I have a button!

Ok, so I've seen everyone's adorable buttons and wanted to officially become a Teaching Blog Addict, but I didn't have a button.  Until now...  :)  I just created one using one of my very FAVE wedding pics!

<a border="0" href="http://littlemissglamourgoestokindergarten.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b257/Kristin4God/th_BlogButton.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>

I guess I'll have to make some sort of Button Parade on my homepage to show off my favorite blog buttons.  While you're grabbing mine {hint, hint} direct me to yours.  Who is your favorite??

Insects, Balloons, Superheroes & the Circus!

Just as we began our May Days themes, a lot of external things came to pass...SmartBoards being installed, new {& LENGTHY} district assessments, tech issues with DIBELS that resulted in retesting all the kids...twice.  We also had a really tough day as we learned that we were losing 7 teachers next year.  While it was a little disappointing to not get to all of our super fun activities, I also had much practice this week in patience, flexibility and remembering what really matters.  These were all intended to be individual posts full to the brim with ideas, but just as things in the classroom can change at any moment, I'm learning the same goes for Blogland.  I hope you'll still find something new and ready-to-use!

Bugs & Insects

We used Eric Carle's coloring sheet to sequence the events in The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Since I can't ever leave anything as just a worksheet it became our favorite product...a sentence strip crown!

{egg carton insects with all 3 body parts & antennae}

{tissue paper butterflies to beautify the view & replace our friends who flew away}

We used this super cute Read the Room blends activity from Teach it With Class and I was thrilled & surprised to see how many of the words my kinders could actually sound out and read on their own!

Shannon at Kinder-pond also provided us with a directionality book & nonsense word sort.

 Bubbles & Balloons

{using Crickweb's fabulous counting activities on our new SmartBoard!}

{counting how many times we can hit the balloon without it touching the ground}

{moving bubbles to correctly spell mixed-up sight words}

Circus Day

{watching actual Ringling Brothers footage before writing about acts}

{our adorable animal cracker circus train}

Superhero Day

{we created superhero names by writing a list of nouns and a list of adjectives and putting them in a basket.  everyone chose one word from each group and voila!, new supercharacter to write about.}

Lindsey at The Teacher Wife also has an awesome unit on -er & -est endings using superheroes that we used in our guided reading groups.  Definitely worth a couple of dollars!

 And a little something extra...

 

While our SmartBoard was installed we spent the morning across the hall buddied up with our favorite first graders in Mrs. Wick's class!  They had been studying homes for people and animals and we just couldn't pass up this cute activity.  After reading House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle, we made our shells fancy with decoration, too.  Thanks for sharing Mrs. Wicks!!

{cute crab & shell printables from A Mommy's Adventures}

I also found this activity on Homeschool Share that would be great to incorporate into a math or calendar lesson!

And the WINNER is...

My {amazingly selfless} husband and I just got back from a great weekend with his family at the beach.  I think all weddings are fantastic, but when it's a family member, it's always somehow that much greater.  I painstakingly left ALL of my school work at home and haven't touched it since Tuesday...which leaves me with much blog stalking, cutting, tracing, coloring, printing & laminating to do...but it was wonderfully relaxing and I hope each of you will have the chance for a relaxing weekend like that soon!

On to what you're really looking for...  ;)

 Congrats Mechele!!  I'm glad you found my blog and appreciate the publicity!  :)

Both units are now up on my TeachersPayTeachers site.  One is a freebie and the other is $1.  {Mandated by the graphic designer that I sell my units with her artwork.}  Head on over to see which is which!

100 Followers = Giveaway!!

Thanks to your help and sharing, I've reached *100* followers!  I'm hosting a giveaway for the next week.  I'll be at the beach for a family wedding next weekend and will be back Sunday night to announce the winner!

I am giving away either my Beauty & the Beast unit or my Peter Pan unit, winner's choice!

 

Each unit includes:

*venn diagram comparing story characters {Beauty} or settings {Peter Pan}.

*flash cards to 100 counting by 5s & 10s.

*hidden sight word picture.

*count & graph math activity.

*ABC order character/name match-up.

*writing prompt stationery.

*real vs. nonsense word Write the Room cards & recording sheet.

*class inventory questionnaire & accompanying graph.

*cut & glue finish-the-pattern activity.

You have 3 chances to enter & are welcome to do all 3 for multiple entries!
*Follow my blog.
*Post my contest on your blog to share my giveaway.
*Let me know a favorite activity {to be created in my next unit}

Be sure to leave a comment for each entry!


The winner will be announced Sunday May 8th!

Both units will be available on my TPT store after the contest.

{Many of my units are free and I only charge when graphic designers require that I do so, per their terms of use.  If I have to sell, they'll be cheap...promise.  ;)  I'll always share freely what I can!}

global communication.

So the last objective we needed to cover for our state Social Studies standards was a hodgepodge of randomness...transportation, communication and technology...across the world.  We were struggling to put all of these together into something cohesive so I created this:

After a few mini-lessons on each topic, this will be our wrap-up activity to bring it all around together.  You can get ah-dorable graphics of people from each country from Lettering Delights but I've taken down the original file because I'm afraid it went into the gray area of Terms of Use and I'd rather be safe than sorry.  However!  You can get them by clicking on the Lettering Delights button to the left.

We will locate each country on the world map so they know what type of transportation to choose {land, water or sea} but any acceptable answer will do.  If they want to fly to Switzerland in a hot air balloon or a rocket ship...fine by me!

We've started talking about what technology is and isn't so they might say a GPS will help them get there, the internet might help them figure out what to do while they're there or {knowing my kids} that playing Angry Birds on their cell phones will give them something to do while they're traveling.

For the communication piece we covered facial expressions, body language, foreign languages and sign language.  I'd also accept answers of drawing pictures or acting things out.

If you're interested, click on the picture above for a FREE download.  Enjoy!  {Disfrutar!  Profiter!  Geniessen!  Godere!  楽しむ!}

85...86...87...88...Giveaway!

My Fashionistas {followers} list is slowly growing...and getting closer and closer to 100!  To help push things to the magic kindergarten number of *100,* I'm announcing an upcoming giveaway!  When I reach 100 followers I will hold a giveaway for one of my two fairy tale units:

Peter Pan or Beauty & the Beast

Interested?  Share my blog and help me gain followers.

Freebie coming soon!!!  :)

{video} little chick babies.

Since the incubator didn't seem to be an ideal situation for us {full story here} I went on down to the hardware store and picked up a few little friends. As far as the kids know, the brown one is Miracle - who they actually saw hatch - and the others were also from their eggs. I can't wait to see how excited they'll be on Monday to see who's come for a visit! :)

My husband, the videographer, is clearly not as enthused as I am {"mm-hmmm..."} but he's definitely been a good sport about me getting them, sitting and watching them all afternoon, and listening to them chirp for the next couple of days.  Oh the sacrifices of a teacher's spouse.  ;)