Sale and a Freebie

I'm so excited about the Christmas season!  We will begin our gingerbread unit this week--fun!  I wanted to share a cute activity that's easy and gives you a chance to recycle those water bottle lids you've been saving!  Simply print, laminate, and gather 26 water bottle lids.  Write upper case letters on the lids and have students match the uppercase to the lowercase letters.  This creates a path for the gingerbread family to find their way home!  Click here to get it!

Don't forget to take advantage of my sale on Monday!  Click on the logo below to go to my store.

Have fun!

December Holiday Fun

Here's something fun and engaging for your math stations: Count-the-Room: December Holiday Edition!  It focuses on numbers 1-10, and covers counting skills, numeral and number word writing, tallying, ten frames, and addition facts.  It even has tracing pages for struggling learners.  Eight student recording pages covering these skills are included--all for $3.00!  Click here to get your copy!

Constitution Day Mini-Unit

Don't forget this important teaching opportunity!  September 17th-21st is Constitution Week!  To help make this complicated topic easy for little ones to understand, I have created a Celebrating Constitution Day mini-unit. It includes facts about the Constitution, a list of suggested reading materials, Preamble printable, an emergent reader, a Class Constitution activity, and three Branches of Government full-color photo/information cards.  You can get it by clicking here.
Have fun!

Book Labels Freebie

What a wonderful first two weeks of school!  My students and collegues are amazing!  I am so blessed to be at such a wonderful school.  I can't believe I have 101 followers!  It's time to celebrate with a freebie... book labels for your classroom!  Just click HERE to download your own copy and enjoy!

Back to School Glyph

Here's a great way for you and your students to get to know one another--a fun and easy glyph!  You can get it by clicking here.  It comes with a student survey and data analysis pages, full size patterns, materials list, and instructions.  By request, I also created a Canadian Version that's available here.

Have fun!

New Classroom Photos

I am so glad to have my classroom set up early!  I feel a bit "ahead of the game" now.  I'm waiting for my Promethean Board to be hooked up so I can learn how to use it--my next big challenge.  I am pleased with how everything came together.

"I Can" posters and a freebie

I am in the process of preparing my literacy centers for the coming year, and I have created these adorable "I Can" mini-posters to hang in each center.  There are eight posters in all: writing, library, word work, letter work, big books, pocket chart, listening, and story bags (retelling).  You can get them here.

You can grab these free student response sheets to go with them!  Just click on the picture to download all three.



Literacy Centers: Daily Five, Guided Reading, and Building Blocks

I am excited over literacy centers!  We do a lot of literacy activities with my small groups--no guided reading yet, as these are four year-olds.  Nevertheless, I am planning for next year when I'll be teaching kindergarten.  I recently ordered these resources to help me get ready:



Reading, Writing, and Phonics for Kindergarten

 

Interactive Charts

Predictable Charts

I'm already implementing shared reading and writing, which have been very successful.  I'm very interested in trying the Daily Five while conducting guided reading groups.  Here are two great websites for kindergarten literacy centers and guided reading in kindergarten:

http://www.thevirtualvine.com/workstations.html 
http://www.lindaslearninglinks.com/gdrdgkdg.html

I think the Building Blocks model ties everything together:

Building Blocks Literacy Model

• Desire to Learn to Read & Write
  Create an environment where all students see themselves becoming independent readers and writers through a variety of developmentally appropriate activities.
• Language Concepts
  Foster the ability to read and write words through the use of morning messages, journal entries, sentence building activities, and environmental print.
• Print ConceptsTeach print concepts by modeling how to write and participating in shared reading and shared writing experiences.
• Phonemic Awareness
  Develop phonemic awareness, including the concept of rhyme, through activities with poetry, rhyming books, tongue twisters, and playing with language.
• Interesting Words
  Extend the list of real-life words that students find personally relevant, such as favorite restaurant names, favorite cartoon characters, and family members.
• Letters & Sounds
  Encourage letter and sound recognition through activities with alphabet books, beginning and ending sounds, and shared writing of predictable charts.

Letter Salad and Great News

I am so excited!  I will be teaching kindergarten next year!  YES!  To celebrate, I am sharing my Letter Salad literacy activity!  My students love finding letters in the letter salad!  It's super cute and easy to implement.  You can download the entire activity, which includes materials list, directions, and leveled student recording sheets here.  It's FREE!

My next project: mastering the Promethean Board!  The school district I currently work in uses SmartBoard.  Any tips and tricks are welcome!

Have fun!

Race Cars and Ladybugs

I just finished up my huge ladybug multidisciplinary thematic unit--whew!  It' packed with lots of fun goodies for your students to enjoy--and make life easier for you!  You can get the unit by clicking here.

Here's the glyph and a ladybug life cycle activity that comes with the unit:

I had an interesting request from a teacher in Indianapolis for a racecar glyph to honor the Indy 500.  Needless to say, I jumped right on it!  I love the way they turned out!

You can get the racecar glyph pack by clicking here.

Have fun!

I did it! Crate seats!

I'm so excited!  Hubby and I finally made the crate seats I've been needing for my classroom!  The children LOVE them, and so do I!  They look great in the classroom.

Here's another idea I wanted to share.  I saw these revamped fly swatters on Kim Adsit's webpage and wanted to make some of my own.  They are a HUGE hit with my students.  "Willy Word" and "Lucy Letter," a.k.a. "Sissy Space-It" are great for pointing out words, letters, and spaces on chart messages and big books.  I made smaller versions for the children to use with regular books using large craft sticks and plastic canvas.

Have fun!



Mother's Day Teapot Glyph

What mom wouldn't like this adorable teapot and poem for Mother's Day?

This glyph is available on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking here.  The pack includes a cute glyph key printable, patterns, directions, materials list, an original poem with two versions, data analysis guide, student surveys, and a Mother's Day creative writing page. 

The original poems are as follows:

The flowers on this teapot

Are for the years I’ve been with you.

This color is your favorite one,

I think I like it too.

A heart is on the top because

I’m your only little one.

I hope this day brings you

Lots of happiness and fun!

Happy Mother’s Day!

                                                K. Edgerton

The flowers on this teapot

Are for the years I’ve been with you.

This color is your favorite one,

I think I like it too.

A circle is on the top because

I share your love with others.

On this day and every day

I’m glad you are my mother!

Happy Mother’s Day!

                       K. Edgerton

Have fun!

Frog Glyph Fun

Just in time for spring!  These cuties will make you and your students smile!  I cannot wait to do these with my class next week! 

You can hop on over to Teachers Pay Teachers and check it out by clicking here.  The download contains full-size patterns, materials list and instructions, cute glyph key printable, data analysis guide, and student survey.

Have fun!

Spring Break

I can't believe how long it's been since I've last posted!  So much has been going on!  First of all, dear hubby and I spent a week in fabulous Las Vegas, which was AMAZING!  We stayed at the Belagio... all I can say is WOW!  I didn't want to leave!  It was my first plane ride, so that was exciting as well. 


Next, I found out that I am staying for the rest of the school year at the school I where I was long-term subbing.  This was an answered prayer!  I am team-teaching 4 year-olds with a wonderful first-year teacher, and we are both so excited we can hardly stand it!  We worked on our classroom the first part of the week.  I wish I had "before" photos.  The classroom had not been used as a classroom in a VERY long time, so we had our work cut out for us!  Let me just say that I am addicted to CTP's Poppin' Dots and Poppin' Patterns!  Here's a few pics of how it looks as of now:

We still don't have all of our furniture in there yet, and I haven't brought all of my teaching materials, but overall it's ready for students.  We will be teaching 6 different small groups throughout the day to reinforce, math, literacy, and social skills.


Now, for the "break" part of spring break--flower gardening and my front porch!  It's still a work in progress, but here's a peek:

And the best part... the view from my front porch swing--my favorite place!

Have fun!