Gingerbread Men Are Coming To Town! FLIPCHART FREEBIE!

Gingerbread Men will be filling my classroom and lessons starting next week. I love this unit! To get things started I created this Gingerbread Man Attendance Flipchart for my students. We use the slate and ActivInspire since we don't have a promethean board, but I hope you guys can use this too.  Click on the Gingerbread Man to download your free flipchart~ (If you do not have ActivInspire software -or similar-this file will download but will not have a preview available.)

Enjoy!
Lisa

SUNSHINE AWARD!!!

I've received the SUNSHINE AWARD!

Here are the rules for accepting this award:

1. Thank the person who gave this award and write a post about it.
2. Answer the following questions below.
3. And pass the award to 10~12 fabulous bloggers, link their blogs and let them know you awarded them.

1. Thanks so much to Dee of Over The MoonBow Blog  for awarding me the Sunshine Award! It really means a lot:)

2. My answers to the questions:

Favorite color?  BLUE

Favorite animal? Dog

Favorite number? 14

Favorite drink? iced Chai Tea

Facebook or Twitter? Facebook

Your passion? my kids

Giving or getting presents? Most definitely giving presents!

Favorite day? First day of SPRING!



3. These are some of the blogs who have provided me with hours of browsing for ideas and a gold mine of resources.


1.  Donna at Kinderglynn


2.  Amy at Whooo Loves Kindergarten?


3.  Julie at Ms. Lee's Kindergarten


4.  DeeDee at Mrs.Wills Kindergarten


5.  Fran at Kindergarten Crayons


6.  Crystal at  Kreative in Kinder




7.  Kathleen at  Growing Kinders




8.  Joni at Laughing and Learning with Kinderkids




9.  Maggie at Maggie's Kinder Corner Blog




10.  Katy at Kindergarten Katy

CYBER MONDAY---Starts TODAY!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed your time with families. With all the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I thought I'd start my sale early to give you all chance to save big and browse leisurely through my TPT store. I've marked everything down 20% from now until Monday!
Happy Holidays!
Lisa

                          20% TPT SALE!!!!!

Join Me for CYBER MONDAY SALES!

TPT and I are throwing a big sale on Cyber Monday (11/28) and we'd love for you to enjoy the 1000's of products that will be on sale.  Save time and money on classroom items for the upcoming holidays and more! Click HERE or on the SALE icon to get started. 

Turkey Fun! Measurement Unit

Next week we will be reading A Turkey for Thanksgiving, and decorating a turkey with a sign that says "Eat More.....". We'll also be having our Corn Feast and creating turkey headbands to wear at the feast. I'll be reading "Turkey Trouble" and students will identify the problem and solution. So with all that turkey fun planned, all I was missing was some  Turkey Fun Math.  Since we're working on measuring using non-standard units-I created this new file. Click on the Turkey to download for FREE!  It's a great addition to my Gobbling Good Thanksgiving Literacy Unit too!

I hope you guys can use and enjoy it with your students too!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lisa

Gobble Up Some Goodies Giveaway!

It's  a Gobble, Up Some Goodies GIVEAWAY! One of my favorite things about blogging is meeting and interacting with amazing teachers from across the United States. I have teamed up with a few of my blogger buddies to host a bountiful giveaway just in time for Thanksgiving.  We are all thankful for you and the support that you have given us on our blogs, pinterest, TPT, facebook, etc.
It’s quite simple to enter. All you have to do is follow each person’s blog and TPT store. Write a comment for each person you follow and a comment once you follow everyone’s TPT store.… That’s 9 chances to win. ( 8 chances for each blog + 1 for following every TPT store)
Write a comment for each blog and TPT store you follow and get a BONUS entry if you blog about this giveaway on your blog or facebook page!
Giveaway ends Tuesday, November 15^h, 2011 at 8 p.m. eastern time. The winners will be announced on Tuesday Evening!!
Click on each picture to take you to each blog! WHEN YOU GET TO THE LAST STOP...LEAVE ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS. THE “WINNER” will be chosen from Mrs. Freshwater’s Class.
Directions:

• Click on each picture, go to the blog and start following.
• Click on each TPT page and begin following.
• Return HERE and leave comments for each blog and one stating you follow everyone’s TPT.
• If you blog about this giveaway or post on FB. Leave link in a comment for a extra BONUS

Additional Point:

Follow all 8 TPT Stores and leave a comment:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Melissa-Freshwater

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Donna-Glynn-Kinderglynn/Products

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Erica-Bohrer

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Michelle-Oakes/

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Over-The-MoonBow

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Doodle-Bugs-Teaching

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Katie-Mense

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lisa-Morrow/Products

THE “WINNER” will be chosen from Mrs. Freshwater’s Class.

Don’t forget to leave your comments!!!!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

(That’s Good Luck in Turkey)

Gobbling Good Thanksgiving Literacy Centers

I've been home for two days enjoying my Fall Break, which totally got me into the Thanksgiving holiday mode. So I created a few of my students favorites. My students LOVE Write The Room. This is our Friday literacy center each week. You can see my Thanksgiving Write and Stamp the Room and my Gobbling Good Thanksgiving CVC center here.

Hope you and your students enjoy these activities as much as we do!
Happy Fall~!

My OBSESSION!

Have you ever become so obsessed with something you "need" for your classroom that you can't stop looking for it? Well here's my obsession. I've decided I need one of these overalls pocket charts-which of course have been discontinued. I've almost gotten lucky twice with two teachers who thought they had an old one laying around. So - here's my last ditch effort. Does anyone have one they aren't using -and wants to part with it? Please let me know.

What's your obsession?    :)

Greet with Lots of Treats Giveaway!

Greet with Lots of Treats Giveaway!

Hello Everyone!

This giveaway is a chance for you to Meet and Greet some new blogging friends as well as re-visit some Spooktacular blogs you may already follow! 12 Great treats to win! Easy as Pie to enter. All you have to do is follow each blog and TPT store and leave a comment that you have done so. Bonus Entry you blog about this giveaway!!

Kindergarten Smiles Blog

Kindergarten Smiles TPT Store

Mrs. Freshwater's Blog

Mrs. Freshwater's TPT Store

Kinderland Blogspot

Kinderland TPT Store

Little Warrior's Blog

Little Warrior's TPT Store

Doodle Bugs Teaching Blog

Doodle Bugs TPT Store

Growing Kinders Blog

Growing Kinders TPT Store

Mrs. Jump's Blog

Mrs. Jump's TPT Store

Fabulous in First Blog

Fabulous in First TPT Store

Kreative in Kinder Blog

Kreative in Kinder TPT Store

First Grade Fever Blog

First Grade Fever TPT Store

Kinderglynn Blog

Kinderglynn TPT Store

There are 12 chances to win!

Write a comment for each blog/store you follow and and EXTRA BONUS entry if you blog about this giveaway on your blog or facebook page!

Have a great time!

Giveaway ends Saturday night at 10:00 eastern standard time.

The winner will be announced on Sunday!!

Good Luck!

FROG DOTS

Last year I began making "frog dots" under the beginning of each new word on my morning message charts and eventually in the small readers my students were using in guided reading. It helped the students with one to one matching and left to right progression so much that I also began making my own sight word readers with these dots.  (We call them frog dots becasue I tell the students they are hopping from one word to the next!) :)
Today I bought two 3/16 dowels and cut them into 4 inch pieces. I then stuck bumper pads (Purchased at a local craft store) onto one end to create "frog dot" stampers for each of my students to use. I'm thinking this will be an added activity for the beginning readers in small groups to identify where to begin reading and one to one matching of words.
Here's where you can find one of the 7 sight word readers I have listed on TPT.
 Here's a picture of how they came out. Hope some of you can use this idea as well!

Happy Teaching!
Lisa

Shapes Are Everywhere!

We've been working on shapes the past two weeks in my class. One of the other kindergarten teachers I work with came up with a cute idea that I used today. She filled a birthday bag with party "supplies".  I sat down and  began telling a story about a birthday party I was planning for my friend. First I took out the balloon-and told the children I had bought balloons for my friends party, then the party hat-because you have to have party hats at a birthday party, ice cream cone, and sprinkles...etc. After hyping up each item I also asked students to tell me what shape it was. After we had gone through all of the items in the bag I explained that shapes are everywhere. (You could use other items such as a can of frosting, a box of cake mix, etc.)
We then proceeded to sort the pieces in my Shapes Are All Around Us Pocket Chart Sort found here.   I ran mine on  Avery 3270 Magnetic Sheets. 
Here's a picture of the Birthday Bag! It was such a fun, practical way to demonstrate shapes to my class. Hope your class enjoys this too.

ESGI SOFTWARE!!! (Educational Software For Guiding Instruction)

I am so excited to be using this new software that I felt I really had to share. On many of the teacher's groups I belong to there was a lot of talk about how wonderful ESGI software is. Of course I had to check it out. I've been using the free software for ParentConferences and the ClassManagementTools, and love them. The ClassManagementTools is one of those tools I'd rather not be without. I create all of my nameplates and cubby tags quickly, and easily with this software-but it offers much more.

Back to the ESGI software- SAVES TIME! Need I say more. I know we are all swamped with trying to keep up with paperwork and assessing. With ESGI assessing is paperless, simplified and my favorite part-the students don't see you recording "correct" or "incorrect" answers. It's amazing, but even if they can't read they know when we are marking an incorrect answer.

Check out the softward yourself, and download the free 60 day trial by clicking the ESGI logo.  I'm in the processing of working out a giveaway on my blog from ESGI. Stay posted for more info on how to win!
Click here to

Rules, Rules!

We've been creating our classroom rules this week and reading stories to reinforce them. I came across a book that we made a couple of years ago. Do I Go To Your School  I spiral bound mine at the top. It's a great book to reinforce manners and helpfulness in your room too. Click on the title to get your FREE copy.

Enjoy!
Lisa

Back to School and Back to Blogging!

Whew, it's been a whirlwind but I'm back. I'm sure you can all relate to the beginning of the year "excitement" -trying to get all those great ideas we collected over the summer into place in our classrooms. One of my many goals this year was to create a "Number Corner". The more I thought about the components I wanted to include the bigger the "corner" grew. So, I now have an entire Number Bulletin Board. Ok- I actually have a large bulletin board and an overflow one too.
Below  is a picture of the components I added at this point- I have a feeling I'll squeeze in more as the year goes on. Two of my favorite components from last year are the birthday bags and the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow bears. A friend from a teacher group shared them with me last year and my kids loved them.
In the Birthday Bags I place a cupcake calendar piece with students birth dates on them, and a month poem/song. The first day of the month I open the bag and make a big production out of who's name we might find in it, and we share and read the poem. I then post the poem on my calendar.
The YTT Bears are just so cute! I place a small piece of velcro above each bears head and another piece behind each hat. One hat says yesterday, another tomorrow, them finally today. Throughout the year I use baseball hats, cowboy hats, and warm, winter hats. The students love this!
 The all about numbers bulletin board set can be found here : http://classic.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Numbers-Pocket-Chart

 I hope my bulletin board inspires you as much as so many others' have inspired mine.
Happy Teaching,
Lisa

Get your  FREE Days Of The Week BEARS HERE:

Get your FREE Days Of The Week Monkey's Created by RUTH HERE:

Thank you to RUTH for sharing her talents with all of us!

Back To School SALE!!!

Back to school I go this week! I'm excited to start another year, but we all know this is also our busiest time of year. (Ok-as teacher's we really never stop..but back to school is even busier.) :)
I'm throwing a sale on my Teacher's Pay Teacher's site.  Grab those last minute items now through Wednesday and SAVE 10% on many of my items.

                       Save 10% now!

A-Z Write The Room

Last year in January I started using write and stamp the room activities with my students. This became part of our Friday routine. My students worked so well in small groups writing and stamping the room, that I created different write and stamp the room activities for the rest of the year. I also decided to create A-Z write and stamp the room sheets to begin using this fall.
While this teaches my students independence and reinforcing copying and handwriting skills, it also allowed me time to pull individual students for conferences or just to catch up on something with them.
HUGE success in my room, and the kids LOVED this activity.

Alphabet and Sight Word Activities to Start The Year!

Here are a couple of things I use for homework with my kindergarten class. We introduce two letters and two sight words per week. On Monday's and Wednesday's I assign an Alphabet Circle Map Sort for the  two letters. On those days I also send students home wearing their Sight Word Crowns! They are so funny wearing their crowns proudly home! I usually have the crowns premade ahead of time, and have students color the crowns for morning work. I added shapes to the crowns this year to practice patterns and shapes too. These have been successful in my room-and I hope you can use them as well!
:)
Lisa

Find the AlphaSorts Activities for the whole year here!

Sight Word Crowns for the year can be found here!

Numbers and Counting

Well, I'm counting down til we head back to school August 4th! Summer is flying by!
I'm planning to incorporate a Number Corner/Calendar Math Bulletin Board this year.  The Bridges and Number Corner website  has some great ideas and materials. While I won't be able use all of the elements of the Number Corner, I will be using the calendar pieces. Here is the link to the preview of the teacher's guide. http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/preview/b0/bknctg-1    I'm really hoping the calendar pieces will present us with opportunities for  math talks and mini lessons.
I've created some number cards for the top of my Number Corner bulletin board. You can download them below.
One of the components I'm definitely adding to my Number Corner in addition to the calendar pieces is ten frames. As we count each day I'll be adding a dot to a blank ten frame. I've created number writing and counting books 0 to 20 for students to practice this skill also. Please check them out below.


0-20 Number Cards Freebie!



My Counting and Writing Books 11-20

My Counting and Writing Books 1-10

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Cube Words and ABC's

My theme for this year is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. There has a lot of discussion about using photo cubes in the classroom.  So, I bought some cubes and have created some cards to insert inside of them for my class. I'll be using the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom alphabet and sight word cards during morning meetings and small group time. I think my kids will love this! Hope your's do too!

Get your cubes here!

Get it here!

Ten Frame Addition and Subtraction

Last school year I used my pattern block "triangles" for shark teeth to go along with one of Heidi Butkus' math projects. My kids loved it . So I figured why not use the "square" pieces with a ten frame mat to practice and visualize addition and subtraction problems. I'm going to make a class set on cardstock and laminate them. Here's what I came up with.It's simple but I think it will be useful! 

Click Here to Download!

Welcome!

 After much thought and consideration about joining the blogging world, I've decided to give it a whirl. Some of you guys make it look so easy. However after a day of just trying to figure out how to start the blog spot and figuring out how to edit fonts and font colors- I have a new found respect for you.  Bare with me as I muddle through this new technological adventure.

 I return to the classroom officially August 4th. Do you think I'll figure this out by then?

 I look forward to sharing our kindergarten experiences together.

Happy Teaching,
Lisa Morrow