It was o-FISH-ally great..Gift Tags

Sorry, I've been missing from Blogland (it's been hectic), but Im hoping to make it up with these little gift tags. I know most of you are already done with the school year (so jealous), I have 3 more weeks! Promise to blog more (especially on Common Core) over the summer. In addition to teaching Kindergarten, I also teach the GATE class (Gifted And Talented Education). It's a small class comprised grades 3-5. I thought it would be cute to make them these little gifts. The candies are Swedish Fish that I placed into snack sized zip lock bags.

If you would like a copy, click on the picture to get a generic tag: It was o-fish-ally great being your teacher.

Amazing Children's Website

www.cookie.com is amazing. If your a primary teacher, it's a site you need to check out. Not only is it great to teach math, ELA, reading and science, but it's also great for my students learning English.  Everything is interactive and there are online books students can read or be read to. This is what their website says:

At cookie, child experts and educators design interactive online games for kids. Our learning games for kids help in building skills needed for success in school. While playing our fun educational games, kids learn to read with phonics, build skills in math, language, social studies, science and much more. Our educational videos encourage children to keep learning, even after school hours.
Click on any pictures to take you directly there. 

  

Here are some other website recommendations:

What sites do you recommend? 

Furry Friend Linky Party

Soaring Through Second Grade is having a Furry Friend Linky Party. Im excited because this is my very first Linky Party. Also, if you join as a new follower, she'll donate (up to $50.00 a 4-legged charity) and she's having a give-away! To make this teaching related (as teachers always have to do), you need to say what your furry friend has taught you. Click the link above to join the fun. I LOVE any excuse to showcase my puggie!

That's right..#1 Pug!

Chloe was my class mascot when I taught 4th/5th grade and she definitely united us as a class family. We called ourselves "Pugsters!" She definitely tied us all into a true classroom community. (FYI: She loves playing dress-up..anything for a cookie.)

Puggie Pawter was her Halloween costume. 
Chloe has taught me to slow down and enjoy living in the moment.  She has unconditional love (well - she'll have unconditional love for anyone who has cheese). She has also taught me never to give up..how? you ask? Well, she'll beg incessantly until she gets what she wants..(i.e. cheese). I obsessively love my  pug!

Story Telling with Puppet Pals App

Puppet Pals is a great app! My students use the Puppet Pals app (compatible with iPad - but it works on an iPod too) to retell stories. They are able to choose the characters and settings. Then, they recorded themselves telling a story. It's great for those shy students. Below is a sample story (I'll admit, I tried to persuade them away from the 'helpless princess' but the kindies vetoed me), they made up everything, including the story line. The focus was dialogue, so they played the parts of the characters. Here it is: from start to finish it only took 5 minutes!

I've Been Teacher Tagged

Adorable teacher-blogger Tammy from First Grade at Klinger Cafe tagged me (darn...I was running as fast as I could..) This is my first time being Blog Tagged ..so here it goes:

1.   You must post the rules.  (check!)
2.   Answer the 10 questions the tagger posted for you. (okie-dokie!)
3.   Create 10 questions of your own to ask the people you are going to tag. (hmmm..I just have ONE: Does anyone know a teacher representative for Thirty-One Bags?) 4.   Tag 10 people and link them with your post.  Let them know they've been tagged (Hard one..so many have been tagged and answered questions already. SO anyone reading this, can considered themselves tagged and please let me know what bag I should buy from 31s)


Tammy asked:

1.   Do you do writers workshop in your classroom?

       - No, but I would love to do a writer's workshop. Maybe next year.  

2.   How do you feel about teaching spelling?

       - I think spelling should be taught to learn phonic patterns, not to memorize words. 

3.   Who would you most like to see at a conference or workshop?

       - STEVE SPANGLER! I went to his workshop 10 years ago and it was amazing! From 6th grade to Kindergarten, I've used his products and experiments. He's amazing!

4.   What kind of grades do you take (A, B, C, D, F etc)

       - My district is on the 4, 3, 2, 1 system (I like the A, B, C, D, F better) 

5.   How many days/weeks do you test?

        - Luckily, I don't have to worry about state testing, but the District has periodic Math Assessments (4x year), Writing (2x year), and then there's the Math chapter test, Treasures Unit test (every 3 week). 

6.   What is your favorite way to spend your summer vacation?

        - Eating at new places, hunting for food trucks, (then hiking or jogging to run off the food I ate) and I LOVE to spend time with my pug baby (pathetic, I know, but she's getting older and I want to spend as much time with her as possible). 

7.  Do you have a bestest teacher buddy?

     - Sadly no, I wish I had a bestest teacher buddy, but I do have some awesome teacher buddies. 

8.   What should I get my 22 year old son for graduating college, and 18 year old daughter for graduating high school two weeks later? (ha ha this one is trick but very important!)

       - For the son - a cell phone plan that includes unlimited minutes (so you can call him ALL the time); for the daughter - a mother and daughter vacation (so you two can spend time together!)

9.    Are you a mountain, plains, or ocean person?

       - Mountains with lots of shade (the sun does not like me)

10.  Do you ever feel like you’re talking to air when you are teaching?

        - hello? hello? anyone there?

Happy Easter!

Have a wonderful weekend...only a few days left of my Spring Break!

Teaching Colors

When I found out I was teaching Kinder, the first thing I did was scour YouTube for Kinder-themed videos. Below are some of my favorite color videos (my students love them too). Every morning, I let the Helper of the Day pick a song or two to sing.Warning: the tunes are catchy and will stick in your head!

Click the link to see all my KinderVideos (on Pinterest, of course) that I found on Youtube. 

 Songs are by Frog Street and videos by BeebleBrox01.