You Want Saturday

I have been out of town and am just able to get to my computer.

I've had quite a few awesome things happen to me in blog-land since Friday afternoon!

First off..thank you to Julie at

who posted about my sight word tickets and worked really hard to make a few additional ones for those of you who use the Fry's 100.  If you don't follow Julie, you should!

Click the button to go visit her!

You can also see my sight word post HERE.

I also posted pictures of how I use there HERE.

Next, I received an invitation from

to become a contributor!

This site has SO many centers and it is very organized!

I don't know where to start!

And lastly, I received the Sunshine Award from Ms. Kerri and her Krazy Kindergarten.

Thank you Kerri! You just made my day! And now it's time for me to pass on some love!

Here are the rules for accepting this award:
1. Thank the person who gave this award and write a post about it.
2. Answer the following questions below.
3. And pass the award to 10~12 fabulous bloggers, link their blogs and let them know you awarded them.

My answers to the questions:

• Favorite color? Purple and Green
• Favorite animal? My dog..he's a pit bull. He's my big baby and the best dog I've ever had.
• Favorite number?17 (my birthday)
• Favorite drink? Sweet Tea..yum!  But I don't drink it that much..trying to stick with the diet and drink more water.
• Facebook or Twitter? I have my Twitter linked to my Facebook so that I only have to post a status once.  However, I've got more of my friends on Facebook and it's easier to keep up there.
• Your passion? Helping others to the best of my ability.  I've always been known for looking out for others before myself and I hope to always be that way. I also hope that my relationship with others shows my passion for God and His love for all men, who love Him in return
• Giving or getting presents? Can I say both?  Of course I enjoy getting presents, but I love giving gifts as well...especially now that Pinterest has come around..more and more cute ideas that are cheap, but meaningful! =)
• Favorite day? Sunday. The first day of the week.  I love starting off the morning going to services at church and then spending time with family in the afternoon.  It's also my time to prepare for the week ahead.

Now to the hard part of choosing 10 blogs!

A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Erica Bohrer's First Grade

Growing Kinders

Kindergarten Rocks

Kindergarten Tales

Little Literacy Learners

Little Priorities

Miss Toffee's Class

Peace, Love and Learning

Swamp Frog First Graders

3in30 - November

Goal 1

Doing a little more for the hubby this month for his birthday.

I pulled it together for his birthday and I think he has had a great week.  I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve.

Here is my Pinterest idea that I did for him.

We love Hoops and YoYo =)

Happy Birthday!!

Goal 2

Wanting to get my shopping and Christmas cards ready and done by the end of the month.

Getting addresses together this week.  This has been quite a feat, especially when my new phone decided to somehow only transfer my email addresses and not my phone numbers and addresses?!

No clue what happened....anyway, it is getting done and this time I am keeping my file updated and backed up!

So, if anyone out there wants a Christmas Card from me...email me your address =)

Goal 3

Purging my bedroom closet.  

I threw away 5 pairs of shoes...they were broken and very old.  No clue why I still had them! They are gone and a few more are getting put in a bag for Goodwill.

Clothing is coming this week!

Slacker!

I am totally feeling like a slacker this week!

I had a great post that I wanted to do today and low and behold..it is 9:15p.m.

Oops!

I also forgot to get all of the pics taken for the post..again..oops!

Ever just had one of those weeks.

I blame it partly on putting all of my effort into my evaluation on Monday.

I blame it partly on being under the weather (finally got a Z-Pac from the doc today! Yay!)

I blame it partly on my hubby's b-day and spending a little extra time with him.

You know..life sometimes gets in the way.

I am a teacher, but I do have a life outside of that.

However, I also found a poster on pinterest last week that I can also lay partial blame to.

Source: bugaboominimrme.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

Yes, that is SO me! =)

Anyway, to make this somewhat educational, I present my funny story of the day:

Student: (making ghost sounds)

Me: Is Robert not here today? Are we hearing the ghost of Robert?

Student: Robert's not here right now, please leave a message at the beep! BEEP!

Honest to goodness! This kid is my numero uno class clown.

Sometimes, he drives me crazy..other times, he makes me fall out of my sleep laughing!

I love my job!