Waiting for SPRING!

Coming back to school after spring break always causes a little panic! This is the home stretch! Did I teach them enough? What do we still need to tackle?  Can I do it all before June? Looking at my class I am always loving the crazy amount of progress they have made, but always feel like we can do more!

The feel of Kindergarten has really changed over the course of my career and now I find myself taking those "fun" projects and seeing how I can pull in some common core and critical thinking. Today we made math flowers! Lots of math, fine motor, direction following. Not to mention they do look pretty darn cute hanging up!

Enjoy the printable of the recording sheet! Our flowers petal strips are 9"x 1.5" The centers were 7.5 inch circles.  Be sure to link back and show me your flowers if you make them!

Alphabet Search and Find

I have been spending these last few weeks really working on writing out the sounds you hear when writing. I find every year it is the February doom and gloom… {and the endless days of indoor recess!} that make me have to work a little harder to keep all my little friends focused! I have had these Alphabet Search and Find Beanbags from Lakeshore for YEARS!!!! Sad, but true… they sat in a little labeled bin in my closet.  Sad.

I finally saved them from their misery…. pulled them out, dusted off their bin, and yes, created a little ABC book to use with them.

I will tell you,  Once I opened the lid it was like I opened a box of candy and said, "Go ahead! Eat it ALL!"

Handing them each an ABC book and letting them pick their own bean bag to write the words of what they find in it was beyond exciting! It's the little things!

It was soooo exciting, I let them do two!!!! I always like to let them know, I wasn't planning on letting them do two letters…. "but, OK, I guess… I will let you do two! "

Hop over to my TPT Store to get your own Alphabet books. I made the cover a little different incase you do not have the Look and Find Beanbags. You could use any letter sound materials you have. It would work great with letter sound tubs with objects.

You Just Got A Letter!

One of my favorite dramatic play areas is the class

POST OFFICE!

Using some Pinterest inspiration I built a cute mailbox from.... a Tyson Chicken box from the lunch room! I also happen to pick up the polka dot Duck Tape on clearance from Home Depot for.... wait for it... under $2!  Hello, happy girl! Polka Dots, tape and clearance, all in one sentence! I snapped up all 4 rolls they had. It actually took 1 whole roll to make this mailbox.

The Inspiration

The Creation!

{... gotta fix that tape!}

After making the mailbox I felt my mail needed a little upgrade.  Little by little I have been adding common core into my creative workshop centers.  I created a whole set of bright polka dot letters, and signs to place around the classroom for delivering.  Each letter is programmed with a ten frame, which is the address.  The workers read the ten frame and locate its correct box out in the classroom to deliver it to. I left these items in the newly created post office area with little instruction. They figured it out all on their own. It was a huge hit!

Visit my TPT store to snag some new mail for your class!

Polka Dot Post Office

OLYMPIC EXCITEMENT GIVE AWAY

With the start of the Olympic Games only 24 hours away I always get a little excited. I clearly remember spending many winter days watching the games with my sisters when we were little. Now as the mom to a freestyle skiier it is so exciting to see the new events added to the games.  I introduced my  class to some of the new items in my Olympic Unit today.  Can I just say, it was so cute to see how excited they got about all the sports! 

The write and read book.

Learning about the sports in the Olympics.

I will be giving away 2 Olympic Units!

To enter to win:

1. Follow my Blog

2. Follow my TPT Store Hello Kindergarten Store

3. Follow me on Facebook (Use the connect button)

Once you have done all 3 things, leave a comment in the comment section! I will randomly select 2 winners during the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow night!

The New Look