Five for Friday!

Happy Friday! I hope all of you had a wonderful week! Thank you Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting the link up!

This last week in January feels like the lull before the storm...by lull I mean peaceful productivity. (February is jam packed with everything from the 100th day, our Moms Valentine Tea, School Spirit Week, conferences -  I'm just lucky to keep up with all of the events in February!)

We continued our space unit this week and used what we'd learned last week to set up a dramatic play Mission Control Center and space shuttle. It was so cute to overhear them "calling" back and forth about dodging meteors and explosions from the sun. 

Students used our solar system word wall to draw and label the planets to decorate our space station.

Two old keyboards with the cords cut off.

Nap mats, cardboard box, and tinfoil.. TA-DA! A spaceship!

And the pretend play doesn't stop there. When we go out for recess, we aren't putting on our snow gear. Oh, no - we are putting on our space suits! On the cold days we are obviously visiting Uranus or Neptune. (I think I may be teaching some future astronauts.)

We made our own constellations after reading  Seeing Stars by Dandi Daley Mackall.

I love how one student made a constellation of themselves. A whole new meaning to being "a star"!

We also started our All About Mom questionnaires that we display for our Wall of Fame at our Mothers Valentine Tea. (To see what our adorable Mothers Valentine Tea is all about check out my post here.)

Moms always have a good laugh over some of the responses.

This kiddo thinks their mom likes to "dust the floor". (Just because you see your mom dusting a lot doesn't mean she likes it a lot. Haha!)

In preparation for our Mothers Valentine Tea we made some heart decorations. The math challenge was to make their design symmetrical.

I think it's safe to say they have the concept of symmetry down.

The Kind of "ing" made an appearance this week. It's so funny how a crazy hat and a silly song will make  a word ending stick. (A teacher friend of mine bought this hat and poem duo at a local Kindergarten conference and was so kind to share.)

I always secretly hope no one drops in my room to see me being the crazy teacher - singing in a manly voice I am the king of "ing"... 

It's for the kids!

The King of "ing" made quite the impression as we were able to easily spot the "ing" word family during guided reading. Chunky Monkey helped us look for the work chunks we knew.

This part of the year is so rewarding. I live for the moments when my kinders eyes light up after they've surprised themselves by reading a challenging word using the strategies we've learned.

Here are two new addition games we've learned how to play. I'm slowly adding games each week until I have several choices students can choose from independently while I work with small groups.

Have a relaxing weekend heading into February... and be sure to join me in eating some pre-Valentine chocolate! (I bought a bag of the Truffle Hershey Kisses. You should too. Trust me on this one!)

Five For Friday! {Space}

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! Four day weeks just zoom by! It's time to share a few highlights. Thanks Kacey for hosting!

Educator Appreciation Days at Barnes and Noble sucked me in again. I can never pass up a sale! I picked up a few more books on CD for my listening center and...

...won myself a gift card and some other treats from their drawing! Woo hoo! Thank you Barnes and Noble - you will see this gift card again very soon.

We started our Solar System unit this week. I spread it over two weeks since kinders are always fasinated with all things space! So far, we've focused on our Sun, moon and Earth.

Each day I read a simple book and we write a fact. Tomorrow we will wrap up our writing with a fact about the important planet. :)

To go along with our solar sentences, we do this adorable painting project.

All you do is take a white paper circle and have the kids drop various "sun" colored paints on it. I used yellow, orange, red glitter, and shimmery gold.

Next, the fun part! Lay 1/2 of a Gallon Ziplock bag on top and spread the paint around.
Just peal the bag off when they have mixed the paint to cover all the white spaces. No Mess!

 It was so cute when one student said "Everyone's suns are different! Just like every picture scientists take of the sun since it's always changing!" (Yay! They were listening!)

 Today we painted our Earth and moon and added them to our suns.  Don't they look cool?!?



We painted them using a balloon dipped in paint.

I learned the technique when I subbed for a kindergarten class right out of college. (It was memorable - the balloon POPPED!!! Yes. Paint. Everywhere! I learned not to blow the balloons very big. And to always wear a paint shirt!)

In January I start adding coins to our calendar time. I have students try to figure out how to make the date with coins. I was impressed yesterday when they came up with these combinations. (I told them we spent all of our pennies and needed to use other coins.) I think adding coins is finally starting to make cents! (Haha! Sorry!)

Have a wonderful Friday!

Five for Friday {Kicking off 2016}

We are off and running! I don't know about you, but January is my favorite month for teaching.

Why?

Oh, so many reasons!

But the main one is that my little kinders come back from Christmas break with even more independence and are ready read, read, READ! AND some of my favorite units to teach are in January: Polar bears, Penguins, Solar System, Shapes, and Community Helpers.

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for a little Five for Friday fun!

 After a lovely break..., it was indeed time to ring in the new year.

I asked if my students knew what a resolution was this year. I was pretty impressed when one of my students replied with "It's a plan for the future."

Some years I've asked them what they would like to do in the new year, but I usually get an answer like "I would like to...get __(insert random toy they didn't get for Christmas)__". Hmmm... not quit a resolution. :) This year I had them share what they were looking forward to in 2016 instead and it was interesting to hear their responses.

We kicked off our Polar Bear unit this week. We made these adorable polar bears to frame our reports. Each day this week we wrote 1 sentence about polar bears using our Can, Have, Are chart.

We've also been talking about temperature and thermometers. I put ice in the sensory table since we did the insulation glove experiment with a Ziplock bag of Crisco to show how blubber keeps arctic animals warm. (Sorry no picture!)

I added some random cars to the ice and let them play in it during playtime. They LOVED it!

Now, thanks to a mild snowstorm that traveled through, I can fill the sensory table with snow and artic animals tomorrow.

I always look forward to our Shapes unit in math. There are so many fun hands-on activities! It's also a nice break from number identification and values which some kids need more time to hone in on.

This is my favorite poem for learning about 3D shapes.

Can you find the horrendous spelling error it has taken me 2 years a while to notice?!?

I know! I can't believe it! All I can think is how many volunteers, parents, or other teachers have come in my room and noticed it?

Keeping it real.

 We identified 3D shapes and learned how to form them with playdough. The cone is a stinker to make! A good lesson to reinforce.. "If at first you don't succeed..."

 Here is a random book about shapes I found at the thrift store. It's perfect for using with Bendaroos. On each page there is a rhyme about a 2D shape. As I read, students try to make the shape on their plate with Bendaroos. 

Glossy paper plates keep the waxy mess off the tables.

 I received so many wonderful Christmas cards and gift this year from my darlings, but the most creative award goes to one family who made me a dramatic play pizzeria. They asked if they could at conferences and I said YES PLEASE! Designing dramatic play centers is not my forte.

They thought of everything! Menus, a sign for the "Daily Special", potholders and felt pizzas (in small, medium, and large) for students to make to order. Toppings include mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni, green peppers, and cheese!

They even made a pizza oven!

I'll have to post more pictures when I do a review of what our dramatic play center has been since September.

Be sure to stop by the linkup and see what else everyone if up to!