Yay! You Won, You Won!!

Okay, for some reason my blog is not showing comments past 200 so please comment on THIS POST if you are just getting here. THANKS!!


Happy Sunday friends! If you are still watching the expo, feel free to continue to ask questions on the previous post. I will answer them after church and lunch with the fam.

So, my friend Tammy and I thought it would be fun to host a giveaway. Since we are about to enter into the season of Valentine’s and LOVE, we thought we would start you off with a gift that has zero calories and is fat free. I know what you are thinking...yuck! Well, stop making that face and keep reading. This is a giveaway friends and that is what we are going to do. Give. Away! Want to know the sweetest part? EVERYONE WINS! Yep, no random drawing this time…no crossing your fingers screaming pick me, pick me! J You follow the rules, get the prize. Can I get a whoot whoot?!!

Here’s what you need to do:

Follow Tammy on her blog and Facebook and follow me on my blog (you are here by the way) and Facebook. Leave us a comment HERE along with your email and I will send you these two mini packets that we created for TPT but will give to you just for playing along.

Follow Tammy's Blog

 Follow Tammy's Facebook

  Follow my Facebook and blog (both to the left with a simple click)

Easy peasy, right? You will get three math and two literacy center games in the Valentine’s theme. Check out your loot!

Pretty sweet! Have a great week friends and come back to our blogs often. We have lots planned for the future!

You Won, You Won!!

Happy Sunday friends! If you are still watching the expo, feel free to continue to ask questions on the previous post. I will answer them after church and lunch with the fam.

So, my friend Tammy and I thought it would be fun to host a giveaway. Since we are about to enter into the season of Valentine’s and LOVE, we thought we would start you off with a gift that has zero calories and is fat free. I know what you are thinking...yuck! Well, stop making that face and keep reading. This is a giveaway friends and that is what we are going to do. Give. Away! Want to know the sweetest part? EVERYONE WINS! Yep, no random drawing this time…no crossing your fingers screaming pick me, pick me! J You follow the rules, get the prize. Can I get a whoot whoot?!!

Here’s what you need to do:

Follow Tammy on her blog and Facebook and follow me on my blog (you are here by the way) and Facebook. Leave us a comment HERE along with your email and I will send you these two mini packets that we created for TPT but will give to you just for playing along.

Follow Tammy's Blog

 Follow Tammy's Facebook

  Follow my Facebook and blog (both to the left with a simple click)

Easy peasy, right? You will get three math and two literacy center games in the Valentine’s theme. Check out your loot!

Pretty sweet! Have a great week friends and come back to our blogs often. We have lots planned for the future!

Virtual Teaching Expo Question and Answer

Greetings friends! I hope that you had a great time “attending” Everything’s Kindergarten Expo! Did you wear your pj’s? I’m jealous. I thought about wearing mine but that wouldn’t be professional, or would it? Are there rules when presenting virtually? Not that I am a rule breaker…not me! Ehem.

If you didn’t sign up, it’s not too late. Once the event goes live, you will have access to it as much as you like at your convenience in the future so it’s not too late to join in on the fun. Click here for details.

So, tell me….I am dying to know…what did you think? Did you learn a new trick? I have been SO NERVOUS. When presenting in person, I think my personality shines a little bit more because we know I can be really a little crazy silly and sarcastic but that was hard to do when talking to a web cam. You should be proud of me…I totally wore my big girl panties and tried to be very professional, ehem. J   You got that vibe right?

Anywho, so I am here in blogville right now eagerly waiting to hear your feedback from the expo and answer your questions. Please let me know if there is anything that I can expand on or provide clarity if necessary.  

Just waiting…crickets so far….oh please leave me a comment or a small ray of sunshine before I just jump out the window.  Okay, that is dramatic. I don’t have a two story house. And, I am scared of heights. Who am I kidding? I may just eat ice cream. Oh the calories! Stop me now! Haha! 

I realize I used the word “utilized” a lot and sometimes not correctly, what can I say? J 

Oh, and I just realized that I forgot to cover Author Celebrations! OOPS!! When I have an “Author’s Celebration” we will take a piece of writing that is completed, create some sort of cover for it, bind it or staple it in cardstock, and have a special sharing time where students get to sit in a special “authors chair” and I invite a special guest (our principal, instructional coach, another teacher, etc.).  Did I mention how special it is? J At the end of the year, we have an Author’s Celebration where all the parents come and we celebrate their work with their family. It is pretty sweet!

Okay peeps. I’m here if you need me. Thanks for stopping by! Did I mention you can leave me a comment? J Check back tomorrow too because I am having a giveaway where EVERYONE is a winner!!!

(Ok…now it’s your turn to talk…cue typing….)


Also, I am having a sale this weekend for Expo Appreciation (I totally just made that up.)!! Everything in my stores are 20% off. If you want my Polar Bear & Penguin Unit you have to get it on TPT though because I couldn't get it uploaded to TN for some reason. It's on sale there too though. 


You can find me on facebook too for live chat! 

My Latest Bright Idea!

What a whirl wind week! Wednesday was bitter sweet. The bitter…it was the third anniversary or my aunt’s tragic accident that took her life. I like to think of it as the day of her homecoming though. J She’s defiantly keeping Jesus on his toes with all that spunk she was packing.

The sweet…it was my family’s fifth anniversary. We haven’t technically celebrated yet because we have Life Group at our house on Wednesdays but we will this weekend. For those of you with the puzzled look on your face, when I say Family Anniversary, I am referring to the day when we adopted our three children. J They were born from my heart and even though they are all now crazy teenagers, I love them. Nick and I say what the heck were we thinking, adopting kids that would eventually be teenagers we are so blessed!!  I really shouldn’t be on the computer. I still need to wash my work out close for tomorrow and get my crock pot out and ready because we are making apple sauce tomorrow. It is my favorite smelling day in Kindergarten.  No amount of kid sweat can overpower the smell of homemade apple sauce…hallelujah!!

On an exciting note, I filed my taxes tonight…you heard me correctly! I filed them BEFORE February. Shut the front door! Excitement! Now, don’t hate on me. I have used H & R Block online for years so since our information was pretty much the same as last year (except the money part, haha) so it was easy peasy and we didn’t have to pay anything in so that is Awe-Some!! Not that we ever have because we don’t take many deductions but I always set myself up emotionally for big drama so when it doesn’t happen I am so relieved. I know…therapy!

I am currently watching the news. Did you know that Justin Bieber is now a wax statue in a wax museum?  I give him a month before he melts. You know every girl will ohh and ahhh (my daughter included) over him.  All that hot lovin can’t be good for a ball of wax. I don’t remember being that nuts over New Kids on The Block but whatever. J

So…here is my thought of the day. I know…just one. Disappointing isn’t it. Haha!  I am thinking how fun it would be to have a Texas meet up this summer. So, if you are in Texas tell me your thoughts. You can be a blogger or blog stalker (I am both so I don’t discriminate). I am thinking in June. I am presenting at Frog Street Press Splash this summer in Dallas and Houston during July so that month is pretty packed. What are your thoughts? Too stalkerish? I hope not. We are friends, right?

Can you believe it is almost February? I haven’t really accepted that it’s 2012 and it will be over before we know it. Okay. I really have to jet and tackle this to do list. It’s the list that keeps on giving. Isn’t that sweet?

Here is a February calendar…because you’re on mission organization too, right?!

Feb Calendar

Have a great Friday and know that you are loved and appreciated!! 

Counting on Calendar!

Greetings Peeps! I am so excited to introduce you to one of my friends, Mary. She is the author of Sharing Kindergarten. She is new to blogging but has lots to offer, not to mention some pretty sweet freebies. I love to peek into other teacher's classrooms. Mary has great calendar ideas that I hope you love! Have  a great day! Love and virtual hugs, <>< Crystal

Hi “Kreative in Kinder” Fans. My name is Mary and I am the author of Sharing Kindergarten. I am honored to share a little about my kindergarten room with you today. I hope you will come by, say hi, and follow my blog. J

I love calendar time! It is such a unique and fun way to teach so many lessons, skills, and info. Here is a peek at my HUGE calendar.

I choose to keep it large and not on my Promethean Board because I strongly feel young students need access to all this info throughout the day, they need to manipulate and play using these games, and they need to do it in “real life” not digitally.

 1. I do months of the year, seasons, and the date. Notice the LEFT and RIGHT hands on the calendar pocket chart… a must!

2. We do a pattern for each month using different color number pieces. This month the pattern is ABC. (see top R side of calendar chart.)

3. I also have Dr. Jean’s handshake and cheers in these pockets to            keep them on my mind and in my sight.

4. We do days of the week, then write the date. My kids help to spell out the day of the week. VERY important

5. We go over yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

6. We chart the weather using weather wheel on the bottom left. (The other wheel has the months numbered and color coded by seasons.)

7. We also do a “question of the day” in the top right. This question asks “who has a pillow pet and what kind is it? They love random questions and I love getting to know them better.

8. We write the number of days we have been in school, 103 today! We also add one straw for each day. On the bottom right corner, we practice using tally marks for the number of days in school.

9. We also play a clock game using the clocks on the top Left. We sing , “Tick Tick Tock” and pat our legs to the beat, “What time is on the clock?” I hold up a clock and one kid gets to tell the time. We do it at least three times each day. SO much fun!

9. We sing a Money Song from Touch Math and do a similar game with piggy banks and coins. (those cards are behind the clock in the baggie!)

10. We write and display spelling family, this week it is the –ed family, hence the sled. This picture changes every week.

11. We count to 100 using the fish bowl, adding one fish a day. After 100, we use the fish to put a various number up using tens and ones. The students guess the number of fish in the bowl. Today was “27” shown with two ‘10” fish and seven “one” fish.

12. The top chart is our word of the week, this week it is have. We write one sentence with the word of the week each day. (I put this chart in the writing center for the next week.) My kids have to spell their sight words, sound out other words, and use capital letters and punctuation.

13. We chart everything and anything! This week we are sequencing the story “There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow.” We are also unscrambling arctic sentences.

14. I put a small pile of weekly sight words here (bottom right), just so I remember to review them. We go over them several times a day each day of the week until Friday, then we put those cards in the big pile for sight word games.

We also play several number games that I have written about and linked on my blog for you right now! Please come take a peak and leave a comment. I want to know what fun things you do at calendar time and what your students struggle with the most. Thanks for letting me guest blog. Come by and see me some time! J

Mary Amoson is a teacher, mother, and an educational blogger. She believes that learning should be fun and natural, and is most often playing games with her students as they discover learning. She is so passionate about her dream job in education and her incredible students and families that she wants to share it all with you.  Visit her at http://sharingkindergarten.blogspot.com/ or at her Teachers Pay Teachers site at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mary-Amoson/ where she has more than 10 free activities ready for you to download and enjoy.

Dun...Dun...DUNNNNNN!!!!

Did you feel the suspense? I bet you were thinking, whoa, this is going to be big. Wrong! Haha! Well, the good news is that I checked something off of my to do list today. Yay! I finally posted my Polar Bears & Penguins Unit. Praise the Lord! I have had it done but for some reason for the last two days it wouldn't save to a pdf on any computer that I opened it. Grrr! That thing was about to be the end of me and fingers crossed you haven’t already finished this unit and still need it! It’s winter somewhere right? Not here in Texas! It’s cold one day, hot the next. It stinks! Here is a freebie from my unit with love. J It’s 99 pages for $8 but this week you can get it for $6!! Here is a dice game. The clipart is from digiweb studios. Isn't it cute? I have also included a writing sheet. We do this as a group first on chart paper and then they do it on their own. Model first peeps! 

Penguin and Polar Bear Freebie

I plan to post my 100^th day unit on Thursday and my February Unit (Valentine’s, Dental Health) on Saturday. Stay tuned…for real! I have been crazy busy at school and getting ready for the Everything’s Kindergarten Expo, which is THIS Saturday. Are you "going"? REMEMBER (This is IMPORTANT), the camera ADDS 20 pounds people! Haha! Seriously, I have lost 40 pounds now just in time for you to see me through a web cam no less…EEK!  I am really excited about attending the expo myself and can’t wait to hear what you will be able to take back to your classroom. 


We start new centers tomorrow so I will post pics soon. I hope you are having a fantabulous week!!

Oh, there have been a few requests for my sight word buses so here ya go. Your wish is my command! Check back tomorrow because I have a guest blogger and she has good stuff to share with you. J
Sight Word Bus

Guest Bloggin'

Hello Kreative Kinder peeps! My name is Tammy Lee and I blog over at Live Love Laugh Everyday In Kindergarten. I would like to thank my new friend Crystal for inviting me to share some of my wisdom...ok, well maybe not really "wisdom," but I am gonna share something! :-) I had a whole other post done with cool pictures and everything, but then Crystal and I decided to go another route. She saw an old post of mine and asked me to talk about it a little more. So, here goes.... I had the most crafty parent volunteer last year! I tease her every time I see her in the hall this year that she can always still volunteer for me, or have another baby so I can have child #3! Her and I just worked really well with each other. Do you ever have parent volunteers like that?! I mean, I had a completely different set of things for her to do for me when she came! Things that I would NEVER put out for anyone else. LOL! Anywho..focus Tammy! She made me the most adorable mailbox! Here are some pics!

What do I use if for..you ask!? Well, I saw the idea somewhere in the blogiverse. I am so sorry, but can't remember where! If you know, then please let me know and will be more than happy to link back to you/her!! We receive our mail every Monday. Although most of my kids are able to recognize all of the letters and are able to produce the letter sounds, they still LOVE this! You remember that fantabulous parent volunteer I mentioned earlier. Well, she also made me an envelope (the big 9X12 manilla ones) for each letter of the alphabet! She addressed each one to our class, with a return address of the letter, 123 Alphabet Street, Letter Land USA 12345. We included a stamp (letter stickers from Lakeshore) So, for the letter a, the stamp was an apple! What do I put in the envelope...you ask?! Well, I include a letter from the letter of the week, and all of my Reading Street (our reading curriculum) materials that have to do with that letter. Also, I will throw in a poem or a riddle that has to do with the letter. The kids love it. I typically hand write the letters, but considering putting together a unit for my TpT store for this...not sure there would be an interest or not?! The parents love it too! I have had parents offer to bring things that begin with the letter of the week and they will put it in the mailbox. Like one day...I had a parent come and put in a box of french fries...YEP, she went to McDonalds and bought 20 small fries and put them in a box and snuck them in our mailbox. The kids LOVED it! Well, they went home and were so excited about it that other parents wanted to join in the fun!! I am sorry that I don't have more pictures!! I really need to be better about taking pictures! That's it...see, not really wisdom, but I did share a fun idea! If you have any questions, then please feel free to email me!! livelovelaughkindergarten at gmail.com If you don't already, then I hope that you will consider following my blog!! Hop on over and say hello! Thank you for letting me visit all you Kreative Kinders!

Penguin Party!

We had such a fun time learning about penguins and polar bears last week.  On Friday, we had a “Penguin Party.”  Students dressed up in black and white.  We made hats and my awesome room mom made these cutie pie treats for us to enjoy that afternoon.  For morning snack we ate goldfish…because penguins eat fish, duh! HAHA!! We learned how to waddle like it’s hot. I told the kids that they needed to sleep standing up that night too because that is what a penguin does. I wonder how that went over at home. Hmmm….

Here are a few pics and the sheet I made for our blubber experiement. It was so much fun. We made a chart before doing it. We came up with our hypothesis and each signed our names to what we thought the answer would be.

Penguin Day = FUN! Try it people. Waddle like it’s hot. (get it…drop it like it’s hot…old Snoop Dog song from a longgggg time ago. And, no I am not a rapper so don’t ask me to do it for you, haha!)

I am STILLLLL working on my Penguins and Polar Bears Unit for you and I promise it will be posted this week. I hope to get that and 100^th day knocked out by the weekend. I would have it done tonight but I am being forced get to go with my husband to a chamber banquet. Don’t Be jealous! Have a great week friends. Three more days to go. YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Here are some pics....

You can download the experiment sheet by clicking here. :)

The Winners Are...

Congratulations friends! Your free tickets will be coming to an inbox near you soon! Thank you to everyone who left a comment. It makes me so proud to be a part of such a great group of educators. Kindergarten teachers are one of a kind!

For those of you who didn't win, I hope you still attend. I realize that many districts (including mine) do not have money for trainings.  (insert sad face) I have personally spent hundreds of dollars on trainings so the idea of going for less than $15 is pretty sweet.  Did you know that you get a goodie bag too valued at $90. You can check it out here. I am also giving away a Writer’s Workshop Packet that will be added to the goodie bag soon. J If you are experiencing a financial hardship and would like to attend the expo, scholarships are available. Email me at kreativekinder@yahoo.com for details.  

Don’t forget, you will also get a certificate that you can print and use as proof of your professional development! It’s going to be a great! And, p.s., if you can’t “attend” that day, no worries. The training will be available for you to watch at your convenience and as much as you would like. I have “attended” the other expos and have gone back several times to listen/watch again and I always learn something new each time. 

Pretty sweet!!

Love to each and every one of you!!

GIVEAWAY! Hurry, Hurry!!

Good news all around!

First, MY good news…my new computer came Thursday afternoon so I am back in business. I am so excited. If I could do a cart wheel I would, but that defies the laws of gravity I am sure. EEK! I haven’t really created anything since November and I haven’t blogged as much as I would like to because my old “more experienced” computer was a hot mess. Seriously, I would have to restart my computer six times to connect to the internet and I have great internet. I think I just wore her out. Yes, anything I own is a she or her. My car is a she. Her name is Pearl. I haven’t named the new laptop yet. Any suggestions?

Anywho, yay for an upgrade! And double YAY for a three day weekend so I can get some units finished and uploaded. I am totally not going to take up your time and reading efforts to tell you that I have been sick with a stomach bug since Thursday night and I am not going to ask you to feel sorry for me one bit. Nope, not going to do it! L I am just going to talk about how much I love my new computer…even though I haven’t been able to play on it much since there is a beast in my tummy right now. J

So, on to the good news for YOU! This may be the longest post shortest GIVEAWAY in history but here ya go. You may or may not know but I am presenting at the upcoming Everything Kindergarten Expo. I am SO nervous EXCITED!! As an attendee it is super cool because you can watch from home in your pajamas, you can pause and potty, and even eat and drink DURING the presentation! What? I know…shocking! And that’s not all (I’m sounding like an infomercial..haha), you get a totally fabulous goodie bag, which is worth way more than the cost of the conference. Anywho, I swear I am lacking serious focus. I’m sorry! I think my “to do list” is just slapping me in the face over and over making me loose concentration. Dang!

I will be giving away THREE tickets to the expo this Monday, as in January 16^th, 2012. If you have already purchased a ticket, think about someone you can gift the ticket too. You would be the bestest friend in the world! If you are like my district, we don’t have funding for outside trainings so this is a great opportunity to learn a few tricks and teaching treasures to share with your kiddos. All you have to do is comment on this post and tell me why you want to attend.

Of course, I would LOVE it if you would follow my FACEBOOK, and it would also be a FANTASTIC idea if you subscribed to the VIRTUAL TEACHING EXPO NEWSLETTER (good stuff, click the name to take you there) so you keep up to date on the latest training opportunities, BUT all you have to do to enter is simply post in the comment box and answer my question. 

Easy peasy!!

I will draw three names Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. central standard time. Make sure you include your email address. Remember, you will earn a professional development certificate with credited hours for participating in the training. How cool is that?!

So, do you have off on Monday? I will post my penguin day pictures on Monday after the giveaway is over. It was so much fun, minus the stomach issues but I am not complaining. J  Everything Kindergarten Expo Launches Jan 28th 2012. Pre-register for only $14.95. View at your own convenience! Goodie bag included! 

Good luck! 

Monday Funday???

Okay, that title is lame but I couldn't think of anything fabulous. 

Oh, Monday. How I loathe love you. J Actually today was really good. You never know about Mondays though. Sometimes the kids are so tired and cranky it puts me in a bad mood but not today. We had TPRI this morning. My kids felt good about what they did. We have a team come in and test, which is really nice. Wait a minute…be right back…

Yay! I just went and checked out the scores. They did really well, in my opinion at least. They improved so much. Awesome!

Anywho, here are a few of our centers we are working on this week, from my Snowman Unit. 

I LOVE our Winter Unit. I think it is my favorite because I LOVE penguin day. I think the kids are so cute when they dress up in black and white and we waddle around all day. This will be on Friday.We will also eat gold fish and do the blubber experiment. I will post instructions along with pictures and an experiment response sheet this weekend.  I usually write my “How to make a snowman” chart with my class during this unit and they write a “how to” piece but since it hasn’t been cold outside, I think I will save that ditty for another week. 

Well, that’s all I got for now. I had an crazy productive weekend so I am spent today. I will see ya later alligator. (I know you are saying it, aren’t you? …After while crocodile! HAHA!)

Art Center 

Writing Center: Winter Words in a Snowman Book

These are super easy to make. Just take a notepad cover and  cut out plain white copy paper in squares for the pages. No copies necessary. 

Can I get an AMEN?!

Sight Word Center, Roll a sight word. 

 Magnetic Center-see the little clipboard? After they make the words with magnets, they have to write them too and then read them to each other.

 

These are from my Snowman Unit 

Write the Room Center 

For fine motor, they are writing on magnadoodles this week. 

 This is a story map we made from the book Hibernation Station today. It was full of problems and solutions for us discuss. These animals were a hot mess. LOL! It was a good story for us to map. 

What a cute book!

On a completely not school related  note, I would just like to say that not all bloggers are created equal...some are cray-cray! Are you watching the Bachelor this season? Bless that poor blogger chic's little heart but she has a few screws loose folks. I mean, OMGoodness. There just aren't words. 

P.S. I am too tired to proof read this post, lol. So, I will tell you what I tell my sweet students "You get what you get and you appreciate it!" HAHA!

Have a great week!!