Presidents' Day Freebie!

Hey everyone! I'll be working on some new St. Patty's centers this week...I should have them up by the end of the week. Until then, here's a little freebie that we made last week for Presidents' Day!  This little booklet kept us busy all week long. We did one craft each day as we learned about the presidents and symbols of our country.

Click the picture below for your FREEBIE!!!!

We also read some books about the presidents...

And Brainpop has some great videos about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and U.S. Symbols.

Have a great week everyone! I'll be back soon with St. Patty's Day fun!!!

Freebies + Editable Rules {FINALLY!}

After a busy day yesterday...the Whale Day Parade woke me up in the morning, then we went to breakfast with friends, walked to the beach for a swim and workout, went out for lunch and drinks, and finally walked over to check out the Whale Day activities...needless to say, I was exhausted today. So I decided I would stay in the house and work on some fun stuff for you! And I finally...finally....made my classroom rules editable!!! Hooray! It's only been, what, a year? Haha. Anyway, here are some of the goodies...

Classroom Rules {Editable}
This is my first time making an editable PDF file, so please let me know if you find any problems or have trouble using it. I tried it on a PC and Mac and it worked for me, but only in Adobe Reader/Acrobat. It does not display properly in Preview. Click the image to check it out.

Centers Rotation Board {Freebie}
I decided it was time to liven up my Centers Management Board with some color. I included two sets, one with icons and words, and one with icons only. There is also a set of signs for labeling your centers. Let me know if I forgot something! If I have clipart for it, I'll add it! And I'll post a picture as soon as I get back to school and add these to my chart.

Visual Direction Cards {Freebie}
I decided I'd also re-do my visual directions to match my polka dot theme. Just print, cut, laminate, and add magnet strips on back. These really help provide clear and simple directions for the kiddies, especially ELL students! Click below for the freebie:

Line Up Songs {Freebie}
And finally, I updated my "Line Up Songs" cards with some new graphics and a few additional songs I found. There are now 24 songs and chants! I use these when we line up to go to lunch, library, PE, etc. The line leader loves choosing a song on the card ring each time we line up and it's sooo helpful for getting the class to line up quietly.

Coming up soon...Common Core Mathematical Practice Posters, Measurement, and more!

Valentine's Day!

Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's day! I know this is late, but maybe you'll find something you can use next year...

Valentine's Day Crafts 

The idea for these cute bees came from A Cupcake for the Teacher. She has a great template HERE.

 

Click here for my Heart Template and poem.

Math & Literacy Centers 

Here are just a few of our literacy and math stations...

Rainbow Write - Students spin the spinners and write the words using the correct colors.

How Many Heartbeats? - Students sort the pictures by number of syllables, then stamp or color the hearts on the recording sheet.

Sounds of My Heart - Students pick an object out of a container, then either stamp or color the beginning/ending sounds.

Break My Heart - Students break open the hearts and build sight words.

Sweet Sight Words - Students pick a heart, read the word, and write it in the correct column based on how many letters are in the word.

 Write the Room - Students hunt around the room for pictures/words and write them in the boxes.

Sweet Sums of Five/Ten - Students toss a cup of two-color counters, then fill in the five/ten frame and record their work with a drawing and equation.

 Counting by Tens - Students sequence the cards by tens, then cut and paste.

 Lovin' Addition - Students roll the dice and use counters to add. Then they record their equations.

 Add & Cover - Students roll the dice and cover the numeral on their game board. First to fill their board wins!

Connect Four -  In this game, students roll the cube, count the items, and trace the number. First to get four in a row wins!

 Candy Heart Graphing - Students sort and graph candy hearts.

 Measure Your Heart Out - Students measure the treats with cubes or hearts.

More or Less - Each partner chooses a card, then they spin the spinner to see who wins the cards (more or less). The player with the most cards at the end wins. You could also use these cards to play Concentration or Go Fish.

 Pretty Patterns - Students make patterns with hearts, then color them on the recording sheet.

All these activities and more are included in my February Centers Pack! 

I think I just learned how to join a linky party! I'm linking up with Simpson's Superstars to share Valentine's Day ideas! Yay! Go check it out...

Catching Up...

Wow, it's been a busy month so far...Hundredth Day, Chinese New Year, Groundhogs, Valentines, and President''s Day! I've barely had time to catch my breath! But don't worry, I've been taking lots of pictures! (I'm doing President's Day next week and I'll make a separate post about Valentine's since there's quite a bit). Here are some of the activities we've done so far...

100th Day

We made 100th Day crowns and necklaces. Click here to download my 100th Day Packet for my hundredth day crown and hundredth day booklets.

We made these 100 year old portraits. This idea is from Mrs. Jump.

We made 100th day books and raced to see how many times we could write our names in 100 seconds. We also had fun doing 100 exercises!

 

For our class project, we made a giant gumball machine. The children took turns adding 10 "gumballs" and then we counted them by tens. Then they all had a chance to glue some on. This idea is from Julie Lee!

Groundhog Day

First, we predicted and graphed whether Phil would see his shadow. Got this idea from Mrs. Williamson. I ran out of brown paper, so I used clipart for the groundhogs. We also made our little groundhogs in a cup. Click here for the Groundhog Template.

After making predictions, we watched online to find out whether Phil saw his shadow. Then we had fun singing the song with our groundhog puppets!

Chinese New Year

We made these simple paper lanterns and decorated them with glitter.

We also made these Dragon Puppets.

 Finally, I gave all my kiddies a lucky penny. They were so excited about their pennies. I must have gotten a hundred hugs and thank you's. I love my class! They are too sweet :)

 

This cute story does a good job of explaining many of the Chinese New Year traditions.