Tell Me Something Good

Jennifer at Rowdy in First Grade really knows when it is a good time for this linky. There is so much bad going on not only in the world, but also personally that I really need to just focus on the good right now. 

Something good at school:

• I have such a sweet, loving group of kinders this year. I have a special ed student who comes into our room for 1/2 of the school day and they are so caring and loving to him. They love to help him get down the hall and walk with him back to class. I am so proud of how caring they are. They remind me every day that there are still caring people (even if they are little) in the world.
• Our school is doing a Relay for Life fundraiser in a couple of weeks called "Camp"ing for a Cure after one of our teachers who has been battling cancer this school year. She has been a real trooper and has made it through so much - several surgeries, chemo, and radiation. I am so proud to be a small part of this effort.

Something good at home:

• The baby's nursery is coming together. My mom and I worked on it this week. The curtains have been hung, the glider is in place, and the crib bedding looks wonderful! I am so proud of how it turned out. I was a little nervous until I saw it all put together. I will post pictures soon.

So link up and "tell me something good" going on in your life!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!

Here are some of the things I am loving this week:

 

I am loving that in 7 1/2 more weeks (or less) I will be holding my sweet new bundle of joy in my arms. I can't wait to see her wrapped up in pink!

I am loving that we are about to take my maternity pictures so I have been on Pinterest pinning ideas like crazy. Here are a couple of my favorites:

 

 

 

I am loving the beautiful spring weather that we have been having lately. It has made me want to be outside all of the time. We have had daily average highs between 75 and 80 degrees and it has been fabulous! Now I want to move my classroom outside to be in the sunshine!

So what are you loving this week?

Yah for Donors Choose!

I have said many times on here that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Donors Choose. They are such a great organization that truly helps teachers get materials and supplies that we would otherwise have to purchase with our own money. Don't get me wrong, I still spend plenty of my own money on classroom materials, but Donors Choose does help me not have to spend as much.

Currently I have 2 projects on their site that have not been funded. One of my projects is called Rainbow Paper to Color Our Kindergarten World. This project is asking for cardstock and colored paper for my students to publish their final writings on. They think it is so special to write on colored paper and always seem to try harder to make it neat when it is on "special" paper as they call it. This project only has 18 days left to be funded.

The other project on the site is called Revved Up to Read. This is a project requesting leveled readers for my classroom. If you are like me, you know it is very difficult to find the lower leveled readers (Levels A-C) without paying a small fortune for them. I use these books in my classroom as well as send them home with my students daily for them to practice reading with their parents.

I am hoping that I can get some donations to these projects from some fellow teachers in blog land who have enjoyed the freebies that I post here and on my TpT store.

New Printables Pack

I just finished up my May Ready To Go Printables Pack and posted it to my TpT store and TN shops. These are activity sheets that are all ready to be printed and copied to be used in the classroom. Each sheet is aligned to at least 1 Common Core standards.

Currently the pack has 10 activity sheets, but I am working on adding more so purchase now while the price is still low. The pack will be $4.00 but from now until Wednesday, it is on sale for $2.00.

Here are some of the activity sheets included in this pack

TpT Store                                                         TN shop

Five for Friday

I am linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday. This has been a busy but fun week as I think you can see through these pictures.

1) Today was the culmination of our Career Week at school. We had 4 different presenters come into our class to tell about their jobs. The kids had a wonderful time. Obviously this is a picture of the boots the fireman brought in to show us.

2) I have started working on a new pack for my TpT and TN shops. I wanted a printables pack that I could use for the month of May and this what I have completed so far. I am hoping to finish the pack soon so I can post it. I felt like I needed a pack like this since I am getting near the end of this pregnancy and am getting more tired.

3) I am so excited to have all my papers copied and lesson plans complete for next week. I am usually done with all this by Wednesday of the previous week, but this has been such a crazy one that I just finished this morning!

4) This one has nothing to do with school, but I saw my beautiful amarillys blooming and had to share with you. They are so pretty right now!

5) This one I don't have a picture for, but there are only 34 days until summer vacation and I am oh so excited!!

Now I would love to take a peek inside your classroom, so head on over to Kacey's blog (Doodle Bugs Teaching) and link up.

Reptiles & Bugs...Oh My!

This week my kinders and I went on our field trip to Cypress Gardens which is a local blackwater swamp near Moncks Corner, SC. This is one of my favorite field trips that we get to go on each year. We usually do it at the end of our lifecycles units on insects and reptiles, but we had to go a little earlier this year because it was already booked up.

On this field trip, there are 3 fantastic parts: a guided wooden boat ride through the swamp, a class on the life cycle of insects with a trip into the butterfly house, and a class on reptiles where the kinders actually get to touch several reptiles including a box turtle and a corn snake.

Here are some photos from our guided boat ride through the swamp:


The cypress trees growing in the swamp




One of the alligators we saw lying on a log in the swamp



Another alligator (much larger one) with only it's head sticking out of the swamp

The bridge that crosses over the swamp - This was used in the filming of the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson!

Let's Get Aquainted - Skittles Game

I am linking up today for the first time with Latoya at Flying into First Grade for her Let's Get Aquainted linky party.

TOPIC - Skittles Game

Red- Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

My favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry cheesecake. My granddad and I started eating it when I was a little girl and I still enjoy it today.
 

Orange- Favorite Memory from College

I have a lot of great memories from college, but my favorite would have to be the night that my sweet hubby proposed to me.
 

Yellow- Favorite Sports Team

I love the SC Gamecocks! I attend lots of their college football games in the fall and am always cheering them on.
 

Green- Favorite Fast Food Place

Definitely Zaxby's! I love their chicken tenders, zalads and milkshakes. They are the best!
 

Purple- Wild Card(Tell anything about yourself)

I am in love with all things pink right now. It may have something to do with the fact that I am expecting our first baby in June and it is going to be a little girl. :)

Math Journal Prompts Combo Pack

Now that I have completed the prompts for October - May, I am posting them in a set on TpT that you can purchase if you don't want to purchase the individual sets. I plan on eventually adding September and possibly June prompts. The price for the combination pack is $20.00. If you purchase the set together you will save $4.00 off of the individual file prices and you will also be able to download the set again if I add more prompts without paying any more.

Kindergarten Math Journal Prompts Combo Pack

Going Buggy

This week we started our 2 week long bugs unit. This is always a favorite unit of mine because my kinders are always so excited about it. I incorporate the Eric Carle books that are bug related: The Very Quiet Cricket, The Grouchy Ladybug, etc.

Many of the activities that I have planned for next week come from my Lovely Ladybugs Unit which is available for purchase from TpT.

One of my small group activities for this week is a Roll & Read game. I made this game using CVC words that my kinders should be able to sound out and read. They loved playing this "game" and became very good at reading the CVC words. I hope you will be able to use this activity in your classrooms too. It is a free download on TpT.

Going Buggy CVC Roll & Read

April Currently - A Little Late!

I am probably the last person to complete the April Currently, but here it goes!

Advice: When blogging and creating things for TpT, I try not to take on more than I feel like I can handle. I don't want it to become too stressful for me where I don't enjoy it anymore. It is more about being enjoyable and fun for me since I am creating things that I will also use in my classroom.

Now head over to Farley's blog to link up!

Spring Break 2013 & Math Journal Prompts

I have been on Spring Break this week. At the beginning of the week, my husband and I took a short trip since we haven't been able to do anything recently. We had a great and relaxing time which was just what I needed. 

I had big plans to do a lot on my blog this week, but that just hasn't happened. Instead, I have been busy doing things around my house in preparation for the baby's arrival in only 10 weeks. The countdown is on! I am getting very excited now. I can't wait to see her sweet little face in person.

We had a rainy, dreary day yesterday so I did sit down and finish my May Math Journal Prompts and have now posted them on TpT. These prompts are $3.00 just like the other sets. There are 15 prompts in this set.