Spring is Here and Everything is on SALE!

Could it be true? Did we finally break the back of Winter, probably not. It will probably snow or something on Monday, Winter's way of sticking it's tongue out at us :0)

My kiddos and I love this song from The Learning Station. Although, fair warning, it gets stuck in our heads and then ends up being sung ALL day long!

My TPT shop is having a little sale in honor of warmer weather! I just finished up my Spring Unit. Here are some pics..the first pic links over to my shop.

Here are the activities and skills that are included...

We Spring for Words-CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.2d Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.¹ (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)

In the Spring -RF.K.1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. RF.K.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. RL.K.10. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

Do the Bunny Hop-CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.2b Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

Beautiful Printing-CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.K.1a Print many upper- and lowercase letters.

Befuddled Bunny-CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.3c Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to,you, she, my, is, are, do, does).

Happy Day Vowel Sort-CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.3b Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

Spring Counts-CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.1 Count to 100 by ones and by tens.

Flyin’ High with Place Value-K.NBT.1. Compose and decompose numbers from 11 to 19 into ten ones and some further ones, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each composition or decomposition by a drawing or equation (such as 18 = 10 + 8); understand that these numbers are composed of ten ones and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine ones.

For the Birds-CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.C.6 Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.¹

Little Addition Showers-K.OA.5. Fluently add and subtract within 5.

Missing Tweets-CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.4 For any number from 1 to 9, find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record the answer with a drawing or equation.

Rainy Day Measurement-CCSS.Math.Content.K.MD.A.2 Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in common, to see which object has “more of”/“less of” the attribute, and describe the difference. For example, directly compare the heights of two children and describe one child as taller/shorter.

Tomorrow is my last day of Spring Break. I'm sure it's more than a little strange that I am excited to get back to my little Hoppers! Have a wonderful Easter!
Shannon

Spring?

When I closed my eyes and imagined Spring Break, I did not see cold and snow playing a part of my dream. No, this is not what I had imagined at all. I guess it's like the saying...You get what you get, and you don't get upset!

This Spring Break so far is a bust! The weather outside is frightful, I am desperately trying to find a small house to buy, and I am attempting to pack up 13 years of stuff. <sniff, sniff> I am keeping my head held high and picturing a new life for the little mister and I.

I miss blogging! I miss just creating stuff and giving it away. I do. I miss the interaction with all of you! I keep thinking things will change and that I will go back to what I use to be, but realistically, I don't see that happening anytime soon. I am a completely different person that what I was a year ago. To be honest, I am a better person now after everything that has happened. I am a better Mommy. I am a better teacher. I am way more empathetic and understanding than I was...so that's a plus. But, I do miss all of you! I wish I had more time to devote :0)

Here's a little Coop-a-Loop for you...

You see the blur, the boy is ON THE GO!!!

I just finished up the April Wake-Up Work pack. A HUGE thanks go out to my Facebook editors, without you the pack would be...well, full of mistakes! lol. Click on the first picture to purchase.

I have a new Spring Unit, but I am moving at a turtles pace with finishing it. I am hoping it will be done later this week! Hope you are all well :)

Shannon

Wake Up!

"Wake up, wake up, you sleepy head.

Get up, get out of bed.

Cheer up, cheer up, the sun is red.

Live, love, laugh, and be happy."

I absolutely love Evan Rachel Woods version of this song! I sing it it to my Little Mister. Who by the way is doing fabulously! He's 14 months now, sleeping through the night and is off bottles....GO Coop-a-Loop!

March Wake-Up Work Pack is done :0) (There are general March worksheets, Seuss inspired ones, and St. Patties Day).

The skills covered include:
Digraph sort, counting tallies, number comparisons, addition, subtraction, writing conventions, beginning and ending sounds, number recognition, writing letters, missing letters, nonsense words, rhyming, greater/less than, blends, graphing and data analysis, sight word recognition, writing numbers, counting by 1's, 5's, and 10's, and base ten and number composition.

The packet has 20 worksheets in it (2-3 levels for each), plus one Fill the Shamrock game. It's a total of 57 pages (55 if you take away the first and last).

Here are some pictures....

I CAN'T wait for this week to be over...and it hasn't started! The week includes my evaluation (always stressful) AND report cards. I hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Shannon

Beyond the Sea

Finding Nemo is HANDS DOWN my favorite Disney Pixar movie!! Not only is it such a cute and entertaining movie, back in college I did an entire presentation for a class on how it can be used in a classroom. It is full of quirky characters that students can definitely learn from. So, it just makes sense that I LOVE doing an Ocean Unit! We make awesome jellyfish, learn all about sea animals, graph goldfish crackers, make ocean (jello bags), read TONS of great books, visit The Shedd (which makes me want to hyperventilate), and we even watch Nemo :0)  

This year I am pretty sure we will be making some of these from (A Cupcake for the Teacher)...

I have a load of Ocean freebies, you can find them here.

My new Beyond the Sea unit is here! A huge thanks to the ladies who helped me edit!!! I truly appreciate your help :)

Beyond the Sea has 14 math and literacy activities for your kiddos to enjoy. It's just over 100 pages and has quite a few new activities. I plan on using it during the last week of February and the first week of March, so it's full of activities that are to prep our Kinders for 1st Grade.

Hope you are enjoying your President's Day!!
Shannon

Winner, Winner...

Mint Oreos for Dinner....not really, but darn I was so tempted! ;-)

I don't know about you, but HOLY guacamole this has been the looooonnnngest week e.v.e.r! It was car week, ya know, one of my <ahem> favorite units, next to chicks, lol. The crazy weather has meant stir crazy Kinder-Hoppers, with a teacher who just wants to hunker down under her desk for a nice long nap. Funny story about taking a nap under a desk...When my kids are being super in all aspects, I often make jokes that they don't really need me to teach and that I could just go take a little snooze under my desk :) In reality there is no way that even a small child could fit under there with the amount of stuff that is down there. I use the entire space as a storage facility. I digress....a few years ago, we had game day every Friday in my room. Each Friday ended the same, one little cutie would be sent to the kidney table to sit with me and discuss why cheating isn't acceptable behavior. Well, we were sitting at the back table having our weekly conversation and one of my very vocal fellas started shouting "Ms. Martin, I won! Ms. Martin, I won!" He quickly scans the room and doesn't see me at the back table. He quickly marches over to my desk, pulls out my chair, and pops his head under "Ms. Martin?" It was hands down one of the funniest things I've seen in my classroom. Still warms my heart.

My little giveaway ended and the winners have been chosen. What's that Ms. Martin? Did you say winners? Sure did! I chose three! So, a big Congratulations to all you winners. To the rest of you, thanks for entering and congratulations on not being sent to the kidney table ;-)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hard Weekend = Good Things

First things first. I created a new packet of <ducking behind the couch> worksheets. I know that lots of people frown upon them; however, I do find the ocassional worksheet to be a useful tool in my classroom. I find that they can help assess students learning and they can also help reinforce teaching. If you've followed my blog for any amount of time, I've created loads of worksheets over the years and one of the things I've realized is that more often than not, I need LEVELS with these worksheets. I need more differentiation. So, I've begun the process of taking some of the sheets already on my blog and differentiated them and then made sure they were aligned with the Common Core. The packet for February is done :) It includes 10 literacy worksheets and 10 math worksheets; however, each one has 2-3 levels of differentiation per worksheet (59 worksheets are included). 

The concepts covered include; 
Ten Frames, Beginning Sounds, Ending Sounds, Beginning Blends, Subtraction, Printing upper and lowercase letters, Print Concepts (difference between letters and words), Sounding out CVC Words (differentiating between real words and nonsense words), Sight Word Recognition, One to One Correspondence, Addition, Missing Numbers, Writing Numbers, Comparing Numbers, Number Recognition with Tally Marks, Punctuation, Rhyming, & Capitalization.

Here are some pics...

This weekend was H.A.R.D. There is truly no other way to put it. Won't delve into all of it, but the moral of the story....sometimes being nice just isn't how some people operate.

Anywho, I've decided that instead of dwelling on it, I will lift the spirits of some of you. I haven't hosted a giveaway in a while :0)

I will be giving away 3 products...

One product of your choice!

One winner will be chosen at random on January 31st after Coop goes to bed Central Time, LOL

How to enter...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crazy in Love

So, the weather hasn't been unbelievably winter like here; however, I am over it. I am no winter girl....far from it! I dream of beaches, warm weather, and girly cocktails :)

We finished up our Space Unit with an alien day which was soooooo fun! We made Alien floats (this is in my Out of this World unit), Oreo moon phases, and big aliens in underwear that were named nonsense words from nonsense planets! It was one fun and exhausting day.

I wanted to do a quick post for my new Crazy in Love Math and Literacy Centers. It's got 5 literacy and 5 math centers all with a response sheet of some sort. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Counting the Room and the Write the Room centers in this pack, I just know my kiddos will love them!

Here are some pics...

A Climb to the Moon

 

Hey there Friends!

Been a few weeks since I last blogged and let's see what have I been up to? Working, playing with my little mister, and trying to find my zen, lol. Cooper turned 13 months yesterday...seriously, where is the time going? You all weren't kidding when you said that time flies so cherish it. I thought I'd share something that only other primary teachers could appreciate. Cooper is obsessed with the following books; Five Little Pumpkins; Moo, Baa, Lalala, and the BEST, Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes!!! He has a LOVE for books. I read them over and over and over and over and OVER. The live re-telling captivates him and if he cries, all I have to do is sing I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes and he makes this humming sound and bops his head. It is one of the cutest things I have ever seen!

A little Coop fix for ya!

Today we started our Space Unit. It's the first year I have done this unit and oh.mi.word...I am AMAZED at how much my little Hoppers are into all things space related. Today we read the book Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle.

We made these adorable pictures and wrote about what we would do if we had the moon. The project was Pinterest inspired. My Pinterest is here. I found them on Artsonia.

I couldn't commit to using craft sticks. I just pictured them as a gluey mess and was fearful that all the sticks would eventually just fall off, so here is what we created.

They turned out super cute! The writing prompt is available for free on Teachers Pay Teachers, just click on the paper for the download.

Hopefully, I will get some more pictures throughout the week to share with you. If you're looking for some Space Activities, please check out...

I hope your Monday was wonderful and that you have a great week! 

Shannon