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

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

Splishin' and a-Splashin'

WoW, it has been a looooong week! I have been busy and exhausted with life in general, I apologize for not posting anything in a bit!

We will be doing our Ocean Unit towards the end of the year but I thought I could post what I have and maybe have another post with other things that I add later. I hope you find things you can use!

Enjoy! 

Shannon

** My Beyond the Sea Unit...

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 we Love...
  

The Literacy Goods

Fish Bowl Ending Sound Sort

Ocean Jounal

Ocean Scene Sight Word Color Code

The Ocean, Ocean, What do you See? book isn't too complicated to make...here's what I do...
I print the cover for each student on white card stock. All the other pages are copied on white paper. Students color and cut the pages that have dotted lines. Once they put the pages in order, I staple them to the lower half of the cover sheet. It's a unique way to do a book that the kids enjoy!
Ocean, Ocean, What Do You See

ABC Order Crabs

After students use the ABC order crabs, I have them complete the corresponding worksheet. They must write the letters in lowercase form and then color by code.
ABC Order Crab Worksheet

In the Sea Book

Ocean Bubble Map

Ocean Sight Word Find

As always the template for the Sight Word Uno games came from Kelly's Kindergarten.http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/
Sight Word Ocean Uno (color)

Sea Worthy Words Worksheet

The Math Goods

Count by 10's Center Cards

Counting by 10's

Ocean Patterns

Ocean Spinner

Spin, Graph, and Tally Ocean

The Even or Odd Sort has pails that are marked even and odd and the end of the document. If you are all tired of the paper, you can always get small shells and write the numbers on them and buy plastic pails for students to sort them.
Even or Odd Shell Sort

In the Sea Graphing Worksheet

The Fish Bowl Math Game is a game that I use all year, just with different themes. The kids LOVE it!! You will need to make a dice for each group that plays.
Fish Bowl Math Game

Other Goods
This is the student Venn Diagram. I print the pages out on 11x17 paper. Students cut the actual diagram out (on the dotted line) and glue it to a piece of construction paper (12x18). Then color, cut, sort, and glue the animals in their appropriate places.
Land vs. Sea Venn Diagram

We enjoy the Shari Sloane song, Some Children Went to Sea, Sea, Sea. Check out her pdf that goes along with it! http://www.kidscount1234.com/somesea.pdf

The kids LOVE singing Jack Hartmann's Silly Pirate Song. I bought Pirate eye patches with gold hoop earrings at Walmart for $.25 each. They are easy to clean too!