All I Want For Christmas Linky

 

 

I seem to always be behind during this time of year. I cannot believe that soon it will be Christmas Eve. I still have Christmas cards to write and packages to send out to my families. I had so many blog entry ideas come and go before I could get it together. Today, I got to leave work a little early, dinner is already made, and now there is time for a blog entry. So, I decided to link up for this fun linky party. Click above to visit Mrs. Leeby's blog.

 



What would be the perfect gift from...

 

1. Students- I love homemade treats that parents or their children helped to make. I especially love trying new things. I got some yummy Greek cookies from one family. One kindergartner made some cut out cookies with her grandma to give me. I am a cookie monster!! Maybe that is why I had to buy new jeans a size bigger!

 

2. Kiddies- I don't have any of my own. If I did, I would love artwork... especially little handprints!

 

3. Hubby- A little vacation getaway, a photography class, or a night out at a new restaurant to try.

 

4. Parents/Family- Anything Anthropologie- my favorite store!!

 

5. BFF- A girlie get together over some coffee or dinner. Luckily I do get time with my friends. We usually meet up at a restaurant to catch up. My friends who live afar... I would love to rent a cabin up in the mountains and have a ski weekend like we did in the old days. One of my friends recently sent me a homemade quilt... which has not arrived in over a month. I hope it is not lost!!

 

6. Santa- A new digital camera... which I did get for myself!!

 

Here is a shot of my class in the middle of watching Olive the Other Reindeer. We have been crafty this week. Tomorrow is our last day before winter break. We will decorate our gingerbread houses and take all our projects home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

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Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

 

 

See Farley's post on Oh' Boy 4th Grade for details about her idea of a day of silence to honor and remember those involved in this recent tragedy.

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December Currently & a Few Holiday Crafts

 

Now that the washer has stopped, I really should put the clothes up. I finally have a DLSR camera! I already see a difference, and I only had it for a few days. I wish I could do some snow skiing. It has been a while, and I used to love it! My sister and I got a tablet for my mom. She is loving it! She has even joined Facebook! As some may exclaim, "Shut the front door!" My mom was one of the last individuals to get a cell phone. She doesn't even have internet access, until now... through her 4G tablet! Now, I am thinking I need one of those things. They even have teacher apps to organize attendance and notes. With little time focused on exercise, I need a personal secretary to help me keep track of all my to do's and make time to destress with exercise! I can't believe I used to run marathons, and now I barely run 2 miles! One of my friends told me that a lady paid for her groceries at the store, and asked that she pay it forward as a return of thanks. I think I may need to do that on a smaller scale- like when I go get a coffee the next time.

 

To see more December Currently or link up your own, click above to go to Oh'Boy 4th Grade's blog. Now for a little about what's going on in my classroom world.

 



See how clear the rudolph necklace is? One of the first pictures I took using my new camera!!

 

Last year, I created a Hanukkah and Christmas word sort for my class. The first page is the sorting mat. The second page are 3 sets of 6 words for children to sort. I had my class draw little pictures by the holiday words to help remember what each word meant. Click here to get this HOLIDAY WORD SORT for FREE.

Have a wonderful week!

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Rudolph's Nose Freebie & Freebielicious Link Up

It is amazing how fast the days are going! I am in the middle of our community helpers unit, and was planning on sharing that, but the Freebilicious Linky is an easier task to get involved with! So here is my freebie...

 

Currently I do not have a picture of the finished product. However, I do cut the pages to make mini-readers for each of my kindergartners.

 

I am linking up with ...

Happy December 1st!

 



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TPT Cyber Monday & Tuesday Sale!

I am enjoying the ease of making some purchases this Thanksgiving weekend... got some holiday items checked off. I am looking forward to Cyber Monday, so I can shop for my classroom and move a few items from my long 126 wish items to my shopping cart.

My top 5 items are 1. Chit Chat Morning Messages #2 by Deanna Jump
                               2. Writing Through the Year Unit 2 by Deanna Jump  
                               3. Monkey Love by Growing Kinders  
                               4. Curious George and the Firefighters by April Larremore
                               5. 3 Cheers for Red, White, and Blue by Growing Kinders

I love creating things for my classroom. It is a slow process in making it accessible in digital format, as well as including the common core standards. Currently, my TPT store is small, with 9 items. Meanwhile, I continue to work on some units. It's a learning process!

I also love "hunting" for new innovative ideas too. Deanna's Chit Chat Morning Messages are great! I love using them on my Mimio interactive whiteboard. I have fun teaching writing to my students, but am always on the look out for different anchor charts, and the Writing Through the Year Unit 2 seems to have ones I could easily incorporate into my classroom. In checking out my upcoming units, I will be using Curious George books... this week! So, even though I already have monkey activities, I don't have one created for Curious George. I think April's cute monkey craftivity is just what I need. After the holiday season, I will be focusing on American symbols. I will need to beef up my 2 week unit into a bigger unit.

Here are a few places I am linking up to...

Remember to use the code, CMT12 at the checkout to get an additional percentage off!

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Holiday Recipe Linky Party

I am super excited that Thanksgiving is only a few days away! That means my sisters and their families will be in town soon! We are all meeting over at my  mom's house for Thanksgiving this year. Usually, my husband and I travel around to visit both sides of the family. This year, I am in charge of desserts. I love making something sweet! I will make a pie or two along with a tray of cookies. One of my favorite desserts is one that I have made at least once a year for Thanksgiving for over 15 years. I believe it originally came from a Kraft recipe? I was never a fan of pumpkin pie, but with some chocolate, I love it! I checked to see if it's online, and I found it! Click on the picture to go there.

 

 

More than 5 years ago, I decided to change it up from pumpkins to cranberries. Cooking Light had a lighter delicious version of a white chocolate cranberry speckled cheesecake. It takes time to make it, as it calls for a homemade yogurt cheese... but it is well worth it! It looks plain, but I decorate it with a dollop of whipped cream. Delicious! Click on the picture to go there.

 

 

Yesterday, I made some delicious pumpkin cookies. I was too tired to roast the pumpkins. So today, I found an easy and delicious recipe that uses pumpkins. I roasted a small pumpkin in my oven and blended the flesh in a blender with some broth instead of using canned pumpkin. This is a creamy hearty soup! I think it will be delicious with leftover turkey too! Click below to see the original recipe.

 

 

 

This year I am thinking of making something different, as I like to change it up every so often. So, I am definately on the look out for another pumpkin dessert idea. If you would like to join in on the holiday cooking, check out this linky:

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 





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Thankful (& A Math freebie)

It certainly has been an interesting week full of ups and downs in kindergarten. In the midst of all the going ons, I went to a Regina Spektor concert with a friend. If you haven't heard of her, you may want to check out this youtube video of one of her recent songs. It is not as upbeat as some of her other songs, but this displays her passion and spectacular voice.



One of the tougher parts of this week involved supporting my coworker as her family deals with the lost of a little 5 year old to a nasty brain tumor. It is not my story to tell, but if you want to hear a touching and inspiring story from a mother's point of view, please visit Cheering for Caitlin.

Amongst some other stuff, I found Storie's linky party that focused on the positive, and thought to myself I needed to join in.

 

Here's the link so you can join in too!

 

 

Are you off for Thanksgiving week? We are in school on Monday and Tuesday. Every year, I have Thanksgiving Centers with my students in whatever grade I am teaching (K-2). We have fun making a variety of turkey items. I wish I had easy access to some photos to share with you, but I only have scrapbooks of these older pictures. Here are a few activities from previous years:

 

 

In first grade, I usually incorporated some type of cornucopia math activity. My first year of teaching, I had created a cornucopia using an ice cream cone filled with treats for my students to graph and sort. Then one year, I wanted my students to practice addition and subtraction stories. I used bugles to represent cornucopias and Trix cereal as the different fruits. I would tell them a story problem, and they would act out the story using the cereal. Then they would use a dry erase marker to write the math sentence on the mat. It was great way for us to review addition and subtraction. So I created a mat for you- just print out and laminate. Click on the picture to get the Cornucopia Math freebie.

 

 



May you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

 

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Random Picture Takes

It has been busy around here. I wanted to share lots, but it seems I just cannot keep up with photo ops and getting on my blog. I really admire those who can juggle a classroom and a blog! I am currently working on a nocturnal unit, but it has been a slow process, especially with my new MimioTeach, Reading Endorsement class, report cards, Halloween, Teach-In, upcoming holidays, lesson plans, meetings, etc. So, I thought I would share a few random picture takes of what's been happening in my classroom: MimioTeach, Scarecrows, Farms, and S'mores!

I got the scarecrow pattern blocks template free from The Virtual Vine's website. CLICK HERE and scroll down her scarecrow page and look for links to Tricia's scarecrow or scarecrow with pumpkin links.

I am off to go and enjoy a birthday dinner with family and friends. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

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November Currently

Sometimes, I just love a little quiet on a cool morning, taking time to browse the internet and drink a coffee. Yesterday, my husband help me rearrange my classroom to set up my MimioTeach. I am so excited to be able to start using it with my students next week. They are already loving it!

Living in Florida, I take it for granted that hurricanes occur in other places. I didn't realize the effect it can have up north... especially the flooding. I wish for those up there that they will be able to return to their homes, and hopefully not another power outage.

It has been some time since I've read a good grown-up novel for fun. I love to read. Lately it has been the internet, magazines, and children's literature. Last December, I read the Hunger Games series within a week. Over the summer, many of my friends seemed to be reading the Gray series, which I did not get into. Any suggestions for a good book?

I am looking forward to this Thanksgiving, as my sisters and their families will be coming to town. It has been about 2 years since the 3 of us hung out. I am looking forward to playing and teasing my nephews. We will have a big get together with our 3 families and in-laws at my mom's house! I am hoping to make a delicious pumpkin something!

I thought Regina Spektor is coming to Miama only, but found out she is also coming to my town! I can't wait to see her live!

If you get a chance, check out my previous post. I made some skunk freebies. Have a great weekend!

 

P.S. Check out the other November Currently's...

 



 

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Skunk Freebies Giveaway!!

Last week, we were learning about animals that live in the woods, as well as some nocturnal animals. Every year, I typically spend time teaching squirrels, bats, and owls. This year I wanted to do something with skunks. I didn't tell my students we were going to learn about them. Instead, I had them help me make a list of stinky items on a trash can. They enjoyed saying some words and kept laughing. Then they figured out we were going to learn about another nocturnal animal- skunks. I found these great books on Amazon:

Sweet book! Sassafrass is a little skunk who is feeling sensitive about her stink.

A boy finds a skunk on his bunk, and learns to keep an open mind.

A nonfiction book giving information about skunks.

 

 

Here are some close ups of the Little Stinkers:

"I was copying my sister." Love all his speech bubbles and details!!

I forgot exactly what his print means, but I do remember the story. He took his mom's purse. So she chased him, and she called him a little stinker. I love the expressions he made on the faces!

"I was playing and not eating my food."

I am busy working on my nocturnal animals unit. It will be a little while before I will be ready to post it on TPT. Fall is a busy season for me, as it is filled with holidays, anniversaries, and birthdays. To share my love of fall, I would like to share with you, my followers, my "stinkin cute" skunk samples from my upcoming nocturnal unit. This will include:

• What Stinks?- Brainstorm a list of stinky things.
• Skunk in the Bunk Rhymes- Brainstorm a list of -unk words. Students write and draw a picture of each -unk word.
• Rhyming in the Woods- use cooperative groups to work with rhyming words
• Skunk Tree Map
• Little Stinker writing and skunk template
• Partner Picking Cards- cooperative learning strategy for Making 5 or Making 10

All you have to do is:

1. be a follower,
2. leave a comment to this post about your favorite nocturnal animal
3. and your email address.

You will have until the next time I post to be able to participate in this giveaway, which will likely be this upcoming weekend. Thank you for your sweet comments and helping me to be a better teacher!

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