Calendar Binder Covers

As a special request from a follower, I am sharing my calendar binder/folder covers that I made awhile back.  

Click here on the pictures to download  each cover.  

I have also updated the traceable calendars for 2014-2015.  Please make sure to go to my TpT store get them for free.  Click on the picture to download the calendars.:)

Have a great night!:)

Five for Friday

For the past week we have been learning about our 'five senses.'  I used the Five Senses Unit by Caitlin Cabby from Kindergarten Smiles.  What a great unit it is, everything we used was awesome!  

I started of the lesson and read the book, My Five Senses by Aliki.  We then talked about our five senses and read a cute poem about our five senses.  The students then helped label an anchor chart about our five senses.  We used inventive spelling as we helped our friends label each part.  

We made a 'What color are your eyes?' graph as we learned about our sense of sight.

We sat in a circle and played a 'Guess that Smell' game to learn about our sense of smell.  I labeled each bag 1-4 and each bag contained some cotton balls that I had sprayed or rubbed with either the following: perfume, vinegar, peppermint extract, and vicks vapor rub. The kids really enjoyed making their hypothesis and then coloring if they enjoyed or did not enjoy the smell.

For the sense of taste, I had the students taste, salt, lemon, hot sauce, and m&m's.  There were so many students who didn't want to taste the hot sauce, but after the first try...they kept reaching for it and wanted more, which was so funny.  Many of them who thought they wouldn't like it...really did like the hot sauce after all, but of course kept drinking water as they took another taste, lol.

I didn't get to take a picture of the touch and hear experiment.  We sat in a circle and passed around 4 bag that contained objects with different textures for the sense of touch.  Many of them guessed each object right away!  As for the hearing experiment we passed around 5 containers that were filled with different objects.  The students shook each one and listened carefully to guess what was inside.  We had so much learning about our five senses.

I have always wanted to try going to one of those Wine and Canvas classes!  My friend Holly had been to 3 of them already and I told her to let me know when she was planning on going again.  They were having a special and we signed up for a class last weekend.  I was sooo nervous...especially since I have never painted before!  In the end it wasn't too bad and my painting came out looking descent. I'm already planning to sign up for another class.

I found these at Kmart and thought they were sooo cute.  I would love to have these to decorate my house...that's if I had a garden.  Plants never seem to live longer than a few days, which is a bummer since I do like having plants around, even though I'm allergic to em'...lol.

My friend had a baby gender party last weekend...have you heard of these?  I've seen pins about it on Pinterest yet never been to one.  This was my first time going to one and we were told to wear pink if we thought it was a girl, or blue if it was a boy.  I, of course went with pink since I had a feeling that it was a girl.  The decorations were cute and I loved her nails!!  Who doesn't love mustaches and bows?? When everyone was there, we went outside and they pulled 3 strings that were attached under a piñata box.  Can you guess what came out....nothing but pink confetti.  You should have seen how happy she was...and I am very happy for her too. 

Our End of the Year Kindergarten is coming up this week and did I forget to mention that we have 2 more weeks left? We have been working so hard with learning all of the songs...and I am getting butterflies just thinking about it!    There is just so much to do.  One of the songs we are singing is called 'The Kindergarten Class.'  

It's super easy and short...yet the last part of the song kept confusing my kiddos so to help them learn the lyrics, I created this to visually help them learn the song.  

What I do is...I put it up on the Smart board and point to the words as they sing the song.  To end this wonderful Five for Friday, I am sharing it with you. Click on the picture to download the file.  

Have a great weekend!:)

I Message Poster

Today I am sharing a poster that we have been using in our classroom since the beginning of the school year.  This poster has helped my students learn how to resolve conflict with other students.  Oh my, where do I even start....picture this, two kindergartners very upset at each other and having a hard time communicating how they feel with words...and then someone gets hurt (no bueno).  This has been my most challenging year of all, but I'm very proud of all of my kiddos this year!! Not only did they learn to communicate how they feel using their words, but have also learned to care for one another in our classroom.  Believe me, when I say that this poster has been used many, many, MANY times on a daily bases, lol.

Every day during our circle time we recite and sing our classroom rules, say a 'Bucket Filler Pledge', and practice using the 'I' message.  I have my helper for the day, pick a stick from a cup and have that student say aloud their 'I' message.  The whole class repeats it back word by word, just to practice using the sentences.  I really like using this a lot this year, since we have been learning so much about kelso choices and this poster helps with the Kelso Choice: 'Talk it Out.'

I find myself catching a lot of my students using the words front the 'I' message to help resolve a small problem.  I always have a student who comes up to me and says "Teacher, he said that he won't be my friend anymore."  And that is when I have both friends sit down together and talk it out.  Many times, this is what I hear for their 'I' message to resolve the conflict.  Example: I feel sad, when you say that you will not be my friend because I like being friends with you.  Can you please be my friend.  Or I've listened to other 'I' messages like: I feel upset, when you shout at me because it hurts my ears.  Can you please stop shouting at me. Thank you!

Now remember, these are words coming from a 5 and 6 year old...so sometimes it can be interesting to hear what they say.  In the end, when they have 'Talked it Out,' and they feel that they have resolved the problem, they end with a hug or a handshake.

I had so much fun making these posters that I couldn't decide which one I liked the best and I made three of them.  

Please click on the picture to get a copy of the poster.  

I hope you enjoy using these in your classroom and  thanks for stopping by!!:)

Pledge of Allegiance Freebie

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!  As for me, I'm still working...I'm a little 'J' about not having the summer off this year, but it's not so bad...at least I have a few more weeks until the school year is over...our last day is Aug. 8th.  

Do any of you have a catchy song or cool trick to teach your kiddos how to remember to place their right hand on their heart? I'll always remember my dear friend Wendy who taught me a simple chant that she uses before doing the pledge of allegiance.  

It really does help the students remember which hand is their right and left hand and I have been using it ever since!  

These are the words: Right hand, left hand, roll them all around.  Right hand, left hand, pound, pound, pound.  Right hand to the sky, right hand to the heart.  Now it's time for the pledge to start.

Isn't it cool, lol.  While they say the words they are moving their hands the whole time.  The right hand and left hand go up in the air, they roll their hands around...etc.  I'm going to try to record it so that I can show you how simple it is.

I just love to learning from others and my dear friend Wendy is one of those teachers that I enjoy getting ideas from.  Ah, how I miss working with her.  Well, anywhoo...I wanted to share this with you and hope that some of you get inspired to try it out in your classroom.

I've always used the chant..but never had a poster for it.  So, I made some to display in my classroom.  Click on the image if you would like a copy of your own.  

Kindergarten Graduation

Well our kinder graduation is coming up in 2 weeks...can we say 'Ahhhhh!!'

During the whole month of May and June I kept thinking about it.  "How will the invitations look?  Which songs will we sing?  Will I send out flyers too?  What will the program look like?  What will the kids wear that day?"  My brain was filled with so many questions.  No wonder I was so stressed...Can we say 'Super STRESSED!'  Well that's me with a capital 'S,' yikes!  

In March, everyone in our grade level selected a date for their 'End of the Year Program.'  When I came back from my track break in June, it turned out that we had to group in pairs, meaning that another kinder teacher and I would do the program together.  What a relief...I won't be alone on this and can plan with another person.  Hopefully it will all turn out well!

We talked, shared ideas and what songs we used in the past, how the invitation would look like...and over the past few days I've been busy making it all.  This is so far what I have done and hope to print it all soon! 

Above is the invitation and below is flyer we will be sending out.

In May I made the graduation certificates and invitations below. I didn't get to use these this year, since I really wanted to make a Dr. Seuss invitation instead.  You can check out the bundle at my TpT store.

I am ending this post with a freebie.  Click on the picture below to get the flyer!