Kindergarten Lifestyle

Freebielicious T-Shirt Giveaway!

2013-05-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

I am super excited today!

Wanna custom t-shirt with bling? Well, really -- what teacher doesn't? I swear I'm the queen of the "blingin' teacher t-shirts"... I love them and wear them all the time. (I know kind of corny :0)

Anyhoo, I'm going to tell you how YOU could win 1 of 23 blingin' teacher t-shirts of your very own. Then you can pick the one that makes your heart sing!

We at Freebielicious are so proud and excited to announce we are teaming up with A+ Teacher Images (the greatest t-shirt company for teachers and more, in case you haven't heard of them!). We all received the fanciest custom designed t-shirt we've ever owned AND now we can give a t-shirt to a winner from each of our blogs (23 WINNERS IN ALL).

Check out my picture below. You guys - I LOVE LOVE LOVE this shirt! How stickin' cute am I? (OK, well let's pretend......and be nice). I don't take many pictures as my Freebielicious friends can attest to.......so you should feel honored that I am putting it here! :0)

Heather Gray is my fav color :) It's definitely me!

I just love my t-shirt because it is so much more than just a shirt. It represents friendships, fun, and business relations (oh wait and STYLE, of course!) all in one blingin' design. Where else could you get all that from one t-shirt? A special thanks goes out to Doug from A+ Images. He worked with us to make just the right shirt to represent our company and is still giving us a shirt to give one lucky winner for each of our blogs!

The other thing I really like about the t-shirt I got was the quality -- The graphics are clear and thick -- I can tell it will really last me. The rhinestones are on perfectly......I LOVE RHINESTONES :0)

We have made this giveaway super easy for you to have almost 50 chances to win one of 23 t-shirts. It is a blog hop, so you can enter as many or as few giveaways as you would like! The contest begins Saturday, May 18th, at 8:00 a.m. EST and ends on Sunday, May 19th, at 12:00 a.m. EST. Winners will be announced on the following Monday. Easy peasy, lemon-squeezy! Start by entering my giveaway here:

All you have to do for my giveaway is follow my blog using Google Friend Connect -->
(I'd also love if you'd follow me on Pinterest and Facebook, but I won't make you unless you just really wanna. I hope you wanna :0)

Also, follow A+ Teacher Images on Facebook (you'll get to see great designs and other stuff as they add)....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next, you will head over to my friend Lori's blog Teaching with Love and Laughter and enter there and keep going until your fingers are too tired to hit click (that is how simple we made it for you!).

Go to our Freebielicious Facebook page and like us so you never miss a freebie or giveaway like this one!

Guest Blog from Kickin It In Kinder

2013-05-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

I am so grateful to Jeannie to allow me to guest blog for her!

I threw this question out on one of my Five for Fridays a few weeks ago:

I am happy to say that Jeannie is open to Guest Bloggers. Whew...that is a relief! This is my first try at guest blogging and I am honored that I am able to do it here at Kindergarten Lifestyle!

My name is Elizabeth Hall and I am from Kickin' it in Kindergarten. I love Jeannie's blog and all of her fabulous ideas! Kindergarten teachers are kindred spirits. I hope to find some other K teachers (and others) through this post! I'll tell you where to find me at the end of this post.

She is allowing me to take over for the day so here is my topic...

dummm...dummmm...dumm..

Co-teaching.

I know you are thinking that is a boring topic, but entertain me for 2 minutes. Here are my deepest darkest thoughts that I had about co-teaching...

No.

I'm not going to share.

This is my classroom, my kids, my books...mine mine mine.

Even if that doesn't come to your mind immediately, it would. This was the second year that I had volunteered to take special ed. I started off with 20 students, 3 on an IEP and ended the year with 21 kids and 4 on an IEP. With this responsibility there were quite a few adults in the room with me. In the classroom, at any given time, you could see 5-8 adults. My aide (all day), special ed. teacher (her students teacher) speech therapist, OT, and school physiologist. I also had a student teacher at the beginning of the year.

Omg. Let me get my Beyonce sparkle onsie on and do a song and dance for the crowd.

Some of my friends were out of control at the beginning of the year. Rolling on the carpet uncontrollably, running around the classroom during carpet time, crawling under the tables, running away on the stairs, meltdown galore...etc etc....You get the picture.

When the special ed. teacher (also one of my besties) brought up the idea of having them in the classroom during my 90 minute literacy block....I thought I was going to lose it. How will I get all 20 students to reach mastery of all of these lofty goals and standards with the added distraction of more teachers and students with special needs?
"We didn't do that last year!" was what I wanted to say.

That's when I said that I really needed to keep the other kids in mind and she asked me to give it a try. She also offered to come in and help teach.

Both of these things made me weary (see deepest darkest thoughts). I will work close with you...but not that close. What if the kids love you more than me? What if you are better teacher than I am? What if we can't control the other kids and show growth? What if the principal walks in and sees mayhem?

My mind was reeling.

I, hesitantly, agreed to try it.

It was the best decision I have ever made and I am writing this blog post for those of you out there that give others the hand when they want to work with you. We split up guided reading groups so that some of the IEP kids were mixed in with my groups and her group. She taught Handwriting Without Tears whole group. I would teach whole group math lessons and should would pull any students that were struggling and vice versa.

I should have felt honored instead of hesitant. I think at that point I was so tired and run ragged that I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I couldn't visualize what today looks like in my classroom. It has become a well oiled machine.

Those kids that you pictures running around and throwing fits are now listening to stories on the carpet, volunteering and sharing by raising their hands and participating in various whole group activities. This could have not been accomplished with them being pulled out of my room. Students with special needs are not the problem of just special ed teachers and aides. Those students our your students just like any other child that might walk in to your room. Students without special needs aren't just the sole responsibility of the classroom teacher when there are exceptional students in your room. It's a team responsibility and I encourage everyone to embrace that. I can promise that if you can let go just a little bit, you will grow and learn more than you can ever imagine. I feel like we have all learned so much from each other this year. Not to mention, it is so nice to have other adults in the classroom to know your kiddos personalities and laugh at the little things with you all day.

Not only do I love my students like I love my own, but there are other adults that love them equally as much as I do. One of my students reached 200 books (the challenge was to do 100 books) and the three of us took her for ice cream.

Not just her teacher, but her teachers.

I am saddened by the thought of moving them up to first grade without the "dream team" as I like to call the three of us.

Sarah, the special ed. teacher, is on to teach 2nd grade.

Dana, TA (I'll call her teacher #2), will be going with them to first but the kids will all be split up. So her time with them will be split.
The other wonderful thing about teaching together is the friendship that you form. The three of us spent time together outside of school, so that is just an added bonus :)
So while I will still put on my invisible sparkle Beyonce onsie to do a song and dance for my Kindergarteners next year (I live my life in exclamation points), it won't be the same.

My hope for you is that if the opportunity presents itself, you take it.

Come visit me sometime over at my blog!

Ocean Fun and Teacher Appreciation Sale 2013

2013-05-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

My kiddos are LOVING our Ocean Research unit..... I mean head OVER heels! First we talked about what we already knew about the ocean and what lives there. I was surprised by how little they knew this year. Usually kindergarteners have quite a bit of background knowledge here, but not this year. So, we definitely started from the ground up!

Do you like our octopuses/octopi? They were super easy to make......We taped a piece of construction paper long ways and cut 8 strips about 3/4 of the ways up. Then we used markers to curl up the arms of the octopus. It's actually a great fine motor activity! I got the idea from HERE. I adjusted and changed it a bit though.

Here are our jellyfish and the kids especially loved making these because they got to use my Sharpie markers. We started with clear plastic cups I got at the Dollar Tree. Jellyfish come in all colors so the kids loved coloring the jellyfish. Then we used bubble wrap to make the arms inside and curling ribbon for the tentacles.

Here is a shot of some of our research. We used books, magazines, and Internet sites to learn about jellyfish and octopus this week. Next week we will dive in with sea stars, sea horse, sharks, and whales.

Here is a shot of my kiddos playing a Dolch word wall game from my Ocean Commotion pack. Here are some more activities included:

Flipsy Flopsy - place value to 30.

silent e words (I forgot to take a picture of the darn recording sheet)

sorting short and long vowel words

Ahhh yeah!!! It's that time of year when WE (teachers) get a little appreciation - BRING IT ON! It's time to put our feet up, sit back, and ............shop! Hey what teacher doesn't love to shop. I love this time of year. Yes we are all tired and have our eyes on the prize....summer, but I also love this time of year because I can start to think of next year -- I love new beginnings!

Anyways, TpT is having a Teacher Appreciation Sale and I would LOVE if you take a look in my store. My store will be 20% off and TpT will take another 10% off (don't ask how it turns out to be 28% off........some fancy finagling) Important thing to remember: when you check out, put in the checkout code TAD13.

Here are some of my favorite items for this time of year:

SeaLife Animal Research

Ocean Commotion Literacy and Math Centers

Safari African Animal Research

Mom and Me: Our Book of Us!

Now, here are some of the goodies in my cart so far......

I have Caitlin's (from Kindergarten Smiles) Monster Back to School Activity Pack in my cart.....Yep thinking ahead and isn't this soooo adorable! My little ones will love this! It really sets the perfect stage for fun and beginning to discuss classroom rules.

I also have to have Crystal's (from Kreative in Kinder) Kindergarten Morning Work. I can't wait to use these for my morning work instead of constantly trying to scrounging up something new for them to do. Kindergarteners love doing "big kid work" so I know they will LOVE these.

And this little beauty, Diggin' Dinosaur Math Stations Galore, I plan to use in about 2 weeks when we do are dinosaur investigation. Thanks to Marsha (from A Differentiated Kindergarten) -- LOVE these!

Love love love these Sight Word Texting Codes Bundle from Annie (The Moffatt Girls)..... so clever she is!

What is in YOUR cart???

Jellyfish and Octopuses! Oh my!

2013-05-05T16:15:00.004-05:00

We are so busy in the classroom learning about the ocean and the critters that inhabit it. I wanted to share a couple of projects we've done this week.....

Jellyfish:

The kids LOVED making these jellyfish....They were astounded to learn that jellyfish have no head -- it's just a belly with tentacles......no brain, no eyes, no heart.....but yet it moves and grow, eat and reproduces. Fascinating stuff!

Materials:

clear plastic cups (I got mine 10 for $1 at Dollar Tree)

Sharpie permanent markers in a variety of colors

curling ribbon

tape

bubble wrap

How to Make:

Color the inside of the clear plastic cup. It's just easier to color the inside so the ink doesn't smear and get everywhere. Then when it's finished the kids can hold without fear of getting marker all over them. I encouraged kids to color their jellyfish anyway they wanted to. Jellyfish come in all colors so it was perfect -- it also made each one so unique.

Tape a rectangular piece of bubble wrap inside at the top (bottom of the cup). The bubble wrap only needs to be about 4 inches by 2 inches (these are the jellyfish's arms that are inside it's belly). Then allow the kids to tape about 10 tentacles to the inside edge of the cup all around.... Make the tentacles as long as you wish. I didn't measure them so many were different lengths (just like a real jellyfish).

Octopus

Materials:

9X12 inch construction paper in variety of colors

tape

2 round circles (or googly eyes if you prefer)

How to Make:

Wrap a sheet of construction paper round hot-dog style (long ways) until the end are barely touching and tape at the top and tape about 2-3 inches down. You have made a long cylinder. Then, cut 8 long slits up the cylinder to where the second piece of tape is. Make sure you have 8 strips as an octopus has 8 legs. Kids use a marker or pen and curl each arm up and then let go. The arm stays curled.

Glue 2 large circle on the head and place a black dot in the middle. I ran a piece of curling ribbon through the top for a hanger. I got this idea from HERE. She gave great directions. I adjusted and changed what I made by her directions will definitely get you going!

I hope this gives you a couple of fun ideas to try with your ocean unit!

Currently! It's May!!

2013-05-01T22:26:00.001-05:00

Ok I am linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade again this month for her Currently link. I just LOVE LOVE it and I especially LOVE LOVE May! Why May? It's nearly summer of course!

Here is my Currently:

I'm going to try to make this snappy since I may just have to hold my eyelids open with toothpicks if I don't go jump in bed pretty soon!

My kiddos at school are loving our Ocean unit --- what is it about kids and animals??......they are like magnets I swear..... We started our week off with creating an ocean in a bottle -- now I'm all about easy so these are super simple.

and our jellyfish.....:)

Although we are having great fun in kindergarten learning about jellyfish, octopi, and seahorses -- I gotta tell you, I am really running out of steam this time of year? Do I hear any Amens from the crowd? Why does the school year always seem to last just a few weeks too long? I long for my carefree summer days. I know they are right around the corner, but seriously???? 25 more days????

Time to get out the ol' "Little Engine That Could" mentality -- "I think I can. I think I can." No way around it we have no choice but to pull it together these last few weeks and make them great for our little ones!

Instagram What??? Teacher Talk Tuesday

2013-04-28T12:12:00.001-05:00

Good Sunday Morning Peeps!
I have discovered something over the weekend that I have absolutely FALLEN in love with......INSTAGRAM!!! Are you apart of instagram? If you aren't - you definitely should be!

What is instagram?

Well, it's like the best combination of Facebook and Pinterest combined!!!! It's Facebook without a bunch of text --we are all mostly visual people and Instagram is all about pictures!

One thing I love most about blog hopping is finding great pictures teachers take of kids interacting and doing daily activities. I've learned so much from photos --you know the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words".....and that is totally true.

So, I've discovered this amazing new resource and way of sharing. What better way to use it for professional development than hooking up with a bunch of other teachers?

Here comes the linky. I have linked up with Michelle from Apples and ABC's and Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants to join a great community of teachers sharing/commenting/connecting.

My instagram name -- kindergartenlifestyle

Here are a few of my recent instagram pics (because I just got started - but I promise I will be posting plenty!)

This is a pic I capture while at the zoo with my kiddos on Friday. It was tons of fun, but I was SUPER sore on Saturday!

Post from a Momma.....

2013-04-24T19:40:00.001-05:00

Usually when I post, it's about fun, educational activities to try with your class. I love teaching. I love making a real impact on the lives of my students. I enjoy making learning fun and meaningful for my bunch of 5 and 6 year olds. Year after year, I get to repeat the best times with a new crop. For an entire school year, those kids become MINE -- we live and breathe together in the confines of a small room. And, each year, I send those very kids off to tackle to world -- never knowing if I'll ever see them again (I teach in a very transient neighborhood). Still, I hope and pray that I have made a positive impact on each one of their lives...........

But, I'm not JUST a teacher (as though one could be JUST a teacher).......I'm a mother (of 6 in fact). As a full-time workin' momma, I send my 6 to school each day and entrust them to still more teachers. Of my 6, I have the gamut of students -- the studious one, the quick learner, the sponge, the lazy (yep - got one of those).........and I have one..............well.........who can't seem to pass anything except P.E.

I'm proud to introduce you to my son, Jaden:

(Don't you love the cheese face?)

He is a healthy, vibrant 11 year old! He likes video games, playing baseball, and burritos. The kid can take anything apart and put it together again!.....I mean it -- literally anything. I stare at my dvd player with confusion and he zips right along - fixing any problem I have. He is the world's best helper and can lift stuff 3 times his own bodyweight! He's my little man!

So, what's wrong?

Well, Jaden is ADHD. He is hyperactive, impulsive, and highly disorganized. He struggles to attend, can't understand most of what he is expected to do. He lives in a world that operates against him.

Not only is Jaden ADHD. Last November we received a diagnosis (diagnoses) that was hard to handle....although not unexpected. Through the great people at Scottish Rite Hospital, we learned that Jaden is up against so many barriers -- he is ADHD, but he has a Learning Disorder in Reading, Learning Disorder in Math, and Disorder of Written Expression. AAHAHHHHHHHH!!!! Every damn thing we expect of kids in school - he has working against him. No wonder Jaden becomes so frustrated when doing school work. No wonder Jaden doesn't like school. No wonder Jaden thinks he's stupid!!!! Our education system points out all his weaknesses on a DAILY basis!

Jaden has so much to offer and to give, yet his self-esteem is in the toliet because everyday we expect him to do all the things that he CANNOT. What if you were told you were going to start school tomorrow and you were expected to learn how to shoot hoops like a pro? or flip like an Olympic gymnast?

Think about it for a sec......What is something you are really bad at doing? For me it's drawing.....oh how I wish I could draw. I've tried and tried, but it always looks like utter crap. Good for me our school system doesn't place much importance on drawing skills. If it did, I'd be a failure. I'm am simply not capable of being an artist. I was not born with the ability to draw well or even reasonably.

This is Jaden. Everyday Jaden is expected to "draw like an artist" and receives the clear message that, because he can't, there is something terribly wrong with him. He is stupid - that is the message he receives all day long.

Why do "we" do this to kids like Jaden?

As teachers we learn about differentiating and how each individual has special strengths and weaknesses. We learn about using strengths to help children achieve THEIR PERSONAL BEST. Yet, day after day we force circle kids into square holes. I'm included - it's hard not to operate this way with all the high stakes testing teachers are confronted by. However, are we considering what we are doing to kids????? Is this really better for our kids??? Is it really making our kids smarter and more competitive??? Unfortunately, I think the answer is no.

I absolutely adore the teaching profession. I love working with and teaching kids. I really believe we have the most important job (besides parent). There is a part of me (a large part of me) that is sad that I am now finishing up my last year teaching in the public school system. Each day I think of something else I will miss -- birthdays, loose teeth, silly weekend stories, 100th day of school, last day of school......

....but there are so many things now that have changed the teaching profession - things that I never bargained for......coupled with the fact that I have a son that truly needs my help. If the public school system is NOT able to teach him....to reach him -- then I have no choice to do it myself.

This next year I will embark on a new journey -- one that is exciting, liberating - yet a bit scary as well. Instead of teaching in the public school system, I will be teaching in my home with 2 of my sons.

I will be homeschooling my about-to-be 6th grader AND my about-to-be kindergartener.

Here is Reagan!

So, although I won't be "teaching" next year, I will be doing LOTS of teaching next year. I am excited to do all the things I've loved doing with other people's kiddos over the years with my own little kiddo. This blog will still be in support of kindergarten and the primary years. It's my "home" so you aren't getting rid of me.....hahahaha......I hope you will stick around for the WILD RIDE ahead!

You will be getting a better glimpse at my son Reagan and his learning throughout his kindergarten year. I can't wait to have this little one as my student!

Tax Day Break Sale!

2013-04-15T04:30:00.000-05:00

Well, the time has come ......each year April 15th is the day that millions of people all over the U.S. cry and gnash their teeth - TAX TIME DEADLINE!!!! Oh it hurts to even say.......

I decided to join my friend Tammy over at Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten for some tax time sale love.

Today ONLY my entire store in 15% off!!! Go check it out HERE!

Earth Day and More Springy Stuff!

2013-04-13T23:15:00.004-05:00

I hope you are arriving via Freebielicious and am excited to grab you Earth Day Blends freebie:

Click HERE!!

My kids LOVE finding the words and then finding and coloring the corresponding picture......

Oh my gosh! I love Spring....it's definitely my favorite season. And I love Earth Day. Things are fresh, bright, and so alive! I really hope you love this freebie - it will have your kiddos reading and finding words with inital blends (ccvc) and final blends (cvcc).

Spring is bursting out in full glory all over my room.....and I'm not talking about the crazy little kids (although they are definitely bursting out in Springy behavior too)......I'm talking about our center activities. Here are some pictures:

This activity is another blending activity from my It's a Spring Fling pack. Here the kids are getting to sort bees to matching flowers depending on which initial blend the bee picture has on it.

Below is another center activity from the same pack. It's an addition center using the ten frame. Kids complete the addition sentence using a dry erase marker. My kids love counting and adding the various "spring critters"......

These fun kites/clouds are a great place value center in which each kite has a number from 10-30 (those are the numbers we are focusing our review on right now)..... Match the numbered kite to the place value cloud...such great practice.

The following are Digraph Butterflies. This activity focuses on /sh/, /ch/. /th/, and /wh/. Sort the pictures by the digraph you hear. The digraphs could be at the beginning or the end so you have to listen carefully and listen to the whole word. I also include a number of digraph 'cut and paste' sheets with this unit.

If the above activities sound like things YOUR kiddos need to practice, you can grab the whole pack HERE!!

HAPPY SPRING!!

World Autism Awareness Day 2013!

2013-04-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

God Bless all individuals no matter their differences. If you've ever had the pleasure of working with children with autism, you know they are some of the most heart-tugging kids! Please help support Autism research. :0)

Currently and Easter Fun!

2013-03-31T21:35:00.000-05:00

Happy April Fools Day! Well almost anyways......

Doesn't it feel weird to say April Fools right after having Easter yesterday? It does to me! But I guess it is what it is!

My 2 youngest boys are WIRED from the Easter candy and just won't give it up! Their bedtime was more than an hour ago and still they are going. I'd get on to them, but it is really sweet listening to them whisper and giggle. I know one day I won't hear that again.

Well we had 3 days off for Easter and I am EXHAUSTED. We went to Six Flags on Friday, spent all day Saturday with extended family, and then did all the Easter traditions today with the family. I need/want another day to relax.......never enough time!

With all that we did this weekend, cleaning the house sure wasn't on the list -- well, it was Thursday, but not since then. It looked like a bomb exploded....but I don't care!
My advice is take like a day at a time......I mean what else can you do?

Interested in what others are CURRENTLY up to? Click below to check out Farley's linky! So fun I had to join!

I ran out of steam last week so I am just now getting around to show you what we did last Thursday for Easter.

First of all I found them super cute Easter eggs at Walmart -- about $5.50 per box. I bought 2 boxes and the kids had a BALL making word wall words with them. They had so much fun we intend to keep these as a morning work activity. I don't think I'll hear any arguments about using them, do you?

We also had an Egg hunt (we keep Easter out of it) - it's fun no matter your beliefs. We use our egg hunt as an opportunity to get more education in....because they are 5. We wouldn't want them just having fun, right? Anyhoo - they had a TON of fun AND practiced important skills - like reading word wall words and reading number 0-100.

I bought the eggs and asked parents to send in a bag of wrapped candy. The way I do it is super non-stressed because I don't stuff any eggs at all. We also don't have to worry about candy busting out of eggs. I put all the candy in a tub.

The day before our egg hunt, I have the kids help stuff the "eggheads" into the eggs as their morning work as they arrive. As you can imagine, I hear no complaints about child labor. They love it! I tell them they are getting to be Easter bunnies. Of course, I lay down the law about.....If you throw an egg or do something you aren't supposed - you are done! And I stick by it. NEVER a problem because they want to do it so badly. I print my "eggheads" and the kids place one strip in each egg. Who cares if an egg winds up with 2 strips? No one!

I DO NOTHING!!!! Don't you just love that? That's MY kind of egg hunt!!

When it's time for egg hunting, I had 2 kids carry the large tub of eggs to our field and I carried the tub of candy. I bet you can imagine why! :0)

Then, I told the kids to take 2 eggs at a time and go hide them! They LOVE LOVE LOVE being the Easter bunny (or political correct just "the bunny") It doesn't spoil the fun - it increases it! They are so excited and do such a great job hiding the eggs.

After all the eggs were hidden, I called them all back to me. We got our baskets - and HUNTED! (Now, I told them how many they were allowed to get so we didn't have any hoggers. They did a good job because they knew they would lose their eggs if they didn't follow the rules! Again - all about consistency and making sure the kids believe that you mean business.

Here is the pack I use -- My EGGHEADS!!

Do you do an "Egg hunt" with your class? Tell me about it!

Fill Your Basket Freebielicious Blog Hop

2013-03-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hey Freebielicious Friends!

I hope you have really enjoyed our Freebielicious Blog Hunt so far - there's still LOTS more to come!! While the kids will be filling their baskets today, so can YOU! So stay away from the peeps and chocolate bunnies and enjoy something that won't go straight to your hips! :0)

Here is my Freebielicious contribution:

It's a Dolch word wall game - perfect for Spring Time! Your kids will love it all Spring-long. :0)

Click HERE to grab!

After you've grabbed this "sweet treat", hop like a bunny over to Kinderglynn. Donna has something wonderful in store for you there!

Now also don't forget that I'm having a "Spring Cleaning" sale in my TpT store TODAY. My entire store is 20% off. In addition, I'm having a BUY 3 GET 1 FREE offer. If you buy 3 items, email me at jeanniemleigh@yahoo.com and tell me 1 FREE item you'd like (equal or lesser value). I'll send it directly to you. Be sure to leave me your TpT username. This is a great time to stock up for the end of the school year! Did I just say end of the school year??? Heck yeah I did!!!!

Spring Cleaning Sale - It's On!!

2013-03-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sale Time!!

If you are like me then your wishlist is plum FULL on TpT. It's time to clean it up with a 2 day sale.

My entire store is 20% off Saturday and Sunday. In addition, I'm having a BUY 3 GET 1 FREE offer. If you buy 3 items, email me at jeanniemleigh@yahoo.com and tell me 1 FREE item you'd like (equal or lesser value). I'll send it directly to you. Be sure to leave me your TpT username. This is a great time to stock up for the end of the school year!

Here are a few this you may be interested in:

Fact Family "Peeps" FREEBIE

2013-03-25T19:22:00.003-05:00

Hey all!

I have a little something sweet for ya! In class, we have been working so hard on addition and subtraction and Dun dun duuuuu....fact families! Fact families are a difficult concept and noticing the patterns within the fact families is so important if kiddos are going to understand the concept. It also takes TONS of PRACTICE!

Here is a sweet fact family math center activity with recording sheet! :0) I hope you love it!!

Click HERE to grab this!

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Also this last week we had a super cool visit from a lady named Nancy and her drug dog, Samantha. This lady is amazing and literally has 20 dogs! You could definitely see her love for her dogs. My teammate, Sara, set up the visit and the kids so enjoyed themselves..... Nancy taught us how they teach the dogs to search for drugs -- they just think they are finding their toys (which all smell like drugs). How cool! They find dogs in animal shelters so they are all rescue dogs too. I really thought that was cool!

Here is Samantha finding her toy (drugs).

Look! She found it!! Whew - that sure is a blurry picture :)

And all the kids got to pet Samantha on our way out. She is a super sweet, loveable dog.

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I've been busy all weekend getting ready for all kinds of Easter fun this week!

If you are in need of some fun Easter learning things, I'd love you to take a look at some of my other Easter/Spring items:

This is a literacy pack full of cvc words, digraphs, and long/short vowel center activities....

Here are my math centers. It includes addition, subtraction, numbers in between, etc.

Oh and if you do an Easter egg hunt - you may want these adorable eggheads. They have numbers

0-100 and Dolch Pre-primer and Primer words. I tuck one of these in each egg. Kids read the number or word and come get a treat from me. I personally just like it better than putting candy in the eggs. I hate when they bust open so this works for me!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Class Tour

2013-03-21T19:06:00.001-05:00

I know one of the things I love most is seeing other teachers' classrooms. I get some many ideas to try out in my own classroom.

Here is my word wall. This picture was taken early in the year as you can probably tell. There aren't many words on there. :0) It's packed now!

As you walk in my room and look the left, this is the view.

Here is the behavior clip chart. Love this gem!! Everyday my kids start on green and hopefully work their way up........ To the right of the clip chart is my pocket chart center. To the left is our class restroom. YUCK!

This is an aerial view of my classroom from my door.

Another view into my classroom from the door.

This is word study center. You can see my mailboxes to the right of the word study center.

We have LOTS of big books. I love having this many big books, but WOW they take up TONS of room!

My writing center is right below the word wall. I love having writing here because they need direct access to those important words!

Here are 2 of our students computers. I have a total of 7 in the classroom. I love having the technology, but again they take up alot of room.

Here is my junk central. I didn't even clean to take the pictures. I figures you'd appreciate seeing it in all it's realistic glory! This is command central :0) I wished......I hardly sit down unless I'm doing guided reading.

Another computer I use mostly for our intervention program. It is behind my table area to keep the child focused and not concerned with what they others are doing...

This is the back counter area. It is also home of retelling center.

This is a shelf where we keep materials. The yellow tubs are for self-selected reading and guided reading books. The other colored tubs contain community crayons, scissors, glue, etc. We also hold our dry erase boards and markers here.

On the left, but to the right of the clip chart, you can see our schedule on the red pocket chart. Everything we do everyday is on here. As we complete an activity, we turn over the card for the day. Each morning I have a student turn them all over and ready to go.

Here is overhead center. The kids pull the overhead out when they are using it and shine on a metal filing cabinet.

This is our math tubs shelf. There are 10 math tubs that are currently in use at any given time. My kids work in partners during math tubs. The random colored tubs near the bottom contain manipulatives that are not currently in use. I switch out materials as we change math tubs.

Here is the center chart. I have students work in partners during center time (3 if there's an odd number). Notice my chart shows a literacy center AND math tub. The purple cards are literacy centers and the blue cards indicate what math tub they have. I rotate the center cards - not the kids.

Here is the blocks center. Notice the bluish-green tape borders the area. That helps students know the boundaries of their center.

And, here are 3 more student computers for centers.

Here are where we store the other yellow boxes for their self-selected and guided reading books.

Here is my whole-group area. I just LOVE my ocean carpet......

Well, what do you think? It's not fancy. It's not the most beautiful classroom you've ever seen. However, it effective and practical -- just the way I like it!!

When I grow up......

2013-03-13T17:55:00.000-05:00

Hiya peeps! I've gotten kind of lazy about posting since I've been on Spring Break, but I am totally enjoying my time off with the kiddos. Last week was a fantastic week at our school. It was College Week - a week when we talk about college and our future.... basically we learned about lots of jobs and made the decision about what we want to be when we grow up. Super fun!!!

Of course, we decorated for this special event too.

Here is my entryway to my classroom. The sign says, "Class of 2025". That sounds so far off, but it's really not. Kind of creepy......makes me feel old :0) I just covered my doorway with white butcher paper and cut strips. Then I stapled these cute graduation hats (they have the kids' names on it with glitter). The kids loved this so much they were super careful not to damage it.

If you like the little sign - here it is -- GRAB HERE!

Here is my door. My district publishes a children's book about going to college and how it's a "road to success". I kind of played off that and we made a roadway. The kids chose a car - colored it to make it their own and helped me put their car on the "road to success".

And my door.....

We made these super cute graduates - The kids were told to make it really look like them. We had talked about skin color and diversity in January so it was so easy for them to understand what they needed to do to make their graduate look just like them.

During the week, we also wrote about what we wanted to grow up to be. The kids hand wrote what they wanted to grow up to be and I placed those sheets in their Pride folders. However, I typed each one up using their words and placed on our graduates.

My 2 favorites were:

The girl who said she wants to be a "cop so I can save the day"! (And the little girl said it with lots of enthusiasm and jazz hands!)

My other favorite was the boy who wants to be Peter Parker because Peter Parker gets to be Superman!

I then took each child's picture using a lovely red frame that said, "I am going to college!" I borrowed this frame from my teacher-friend, Sandra. Thanks, Sandra!! I LOVE the way it turned out!

Here are a few other doors from around my school:
This was really cute. It has a cut-out where the kids stick their faces for pictures!

Some great doors, huh?

One of the really memorable activities we got to participate in was when a fireman came to tell us about his job. He also let us try on his cool gear - which was the most AWESOME part!

And our thank yous!!!

What do you do at your school to get even your youngest kiddos thinking about their future?

St. Patrick's Day Linky Party Plus Freebie!!

2013-03-02T21:46:00.001-06:00

Hey friends! I am linking up with Mary from Sharing Kindergarten for a terrific linky party that will give you lots of ideas and activities to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with your kiddos -- Irish or not! I also have a wonderful cvc freebie for you later on in this post! I hope you like it!

This week we have worked on learning the centers in my march center pack -- Lucky Leprechaun's Over the Rainbow...... You can grab it HERE!!!

Here is a fun leprechaun hunt we did on Thursday......The leprechaun hats have cvc pictures on them and the kids have to find the corresponding spot on their recording sheets to write the word by stretching the sounds in the word. They LOVED this!!

We also used some more items from my Lucky Leprechaun's Over the Rainbow math and literacy pack!! This is one of the addition puzzles. I gave half of the kids number sentences and the other half the picture cards. They found their partners and checked to make sure the puzzle worked! We share using the promethean

Also, I'm sure you have probably heard of the fantastic Annie from The Moffatt Girls. Well she is amazing and talented and I am totally in love with her "Ready to Read" packs. My kids are loving the activities. I'm using some for morning work activities and some for literacy centers. They are pack with so many goodies to use!

Here we are learning how to use the picture/word sorts. It's a simple activity that the kids can really pick right up on. We played this one whole group today. We practiced reading the cvc words BEFORE I showed them the picture cards. We've already been working on blending so I wanted them to give those cvc words a go first. They did fantabulous! We laid the cvc words out and then looked through the picture cards. I have each child a picture card and had them find their matching cvc word. I loved it because they had to look all through the word to see the difference between some words (i.e. cat/can).

Ok, and I promised you a freebie, right? Here it is!! It's a cvc card game -- perfect for centers! Click on the picture to get it now!

Oh, I also wanted to tell you about this great new teacher supply company that is super easy to order from.....no more clicking a million times and entering all sorts of information to put in one simple order.

I just ordered some post-it notes....a huge pack. I use them for guided reading. After we've read our book the kids take their books home to read to mom and dad. I place a post-it with their name and have mom or dad sign saying they've read it. It's a good way to hold kinders responsible and gets them ready for first grade when they will probably have a reading log.

Anyways -- love love love MLM School Supplies!

MPM School Supplies

Whew!!! I'm tired after all that!! I hope you have a fantastic time celebrating this wonderfully fun holiday with your lil cuties!!

Please check out my TpT Store and my TN store. :)

5K FB FLASH FREEBIE

2013-02-26T20:53:00.003-06:00

In celebration of making it to 5,000 likes on Facebook I'm having a FLASH FREEBIE giveaway tonight only. The freebie will end at 5:00a.m. central time tomorrow morning (yes it's a ridiculous time but that's when I get up).....

This is a great little word wall game perfect for March and perfect for motivating your little ones to read those important words!

Can I ask one favor if you find this freebie useful? Please follow my blog (use the Google Friend Connect to the right)! It's what lets us teacher-bloggers know that we aren't alone on our blog island....:0)

I hope you like the freebie!! I'd love to know what you think!!

Click HERE to grab (limited time only!)

Non-Seuss Freebie

2013-02-21T07:24:00.002-06:00

Are you as bummed by the whole "crack down" of Seuss freebies as I am? Man.....I love Seuss and so do the kids, but unfortunately the Seuss company is not playing nice. Many bloggers have been told to take down any items or even freebies referencing Seuss or using "like-characters". I totally understand the Seuss company not wanting others to make money off his books and characters, but not even freebies??? That is not very teacher or kid-friendly. I mean teachers and kids are what made Seuss' books popular and loved the world over. We create wonderful classroom displays, envelope our students in his words and language play, and have such fun.....but that has all came to an end.

As a teacher, I will no longer celebrate Seuss and his books in my classroom. They are all gone! I will not celebrate his birthday or do other fun stuff in the name of Seuss. Now, at first blush that may seem ugly, but there are soooo many wonderful authors out there that WANT kids and teachers using their materials and give us at least some leeway to create free items to help other teachers and kids have fun with their books. Seuss company has decided not to do that. They have a complete right as it is copyrighted. But......then, I, as a teacher, have a complete right to banish their materials from my classroom. I will instead turn March into a celebration of other deserving authors.

This is bad for the Seuss company. I mean....to use any of the materials that used to be available you had to have the books, right? How much money did that company make from teachers and parents that were spurred to buy books because the kids fell in love with them at school? Plus, there were so many opportunities for the company to make even more money.....they had an army of teachers working in their favor. Ok, 'nuff said....it's over. I am over it!

I have re-done some of my former "Seuss" freebies. They were originally free and are still free. I have taken any reference to Seuss out and I have made sure there are no infringements of the company's copyright -- just fun, silly activities for those of you who choose to continue to use Seuss in your classroom. Of course, the great thing is....if you are boycotting Seuss like me, you can still use them too!

Here is one of the totally un-Seuss freebies:

It's a word wall game. I hope you like it!!

Here is another one along the same lines that you make like. It's a real word/nonsense word sort. I know many of us are working on that lately.

I do have one more that I am working on and will get that to you as soon as I am finished updating it!

Fonts - My New Obsession (FREEBIES)

2013-02-11T21:00:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I have found my new obsession. I've always loved fonts. I have more fonts that you could "shake a mean stick at" (don't ask what that means - you don't want to know:0) Just trust me - I have a TON! The problem is I see these great fonts, but as a kindergarten teacher, I can't always use the crazy font ....especially when we are just working on letter identification. I need crisp, clear font that's appropriate for my little ones.

So, I gave font-making a shot! I'm so happy with how these 2 fonts turned out! I hope you like them too! They are free for personal AND commercial use. The only thing I ask is....if you use it for commercial use, please leave a link to my blog (my blog button will do) on your credit page. Nothing is required for personal use.

Click the pictures to download the fonts!

I hope you enjoy these!

Valentine Hop

2013-02-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

With Valentine's Day coming up, my Freebielicious friends and I are trying to "fill your hearts" with lots of cool goodies. I actually have 2 goodies for you!

The first is a Valentine's-themed math center perfect for composing/decomposing numbers to 10:

Click HERE to grab.

and this next one isn't Valentine's-themed, but I bet you can use it sometime in the next month or so :0) (Don't ask:0)

It's a sorting activity for real and nonsense words. I hope you love it!

Click HERE to grab your copy!

I hope you enjoy both of these! And, when you are finished here - hop on over to Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business to see what she has in store for you! :0)

100th Day and Freebie certificates!!

2013-02-07T20:01:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the 100th day of school! My kids arrived to our door all decked out to begin our special "celebration" day! You could literally see their faces light up. I just LOVE the 100th day of school!

Look at this next doorway!! I'd love to claim that it was my idea....but a couple of my teammates' doors meet together and they put this adorable doorway together. The top banner is from a rock start theme our school did a couple years ago. The kids walked through like they were Super Stars! It really stood out!

And another teammate's door (I love her 100 sign:0)

And as they entered the classroom, this is what they saw. You should have seen their faces.... My favorite 100th day activity is the 100 balloon pop - it's a great activity because:
*It's fun
*It's also a great way for kids to see exactly how many 100 is.

And the party ensued! :0)

After the balloon pop, we did our calendar and "discovered" that we were at the 100th day of school! (Of course the kids knew, but they wanted to make sure I knew :0) Zero the Hero left a note that told us we had a surprise waiting for us in 100 steps from our classroom door so.....of course we had to go check it out! We all took turns in laying down the paper feet so we could measure exactly 100 feet.

Wow! And this isn' t the whole 100 feet....Pretty amazing!

I got so excited I forgot to take a picture of our surprise. It was Zero the Hero and Zerona in a basket with our 100th day certificates, bookmarks, and stickers! Dog-gone my forgetful brain! I wished I had a picture to share :0( The certificates are the same ones as the FREEBIE at the bottom of this post!

What's the 100th day without a 100th day crown?! I got these last year at Target in the dollar section...super easy and the kids thought they were in heaven using markers to color them (we aren't allowed to do that often :0) To me it was TONS easier than doing the "silly groups of 10 hats" we've done in the past. Plus, we did lots of other "groups of 10 counting".

Next came the fruit loop necklaces - another 100th day staple! Kids string groups of 10 fruit loops to make a necklace that has 100 fruit loops. Counting groups of 10 is WAY easier to keep up with than trying to remember what number you are on. They did super well! Some made their necklaces with color patterns - and some did it willy nilly :0) Note to self: DO NOT use yarn....ugghhh!! !Why do I always forget that? It frays and never winds up working well. Luckily I had some fishing line that worked perfectly!

The finished product! The kids were so cute....They went to writer's workshop as soon as they were finished with their necklaces. I'd look over at kids writing all over the place with their necklaces hanging out of their mouths munching. :0) So sweet!.....Ok kind of icky, but totally cute!

Here is the trail mix that we made. We had 10 different snacks to make our trail mix:

*Cherrios

*Fruit Loops (yep more fruit loops :0)

*Coco Puffs

*M&M's

*mini Hershey's

*marshmallows

*Goldfish crackers

*gummy bears

*animal crackers

*pretzel sticks

*Skittles

Kids got to count out 10 of each snack - for a total of 100! They had such a ball you would never have guessed they were doing math work! :0)

Oh, and we also made the 100th day flags from my Hooray for 100 Days pack. If you are looking for a 100th day pack - I'd love for you to take a look at mine! It is packed with ideas, templates, certificates, badges, and letters....so much!

Grab this 100th Day pack HERE!

Oh and here's a little freebie for ya! It's my 100th day certificates:

Click HERE to grab this freebie!

Guest Post - Linda from Kinder Doodles

2013-02-06T15:00:00.000-06:00

Hi! This is Linda from Kinder Doodles, and I'm so happy to have the opportunity to share my Skill Tubs with you here on Kindergarten Lifestyle! Several years ago I realized that I had so many great resources - centers and activities from The Mailbox, Scholastic, Teachers Pay Teachers, and other wonderful companies, plus things that I'd made, that just never saw the light of day. I wanted a way to get these learning tools into my Kinders' hands, and needed a way to do so. But, I wanted them to be used in a "controlled" way so that I'd continue to have them. After lots of thought on how to present them, I came up with the idea of Skill Tubs.

Simply put, my Skill Tubs are dish tubs (Walmart) filled with an assortment of learning activities that are housed on a wire shelving unit (Target).

My corporation caps kindergarten at eighteen students so my nine Skill Tubs are perfect for partner work. Classrooms with more students can have three to four students work out of a tub.

I label each tub with a number and where to work - both spelled out and a photo of the work area. I have tried to spread the work areas around the room so the Kinders can work with their partners and not disturb others. They really do a great job staying on task!

Some samples of what might be in a tub, clockwise from upper left: an activity from an issue of The mailbox, decodable readers from our reading series, seasonal shaped cards with sight words (laminate & write words with Sharpie - rubbing alcohol removes it so you can reuse the shapes again & again!), word family activity from a Mailbox thematic unit, a Carson Delosa file folder activity. I often include activities that students have done in our Learning Stations small groups for extra practice. The pictures below show some of the activities in use.


I use this pocket chart to move students through a rotation of all nine tubs. The names on the left side move down, and those on the right move up, so that the Kinders have a different partner every day. I can keep students who don't work together well in one column so that they never get each other as a partner. I do, however, occasionally swap out some students from left to right to keep the pairs fresh & friendly. (The photos on the far right are pictures of Skill Spots - other work areas around the room.)

I have created a Cupcake CVC Word Game Freebie for you to put in your own Literacy Skill Tub. Visit my blog to for a Cupcake Ten Frame freebie for your Math Skill Tub. While you are there, feel free to look around - I have lots of other freebies! Thanks for reading!

Linda

Love Bird Freebie!

2013-02-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Hey friends!

Need a cute Valentine-y "Write the Room" activity? Well, I've got just the thing for ya! I FELL IN LOVE with these love birds and couldn't resist whipping up a little something... I'm excited to share this with my little munchkins at school and I hope you can use it too! It's a great way to have kids practice writing cvc words and having fun during center time. You can grab it here!

Click HERE to grab!

Also - don't forget about the B-I-G TpT sale tomorrow (February 3rd)! My sale will actually carry over to Monday too!

(Be sure to use the promo code: SUPER when you checkout!)

If you purchase Sunday you will get a 28% discount and Monday a 20% discount (because TpT only offers their discount for one day).

To sweeten the deal even more......if you spend $15 in my store I will give you any 1 item of your choosing for FREE - no matter the price of the item! Simply email me at jeanniemleigh@yahoo.com with your TpT username and the name of the free item you want! I will email it directly to you!

Happy Shopping!!

Dolch Word Celebration and Sale Time!

2013-02-01T19:11:00.000-06:00

Announcing MAJOR SALE this weekend!!

(Be sure to use the promo code: SUPER when you checkout!)

To sweeten the deal even more......if you spend $15 in my store I will give you any 1 item of your choosing for FREE! Simply email me at jeanniemleigh@yahoo.com with your TpT username and the name of the free item you want! I will email it directly to you!

A few items you may want to take a peek at:

In case you haven't had your 100th day yet.....Mine is next week! :0)

TpT Store

My kids are LOVING our new Dolch word celebrations! Here are some pictures below. Every Monday we make the hats together (kids color the word -- vowels are red and consonants are blue). The hat doesn't explain how to color it so it's something that can be colored in any way. I just like my kids' focus to be on vowels and consonants for all those words. It's about drawing attention to how the word is made. It helps them remember those words - the visual gets stuck in their heads!

The trace & paste sheet is a great item to put in either writing center or word study center. We find little pockets of time to do other parts of the celebration kit throughout the week. Again, each time the kids color the dolch word(s), they use red and blue.

The kids really enjoy making the hats, necklaces, bracelets, and pencil flags- plus they wear these as parents pick them up in the afternoon - so parents can quickly see what our word wall word is for the week and understand how important that word is!