Book bash with my kinder friends

Yay!! It is time for our second blog hop with my favorite #kinderfriends. These are such an amazing group of woman and I am so glad we get to come together and share ideas with all y'all out there in the blogging world. This month we are sharing out our favorite books. Now for those that know me, know that I am slightly obsessed with books. I grew up with books everywhere in our house and some of my fondest memories as a girl was going to Barnes and Nobles and picking out a new Nancy Drew or American Girls chapter book. So this blog theme was right up my alley! I decided to narrow my book pickings down to my favorite end of the year books that I use in my classroom. 

I always end our kindergarten year with a giant ocean unit. The kids love it! It is a great opportunity to really hit on non fiction books and text features, but also incorporate some really fun fiction picture books like "Nugget & Fang". 

Day one: I start off by reading the "Nat. Geo : Sharks!" book. We talk about text features, we do a picture walk through etc. Then we read "Nugget & Fang". We talk about the setting, characters, plot etc. After that we chart our findings using a Venn Diagram. My goal is to really emphasize the difference between non fiction and fiction books. 

Day 2:  We reread and look back over the Nat. Geo book. Using my non fiction reader worksheet, we choose a fact that we learned to write about, and then draw a picture. 

Day 3: We reread "Nugget & Fang" and chart all the parts of the story. The kiddos then use those charts to complete my fiction/parts of a story worksheet.

Day 4: To really hit the concept of fiction/non fiction out of the park, I take old Scholastic catalogs and let the kids cut out pictures of both types of books and put them in the right category (fiction or non fiction)

If you would like any of the worksheets from this post click here

I hope you enjoyed reading!! Now get comfortable and hop on over to Wendy's blog at First Grade Fireworks for another AMAZING post

Rumor has it...

I am here to set the record straight….yes, the rumors are true. Glue sponges are the best thing invented since sliced bread! They are super easy to make, and way less mess than a kindergartener rubbing his glue stick all over his page and consequently the table. 

Recently, I went to grab a glue stick from our class glue stick bucket. I twist the cap off and this is what I find: 

That is disgusting! At that point I knew I had to try something new. I have to give props to Greg Smedley over at Kindergarten Smorgasboard is the OG of glue sponges. When I saw these, I knew this is what I had to do. Below, you can find the supply list and the directions for making your very own glue sponge. 

What you need:

*A sponge ( i just bought the cheap 4 pack at Target)

* A sealable storage container (They sell a 4 pack at Wal-Mart for less that $2)

*Elmer's Glue

Step 1:

Drop a sponge in the container and pour the glue right on top of the sponge. If you have purchased the 7oz bottle of glue, I pour about half of that onto the sponge. That way it is enough to soak in and will last. 

Step 2:

Once you have poured the glue on, simply snap on the lid and let it soak overnight. Easy Peezy! 

Well there you have it! Those rumors have been put to rest and I can confidently say that glue sponges are the best invention ever! 

Mrs. Davis' Favorite Things: Part 2

There are few things in life that make me want to put on a bad 80's sweat suit, rock a side pony, and dance my heart out but GoNoodle is one of those few things. I am over the moon, in love with all things GoNoodle (Shhh! Don't tell my hubby). GoNoodle makes my teacher heart happy. It literally has everything you could possibly need as a teacher. Are your kids hyper and need a cool down? Try Maximo! Is it raining cats and dogs outside? Try their indoor recess mega mix! Are you feeling silly and need to get the wiggles out? Turn on Pop Se Ko and move and groove with KooKoo Kangaroo.

Recently my school had a GoNoodle night. We wanted a night where parents could come with their kiddos and dance, and laugh and just enjoy having fun and being silly and goofy. I set up a photo booth with GoNoodle props and we had a tattoo station where we had tiny GoNoodle character tattoos for them to wear. It was a smashing success! I loved having kids begging me to play "Kitty High Five" just one more time!

Even our mascot "Henry the Honeybee" got in on the action!

And of course us teachers couldn't resist the urge to hop in the photo booth for a little photo session!

So if you are looking for a fun, free, and educational way to get your students or even your family moving and grooving, then head on over to their site and check it out! It will quickly become your newest obsession like it is mine:)

Earth Day blog hop with the Kinderfriends!

Hi guys! Thank you so much for hopping along with the #Kinderfriends! I'm Brittany from "A Kindergarten Love Story" and today I want to share with you two fun ideas (and a freebie) to incorporate into your classroom for Earth Day.

My first fun activity for you guys is a super cool, super easy Earth craft. For this all you would need is:
                 *Shaving cream
                 *Food coloring (blue and green)
                 * Large white paper plate (one for each kiddo)
                 * A squeegee of some sort ( I have used a popsicle stick, ruler or           anything to scrape the excess shaving cream off the plate)

To start off, I just cover a tray in shaving cream and drop some blue and green food coloring in it and mix it all together.

This is what it should look like

After you have mixed all of it together, have the students place their plate in the shaving cream and gently press down and then gently peel it off.

After you take it off the shaving cream, squeegee off all the excess shaving cream and viola! Here is your finished product:

And now the moment you've all been waiting for… The freebie! 

I wanted to give you guys a fun activity that's easy and that your kiddos will love! I made a set of earth day cards with a earth day word hidden inside the picture. Using magnifying glasses, students can search and find the hidden word on the card and record it on their paper. 

Because Earth Day is all about teaching students to be conscious about helping out the environment, I had my kiddos record the vocabulary words that they found, on recycled newspapers with smelly markers. They loved it!

I hope you enjoy this freebie! If you would like a copy of it, you can grab it here 

Thank you so much for stopping by! Now hop on over to Paula for more amazing Earth Day ideas ideas!

Mrs. Davis' Favorite Things Part 1

As a teacher, there are few products that come around that literally make you stop dead in your tracks and say "wow!". SitSpots are one of those products. I met the amazing people over at SitSpot while at the PK1 conference this past January in Santa Clara. After talking to their reps and handling the product, I knew I had to get my hands on these and here's why:

1. Versatility 

What I love about this product is how versatile they truly are. First off, they will stick to most classroom carpeting and some area rugs. (you can request a sample SitSpot from their website to test it out before you buy a set). Because the spots don't have a sticky backing, you can move the spots around and change it up as much as you like without harming the spot themselves or your carpet. 

2. Classroom Management 

SitSpots are great for teaching students how to line up. You can space the SitSpots out to model your students how to give each other space in line. I also love being able to change my SitSpots into any shape I need. For small group time, I can make a circle with my SitSpots and my kiddos can immediately come and form a circle without it taking up 30 minutes trying and failing at making a somewhat decent looking circle. 

3. They are fun!

When I started looking at them and playing with them, my mind immediately started racing about how I could use these spots in my classroom beyond just a marker for children to sit or line up on. One idea I had was to make a game out of them. I decided to write sight words on different colored SitSpots and randomly put them around an area on the carpet. My kiddos sit in a big circle around those spots and using their hand or some sort of pointer stick, they would wait until I call out a sight word and the first person who finds that word on a spot "wins". They love it!! Talk about student engagement!! 

Now you can write on your SitSpots. They recommend you use an oil based paint marker (Sharpie makes a great one). Once you write on them, they are permanent and will not come off. I like the idea of being able to change what I have on spots, so I used painters tape to write a sight word and then stick it to the spots. They stick nicely and haven't come off. 

What I am trying to say is that I have fallen in love with SitSpots. They are so much fun and I cannot get enough of them. Even as I sit here typing this out, my mind is going about what else I can use them for: Use them for markers on a giant ten frame on the carpet, pattern making, etc. The possibilities are endless!! Thank you for making me a very happy kindergarten teacher!

Guess who's back....back again...

Holy guacamole! It's been almost a year since I have blogger last but it's been a whirlwind of a year! I purchased my very first home, met the man of my dreams, became engaged to him and on December 19th ( 1 month and one day ago) we married and lived happily ever after

Fast forward to this weekend where I eagerly made my way to the PK1 conference in Santa Clara, California with my teaching bestie.

I had such an incredible time! I met so many amazing and dedicated teachers, learned so much stuff my head is about to explode and brought back some awesome stuff   There is so much to share that I simply can't do it all in one blog post! So over the next few posts I will be sharing all the goodies and oodles of information I took away  from the conference and of course posting some freebies along the way! So stay tuned...

Xoxo

Mrs. Davis 

A Lucky Number Hunt

This time of year is my kiddos favorite. The idea that there is a tiny, little leprechaun scurrying around hiding gold and treasure is simply mesmerizing. All day at school it is a flurry of gold, rainbows, and tiny leprechaun footprints. One "easy breezy" activity that I love to do each year is a golden numbered treasure hunt. The kiddos love it and they learn a few things in the process! All you need are those glass pebbles that go in a fish tank. They come in a small net bag usually. I found mine in the craft section at dollar tree. In order for this activity to work, you need 100 of those stones. Three bags had more than enough.

I used Krylon metallic gold spray paint and spray painted all the stones. The easiest way to do this is to set all the stones in a box and spray and shake until all the stones are golden. After the stones have dried overnight, I used a fine tip sharpie and wrote the numbers 1-100 on the stones.  And that's it. That is all you have to do.

I put the "gold" in a big black pot (which I told the kids that the leprechaun left on my front porch in the morning) and give them each a number hunt recording sheet. The kids get to pick a piece of gold, read the number, and find it on their sheet and color it. Simple as that!

If you want the number hunt recording sheet click here

I will be back at the end of the week with a full kindergarten leprechaun wrap up. See you soon!

Xo,

B