'Pete' and 'Pigeon' Make Another Debut

Yesterday, I got a tiny bit carried away on Amazon as I started looking at new books.  I started with a simple search to find the author of one book and, well, you know how that goes...I ended with a cart FULL of awesome new books.  Some of which are simply new to my classroom library, others which are brand new, not even published yet!  Whoa, I'm super duper excited to share what I found with you!!

First, I {heart} Pigeon books by Mo Willems (and Elephant and Piggie books, but that's for another day), and he's releasing a brand spankin' new book titled,  The Pigeon Needs a Bath.

The release date is set for April 1, 2014, but it's up for pre-order now!  I complete an entire unit on Mo Willems, typically in January, that I will share with you (but not now...such a teaser, eh?).  

My kids come to love the Pigeon as much as I do.  The books are excellent for discussing themes among books written by the same author, discussing character traits (the Pigeon is very persuasive and persistent), and using picture clues to develop and clarify meaning.  

Second, is the infamous Pete!  He is making several debuts in the coming year.  Pete the Cat:  The Wheels on the Bus was released on June 25th.  

There are also a few You Tube videos for this one.  The video by HarperKids can be found here.  There is also this version:

I could definitely see the kids 'rockin' out' to these at the beginning of the year!  

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses has a release date of October 1, 2013.

Pete the Cat:  The First Thanksgiving has a release date of October 1, 2013.  

Pete the Cat:  Valentine's Day is Cool has a release date of November 26, 2013.  

You bet your sweet little self that all of these books found their way into my cart!  Will they end up in your cart, too?!

We may not be able to have all of these books yet, but you can grab my character traits activity sheet by clicking here or on the picture.

A Blog Makeover and a Facebook Fan Page!

In the past week, I have learned more about html codes, CSS, and widgets than I could have ever imagined!  Though I know I've only scratched the surface of what there is to know, I'm feeling pretty accomplished.  I can't remember the bajillion blogs I visited, and tutorials I watched and read, but if I could, I would give all the amazing authors behind them a bajillion (and one) THANKS!

Ok, so my blog got a serious makeover AND I decided that while I was at all this techie stuff, it was time to create a Facebook fan page.  This is where I need your help!  I currently have one, yep, you read that correctly, one fan....and I bet you can guess who that is?!?  Me!  A prime example of being your own best fan, eh?!  In honor of my new Facebook fan page, and for your back to school preparations, I have a fan freebie currently awaiting your download!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. is definitely a staple piece of literature in many Kindergarten classrooms.

I love making class books with my kiddos and want to share this one with you.

Students simply write their name on the blank line and glue their picture in the blank space beside the coconut tree.  This book is great for not only helping your students learn their classmate's names, but for practice with several Common Core Standards, such as:

RF.K.1a-Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page;

RF.K.1b-Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by a specific sequence of letters;

RF.K.lc-Understand that words are separated by spaces in print

I've also included an extra option for students to practice identifying the letters in their name, as well as spelling their name.

There is also a class page that can be used as the last page in the book.  Simply add a class photo, if desired.

The ONLY way to grab this class book freebie is by popping over to and 'liking' my Facebook fan page.  You can link to my Facebook page by clicking any of the pictures above, or by clicking the Facebook button on the side bar.  Once you're there, 'like' my page, click on the 'freebies' box, and download the book.

Thank YOU a bajillion times for becoming a fan!

Bloglovin'

I'm officially a part of bloglovin'!  Follow me, and ALL of your favorite bloggers, on bloglovin'.

You can be a blog lover, too!

Practice Makes Perfect...

Practice makes perfect and some of the Kindergarten Common Core State Standards require a lot of practice for our little ones!  I want students, and parents, to have easy access to basic practice materials at their finger tips.  One of the ways I do this is by filling their homework folders with several pages designed to help them practice some of the basic skills required in Kindergarten.  

The materials inside the folder include a letter tracing page, a number tracing page, a 100 chart, a 2D and 3D shape page, a name tracing page, and a sight word practice page.  I encourage parents to only allow their child to write OVER the plastic using an Expo marker to make sure the materials are usable all year long.  

This was the first year that I sent home an anonymous parent survey at the end of the year asking parents for their feedback regarding materials I sent home throughout the year.  The parents who returned the survey stated that they appreciated, and USED, the materials to help their child.  Yay!   

The practice pages, in both black and white and color, can be purchased from my TPT store by clicking one of the pictures above.     

Off the bed so I can get up and enjoy the 92 degree pool tomorrow!  

Ready for a Whole New World

Oh-my-goodness, I'm typically not a You Tube junkie, but a few weeks ago it managed to keep me giggling (and, at times, a bit teary eyed) for an entire evening! I started out searching for the First Grade, First Grade song WITH words (I CAN NOT sing people)! My darling colleagues thought I was going to teach 60 kids to sing the song with out lyrics!! HA! Funny girls they are, but that's NOT happening. Well, I was unsuccessful finding the song, but had a GREAT time trying! Some of the kindergarten videos out there are so completely darling!

 During my search, I wound up at a cute little website called www.weesing2learn.com. I giggled and 'ooohhhed' and 'awwwwed' at the videos and fell IN LOVE with the song. The song is called "Ready for a Whole New World" by Tiffany and Steven Ventic. It's so precious! You seriously need to check it out! 

If your school years ends soon, you may want to file this away for next year, as it did take me some time to receive the song. They tell you up front that you have to wait for PayPal to clear before they will send you your download link. The song is $1.99.

Tonight I leave you with, 'You Know You're a Teacher When...'

You find yourself singing end of the year songs (or any other school song) in your head while you're brushing your teeth, doing your hair, cooking dinner, driving....yeah, you pretty much get where I'm going with this...everywhere!

Until next time...Happy Teaching!

Mom, Mother, Mama, Mum...Happy Mother's Day!

Happy, Happy Mother's Day (early) to all the moms out there! Here's a quick peak at what my little darlings did for their mothers.

I purchased flats of 8 flowers each at Home Depot. I purchased flowering Vincas because they come in several different colors and they grow in full sunlight...a necessary requirement when you live in the desert! The students chose a flower from the flat and 'planted' it in a Dixie cup.

The students then wrote Happy Mother's Day on the poem/card to give to their mother with the flower.

We also learned about adjectives. We discussed what are adjectives and then wrote adjectives for our moms on a bubble map. The students then chose one adjective from the bubble map to fill in the sentence 'My mom is _____.'

The next step was to draw a portrait of their mom. The ABSOLUTE most adorable thing was listening to the kids talk to each other about how their mom looks and then seeing how they drew her. Look at how cute they are... 

Don't you just LOVE kid illustrations?!

The materials I used with my students can be purchased from my TPT store for a buck! Click HERE to head that way! In the Mother's Day set, I've included three options for writing the sentence on the portrait page. One where they simply fill in the adjective (as seen above), one with a blank, three dotted line, and one with just a straight line.

Until next time...Happy Teaching!

Super Teacher Appreciation Sale

 

HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION! 

I LOVE teachers and TODAY, it's all about YOU! Every single one of the products in my TPT store is on sale for 20% off. Wowzers, you don't wanna miss this!