Peek at My Week!

Whew!  The weeks are just flying by!  I missed posting my plans for last week...sorry.  But here is what is happening in the Emerald City this week! We are prepping for our yearly trip to the Pumpkin Patch by studying pumpkins (parts and life cycle) before we have our adventure!  I was thrilled with how much my kids knew about pumpkins yesterday as we began our GLAD inquiry chart.  Today, I will be creating an Input chart with them using realia photos and color blocking to aid their comprehension (pictures to be added ASAP).  Come Link Up with other great bloggers to see what is in store this week in their classrooms, as well!  I have included links to other printables that I will be using this week and they are FREE for you too! 

To download your own copy click HERE and HERE.

or click HERE

Here are the Realia Pictures I will be using today.

Grab your own copy by clicking HERE.  

Lastly, I will be having my students do the hand print pumpkin poem below.  Click HERE to download your own copy.

Have a great week!  Be blessed!

Congratulations to Jennifer Hancock! She won the LITERACY BUNDLE!
Continue to watch for great giveaways and FREEBIES here at There's No Place like Kindergarten!

To find more engaging printables and activities visit my TPT store!

Peek at My Week 2

A big shout out to my new favorite girl, Tami over at Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers!  She has such great FREEBIES on her blog that totally helped me create my plans this week!  Yahoo!  I love people who share!

Feel free to download the plans HERE and check them out! 

Have a blessed week and be sure to hop over to Mrs. Wills' Kindergarten Link Up!

Learning in Kindergarten!

Here's a peek into the last few days in Room 122!  We are a silly, energetic bunch!  I am definitely exhausted at the end of the day! Whew!
Here are some of my "couldn't live without" items as I embark on this new adventure with these precious children.

Spark is essential to my day!  Excellent for enhancing mental energy and focus*

• Provides support for long-lasting energy*
• Helps fight occasional drowsiness*
• 21 vitamins, minerals and nutrients
• Sugar-free and only 45 calories

If you are unfamiliar with ADVOCARE products, you NEED to check them out!

Voice Amplifier

This is also an essential piece of my teaching.  Last year, I was diagnosed with Vocal Nodules, which as a trained singer and "professional speaker"/aka a Teacher could have felt like a death sentence.  I was determined though, to not allow it to beat me and I was agressive about treatement with a Speech Pathologist two times a week.  I learned about vocal massage, pitch, voicing, protection, resonance therapy and overall vocal health.  It wan't my singing voice that was damaged, but my SPEAKING voice. On Feb. 28th, 2014, I was released fully recovered!It was one of the fastest recoveries they had ever seen!  Praise God!

Let me ask you these questions:

Do you lose your voice at least once a year?  Do you find your voice giving out every so often when you are speaking?  At the end of the day, is your throat tight or tired?  Do you have ways to manage the noise in your classroom besides calling out to your students "Give me five" etc?  Are you clearing your throat more often or afraid you have a cold or allergies you can't seem to kick?

These could be signs of vocal nodules.  If left untreated they can cause serious harm to your health and your profession.  

Find a reputable ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) Physician in your area and ask them to check.  Also, we all know how important water is but if you think that tea or coffee are helping you they are actually adding to the problem.  You MUST drink between 80-100 oz of water a day if you are a professional speaker!  No Excuses!  And yes, you will be using the bathroom...A lot!

NO YELL BELL: This is an awesome way to grab your students' attention WITHOUT voicing at all.  There are 7 different noises and when I tip the bell, they are to:

• Freeze
• Put their hands on their head
• Look at the Teacher

It's a cheap $26.00 and totally worth it.

Looking forward to next week...after a nap.....:)

Be Blessed,

NEW Classroom, NEW District, NEW Year!

I cannot begin to tell  you how happy I am working for the Pasco School District!  It's incredible to be working with such talented, heart- felt, compassionate people!  There are just not enough words to express my gratitude and love for my job and those I partner with each day to bless our beautiful students.  

To learn more about us, visit our District Webpage HERE.

Now, here's the moment I've been super excited to share with you....a peek into the magic of my new "Emerald City....."

Here's a look of what I started with:

Although I was thrilled for my new job, this room was a bit smaller than my last classroom.  So I needed to condense and be creative.  I also share a wall with another fantastic teacher, Mrs. Thorne, but it's covered with a carpet material, so I also had to add Velcro and TLC to whatever I chose to hang on it.

But, it was a challenge I enthusiastically accepted!!!

I decided that to go along with my Wizard of Oz theme, I would incorporate two of my other favorite things: gingham and polka dots...lots of red accents.  

I tried to back all my bulletins boards with white and then accent with red polka dots or red gingham.  I'm super excited!

 Leave a note and let me know what you all think!   Thanks for stopping by!   See you in OZ!

Be Blessed,

Weekly Lesson Plans

A big shout out to all of my friends who started school last week!  Whew! I find it funny that every year I seem to forget how exhausting the first week of Kindergarten is!  I created my visual lesson plans, but then went to a minute by minute with my cuties.  They are an energetic, enthusiastic little bunch that will definetly keep me on my toes this year.  Here's a peek at some of the activties we did last week.  As most of you know, the first few weeks...MONTHS are about reviewing the routines and procedures. It's well worth the effort though and will guarentee a much smoother year.  
I'll attach my plans so you all can see. To download the plans simply click here.

Don't forget to sign up for the Literacy Bundle Giveaway! Win all these AMAZING Printables for FREE!

 It ends Sept. 9th!

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5 Senses STEM Unit, FREEBIE and GIVEAWAY!

I'm super excited to begin our STEM Unit on the 5 Senses this next week!  STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is at the core of what I believe about good teaching.  The only thing I would add is an "a" for the arts.  But, being the musical/drama girl that I am, it will be added.  This is the first unit I will be using from those developed for the OSPI website.  Click HERE if you'd like to check them out.  I attended a workshop during the Starting Strong Conference on STEM and my district is opening three new STEM schools within the next 2 years, one will be right next door to my current building!  STEM is all about hands-on learning.  The activities are relevant, only guided by the student inquiry, allowing students to draw their own conclusions, get messy and learn about concepts.  Perfect for Kindergarten!!!   We are lucky that in the State of WA we have some great new guidelines for Full-Day Kindergarten, stating that learning must be developmentally appropriate and value play.  This is my goal as we embark on this unit.

Along with the OSPI unit, I have added some of my own resources, as well as, this great unit by Kathryn Warner from Kindergarten Kindergarten!  You can purchase it at her TPT store here. It's jammed packed with fantastic printables.

I will be doing CLOSE READS with the Heinmann Raintree SUPER SENSES Series.  Each Sense is detailed with realia photos for ELD/ELP Practices and bold new vocabulary.  All of their books are PERFECT for Kindergarten/First Grade!

Also, we will enjoy these other classic texts:

And if that's not enough information for you....

Here's my new Literacy Pack available today at my TPT Store!

Click here to take you there right away!

Just purchase, print, laminate and enjoy.

But that's not all!  You can download these awesome 5 Senses Posters FREE today!  Who doesn't like a FREEBIE? 

Click here and grab the link for your goodies!

Don't forget to follow this blog and find me on FACEBOOK to ensure you don't miss out on more ideas and resources!  I'd love to hear from you!

And here's the giveaway!  Enter to win this amazing Literacy Bundle full of some of my most popular printables! You can enter once a day!  Share, Comment, Tweet, LIKE, and Pin!  Good Luck!

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