Goodbye Static Electricity!

Why does it always happen that I get so busy that I run out of time to post on my blog?  I feel so bad that it has been so long---AGAIN!  But, here I am apologizing and wishing I had done a better job of keeping up.  I am going to try my darndest to keep going and be more consistent.  I always have the best intentions--I promise!

Anyway, the reason for this blog is to share with you what I feel like is a very important tip!  Get ready, because I feel like this has changed my life (well, not really, but it is still good to know info)!

Here is Helpful Hint #367:
Ever have a terrible time cutting out lamination because of static electricity?  Especially in the winter time--oh my goodness!  That stuff is everwhere, and my husband finds it all over the house. Honestly, I think it's worse than finding Christmas tree needles on the floor in the house 6 months after Christmas! 
I was racking my brain trying to think about how I could stop the static.  I tried rubbing dryer sheets all over my scissors and lamination, but that proved to be a ditch effort.  So, I was in Target one day, on the laundry aisle, and I spotted a can of Static Guard.  I thought to myself, oh well, why not try it and see what happens?  Well, lo and behold, it worked like a charm! All you have to do is lightly spray over the front and back side of your lamination AND the scissors.  It works great!

Check out the pic, just so you can see what the can looks like.

By the way, isn't that a super cute leprechaun 10 frame game?  Got it as a freebie on TPT!

So long for now--let me know if you have any other great ideas for getting the  static out of the lamination.  For now, for me, it's Static Guard to the rescue!

Snowman Making Words Activity

Today's post is a really short one:

I think this activity was one of my favorites so far this year. We did a snowman making words lesson, but we also made a snowman!  I have done the making words part of the lesson for years, but my fabulous new teaching partner, Annie, made this cute snowman  pattern, and I just had to do it too!  The kids really enjoyed making their snowmen, and once we finished making the words, they got to glue the letters onto his hat.  Here are a couple of pictures of the finished products.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow!  It's amazing to me how time flies when you are staying busy!  I cannot believe how long it's been since my last post, but the holidays were super busy for me.  Hopefully I can slow down some and post more in the upcoming weeks and months. 

I wanted to share a super cute New Year's activity we did this week.  I can't take full credit, because I got the idea from a fellow blogger.  Her blog is called The Sharpened Pencil, so check it out if you get a chance!  Anyway, we made these little faces with party hats, then added a party horn.  On the hat we wrote our New Year's Resolutions.  First, we discussed what resolutions are, and many of the kids had heard their parents talk about them.  We have been working really hard at my school this year on increasing our vocabulary, so instead of writing, "My goal is...", we wrote, "I resolve to..."  Everytime we use big words in our school, we all say, "WORD!" and hold up 3 fingers to make a "W".  It's been really neat to see their vocabularies increase, especially in kinder.  Our favorite word by far in my class has been "savvy."  Everyone just loves this word and they use it in their writing almost daily!  Ok...so I diverted a little...back to our projects.  I am going to post several pictures so you can get an idea of how they turned out.

My bulletin board out in the pod...

                            Carter said, "I resolve to be a better basketball player."

                                           Neil said, "I resolve to be a better brother."
                                         

                                        Adam said, "I resolve to not lose a puzzle piece."

                  Calah said, "I resolve to be the best tiny titan in the school!

It's kind of hard to see the background of the hats, but I used scrapbook paper, and the hats were really cute.  I hate that you can't see the prints very well...

My next post will be a super cute making words activity we did this week.  Stay tuned...

Iphone Buddies!

Oh my word!  Is fall flying by or what?  I can't believe that October has come and gone, and now November is in full swing, with Thanksgiving just around the corner!  I have to share with you a fabulous idea that I tried in my class this week. Our school is really focusing on cooperative learning techniques, especially Kagan strategies, so when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I instantly loved it.  Like I said, I first saw it on Pinterest, then I heard about another teacher in my district trying it, so I decided to try it too.  Here's how I did it.  I got a template for an "iphone" from another teacher who googled the image to get it. Then I copied 9 sets of my students faces.  The pics are tiny because the iphones are close to actual size, so I got 4 class sets of pics on a single page.  Then, the hardest part was grouping my students into partners.  Since the iphone has 9 "apps" or "buttons" on it, the students will have 9 different partners on their iphones.  I just made sure that the students were paired accordingly, and I watched out for those little ones who perhaps didn't need to be together, if you know what I mean!  It took me about an hour and a half to get all the little pictures glued on--I did it while watching the election returns! 

Once I had them made, I laminated them and cut them out.  This week, I explained to the students how the iphone buddies works.  When it's time to do partner work, I'll choose an "app" and the students will go to the partner whose picture corresponds with that app.  I was totally shocked at how easily they figured out who their partners were!  And, not only did they find their first partner, which happened to be their "facebook" partner, they also quickly were looking to see who their "google" partner, "yahoo" partner, "angry birds" partner, etc. would be.  I even heard one student say that it was the best day ever!  The next couple of days went just as well.  So, I really loved using this technique, and I think you would love it too!  The kids looked so cute carrying around their little iphones and working with their partners on their math problem solving journals.  They store them in their seat sacks for easy access.  (I also made a copy of each student's iphone--just in case one gets lost!)

Here are a couple of pics of our little iphones.  Enjoy!  If you would like the template, just email me and I can send it to you.  One day soon I hope to learn how to add a link to my google docs! (lynnebrhodes@gmail.com)

Go Fish!

Kids love to go fishing, and this cute little game will let them practice naming their shapes (otherwise referred to as two-dimensional geometric figures in my school district!), numbers to 35, and also subitizing sets of numbers to 10.  I love this game because my little ones love to use my magnetic fishing pole. It's like practicing with flash cards, only more fun!  Here are a couple of pics from the free game I created.

 

If you'd like to download this game, just click on the link below:

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Go-Fish-Workstation-FREEBIE

 

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever

Last week, we did a super fun literacy activity.  First, we read the book, The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll.  I love this book!  After we read it, we made a Venn diagram.  This book is great for compare/contrast, so it really lends itself well to a Venn diagram.  We have really been focusing a lot on vocabulary at our school this year, and I was amazed at how many of our vocabulary words we used just in this one activity (infer, evaluate, analyze, character, plot, and summarize--just to name a few!) 

 

In this book, there are two characters, Clayton and Desmond.  One is a house mouse and one is a field mouse.  They both "fall in love" with the same pumpkin, but because one cares for it by day, and one cares for it by night, it takes a while for them to discover what's been going on.  My students really did well at comparing and contrasting the characters and events in this story. 

 

Below are a couple of pictures of the completed Venn diagram.

 

 

 

 

Happy Fall Y'all!

Happy fall everyone!  I just love this season--the weather is getting cooler but not too cold, it's football season, the colors are beautiful, and in kindergarten, all my little kinder friends are adjusting nicely to life in "big school." 

 I am so blessed to have the best parents in the world to help me.  I asked for some moms to help me decorate my door and wall, and several moms came and spent the entire day working on it!  I just LOVE my Rock Star Scarecrow!
Check out the pics:

 

On my team, we also decorate our wall going down the kinder hallway.  We sent home an "at-home parent child project" for our friends to work on.  They got a shape of a person on cardstock, and they were asked to use various materials to turn their person into a scarecrow.  We got back some of the cutest scarecrows--a Ninja scarecrow, a princess scarecrow, even a scarecrow with real lights that light up!  I was so impressed with each and every one we got back this year!  Check out our wall:

 

 

I can't believe that next week is the end of the first nine weeks.  The year is just zooming by!  Until next time...