Calling all Matilda Jane Addicts...

O.k - I have been lesson planning all night and I finally finished - Yay!!!  That is sooo boring compared to shopping!!!  My second favorite past time!!!  I know this has nothing to do with my class, or teaching at all, but I wanted to share my new addiction with you!  If you are not familiar with the Matilda Jane clothing line, it is absolutely ADORABLE!!

The newest line they have is called House of Clouds and the second release of the line is this Tuesday!  If you are interested in placing an order, contact me before Tuesday and I will send you more info. My trunk keeper is awesome and will do everything she can to get your order in before everything sells out! :)  

Here is my daughter in one of our favorite outfits!

  I went to a Premier Party today and could have spent soooo much $$$ but I controlled myself!! :)  You will not be able to see the complete second release until March 1st on the web site but here are some sneak peek pix.  There is a lookbook on the site that will give you an idea of what the new line will be like.  :)

Money

This week we started our study of money.  We began with an activity that allowed the children to investigate and observe the 4 different coins.  We then had fun making some rubbings of the different coins!!  

The sheets that I used I got from our State's Dept. of Ed web site that is password protected so I figured that sharing wouldn't be ok - so I made one for you! :)

You can find them HERE!

Flower Power

At this point in our Kindergarten year, we have learned most of the vowel sounds.  Last week some of my children were having a really hard time discriminating the different sounds that they make.  This is where the inspiration for my new addition to my TpT Store came from. 

Enjoy!!  

Click on the picture below to find your own Flower Power!!!

I absolutely fell in love with this clipart when I saw it!  I will be using it for more fun!!

Stylish Blogger

Wow!!!  I am so excited to be nominated by some wonderful bloggers out there for this awesome honor.  I had  ALOT of help with this wonderful little blog I set up and without the help of my web designer this blog would not be here!  Pamela at the Posh Box is awesome and she did a great job on this and my other site- Porter's Polka Dots!!  So, this honor really goes to her!!  There is a link to her site further down my page!  Anyway, thanks to Shannon, Barbara, and Mrs. Wheeler for the award! :)

Now, here are my 7 facts:

1. I love to rearrange furniture!  My house is small so I can only move the couch to so many places....sooooo...where does that leave???  Yep!  my classroom!  I rearrange probably once a month.  I just can't help myself and really it is my way of cleaning up the place.  My kids by this time of the year are used to it and I think they kinda like the surprise when it happens.  My para on the other hand.... :)  I think secretly it drives her crazy, but I think after 4 years she is used to it too. :)

2.  I had a hysterectomy last year.  I am blessed to have the one child that I was given and honestly it has been the best thing I have ever done!! So much better than dealing with horrible cramps and everything else that comes with them.

3. I am addicted to Matilda Jane Clothing for my little girl.  It is a new addiction but one that has happened rather quickly!  Check them out if you have little girls!  Sooooo cute!!!

4.  WARRRRRRR  Eagle!  Yep!  I graduated from Auburn University and couldn't be more proud of my Alma Mater this year!!

5.  I am a font addict.  Enough said! :)

6.  I am addicted to scents - prefume, candles, oils - I have to have my classroom smell like something else other then kid.  :)  Market Fresh Apple is my current fave from Bath and Body Works!  Love their oil for warmers.

7.  I wish I could dance.  I soooo CAN'T but wish I could! :)

At this point, I'm not sure who hasn't been awarded this yet, so if you haven't, count yourself in!!! :)  

This was fun!! :)

Back from the Dead...

Our house has been trying to recuperate after the flu hit us towards the end of last week.  My hubby was hit the hardest :( but we are finally starting to feel normal again.  Trying to take care of an active 6 year old, and filling and shiping Porter's Polka Dot's clipboard orders that had to get out has made it hard to really "rest" but things are definitely getting better!  

Here are some pics from the last part of the week - including our finished Valentine Sort Book from Deanna Jump!

    

Here is the Grab and Count Activity that I posted last week.  They had a great time.  I originally thought I would use small conversation hearts, but quickly learned that the bigger ones were going to work better.  Even with the big ones, I still had some students grab more than 20... :)  We made it work... I made them use 3 or 4 of the ten frames and we practiced counting bigger numbers.  :)

Here are some more  of the activities from Kim Adsit's Friend's Unit

 

   

Hope everyone is staying well!! :)

Valentine Sort

This afternoon I finally let my kiddos get into their Valentine Boxes.  I know - I'm totally mean right???  We just ran out of time yesterday (imagine that) and I really wanted to do the Valentine Sort that Deanna Jump had in her Valentine Unit so I didn't let them take their boxes home!  They were actually ok with it because they knew we were going to make a book.  :)

Sorting Valentine's with 5 and 6 year old was quite an experience but it was fun for them to actually take the time and really look at their cards.  I was so busy trying to help everyone that I did not get a chance to snap any pictures.  I did capture a few special moments of them opening their boxes!  I will post pics of the finished book soon!! :)

    

  

Can't wait to see their books when they are completed!!!

Valentine's Day Fun!

 

I always forget but quickly remember how tired I am after Valentine's Day!!  Phew!  What a fun day we had, but I am wiped out!  I think the kids had a great time and our fun isn't even over yet!!  I did not send their Valentine's home today because we are going to to sort them and complete the Scrapbook Deanna Jump has in her Valentine's Unit!  Fun!!

Here are some of the things we did today!

The February Family Project is for them to decorate a box for the Valentine's Exchange.  This project is fantabulous  because I love seeing the creativity of each of the families!  They turned out adorable as always!!  Here are some more!

We did a Valentine Rotation this morning again while my co-teacher was with us.  One group sorted and graphed candy hearts, one group estimated and one group made Valentine's and passes out their Valentine cards.

After lunch we completed the "How many letters do you have on your conversation heart?" graph.  I found this idea on Chalk Talk: A Kindergarten Blog.

Tomorrow morning for morning work they are going to complete this page about our graph.  They are so much better at analyzing our data and recording it!!

You can find this <HERE> :)

And last but not least we ended our day with a little celebration!  Cupcakes, cookies and juice are a perfect way to end a wonderful day!! :)

Happy Vatentine's Day!!

 

Valentine Games

This week we played some fun games with a little Valentine appeal!! :)

During small group time I introduced them to a game called Broken Hearts.  It is a game to practice nonsense word fluency.  I was very proud of my student's mid year Dibels benchmark results but the one area where we needed a little more practice was in NWF.   They had a great time - and learned a little in the process!! :)

Love this shot.  :)

I also pulled out Tic Tac Toe.  I love to watch them play this game.  I tried my hand at it to help model and teach the concept....and I was BEAT by a 5 year old!!!  :)

You can find these games in my TpT store.  :)  One is in the Valentine's Literacy Pack and one is in the Valentine's Math Pack.

Friends!!!

The Valentine's season is the perfect time to celebrate friends!!

Friends Tree Map - from Kim Adsit's friends unit

We worked with our friends to complete our Friends Tree Map together.

1 pair of partners helping to fill out our draft of our map.

The next day the children were able to sign up for which part of the final map they wanted to contribute too.  This task showed me that they could write a complete sentence, something we have talked about over and over and over and over again.  :)  Here is our final product!  I think they did a great job!!