tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:07:02 +0000Creative Kindergarten Curriculumhttp://heidisongs.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)Blogger133125HeidisongsResourcehttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7664551655323265053Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:42:00 +00002012-02-24T06:42:52.479-08:00Last month in January, I felt like a bit like a "sitting duck" in my classroom, just waiting to get sick!  There were so many children coughing and sneezing, and there were so many runny noses that I was certain that it was only going to be a matter of time before I would certainly fall ill with the very same thing.  It is so very difficult to get children into the habit of covering their coughs http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/RXBH_JrUp3E/teaching-kids-about-germs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/RXBH_JrUp3E" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/02/teaching-kids-about-germs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8469558309877154943Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:31:00 +00002012-02-20T07:21:30.756-08:00 A precious gift from one of my students.  :) Phonics!  It’s the dreaded word:  PHONICS!  It’s not an easy thing to teach.  We spend gobs of time trying to teach the children that each letter carries one sound, and then the next thing you know, we are telling them that those same letters sometimes will make different sounds!  So this week, I am going to tell you how I have been teaching my http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/Jjdj65E4i7w/phonics-teaching-kids-to-read-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/Jjdj65E4i7w" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/02/phonics-teaching-kids-to-read-words.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-204567489791161155Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:49:00 +00002012-02-10T16:23:01.913-08:00 Today I am going to tell you how I am teaching my students to begin to write PARAGRAPHS!  (Yes, you read that correctly- paragraphs!  It could happen!)  They are very short paragraphs, but they are still paragraphs, none the less!  Okay, some of them have only two sentences, but hey- this is kindergarten, for goodness sake! These are Kimmie Butkus' Fishy Hearts! Along the way, I would like http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/PCaUJizxulY/teaching-kindergartners-to-write.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)16<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/PCaUJizxulY" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/02/teaching-kindergartners-to-write.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4368621462584165552Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:07:00 +00002012-02-03T07:07:41.282-08:00I had a wonderful time last week presenting at SDE's Kindergarten Conference for Texas Teachers and SDE's Kindergarten Conference for Mississippi Teachers!  I met lots of wonderful people, and had a chance to see another part of the world.  I am so blessed and thankful to be able to travel and have these experiences!  And it is wonderful to have the opportunity to share my ideas with others, too.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/aRRfaQ_n_I0/teaching-cvc-words-what-to-do-when-they.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)11<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/aRRfaQ_n_I0" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/02/teaching-cvc-words-what-to-do-when-they.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8049989580046315617Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +00002012-01-27T07:00:08.580-08:00 We practice sounding out words every day as whole group on this pocket chart from ReallyGoodStuff.com In November, I posted a blog entry on teaching children to sound out CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) words.  And like most Kindergarten classes, we are still working on mastering that skill.  While most of my kids are doing fairly well with this, there are still a few little ones that arehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/thF6tYh9dI8/more-tricks-for-sounding-out-cvc-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)17<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/thF6tYh9dI8" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-tricks-for-sounding-out-cvc-words.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4953124456695136298Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:45:00 +00002012-01-20T12:58:13.998-08:00I had an absolutely wonderful time last weekend at the California Kindergarten Association!  I got to meet so many wonderful people, including Dr. Jean, Fran Kramer from the Kindergarten Crayons, and Cindy Vance from For the Love of Kindergarten, Camille from An Open Door,   Kat from Kindergarten Cowgirl.  Also in our group were Stacy and Jennifer, who both teach Kindergarten, but do not blog- http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/2mG5rksBjcw/draw-and-tell-story.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/2mG5rksBjcw" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/01/draw-and-tell-story.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-6393630556323524222Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:21:00 +00002012-01-18T08:51:52.582-08:00 It's my brand new full color picture book! Well, I’m now at the California Kindergarten Association Conference, and I am so excited to present this afternoon!  I flew in from Dallas last night, arriving just in time to catch a glimpse of their wonderful art children's art display.  I sent in two art projects that I saved from my class last year, and here they are: I had a wonderful day http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/K5hHQ0gnkmk/brand-new-heidisongs-book.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)16<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/K5hHQ0gnkmk" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/01/brand-new-heidisongs-book.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-5165165393604846437Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:39:00 +00002012-01-07T09:49:33.950-08:00Ah, vacation is lovely!  This extra week of being on vacation is as nice as that extra week of being in school right before Christmas was hard- if that makes any sense at all!  I am soaking it all in, because January is absolutely filled to the brim with lots of great teaching activities in the classroom, plus conferences to go to as well!  Next week on Friday, I will be doing an on-site traininghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/CClmWE0ndYA/experiment-with-candles-and-lessons.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/CClmWE0ndYA" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/01/experiment-with-candles-and-lessons.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-3120051504766265722Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:03:00 +00002012-01-01T22:11:41.478-08:00If you have been following my blog this year since September, you may have remembered me mentioning that I have been trying to keep an independent science center going all year long!  This is mostly because I am preparing for a new presentation on Science Centers that I will be giving at the I Teach K! Conference next summer in Las Vegas, Nevada.  My goal is to collect and present ideas that takehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/jRC6w9Ifsuc/another-science-center-marvelous.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)16<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/jRC6w9Ifsuc" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-science-center-marvelous.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4837022296558841974Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:19:00 +00002011-12-27T18:19:59.593-08:00...We were still in school.  In all of my teaching career, I have never tried to teach school right up through December 23rd!  I decided to try to consider it a personal challenge to see how much I could actually get done, despite the fact that all anyone seemed to be able to think about was the impending holidays and celebrations.  Each day, we updated our calendar and counted the remaining dayshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/_r9vt38jnWg/twas-week-before-christmas-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/_r9vt38jnWg" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/12/twas-week-before-christmas-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-708230731983541914Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:31:00 +00002012-01-06T22:02:30.595-08:00 Are you ready for vacation?  Are you already ON vacation?  I'm NOT!!!  Boo hoo!  I still have another whole week to go!  So if these ideas are coming too late for you, I do apologize.  Just file them away for next year and count your blessings that you are going to have a little bit of time to prepare for the holidays! Our clay snowmen are all finished By the way, our little clay snowmen http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/WB0LU3Yx4uA/gingerbread-house-card-paper-plate.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)12<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/WB0LU3Yx4uA" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/12/gingerbread-house-card-paper-plate.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7528278557588612866Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:37:00 +00002012-01-24T22:56:26.251-08:00 We're counting it down to Christmas- or at least til Christmas vacation!  Would you believe that my district's calendar has us working all the way up til the 23rd of December?  For goodness sake, I don't know how I am going to ever be ready for the big day!  I am just grateful that I am not also in the middle of assessments and report cards right now, as so many of you are.  I don't know how I http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/nr6lYw1Dm1g/candy-cane-project-and-printable.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)21<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/nr6lYw1Dm1g" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/12/candy-cane-project-and-printable.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4383975856956805695Sat, 03 Dec 2011 05:10:00 +00002012-01-20T05:05:14.087-08:00This week, I had the pleasure of presenting at SDE’s Arkansas Kindergarten Conference!  So I only taught school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then I flew out on Thursday.  I presented all day on Friday and flew back home on Saturday- whew, quick trip!  The people I met in Arkansas were wonderful and friendly, and I had a great time!  I actually got to present my session on guided drawinghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/RSpllBLCQRE/how-to-teach-children-to-write-words.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/RSpllBLCQRE" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-teach-children-to-write-words.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8520928928979521567Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:29:00 +00002011-11-25T06:29:28.120-08:00 Bloggy Doggies on Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving! This has been a wonderful week “off” for me at home, although I spent the first two days working at the HeidiSongs office answering phones and emails, and trying to help my husband out in whatever way I could. After that, I spent the Tuesday night and most of Wednesday creating the handout for my presentation on classroom management that I http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/km56WPG51WU/free-shipping-discount-code-great-gift.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/km56WPG51WU" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/11/free-shipping-discount-code-great-gift.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7843240542821043459Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:34:00 +00002011-11-20T14:34:14.021-08:00  I am making a special post this week because I am nominating Vanessa Levin's Pre-K Pages Blog for the 2011 Edublog Awards in the category of Best Teacher Blog.  I really like Vanessa's blog because she has a great variety of teaching ideas, management ideas, and links to other great websites and resources as well.  As a Kindergarten teacher who often works with remedial students, I have http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/2GqJ9gxL6NA/edublog-awards-nominations-are-open.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/2GqJ9gxL6NA" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/11/edublog-awards-nominations-are-open.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-6358029075741541091Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:58:00 +00002012-01-20T05:25:33.414-08:00Parent conferences are finally OVER and done with, (hooray!) and the holiday season has begun!  My class has begun learning the songs for our Gingerbread Man musical play that we love to do, and even though we have been working on it for only one week, the children already sound like experts on most of the songs!  I have started prepping some of my holiday projects, and even have started thinkinghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/r7JCJQ5bH-k/how-to-teach-kids-to-sound-out-cvc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)20<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/r7JCJQ5bH-k" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-teach-kids-to-sound-out-cvc.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8631181085146153194Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:25:00 +00002012-01-20T05:36:32.601-08:00I had a wonderful time last week at BlogWorld with my husband!  It was a great little one night get away, and just what we needed, even if it was a working vacation and only less than an hour’s drive away from home at the Los Angeles Convention Center!  What we learned was the importance of social networking in order to grow readership of your blog and website, and just how many passionate http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/PfESp-LJLds/another-science-center-two-more-new.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)15<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/PfESp-LJLds" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/11/another-science-center-two-more-new.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7149006277504740575Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:11:00 +00002012-01-20T06:03:55.245-08:00 Rotten pumpkins on Halloween are very SCARY! On Tuesday morning this week after Halloween was over, I posted this message on my HeidiSongs Facebook page:  “Okay, teachers!!! Your mission:  IMPOSSIBLE. Keep approximately 24 exhausted, over-stimulated, and sugared-up four & five year olds quietly and calmly learning the state standards, as if today were a day like any other.”  I very quickly hadhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/glzPU6ijxAI/eleven-weeks-down-raiseyour-hand-if.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)24<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/glzPU6ijxAI" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/11/eleven-weeks-down-raiseyour-hand-if.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8451134193442343931Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:25:00 +00002012-01-20T06:43:57.762-08:00 Our Fall Science Exploration Center is Growing!  What a BUSY WEEK!!!!  It was Red Ribbon Week and we had activities and assemblies, plus we are getting ready for Halloween.  AND we are also trying to get all of our testing done because we need to be ready to conference with parents beginning on the second week in November, so that means that the children’s report cards must be all done by then.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/cT9At1LjygE/spiders-and-pumpkins-and-bats-oh-my.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/cT9At1LjygE" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/10/spiders-and-pumpkins-and-bats-oh-my.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-6677194598098584056Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:14:00 +00002011-12-21T20:06:04.945-08:00 Take a Hayride to the Pumpkin Patch!  Well, I was barely at school this week due to being sent off to a district inservice on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I learned how to give a direct instruction lesson.  (You see, I am a brand new teacher, ha ha.)  I was back just in time on Thursday for our Great American Shake Out, in which my kids made their mark on society by being the only class to sing http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/Y9rwVc7qFek/nine-weeks-down-bulletin-board-guided.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)15<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/Y9rwVc7qFek" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/10/nine-weeks-down-bulletin-board-guided.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4518571882238573094Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:47:00 +00002011-10-14T19:11:13.032-07:00 Our Leaf and Pumpkin Investigation Center It has been good to be back to normal in my classroom for a full week now with no interruptions!  Other than a burned bag of popcorn that set off the fire alarm, it has been an uneventful week, thank goodness!  (And I’m happy to say that is was NOT my popcorn, either!) That’s all good, because next week on Tuesday, we are having our annual Farm Day, in http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/4EByU_h6P3Y/eight-weeks-down-sounds-fun-dvd-is.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)6<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/4EByU_h6P3Y" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/10/eight-weeks-down-sounds-fun-dvd-is.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-3798869510566423992Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:05:00 +00002011-10-08T16:56:12.356-07:00 Having Fun with the Counting Creatures!  Well, I am happy to say that this week was as easy as last week was hard!  As difficult as it is to be out of the classroom, once you are there and just sitting, it can be pretty darned relaxing to just let someone else do the thinking and then go home.  So that is what I did on both Monday and Tuesday at my district inservice that I had to go to.  And http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/bskSZlWgZYQ/seven-weeks-down-more-fun-with-counting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)16<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/bskSZlWgZYQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/10/seven-weeks-down-more-fun-with-counting.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-1538284878784303610Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:21:00 +00002011-10-01T13:20:47.846-07:00 The BOYS Choose to COLOR at Playtime????  :) Coloring the Counting Creatures Poem Well, I don’t mind telling you that it’s been a tough week, and Friday couldn’t have come soon enough!  I had to make a heart wrenching decision on Tuesday to put my older beloved dog “Hunny Bun” down due to congestive heart failure, as she was suffering greatly.  But knowing this didn’t help my broken heart athttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/xhEouxHdQhs/six-weeks-down-introducing-counting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)33<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/xhEouxHdQhs" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/09/six-weeks-down-introducing-counting.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-3738112417307238231Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:33:00 +00002011-09-23T12:33:03.645-07:00 Even though California now has state standards for preschool, I guess it is safe to say that it really doesn’t matter what they are if the parents just don’t send their children to preschool!  Children in California are supposed to start off Kindergarten only needing a short review of the alphabet and letter sounds, and then it’s on to the big adventure of learning to read!  But preschool is nothttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/6VPrf1_apko/five-weeks-down-tricks-for-learning.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)35<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/6VPrf1_apko" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/09/five-weeks-down-tricks-for-learning.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-5252644854217410381Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:23:00 +00002011-09-16T07:23:04.524-07:00 After four weeks of half day Kindergarten, I am definitely ready to move into our extended day schedule!  On Monday, the children will begin staying from 8:15 until 1:20.  (Up until this point, they have been dismissed at 11:35.)  We will continue on this schedule until the end of the second trimester, at which point they will go home at 2:15. I think that all of the children will be happy to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/kz2loEKBFeg/four-weeks-down-whats-working.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)15<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/kz2loEKBFeg" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2011/09/four-weeks-down-whats-working.html