Five for Friday!

 One more week closer to SPRING BREAK!

Teacher Appreciation Week! 

This week was teacher appreciation week at my school! My kinder-babes showered me with love, flowers, tangerines, sparkling water, Starbucks, and babybel cheese! This job is always worth it - teaching the little ones is probably one of the few jobs where you can SEE the affect you have and see the results of your hard work.  That being said, when we work the crazy hours we do and expel all the energy we can into our school and kids, teacher appreciation week makes you feel even more special! Our PTA was AMAZING this week - everyday we were shown how much we were appreciated in our teacher's lounge! I am lucky to have such loving and giving parents at my school!!! 

A New Student! 

I got a NEW student this week! That officially makes 24 kinders... 24 kinders and a TA in my room for an hour each day (AT MOST). It's a little crazy here in NC and it's even crazier in my classroom. 

(If I get many more, I'm liable to run out of cubbies! Yikes!)

 Bugs, Bugs, BUGS!

This week was all about BUGS in my class! We read so many non-fiction and fiction books, sang songs, did bug dances (so FUNNY), observed bugs (dead ones), created and wrote about bugs, and then CREATED our own bug! It was such a fun week! Really, how many topics do you get to teach where you get daily "ewwwwwww"s?? Amphibian week is next week - if you've got any good information that will get some eww's out of them, let me know :)

 Boosterthon Fun Run! 

Boosterthon starts NEXT week! Does your school do the Fun Run?? We L.O.V.E. it here! The students raise money for our school, while earning fun prizes and RUNNING in the Fun Run! PLUS, teachers get to keep 10% of all money their class earned to spend on their classroom! It completely rocks!! Check it out and get it at your school ~ they're everywhere! www.boosterthon.com 
(I promise I don't work for the boosterthon, I just LOVE it!)

Counting Down!

Countdown to spring break: 35 days! I can't wait to get myself to Chicago for vacation!! On a side note, I am SO thankful that the winter weather skipped my world here in NC - no more make up days please! 

Dr. Seuss Week - Part 2

Oobleck. 

Oobleck is kind of messy. Really, really messy. Like...wow. And then, even when you clean it up, there is a white powdery layer on all your tables. Really. 

But, guess what? I LOVED it! And the kids LOVED it! And I will make be making oobleck with my littles next year, and the year after, and the year after, etc., etc. forever and ever. The end.

And I'm sure when I clean the tables for the third fourth time tomorrow, the powdery look will be gone. Right? 

Here's what we did:

1. Read Bartholomew and the Oobleck - stop reading around the time everyone in the book is REALLY concerned about the Oobleck and how it is sticking to everything! 
2. I gave each group of kids (4-5 kids in each group)
• 1 bowl
• 1 spoon
• 1 paper drinking cup
• 1 box of cornstarch
3. In each group, I assigned the kids a number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) so that when I told the students a step to do, I also said a number so that there would be NO FIGHTING!
4. We dumped the cornstarch in the bowl
5. We got one cup of water and poured it in
6. We got a second cup of water and poured it in
7. We attempted to mix it with a spoon
8. Step 6 was an epic failure so I picked a number and told that kiddo to mix with their hands [oh, BOY were they excited!]
9. Then I told the kiddos to take turns mixing with their hands (screams and yippee's all around)
10. Then they got to PLAY! ["Keep your hands over the tables and please try not to make too much of a mess..." - feel free to say this; I did. Also be prepared for your pleas to go unanswered.]
11. While they were playing, I went around and talked about how the Oobleck feels, what it's like, etc. (I made sure to hit on that it feels hard at the bottom but if you pick it up, it liquifies!)

Then we tried to clean up (emphasis on tried). We talked about adjectives and words we could use to describe the oobleck [messy, hard, soft, gooey, slimy] and reviewed HOW we made it. We wrote how-to's on this snazzy paper, then finished reading the book!  (click on the picture to get the paper!)

Dr. Seuss Week - Part 1!

Dr. Seuss week has BEGUN! Is it possible to be a kindergarten teacher and NOT love Dr. Seuss?? Today, we had hat day, read The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, and Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! We "wrote the room" with the letters in "CAT IN THE HAT" and we did THIS:

I found the most ADORABLE directed drawing from the Fairy Dust Teaching blog (THANK YOU) and we drew the Cat in the Hat today! Since we are currently learning all about writing how-to's, this was perfect! 

To get my how-to writing paper for the Cat in the Hat, click here. 

Check out these cuties: 

Thanks for stopping by!! 

~Stephanie