A Snippet

The dictionary defines a snippet as a small piece or brief extract.  That's what I am hoping to share this year through this blog--little pieces of what we do in our Kindergarten classroom.  Nothing too profound and serious--this is Kindergarten, after all. Nothing to sell. I can't compete with what's already out there!  I'm just a teacher sharing part of her day in hopes that maybe it will inspire you.  Thanks for stopping by and sharing the journey.

Since it's winter, here's a winner, winner, chicken dinner activity that my Kinders loved!  Ice cube painting! We didn't get very fancy.  Just added some food coloring to water and froze with plastic wrap on top.  After about 30 minutes in the freezer I poked through the plastic wrap to add some craft sticks.  

Q-tip prewriting practice

Today I want to give a shout-out to 3 Dinosaurs.  SO MANY FREE printables!  And such fun ones.  I just saved a bunch of Q-tip prewriting sheets for my littles who need extra practice with fine motor control. Tasks like this make learning fun!

Love me some yard sales!

Community yard sales!  A teacher's dream!  Potential classroom additions for mere quarters.  Who can resist?  I had limited time this morning, but pleasantly snagged these goodies for my classroom.  Brings teacher smiles to my face and I know my Kindies and firsties will be smiling when I pull them out, too!

Love this adorable penguin for our Brrr!  It's Cold polar regions theme.  I can't say no to a cute stuffed animal, especially with a 50 cent price tag!

So, this was my big splurge at $2, but judging by how much my son is enjoying playing with it, I think it will be a winner.  This will be a great hands-on activity for our space theme.  I'm glad I work at a school where playing is still allowed and even encouraged!

My last find--the perfect read-aloud for teaching about voice levels and only a quarter!

Wee Care

We had a blast creating these cards with our fingerprints--details added with some fine-tip markers.  Each student made their own cards and signed their name on the back of the card.  We sold the cards after our spring concert and used the proceeds to purchase needed items from ADRA's Really Useful Gift Catalog to make a difference for those less fortunate.

Themes

Themes, themes, how I love themes! If the truth be told, being able to teach thematically is probably one of my favorite parts of teaching Kindergarten.  I am so thankful to work for a school that has instituted thematic instruction.  We are using Kendall-Hunt's Stepping Stones curriculum that has everything integrated--Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Bible (I'm blessed to teach at a faith-based school), P.E., Music and Art. We started off the year with themes like Let's Be Friends and Who's My Neighbor.  Other favorite themes focus on the forest, polar regions, the human body, pioneer life and the rain forest.  Here are a few of the goodies I purchased for our rain forest (I'm on a Mission) theme.

The kids loved these!  The rubber stamps were just adorable and the Playmobile set was so popular.  What themes do your little ones love?

Newsletter

I admit it!  I have blog envy.  After a frustrating day of looking at fancy blog designs and wistfully wishing I had the ability to create one and not wanting to shell out the money to pay someone to do it for me, I decided to get back to something useful and update my classroom newsletter for next year.  I took some of the ideas from the fancy blog designs and came up with this in Word.  I think I like it...what do you think?

So.....

After blog stalking for the past three years, I've decided to start my own blog.  I'm so thankful for the many teachers out there who have so generously shared from their heart and classrooms and I'm hoping to share part of my teaching journey.  I taught for five years before staying home to be with my kids and now I am back in the classroom.  The last three years I've been teaching in a Kindergarten classroom and this next year I will be teaching in a Kindergarten/1st grade classroom.