Fabulous Feedback

I am linking up with Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for a fun linky party!  I am sharing the most fabulous feedback I have received on three of my TPT products.  If I chose YOUR feedback, please email me so I can send you a special thank you gift from my TPT store :)

First up is All About Patterns.  Billions (okay, so maybe not quite that many) of pattern activities that are super easy to prep, and also aligned to the common core.

And here's the feedback.  EVERYTHING you needed?  YAY!  That was my goal.  One stop shopping is the BEST when it comes to a huge concept like patterns.

 Plants and Seeds Math, Science and Literacy Fun!
 has been super popular at this time of year.  It is one of my very first products and has SO much packed in it.  It is also up for a minor revamping very soon with some fabulous new clip art!

 You can't wait until next week?  You love it?  It's so helpful?  Woo hoo!  I am loving all of those exclamation points!!!!!  You ladies rock my little teacher unit creating world.

I couldn't pick just one, so I found feedback on a bunch of my Word Card and Word Walls Products.  These are great for any emergent reader/writer, but even better for ELL students.  My babies have done oh so much with these awesome products.

 Just what you needed?  Wish you had bought them sooner?  Exactly what you are looking for?  I love you people!  I wish I could meet you and hug you and squeal in your ear.  Seriously.

Last but not least I have to throw in a little plug for my All About Butterflies unit.  It is 110 pages of science, literacy, math and art fabulousness.  I also made a smaller version with just the vocabulary cards, science notebook and prediction sheets that you can find {HERE}.  

Of course, like every other TPT seller on the planet, all of my items are on a super duper sale today and tomorrow only.  Thank you so much for all that you do.  You are truly appreciated!

Mother's Day Freebie and a SALE!

 

I am going to to this project from last year, but wanted to add a little something new to my repertoire.  I am going to have my littles ones draw a portrait of their mom, and write about something they love about her.  I will mount them on construction paper, laminate and voila!  Fast and super sweet keepsake for mom.

I love my mom because after school she gives us treats to eat!

 I love my mom because she helps me plant flowers.

You can download it {HERE}.  Enjoy!


Also, I am hopping on the TPT sale train.  Tuesday and Wednesday EVERYTHING in my shop will be 20% off, plus an additional 10%.  That's crazy!

All About Butterflies

Butterflies are one of my absolutely, positively favorite things to teach.  I order caterpillars every year, and the kids just go crazy for them.  They don't even realize how much science, writing, drawing and math they are learning from these little creepy crawlies.

I wrote a HUGE butterfly unit in college, and have spent the last year on and off revamping it and making it super cute.  We just got our caterpillars on Wednesday, and are already knee deep in observing them, researching them and learning tons of new vocabulary.  One of my little girls was on the playground with a glow stick today saying "Look at my proboscis!"  (aka butterfly tongue).  Precious!

 I used our ELMO document camera to project the caterpillars onto the wall.  The cup went from being a few inches in real life to about 5 feet in diameter on the wall... crazy!  The kids were captivated with watching them crawl around.

 This is my favorite.  These girls are sitting at the science table researching butterflies while observing the caterpillars in their little cup.  They did this during their free choice time.  Budding scientists = SO CUTE!

 Here are some of the observations they made in their butterfly science notebooks.  I am SO impressed with their writing {remember, these babies are in pre-K}.  Isn't it amazing what kids will do when they are super engaged and excited?!

The caterpillars made a web.

The caterpillar is climbing up.

I'm sure I will have SO much more to share with you as we keep learning about butterflies.  In the meantime, I have finally finished my butterfly unit.  I have legit spent a year on and off working on this sucker, and am pretty dang proud of it.  It is over 100 pages of science, reading, writing, math and art fun.  Most things included are shown below, but I have added even more since.  

Check it out {HERE} while it's still on sale!

This All About Butterflies unit includes:

• Suggested Book List
• Common Core Alignment
• Parent Letter
• Vocabulary Cards
• Making and Checking Predictions sheets
• Caterpillars in the Classroom nonfiction text
• Scientific Observation Poster {How Scientists Observe}
• Butterfly Observation Science Notebook
• Close Reading Lesson Ideas with Posters
• Calendar for recording the stages of life
• Life Cycle Poster
• Life Cycle Cut and Paste
• Life Cycle File Folder Game
• Butterfly Report Writing {with prewriting activities}
• Fiction vs. Nonfiction Venn Diagram
• Vocabulary Posters and Definitions
• Butterfly Labeling
• Memory Game
• Patterning Activity {with recording sheet}
• Story Problems
• Butterfly Handprint Art
• Life Cycle Mobile
• Symmetry Art

Five for Friday

I am linking up with Five for Friday... and it's actually still Friday {just barely}!

1. My laptop speakers at school kicked the bucket.  After looking and looking on Amazon {and buying a pair then returning them} I found this adorable panda.  Not only is this little guy cute, he has some serious sound!  My kids love him too :)

2.  I just finished this butterfly unit last night.  No joke, I have been working on it for a year on and off {mostly off!}.  It is over 100 pages of science integrated with ELA, math and art.  You can check it out {HERE}.

3.  The kids have been loving our new theme, Shadows and Reflections.  Today we used straws to blow bubbles in soapy water, then look for reflections in the bubbles.  They loved it!  We used a disposable turkey cooker tray pan thingy to add some extra reflectiveness.  

4.  I got this Tory Burch clutch when I was in NYC two weeks ago and am officially obsessed.  It is oversized and gold and gorgeous.  As Rachel Zoe would say, "BA-NA-NAS!"

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5.  We are thisclose to picking a wedding venue!  We have been looking for two months now {and scrimping and saving every.single.penny - well except for the Tory Burch} and going back and forth between a few that we love.  Aren't they gorgeous?  I am getting SO excited!  Only fourteen and a half months to go ;)

InstaBlog

I have been using Instagram for awhile now in "real life" and am so excited to have made one for my teacher life!  You can follow me at AdventuresInKindergarten or check it out {here} to get fun glimpses into life in kindergarten.
 

Here are a few favorites:

I foolishly bravely let my little ones use my phone camera.  They took some really funny pictures, and it was so cool for me to see things from their perspective.  I loved this one which is our writing center through the fishtank.

The unit we are working on now is Shadows and Reflections.  Here we set up a shadow puppet theater {it's really super fancy: a white blanket draped over a chart stand and an old overhead projector that I rescued from the trash pile}.  The kids made animal puppets using stencils, construction paper and popsicle sticks.  They LOVE acting out dramatic scenarios {today I overheard "Oh please don't eat me, Mr. Alligator.  I'm just a young cat trying to take care of my kittens!"  haha}.  They throw in some dinosaurs and other animals I have in the block area, too.

We are learning the concept of symmetry.  A quick and easy introduction was to fold a piece of paper in half, have students paint on that half, then flip the folded side onto the top.  Just rub, rub, rub and voila!  A symmetrical painting.

Last but not least, here is how I have been introducing my little ones to the animals we will have in our classroom soon.  I start out with one clue, and then sneakily add more clues throughout the day.  They can't get enough!  And I can't get enough of their crazy guesses.  "A monkey? A baby?  Babies are hairy.  My baby is REALLY hairy!"  When I got to the last clue for caterpillars, some of them guessed correctly.  I took that poor caterpillar out of it's hiding spot, and they went WILD.  There is nothing like building up anticipation, while sneaking in some reasoning skills too :) 

Five for Funday

 

Okay, so I am more than a little bit late to the party.  To say that it has been a wild and crazy week would be a HUGE understatement.

Boston Strong at the Red Sox game

Crowds cheering for our amazing Police officers

 Celebrating the capture of Suspect 2 (aka White Hat) in the Boston Common

1.  I am so happy, excited and relieved that both of the Marathon Bombers are off the streets of Boston.  The manhunt lasted all day on Friday.  Everyone's work was cancelled, and we were told to stay inside.  Streets that would normally be bustling on a gorgeous 70 degree day were eerily quiet.  We were GLUED to the television, just waiting for them to find "Suspect Number 2."  It honestly felt more like a movie than real life, happening mere miles away.  When they finally did, cheering erupted.  People flowed out into the streets to cheer for the incredibly brave policemen and FBI, many of whom had been working for at least 24 hours straight.  I have never been so proud to be a Bostonian, or so thankful for the amazing men and women who keep our city safe.  I can't wait to have my little ones make thank you cards for our local police station.

Those five days have shown me the amazing strength of human spirit, and that there is ALWAYS far more good in the world than evil.  There is nothing more heartwarming than watching hundreds of thousands of people come together.  Case in point:

This video gives me chills every single time!

2.  Today is the last day of April vacation.  Wahh!  Because of the insane amount of snow (and snow days0 that we had this winter, we are in school until June 28th.  Only 48 more days to go (not that I'm counting or anything...).

3.  Mr. Man gave me an overnight trip to New York City as a birthday gift.  We had SO.MUCH.FUN!  We stayed in Times Square and had so much fun exploring all of the craziness of that area. 
 
It is lit up so brightly from all of the signs and lights at night that it seems like daytime.  We also went to see Chicago on Broadway and loved it (even he loved it, which was shocking).  This picture was taken at midnight with NO flash and NO filter!

The view from our room

 The best (and unhealthiest) meal of my life


 The Plaza - home of Eloise and Macaulay Culkin


Dylan's Candy Bar

 
 We went to Serendipity and had frozen hot chocolate. 

 

We even sat at the table from the movie!  

4  Our eggs are coming this week!  I think I might be more excited than the kids.  Science (integrated with writing and math, of course) in kindergarten just might be my favorite thing to teach :)

5.  This paper cutter {aka guillotine - I don't like that word because it reminds me of Marie Antoinette} has been sitting in my Amazon cart for a few months now.  I have been researching different models, then hemming and hawing over whether or not to buy it.  The Amazon price is $32.79.  Well, wouldn't you know that I went to WalMart yesterday to pick up a few things {then somehow found myself cruising the office supply aisle... shocking!} and found it for $26.  Obviously I had to scoop it up.  Don't mind if I do!  I am planning to use it tonight to cut out my Garden Words centers.  I'll let you know how it is!

I Love You, Boston

My heart is breaking for my city today.  I almost do not have the words to write about the horrifying tragedy at the marathon today.  I debated about whether or not to write anything at all, and decided that I needed to in order to both cope with it and request your prayers and positive energy sent this way.

I came to Boston in 2003 for college, and have never left.  I fell head over heels in love with this amazing city.  I am a very proud Boston Public Schools teacher.  I love this city beyond words.  I love the history, the pride, the accent, the insane sports fanatacism and most of all the heart.  This is an incredible city.

 

President Obama said it best: 

Today is a holiday in Massachusetts -- Patriots’ Day. It’s a day that celebrates the free and fiercely independent spirit that this great American city of Boston has reflected from the earliest days of our nation. And it’s a day that draws the world to Boston’s streets in a spirit of friendly competition. Boston is a tough and resilient town. So are its people. I'm supremely confident that Bostonians will pull together, take care of each other, and move forward as one proud city. And as they do, the American people will be with them every single step of the way.

 

So far there have been three deaths, including an eight year old baby, and over 130 injuries.   Please be with us.  Please pray for us, especially for the victims and witnesses and their families.  

 

 I am continually reminding myself of the heroicism seen today.  When thousands of people were fleeing from the bomb, dozens of policemen, firefighters, military personnel and EMTs were running TOWARD the blast, without regard for their own lives.  Doctors and nurses ran 26.2 miles, then immediately CONTINUED running to hospitals and medical tents to help save lives.  God bless these heroes.  

Please hold your loved ones a little closer, and pray for Boston tonight.

Peep Peep!

We have been learning about chickens all last week and this week, in preparation for the REAL LIVE eggs that our amazing PE teacher is getting for us after April vacation.  I think I might be more excited than the kids.  Really.  

Boston's Museum of Science has so many amazing displays... dinosaur fossils, live lightening displays and animal shows, but my favorite thing in the world has always been to stand outside the incubator and watch the baby chicks hatch.  I am almost beside myself knowing that we will have them right here in school to watch every.single.day!

I am trying something a bit different for me.  I am frontloading my kids with tons of information about chickens in the hope that this will help them understand the process more deeply when we actually have chicks in the classroom.  

We did tons of research by reading lots of books like these:

I am most obsessed with See How They Grow Chick.  The photographs are amazing and my kids learned so much from reading this.

We also watched three amazing videos.  I was super happy that they squeezed on through my district's YouTube education filter.

I LOVE the simplicity of this one.  The black background and timelapse really allows you to focus on what is happening!

I think it's the dramatic music on this one that kills me.  I do love the excitement of the people talking, and think it's pretty funny when the other chicks are walking in front of the camera and blocking our view of the little guy who just hatched. 

Last but not least, this one is really unique in that it is on a farm setting.  I LOVE that you get to see what Mama Hen does when the chicks are hatching in a natural setting.  I had no idea that she still sits on a bunch of her little fluffies after they hatch!

We did a "joint construction" (fancy speak for shared writing) of a chicken report.  We edited it and I printed it out.  My littles are currently in the process of illustrating it.  We are doing black and white so that I can photocopy the pages and send home a book for each child.

Here is a sneak peak of our chicken report.  How precious are these illustrations?

Please excuse the fact that I haven't erased some of the pencil marks yet!

Totally obsessed with this one.  I mean, check out that hen's eyelashes!

Swear on my life that a 5 year old drew this by himself.  Or as the Kardashians would say, "Bible!"

I can't wait to see what the rest of our book looks like :)