Prepositions and Opposites

Whew!  The year has flewn by!  It's hard to believe summer will be upon us before we know it!  I get sad when I think about saying goodbye to my sweet children, but I know that they are ready to fly.  After testing them this last week, I am once again, AMAZED at how much they change from the beginning of the year. WOW! Kindergarten really is a magical place.  This week, be sure to stop for a moment and tell yourself, "Well done."  I am like you- always wishing that there was more time...always thinking about what else I can/want to do for them, but I need to recognize all the things I HAVE done already.  What an honor it is to be a teacher...celebrate you.

Here's a peek at some new printables I just listed at my TPT store.  Click on the link to hop on over!

PURCHASE it HERE!

Here's a preview.....

PURCHASE it HERE!

Here's a preview.....

Have a fantastic week!  

Be Blessed,

  

Penguins and PLANBOOK, with a New Year's FREEBIE!

Whew!  I cannot believe that it's been so long since I posted on here!  The time flew by in a whirlwind of activity that I'm sure most of you can relate to.  The holidays were filled with opportunities to connect with family and friends, although the loss of my Grandmother continues to be an up-hill climb.  I cannot begin to express the intense loss of her not being apart of Christmas this year.  I've greatly appreciated the rest I have been getting and am looking forward to hitting the ground running come Jan. 5th.  
I wanted to share of the new things I'm excited about!  
First,  is PLANBOOK!  I saw that one of my friends, Marsha McGuire from A Differentiated Kindergarten uses it and I wanted to check it out!  I cannot believe how much I LOVE this gem!  You can upload pdf. files, videos, links, and any other resources, as well as create templates and attach standards right to your plans.  When I needed Emergency Sub plans, almost everything was right there, all I had to do was tweak a few things for the day and BAM...ready to go!  We all know how valuable time is and I was able to purchase two years for $22.00!  

Here's a glimpse into a day of plans.  Click on the picture to download the plans for a closer look!

Second, I've also uploaded new Penguin Resources and a Data Tracker for Student Goal Setting with Rainbow Sight Words!  Be Sure to head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store to check them out!  I even have a bundles available to save you some money!  And who doesn't like to save money? You can click on the picture below to grab the Rainbow Sight Words FREEBIE!

I'm super excited to show their growth and bring more color into my classroom next week with this cute resource.  It's only been listed a short time and over 250 people grabbed it already! It's my New Year's Gift to you from There's No Place like Kindergarten!

Here's a glimpse at those Penguin Resources too!

Click on the link above and it will take you to my store!

Or you can Grab this AWESOME

PENGUIN BUNDLE!  

But, Wait!  There's also a New ARCTIC ANIMALS UNIT TOO!

Happy New Year, friends!

Be Blessed!

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,

Visual Lesson Plans

Happy Monday!  
I'm super excited to be joining some of the most creative teachers I know through the Visual Lesson Plan Link-Up!  You still have five days left to join us on this journey.  Just click on the link below to take you to Dee Dee Wills' Kindergarten blog, find the blue button and add your blog.  She has also included a template and video tutorials to watch.  THANK YOU, Dee Dee!  Stay tuned to see my weekly lessons!  Be sure to also check out the other teachers' blogs who are participating!

Link Up

Be Blessed!

Back to School Trainings, GoodNight Moon and a FREEBIE

Hello All,
I've spent the last three days at this conference here in my home town of Kennewick, WA.  

I feel fortunate that I've been able to attend and it's only five minutes from my house.  It's afforded me a glimpse into the bigger picture of P-3 and an opportunity to mingle with some pretty fantastic educators and presenters.  I cannot wait to join my new district!  They are inventive and completely sold out for kids!  

I've also been getting ready for the new school year, as I'm sure all of you are, and reflecting on what is meaningful and developmentally appropriate for the new children who I will be entrusted with.  With so many ideas rolling around in my head, it's a wonder I ever get any sleep at all.

I'm super excited about my newest printables that are available at my TPT store.  

Who doesn't love the book GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown?

A classic story of comfort and love.  If you do not own a copy for your classroom, you can purchase one by clicking on the link above.

I was thrilled to find adorable clip art by Little Red depicting the book, and went right to work creating a printable that will encourage your student's alphabetic knowledge, number sense, one to one correspondence, emergent reading skills, and shape recognition.  There are endless possibilities to use the centers and activities in multiple ways.  After all, primary teachers are the MOST creative people I know, right?

Hop on over to my store to grab a copy for back to school!  

There's No Place like Kindergarten

And, since there can never be enough FREEBIES, here is my gift to you!   This is a great Kindergarten Check-Up for the beginning of the year-just for you!!  Be encouraged.  We do tremendously meaningful and powerful work.  

Be Blessed, 

Printables

All of these resources are available in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store:click HERE.

All products are Kindergarten Common Core Aligned and labeled accordingly.

Nursery Rhyme Poetry Journals

Each journal comes with poems to cut and glue into literacy journals and clip art to facilitate the concept of an illustration matching the words of the poem.

Literacy and Math Centers

Emergent Readers

Poetry Journals

                              

Rabbits

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to see my garden blooming again!  Happy Spring, everyone!

Just like all of you, I am beginning to think about all that needs to be accomplished before the end of the year. There's not much time left.  Everyday I am amazed at the amount of growth there is in Kindergarten!  It's like magic.  I continue to remind them that it's a garden and they will bloom at their own time.  Here's one of my favorite books that demonstrates this concept: click here to take you to Amazon to purchase.

We are studying all sorts of wonderful things in our room, including: Spring, Rabbits, Measurement, Plants and Bugs.

Here's a peek into my classroom the last few months.  A FREEBIE is waiting for you at the end too!

Take a look at some  of our fun activities.  Find more in my Rabbits, Rabbits and (more) Rabbits pack in my TPT store.

The writing template is based on a Guided Language Acquisition Design- Sequencing Patterning Chart.
Here's a closer look:

This is one of the best ways I have found to help my Kinders generate great sentences about a non-fiction topic!  Try it out!  We assign a color and motion to each one and go through them each day. The sillier you make the motions the more they will remember them...trust me!

Click here for a FREEBIE from my Rabbits, Rabbits and (more) Rabbits Pack.

Here is the whole Pack available for purchase at my TPT store.