It sure is nice to have so many incredible teachers out there in the blogging world.  Here are a few of my favorite posts from this week.

First, Kathleen over at Growing Kinders have some very cute ideas to help our little ones learn the letters of the alphabet.  Many of these ideas would make great center time activities.  Check them out.

Next, Lindsay and Kerri at Teacher Bits and Bobs have shared some cute bat writing samples and even have a free downloadable bat writing paper.  This idea would be great to use with Stellaluna or any other book about bats.

Then, Kristen at A Teeny Tiny Teacher has shared some adorable stationary to use at your post office center.  It is so nice that she shared these free downloadables as I am sure many of us are always looking for ways to get our kinders to write.

Last, Mrs. Williamson at Mrs. Williamson's Kinders has shared a great science experiment to do with your class called Oozing Pumpkins.  It includes a link to the video created by Steven Spangler that demonstrates what happens during the experiment.  She even has a free downloadable worksheet to use with the experiment.

All of these ideas are so fabulous!  I can't wait to use them with my kinders.  How about you?

Happy Teaching!

I continue to be blown away by all the wonderful teaching blogs that are out there!  And these hard working individuals offer up there ideas for free and even provide us with some incredible downloads that we can use in the classroom.  Teachers truly are some of the most giving people in the world and ask for nothing in return.

First, Pam over at Can Do Kinders has some very cute math ideas just in time for Halloween.  Check out her free downloads which include a free patterning printable using pumpkins.

Next, Tammy from Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten has a adorable Thanksgiving story that you can download.  It includes a great retelling activity to do with the little ones using colored beads and a pipe cleaners.

Lastly, Shannon over at Kindergarten Hoppenings continues to amaze me!  She has shared some great ideas to use with any fall unit and it includes so many free items to download.  I don't know where she finds the time but I am glad that she does and shares it with all of us.

I hope you enjoy these ideas as much as I have and...happy printing!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  We are just so busy learning in my classroom that I find it difficult to find time to post.  However, I continue to find time to search other blogs and find some terrific ideas.  Here is one of my favorites.

Shannon over at Kindergarten Hoppenings has some wonderful ideas for teaching kinders during the Halloween season.  The best part is many of her items you can download for free.  She has units on monsters, apples, spiders, and Halloween.  Take a few minutes to check out her blog.  It is awesome!!!

Sorry that it has been a few days since my last post.  Pre-planning got the best of me!  However, my classroom is starting to come together, so I thought I would share a few pics. 

Here is a look at my new "beach" themed classroom.

This is a picture of my home living area.  I painted the play house and added a bamboo roof to make it look more like a beach house.  I added a "Surf's Up" sign to the front that I found at the Dollar Tree.  It is hard to tell from this pic, but the house is a light blue and the accents are all hot pink.

Next, is my toy bins.  After my children outgrew all their Fisher Price Little People, I just couldn't bear to give them up.  We had just about every set with all the accessories still.  So, I brought them to my classroom.  My students absolutely love exploring and playing with these!  Everyday we have a new Little People Village set up around this rug with great story telling taking place.  And the best part is I get to see my own children's toys being put to good use.

I consider myself one of those lucky teachers who have a husband who can build just about anything.  I just love this shelf that my husband built to house my math manipulatives.  Yes, those are plastic $1 shoe boxes on a very basic wooden shelf.  Easy to build and cheap!  I like that!

This is my writing area.  I just adore my blue and pink small beach buckets that I got for $1.00 at Michaels.  They are perfect for housing all of our writing materials.  The ABC posterboard above the writing area is my focus word wall.

This picture shows my Leveled Readers and Buddy Reading Books.  My Leveled Readers are organized by DRA levels.  Since I taught both Kindergarten and First Grade last year, I needed books from level 1 to level 28.  That is why there are so many baskets.  My buddy reading books are on the top of the shelf.  I like to display the book with the stuffed animal.  I noticed that many libraries in our area would do this type of displaying of books to entice children to read, so I thought I would try it in my classroom.  I love to see my students snuggling the stuffed animal as they read the book. 

Okay, it's getting late and I'm getting tired, so I will share one more pic for this post.

Here is my calendar wall.  I love all the math concepts that I can teach during calendar time.  It is hard to see from the picture, but I include place value, number sense, time, and money during this time of day. 

Thanks for looking at pictures of my classroom.  I hope I was able to share something new that you might use in your classroom this year.  Sweet dreams!

Respectfully, Ann

I am so excited!  I finally have a follower!  Thank you to Marlana @ Lil' Country Kindergarten for being my first follower.  I tried to explain my excitement to my husband, who is a non-blogger, and he just looked at me like I was crazy.  Oh well!

Since I have a follower, I decided it was time to post a few pics of some finished retelling cookie sheets that I have created over the past few days.  I mentioned my Chicka Chicka Boom Boom one in a previous post.  Here is a pic of how it turned out.

I also mentioned that you could use alphabet magnets to retell the story on the cookie sheet; however, I found the cutest Chicka Chicka Boom Boom free printable at Kindergarten Hoppenings.  I have printed out the letters only and I am going to laminate them and apply a magnet to the back for retellings.  I thought they were just adorable!

I also made another retelling cookie sheet.  This one is used with the book Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley.

To make this one, I first painted the green circle on the cookie sheet.  The rest of the pieces are laminated with magnets on the back.  You can find these storytelling printables and more at http://www.kizclub.com/.  They are all free to print and you can even print them in black and white.  I have used many of these to create my retelling cookie sheets.

I hope you find these ideas useful for your classroom and I look forward to posting some pictures of my classroom in the near future.

Respectfully, Ann

     Happy Saturday to everyone!  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed since I haven't been in my classroom as much as I wanted to be by now.  Teacher plannning begins on Tuesday, but I will be in my classroom first thing Monday morning.  My goal is to get as much done as possible before the "real" planning begins on Tuesday.  I am hoping to post some pictures of my new "beach" themed classroom.  I got such wonderful ideas from so many bloggers and I want to say "thank you" by posting the ideas you have shared with me.  Until then, enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Relax while you can.

Respectfully, Ann

    

Painting Cookie Sheets

Since we have company in town, I really don't have time to work in my classroom (which is very difficult for me).  Therefore, I am spending any extra time that I find working on various projects for my classroom and painting cookie sheets seems to be the easiest.  I have painted various cookie sheets to go along with stories that I read often in the classroom, my favorite being Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  It is an easy project to do.  Here are some that I found on different websites that you may be interested in adapting for your classroom.

This one can be found at Kim Adsit's website.

This one can be found at Kimberly Jordano's website.

  My Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Retelling Cookie Sheet has a palm tree painted on it.  After it is dry, you can use a set of magnetic letters to model retelling the story with the children.  After modeling it a few times, it can be placed at a retelling center with a copy of the book for your students to practice their retelling skills.

     If you are interested in more stories that can be painted onto cookie sheets, please contact me and I can share some other ideas.  Enjoy!

Respectfully,

Ann