Markdown Monday!

We made it through Monday!!!  Woot-woot!!  I don't know about you all, but Monday has always been the hardest day of the week for me!

Tonight I am linking up with Kelly and Kim's Kindergarten Kreations for their Markdown Monday linky party.  I am going to mark down two of the products my team and I will be using in the upcoming weeks. Each product will be marked down $1.00 for the entire week.

First up is the packet we will be using to introduce the concept of character and setting with our kinders.  This packet is full of activities that will help us determine if the kiddos understand the importance of matching up the character to the setting and vice versa.

Second is the packet of activities that will help us understand if our kinders can differentiate between the job of an author and an illustrator.  They will be doing various activities, including sorting the tools each would use, as well as drawing and labeling the tools an author/illustrator would use and writing about how they would use them.

For this week only, each activity packet is marked down $1.00, so make sure to grab a set before the price goes back up!!

Make sure to head on over to Kelly and Kim's Kindergarten Kreations to see who else has linked up for Markdown Monday.  Teachers from all grades and special areas link up, so you'll most likely find something that can work for you!

My kinders got to meet their 5th Grade Buddies for the first time today!  We will pair up with them throughout the year to do different activities, and our first was Reading on the Green, where we went outside with our Buddies and sat on our towels and blankets and got a chance to read to our Buddies and have them read to us.  It was so much fun, even if there was a very slight drizzle happening...we were rained out last week, so today was our Rain Date!!  :-)  Do your littles pair up with an older grade, or if you teach an older grade do they pair up with a younger grade?  I would LOVE to hear the different types of activities you do together!!

The Last Monday

Hello there!  Today is the last Monday of the school year that I have with students, and then one more Monday after that (EOY meetings, etc), then it's summer break time!!  This week I would like to focus on some of the things I do in my classroom at the end of the year, as well as some ideas others in my building do and those I found on Pinterest and really want to do...  :-)

One of the things I am doing for the first time this year is a kindergarten memory book.  I feel like, with the help of the Daily 5,  this year my kinders are more efficient about reading their sight words and using them in their writing.  So to try and encourage that to continue over the summer, I wanted them to have a book about them they could practice reading.  I needed it to have lots of simple words and sight words, as well as space for them to write about each page.  I wanted them to be able to put their favorite kindergarten memories down onto paper so they can revisit them again and again throughout the summer.  There is no set order on the pages, and we are working on a page or two a day in order to get it done by Friday!!  The first page is for a class photograph, but every other page can be a hand-drawn illustration.  Here are some photos of the pages we have done so far:

"Here I am on the carpet square with my homework."

This is the first page of the book, and they were told to write about themselves somewhere in our classroom.  I told them not to draw themselves at the playground or the cafeteria or at a special, because there are other pages for those.  In encouraged them to sound out their words when writing, to remember the main parts of a sentence, and to include lots of detail in their illustrations.

"I am in kindergarten.  I am at the computer center playing on abcmouse.com." 

I really enjoyed watching them share their thoughts and getting to see how far they've come with their writing and illustrating!!

"I am coloring a garden at the table."

The next page we completed was dedicated to our kindergarten teacher...ME!!  :-)

"My teacher is Miss Murphy.  She is the best."

"My teacher is Miss Murphy. She is teaching us math."

I seem to be bald in this picture....

The third page we worked on was a tribute to their 5th Grade Buddies, who have helped us do different activities throughout the year, and are graduating this week!!  We will miss them so much!!

"My 5th Grade Buddy is Shakira.  I love when they play with us."

"My 5th Grade Buddy is Neveah.  I liked when we did 100 Day stuff."

I'll post more pics of our books this week as we work on them.  If this is something you would be interested in doing with your littles, just follow the link below to my TPT store and get yourself a copy of my Kindergarten Memory Book.  There is even a code where you can send me and I will personalize a copy of the book so it is titled to fit your classroom!!

Our FABULOUS 5th Grade Buddies are coming up tomorrow for one more exciting project...making ice cream!!  Look for pictures of that activity later this week.

Don't forget that tomorrow is Book Talk Tuesday, the linky party hosted by Deanna Jump!!  Make sure to come back tomorrow and read all about one of my favorite children's literature books!!

The BIG TEST!

 Happy Monday all!!  For my neck of the woods, it looks like this might just end up being our 2nd full week of school since Christmas Break!  There is a rumor of more snow coming, but I choose to believe that it is only a rumor and we are done with snow and ready for spring!!

On Saturday, I had the most AWESOME opportunity!!  I went to the Read Aloud Delaware Conference, where the key-note speaker was Eric Litwin, the author of the awesome Pete the Cat books!!  I was BLOWN AWAY with how funny and engaging he is!  He has us all singing and dancing in our seats, and it was so much fun!  I was even able to get one of my books signed!!

He was such an amazing presenter!  I truly enjoyed his workshop, where we learned all about some BRAND-NEW characters he is coming out with in the summer of 2014!!  He is under strict contract obligations, so he asked us not to share any of his new stuff yet.  He also asked that no pictures, videos be taken during his presentation, except for one time where he let us record him performing his very first book I Love My White Shoes!  I CANNOT WAIT to show the video and the signed book to my littles on Monday!  They are going to love it!

I would highly recommend going to see him perform if you ever get the chance to!!





Last week our super-wonderful 5th Grade Buddies had to take our State Assessment, the MSA.  They had two days of Reading testing and two days of Math testing.  When I taught fourth grade, I remember how exhausting and stressful this test can be for the students and for the teachers!  Since our Buddies have done so very much this year to help us out, I wanted to take this opportunity to show them how much we appreciate them!  I made some simple treat tags with a small note of encouragement that I had my littles sign and taped them to a specific treat.  On Tuesday, we gave them Laffy Taffy.  Wednesday was NERDS, Thursday Gobstoppers, and Friday was Goldfish crackers.  My kinders hand-delivered the notes to their 5t Grade Buddies every day they tested last week.  I really think that both classes enjoyed the process!!

I am offering my treat tags up as a freebie, in case your littles partner with an older testing grade!  Just click on the picture to go to my TPT store and grab a copy for yourself!