On the Farm, Again...

It's almost May and you know what that means....chick season is upon us. I am no mother hen. I'm not sure who came up with the idea of hatching chicks in my building, but I am very vocal about my dislike for this.

It's not my fault.

I am not good at hatching chicks.

Wanna see my stats?
Year 1: 0 out of 24 hatched
Year 2: 0 out of 24 hatched
Year 3: 0 out of 12 hatched
Year 4: 7 out of 12 hatched
Year 5: 4 out of 12 hatched (only 2 survived)
Year 6: 0 out of 12 hatched
Year 7: Just sitting here praying

In my defense all of these chick casualities are not all my fault. One year my incubator had a crack, the following year my egg turner stopped working, I got a faulty thermometer....one year I wasn't even there for the hatching process.

My room has lovingly been referred to as the chicken genocide room.

I want the chicks to hatch. My room is cursed I tell you. I do so much better with butterflies.
#cantthisjustbesimple
#comeonitskindergarten
#hatchingchicksisstressful

I started working on a Farm Unit once upon a time and then boom, I got sick, sick, sick. I just finished it this weekend, only took me a year!

A couple of classroom favorites, as well...

To celebrate chick season, all of my farm and chick related products are on sale through Wednesday.
 

Hope your week is starting off fabulous!!
Shannon

The Big Move

Where oh where have I been? My poor little blog has been desperate for attention. I mean seriously, I still have a Winter background up! In my defense, it has felt like winter here up until recently; however, it is no excuse.

It's been a crazy and busy late Winter and early Spring so far. The biggest change in my life has been where I am living. The little mister and I moved....again!!! You know what is challenging? Moving with a toddler when it is below zero. Moving is no joke. Moving three times in less than a year is flat out C.R.A.Z.Y!!! The best part about our move, we have gone from living 32 miles from the beloved town that I work in to moving under 2 miles from my school. I love, love, love it here. The town is beyond strange. With a population of almost 20,000, you wouldn't think that it's cozy, but it is. It's like this weird big town that feels like an episode of Gilmore Girls. I am thrilled to be raising Coop here!

Speaking of the little mister. Coop is loving it here too. We went from a little apartment to a house that has an actual yard! The hardest transition for him has been a new babysitter. I am happy to say though that he LOVES her. He talks about her and her family constantly. It makes me feel so good about this decision.

Hair by Coop

As for me, I continue to have some struggles with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I am exhausted a lot, and I still get out of the blue fevers, but I am grateful that it's not worse. There are plenty of people that are confined to their bed, so I know things could definitely be worse!

Things at school are wonderful. I have an assistant this year who is fabulous. I always hesitated in having an assisted classroom, but it has been great! My kiddos are making strides and a.m.a.z.e me everyday!!!

Some Kindergarten Hoppening Blog Favorites for you...on sale through Monday :0)

I hope you are all having a wonderful Spring!!

Shannon

The Very Crazy Week

This week is going to be C.R.A.Z.Y!!! Tuesday is our 100th Day of School, Wednesday is probes, Friday is Valentine's Day....oh, and did you realize that it is a full moon week? I don't know about you but I can usually tell when it is a full moon week within the confines of an elementary school. It's a yowza, for reals.

I am going to have a lil' sale to celebrate this awesome week! Maybe you'll be able to find a little something to make your week easier :0)

         

Here's to CrAzY week!

Shannon

Groundhog Day Blog Favorites

Another day off due to frigid temperatures, ugh! Not the best few days here in Casa Martin. Coop and I have been under the weather. Sick and going stir crazy....not the best combo!

Thought I'd put up the Groundhog Day Blog Favorites while I am stuck inside. It's a freebie :0)

Groundhog Day Blog Favorites Includes:

Groundhog Graph Pieces
Shadow or No Shadow Graphing Activity
Groundhog Emergent Reader
Groundhog Puzzle

  

Tomorrow is another "snow" day. At this rate, we will be baking in our classrooms in July! Hope your week is warmer than ours!

Shannon

Introducing Blog Favorites

Hello Friends!

Am I the only one who is just about done with Winter??? We've already surpassed our normal snow totals and it has been c.o.l.d! I'm over it. I'm completely over having indoor recess, as well. Poor lil' things are dying to play in the snow and it's been impossibly cold, then it all melts....repeat. Ugh!!!

We are about to start our Transportation Unit. I'm not really excited for our unit, but I know once we start talking about our mini box cars the Hoppers excitement will build until it's contagious or until I feel the need to pull my hair out. I put together a Wake-Up Work Companion Pack for my On the Go Unit.

The other task I've decided to undertake is a looooong time coming. I've received A LOT of requests to take my individual blog freebies and compile them into one file. Well, friends, I've started. Here is the first in a series....

These are not new files, just individual things that are now in one easy to download file.

Winter Blog Favorites Includes:4 Emergent Readers (The 

Snowman, Snowman Buttons (adding book), The Snowman For 

You, and Winter Colors

Snowflake Numbers Worksheet

Snowman Sight Word Color by Code

Spin & Graph Spinner and Worksheet

Snowflake Adding Worksheet

Mitten Counting by 10's Worksheet

Winter Patterns Worksheet

Winter and Summer Things Season Sort

A Little More Love!

Happy Sunday all!
I have a few more things to share for Valentine's Day/Friendship Activities. My thoughts and uploads aren't organized very well today, so there isn't really any rhyme or reason, you'll just have to look past my lack of organization today. Thanks for reading :)

Enjoy!
Shannon

All documents contain fonts that are copyright DJ Inkers. Virtually all documents contain graphics that are copyright DJ Inkers. They are used with permission. Please visit http://www.djinkers.com/, for wonderful clipart and fonts.

All the Valentine Activities can also be found here...

We do a lot with candy hearts. We sort them by color, graph our favorite sayings, we estimate how many we can hold, count how many are in our individual boxes and graph them, and we LOVED playing the Capture the Heart game posted by Heidi at Swamp Frog! http://swampfrogfirstgraders.blogspot.com/2011/01/capture-heart.html
Graphing Candy Hearts

My Hoppers love to color by code, so I am always trying to come up with worksheets that I know they will enjoy.
Counting Hearts


In January, I teach my students how to say hello in different Languages, during our Morning Meeting. We learn Hello All Around the World by Jack Hartmann, and I purchased these cards through Lakeshore Learning....

I really wanted to come up with different ways to jazz up our Morning Message for February, as well. I decided we would learn how to say "love" in various languages. I made this cards to use during our Morning Meeting.
Love in Various Languages


Here is a little class book :)
A Friend Class Book


A few pictures (our Valentine holders, our narrow (pain in the rear) bulletin board, and our February Memory book page (the original idea I believe came from Kim Jordano).

 

  

These are the People in Your Neighborhood...

I am back :). I had a wonderful time in Mexico! The bitter cold was not a great arrival but hopefully, spring will be here before we all know it! As promised here is a small Community Helper Unit. I hope you enjoy!


Shannon

All documents contain fonts that are copyright DJ Inkers. Virtually all documents contain graphics that are copyright DJ Inkers. They are used with permission. Please visit http://www.djinkers.com/, for wonderful clipart and fonts.

Books
        


Looking for all the printables below? They are available in one easy to download file on TPT for $2.75, just click the pic below...

Literacy Activities
Most of the activities are self explanatory. Let me know if you have any questions :)
Police Badge Ending Sound Sort


People in My Neighborhood Journal

For this matching game, students need to say the name of the picture and find all the words that rhyme/belong to that word family.
Mail Word Family Matching Game

For the Find the Sound Game, I plan on hot gluing the fairies to clothespins. Students need to chop up the picture into its' corresponding sounds. IE- the picture of the cat is chopped into c/a/t. The letter beneath the cat is /a/. Students need to clip the fairy to the first, middle, or last tooth...similar to Elkonin boxes.
Find the Sound Tooth Fairy Clip Cards

For some reason when you look at this document in Scribd, the Editing Checklist looks funky. I downloaded it and it looks great, so I'm not quite sure what's happening there!
When I grow up Journal Page

Math Activities
Missing Police Badge Number Worksheet


I also made a game/worksheet that students roll a dice and fill in the numbers; however, I can't remember who I got the idea from. The original game that someone had posted, I believe, was for a Gingerbread theme. If you know, send me a message and I will ask them if I can post it. Otherwise, I will just post the picture.

A Couple of Sorts
I laminate the Community Helper Sort pieces and put velcro on the back. We do the sort as a class on the flannel board and then I add it to the Flannel Board Center.
Community Helpers Sort


The Needs vs Wants Sort is one of my favorite activities. The students are so funny when we discuss the things they need! To complete...I give the students a 12x18 piece of construction paper. They fold it in half and draw a line down the center, then glue needs to one side and wants on the opposite side.
Needs vs Wants Sort

To Gobbler's Knob. It's Groundhog Day!

Groundhog Day, such a silly little tradition but nonetheless it is fun! I started to think about all my traditional stuff and decided I need to do/make more. I know it's just one day, but I figure...might as well make it count!

All documents contain fonts that are copyright DJ Inkers. Virtually all documents contain graphics that are copyright DJ Inkers. They are used with permission. Please visit http://www.djinkers.com/, for wonderful clipart and fonts.

**All the documents can now be found in one easy to download file on TPT, it's still a freebie :)

I cannot say how much I LOVE this book. I ordered it in the Scholastic SeeSaw January book order. Two words...SUPER CUTE!

The day before we make a graph as to whether or not the we think the groundhog will see his shadow. A very traditional activity. Here's my a picture of my graph.

Here is a new math activity. I based it on graphing heads or tails. I plan on copying the coin part on cardstock to make it a little heavier. Have students color and cut out the circle groundhogs. Tape or glue them together. Have them flip it and graph the results.
Shadow or No Shadow

A groundhog puzzle. It's pretty basic.
Groundhog Puzzle

The final activity is a book...I use this term loosely. It's a "cheesetastic" book! The goals are for students to track the words, read the sight words, use the pictures for unfamiliar text, and to notice the silly rhyming. The book is simple and a bit silly :)

**Please note, if you copy it...the last two pages are not supposed to be used together. I plan on using the page that actually matches the outcome of whether or not our friend the Groundhog saw his shadow.
Groundhog Book

President's Day

I am working on jazzing up my President's Day Unit; however, there are so many other fun things coming up, I am struggling to keep the ball moving. I'm just going to post what I have so far. :)

Looking for all the printables in one file...

Looking for a great game?

All documents contain fonts that are copyright DJ Inkers. Virtually all documents contain graphics that are copyright DJ Inkers. They are used with permission. Please visit http://www.djinkers.com/, for wonderful clipart and fonts.

Books
     

Activities and Worksheets
Presidents Day Spinner


Presidents Day Spin & Tally Sheet

If I Were President Journal Paper

Probability Coin Flip

Penny Nickel Discrimination

Money Worksheet

President's Day Go Fish. I made these cards using cut-outs that I got from the local Teachers Store...I glued them onto blank index cards and added uppercase letter stickers.