Donors Choose Match Day!

Just in case anyone doesn't know Donors Choose is having a double your impact match day today only for all live projects. I am so excited because I currently have 3 live projects on the site right now that I would love to see fully funded. If you would like to view my classroom projects, please click on the link below:
https://www.donorschoose.org/joni.alford

Sharing the Christmas Cheer!

Well I didn't think I would have time to do a post before Christmas with all the Christmas parties and celebrations going on, but I am doing this one while Miss M is still sleeping in the morning. Of course, I still cannot get my body off my school schedule...by the way 5:30 am comes too early every morning!


Since I had some time this morning, I decided to look around at some Donors Choose projects and spread a little Christmas cheer by donating to some projects. Even a few dollars goes a long way to fully funding these projects. I hope you will consider giving back as well.

I currently have a couple of projects live on the site if anyone is interested in supporting my classroom. Even a $1 helps and right now I have a dollar for dollar match offer, so every $1 that is donated is actually $2! YAH!

Help Us Get Rooted in Reading!

I am trying to get the books to along with the Rooted in Reading lessons from Amy Lemons.

Dynamic Digital Documentation!

I am trying to get a new and more reliable digital camera for my classroom. I am using a very old digital camera right now and when I want really good pictures bringing in my expensive personal digital camera.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Well it is also the most exhausting time of the year for a teacher too! Needless to say life has been busy both in school and at home for the last few weeks. Thankfully everyone in my family seems to be doing better and life has settled back down into a more routine pattern (or at least as much normal as it can be at this time of year!). I only have 2 more school days until Christmas Break! YAH! :)


I wanted to share with you what Krista Wallden is doing to celebrate this special time of year. This year she is giving back to classroom teachers during the month of December. She is giving a set of clipart FREE each week in December with the hopes that we as teachers will give back to other teachers in the form of donating to specific Donors Choose projects. You can donate as little as $1, but think of all the good $1 will do if everyone donated! I think this is a great way to give back and I absolutely LOVE Krista's amazing artistic abilities so I have been all over this one. Please click on the link below to check out all the details:

Krista's Donate to a Cause Freebie #1

School life has been hectic as usual, but I did want to share with you a couple of pictures from last week. We took Miss M to see "Santa Land". This is a home of an older couple. They decorate their whole yard with well over 12,000 Christmas lights and LOTS of lighted Christmas objects. They also have a working mini carousel and train for kids to ride. Then they let families come and visit for FREE. It is absolutely AMAZING! M loved it and squealed the whole time we were there. Oh how I love seeing the wonder and amazement in her sweet eyes! She definitely makes Christmas magical for us!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Simply Sight Words!

I know that I am like most of you and have been teaching sight words since the very beginning of the school year, but I thought I would show you some of the things I have been doing in my classroom to help my kinders learn the sight words. I always love getting new ideas to add to my toolbox so here is a peek in my classroom and the things I use. 

I have shared with you before that I have created sight word units to go along with the units in the 2011 HM Journeys reading series. This is where we get the sight words our kinders are responsible for learning. There are 40 words total in the reading series but I also add more words by teaching them in addition to these since I think they are extremely important to my kinders (ex. - can, love, went, want). My kinders love doing the activities in these units and I love the activities too. My favorites are the pages where they have to fill in the missing sight word from the sentence and trace the other words. Then I have my kinders practice reading the sentences to themselves and they have to read them to me or my TA before they can put their work up. This gives them extra practice reading the sight word in the correct context.

These units are available as a bundle in my TpT store for $15.00. I am working on creating the unit 1, but once I do it will be added to the bundle for those who have purchased for free. 

Kindergarten Journeys 2011 Edition Sight Words Units Bundle

Recently with my high flying kinders, I started having them play the Sight Word Seashell Game from Lakeshore in a small group during Daily 5. This game covers the first 100 sight words which makes it more of a challenge for them. This game is played by drawing out a shell and reading the sight word on it. If they read the word correctly, they get to keep it, but if they don't know the word it goes in a discard pile. If they draw a crab, they have put all their cards back in the box. I was lucky enough to receive this game through a Donors Choose grant.

For my struggling kinders, I have the Fishing for Sight Words game from Lakeshore. This game is better for my struggling kinders because it only focuses on the first 25 sight words. It is fun so they enjoy playing it too. Each child takes a turn with the fishing pole. When they "catch" a fish, they have to read the word. If they read it correctly, they get to keep it; if not, they throw it back in the pond. This is another game that I received through a Donors Choose grant. My TA played this game with a couple of my kinders during Daily 5.

I use flashcards that I have made to practice the sight words quickly every day with my kinders. I made these on circle shapes because research shows that your eyes are drawn to what is in the middle of a circle. I use these as flashcards as well as to make a word worm and review with my kinders. I have created these for the Journeys sight words as well as the pre-primer, primer, and 1st grade Dolch words. They are also available in my TpT store.

These are my kinders playing the Word Worm game with the Journeys 2011 sight words.

These are not all the ways I practice with my kinders, but I hope this gives you some new ideas for practicing sight words with your kiddos. If you have any other new ideas, I would love to hear them!

Thank You Donors Choose for Our New iPad!!

I have recently had another Donors Choose project funded. This time my classroom received a new iPad 2 with a protective case. I already have two iPads for the classroom that I received through Donors Choose a year or so ago. My kinders love getting to use the iPad apps to "play" when they are actually learning at the same time. My iPads are also a part of my Daily 5 rotations for Listen to Reading because they are able to access TumbleBooks through our school subscription . They are also able to listen to leveled readers from our Journeys reading series online. My kinders also use the iPads for Word Work to practice their sight words. They just love using the iPads at anytime! 

Here are some of my kinders using the iPad during Daily 5 to do Word Work:

Thank you Donors Choose For Our Sweet Seats!!

I am so excited to say that I have had another Donors Choose grant fully funded and my classroom received the new materials this week! My kinders were so excited when we had 8 (yes EIGHT!!) big boxes wheeled into our classroom. They didn't know what was coming until I opened the first box and they saw the new beanbags that were ours for our classroom. I wrote the grant for 8 "little" beanbags to use during Daily 5. They match the colors in my classroom and are red, blue and green. The kinders LOVED them. They were even more excited than usual for Read to Self time. Here are some pictures of them using the new beanbags. 

I am completely amazed at the generosity of the donors who have given this money to complete my classroom project. I do not know these donors and yet they have chosen to support my students. It is an amazing feeling to know people care about our kiddos!

If you have not written a Donors Choose grant before, I encourage you to do it. The best advice I have is to keep the materials you are requesting under $350 dollars for the best rate of success. I have found that the more expensive projects tend not to be funded in the allowed amount of time. Also, when your grant is posted make sure to let everyone know via Facebook and email. You also need to come up with a cute, snazzy title for your project so it will attract donors' attention. My title for this project was: "Please Be Sweet and Buy Us Seats!" You will be surprised where the donations pour in from! 

iPad Fun!

I previously said that I have received an iPad through Donors Choose. I am still looking for good educational apps for it so any suggestions would be appreciated. The apps that I have downloaded have been loved by my kinders. They are loving using it during small group time.

This is a sight word app where each piece of fruit has a different sight word on it. The app says a word and the kiddo has to touch the fruit with that word on it. I love it!!

This is the Storia app from Scholastic. I have some free books that I have downloaded for the kids to listen to.

If you have any other suggestions for some great apps, please let me know. Thanks a bunch!!

Limeades for Learning - My Donors Choose Project

Happy Friday everyone! I have been so busy this year I haven't even had a chance to tell you about my current Donors Choose project to try to get an iPad in my classroom. I am currently doing the Limeades for Learning voting for my project to hopefully get it funded through Sonic. I would love it if you would take the time to vote with your email address. Each email address gets one vote per day. You can also get vote codes by making a purchase at Sonic. Each vote code is worth 2 votes and you can put in as many as you want each day.

Here is the link:
http://www.limeadesforlearning.com/teachers/view/439489/default/1071631

Please vote for my project each day if possible through Oct. 27th. Thanks everyone!

Donors Choose - New Project!

I just wrote a new proposal through Donors Choose for an iPad for my classroom. I am so excited and hoping it gets funded. I would love to have this technology to use in my classroom with my kinders. Many of them do not have access to these kinds of technology outside of school and there are so many wonderful and educational apps they can use. The project just went live yesterday and for the next 7 days Donors Choose is offering to match any donations I receive if the donor puts in the code: INSPIRE! I am hoping to drum up some donations so if you would like to donate a few dollars I would really appreciate it!

Here is the link to my project:
Padding Our Way Through Kindergarten

Fully Funded Projects on Donors Choose!!

I am so excited to announce that I had 3 projects on the Donors Choose website and they have ALL been fully funded! I was so surprised when I popped on the site and saw they had all disappeared. A local foundation (The Francis P. Bunnelle Foundation) funded all 3 of my projects along with 12 other projects in our school district. Needless to say this was very welcome news for my classroom.

One of the projects that was funded was for new crayons, pencils, and erasers to start the school year. These are supplies that many of my students come to school missing due to their economic situations at home. Through this project, all of my students will have the same supplies and be prepared to begin learning.

Just wanted to share this good news with you all! Happy Tuesday everyone!

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.

Donors Choose

I know I posted about this a week or so ago, but I am hoping to get some more votes. You only have to have an email address to vote for my class project. If you go to Sonic you will get a code for 2 free votes. Click on the picture below to vote!

Donors Choose is also having the friends and family match right now. If you want to donate to any project, just enter the code: PUMPKIN and your donation will be doubled. My Wild About Writing project only has $96 left to be fully funded. YAH! I also have 2 other projects that have less than $100 to being fully funded thanks to a local organization! Click on the picture below to see all 3 of my active projects.

Limeades for Learning Voting (Donors Choose)

As I have said several times since starting my blog, I am a HUGE fan of Donors Choose. They have helped me get much needed items in my classroom without having to purchase them with my own money.

With that being said, I am a Sonic teacher and beginning today, there is a voting contest called Limeades for Learning going on. I would love it if you could vote for my project to help it get funded. The voting begins today and ends on Oct. 29th. You can only vote once per day per email address. The projects with the most votes will win funding by Sonic. Thanks in advance for you help!

Just click on the picture below to vote!

Friday Freebie: Trace the Shapes activity sheet

Since it is the beginning of the school year, I am working with my kinders on skills that many of them come to kindergarten lacking. I have many kinders who didn't know how to hold a pencil and weren't able to recognize their names on the table. This week I am working with them on the basic 4 shapes so I created this simple activity sheet to have my kinders practice tracing the shapes correctly.

Trace the Shapes activity sheet

If you download and can use this activity sheet, please leave me a comment. I love reading them!

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Just a little plug from me:

I have 3 Donors Choose projects that are currently posted. I would love to have these projects funded. If you enjoy downloading my freebies, I would love it if you could donate a little to one of my projects. You can also search for a match code that will make your donation worth twice as much!

I Heart Donors Choose & The Opening Of My TN Shop

Donors Choose is such an awesome organization for teachers. We write a proposal and donors choose which projects they would like to fund. A teaching friend of mine just had a projected fully funded to get a new Nook to use with her middle schoolers. It will be a great addition to her classroom. Since I am still on summer break, I thought I would take the time to write a couple of proposals as well. I have 2 new active projects on the Donors Choose website.

Wild About Writing

This project is for journals, pencils, and crayons for my kinders. I would love for them all to have the supplies they need when we begin formal journal writing.

Loco for Literature

This project is for leveled readers for my kinders. I am asking for 5 sets of leveled readers (levels A-C) with nonfiction and fiction books to help keep all my kinders interested in reading.

There are usually match codes available that will match what a person's donates to an active project. This means that your donation is worth twice as much! In order to find one, I just use a search engine and look for Donors Choose match code.

Now, I want to know you think of Donors Choose. If you have not written a proposal before, I hope you will visit Donors Choose and try writing a proposal of your own.

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In other news, after being persuaded by some great friends, I have finally decided to open a Teachers Notebook shop. I have listed a few freebies and also my Kindergarten Math CC Assessments pack in my shop right now. I will be adding new items as well. I hope you will pop on over and visit my new shop! I would love to hear what you think.

Donors Choose Match

Donors Choose is once again offering a match code so that donations can be matched dollar for dollar. This match code is offered by Starbucks, MSNBC, and Morning Joe. The code is: MORNINGJOE. If you would like to donate to a project, just put in this code when you are checking out and your donation will be doubled. If you want to donate to my project, click on the banner below. I would love to have some more leveled readers for my classroom!

Currently for March

This is a quick post tonight. Today was a wild day in my classroom. My assistant was out and I was left with a sub who doesn't usually work with small kiddos so they tried her out to see what they could get away with which means they used up all of my extra energy!

I am linking up with Farley again at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her March Currently linky party. Here's mine:

I hope your week is going well! Tomorrow is FRIDAY! YAH!!

BTW: I have had couple of donations to my Donors Choose projects and I have partner funding offer right now that only leaves about $75 and $80 for each of my projects. YAH!! :)

Donors Choose - Spring Friends & Family Match

I just wanted to pop in to let you know that Donors Choose is doing their spring friends and family match code again. This code will double donations. The code is BLOOM and you must enter it when you donate in order for it to count. This code will be good through March 19th.


I hope that everyone will consider donating to a project during this time since all donations no matter how small or large can be doubled. All donations are tax deductible. If you would like to donate to one of my projects please click on the Donors Choose banner below. Thanks!

BTW: I am now up to 89 followers! WOW! I never thought I would have this many followers after just starting my blog in September.

WOW!

I can not believe that it is March already! It seems like we were just celebrating the new year last week and we have already completed 2 months in 2012! Wow...time is going so quickly! 

This week we have been celebrating Dr. Seuss. I forgot my camera at school and will post pictures of what we have done so far next week when I get back to school. Today we had a school-wide (over 700 kids) celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday by having a hat parade. It was a lot of fun but it meant the kids were very hyper excited throughout the entire day! Now I am home and trying to relax. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

BTW: I have a new Donors Choose project that I would love to get funded. You can click on the link below to visit my project page. I would appreciate any donations. You can also search for a match code that will double any donations. Thanks in advance!

Donors Choose is GrEaT! :)

Just wanted to show you the new bookshelf that I received for our classroom library thanks to some great Donors Choose donations. The kids are in love because they can now see the front of the books they choose to read. :)

Blogger won't let me rotate this one! Sorry! :(

~Joni