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Saturday, May 11, 2013

BUTTERFLY CELEBRATION

Each year, I look forward to the time we observe the Lifecycle of the Butterfly. The children enthusiastically marvel at the magical transformation with such wonder and JOY!
It reminds me of their own transformation this year, and just as a time comes to let the butterflies go, I too, will have to let my KinderCuties go as well. It is such an exciting time, but yet, so bittersweet!
 
 


The KinderCuties loved all of the fancy words they learned this month, such as transformation, metamorphosis and chrysilas. Their favorite word, however, was PROBOSCIS. They especially loved using a "proboscis" for their nectar.

 
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Monday, May 6, 2013

Pirate Day



TREASURE HUNT
 

After reading, Pirates Go To School, the Kinder Cuties wrote about what they learned in kindergarten this year.
 


KinderCuties were engineers designing Boats That Float from recycled materials.

 
 
 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

"SCENTSY" Science




Often times, my best teaching ideas come from my students. Today I introduced some new science labs for my sweeties. One of the new labs was called Sink or Float. As I was scrambling to find items last night to put in the labs, I grabbed a couple of my Scentsy candle wax cubes from out of my desk drawer and stuck them in, thinking "Hey, they float... so why not?" Besides, I had a TON of them since I am always warming them in class. Little did I know what a stir they would create the next day.

Shortly after my morning KinderCuties got all situated in their labs, I noticed one of my little cuties in the Sink or Float Lab, savoring the smells from the Scentsy cubes. He literally was melting as he delighted in the different fragrances (left side photo).  Conducting experiments with the water, which is usually a HUGE HIT with KinderCuties, had no magic for him, but those scented bars? Well, he was OVER THE MOON for them. He was describing the smells in this lab notebook and talking endlessly about how each smell reminded him of a past experience. Soon, he wanted more...so I opened up my desk drawer and revealed my stash and he went CRAZY.

Once I saw what a hit the Scentsy wax cubes were and how much they motivated this little sweetie, I KNEW I needed to make a Scentsy LAB. By the time the afternoon class got here, my sweet little college helper, Miss Jordan, had the new labs ready for the afternoon cuties (right side photos).




Monday, April 1, 2013

Diffendoofer Day (April Fool's Day)



Started by Dr. Seuss, finished by Jack Prelutsky, and illustrated by Lane Smith, Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
is a joyous ode to individuality starring unsinkable teacher Miss Bonkers and the quirky Diffendoofer School.

I like to read this book for April Fool's Day. I encourage the children to dress zany...inside-out, backwards, etc and
come to school for a day of Diffendoofer Style Learning. To set the mood, I turn the table upside- down and take
 the chairs out of the room. One of my favorite activities during the day is the SILLY SIGHT WORD SEARCH.
I found the idea on PINTEREST (big surprise)! The children LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this vocabulary builder!
Try it... I  bet you'll love it, too!



SILLY SIGHT WORD SEARCH

Each cutie wears a sight word on their forehead and carries a clipboard with the names of everyone in the class on it.
The object is to write the sight word the student is wearing next to their name on their list.




Follow my DIFFENDOOFER DAY board on PINTEREST
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Sunday, March 17, 2013

YEAH!!!!! My BLOG is READY!!!

I feel like a little girl at Christmas. I have been wanting to have a BLOG to share with my KinderCuties and my college students for such a long time, but finding the time to get it all designed and organized was  IMPOSSIBLE!  That is, until SHANNON'S ANGELS came along.

The first angel to help in this process was my friend, Kristi. Kristi helped me organize my thoughts and channel my enthusiasm. Mind you, this is no small feat, but Kristi is a patient and faithful visionary genius. She talked me through all of my ideas and kept me focused.

The next angel to help was Melanie at Melonheadz Illustrating. Melanie designed the CUSTOM CLIPART of my kinders and me. The kinder clip art is PERFECT! Melanie used photos of my actual KinderCuties dressed up during some of their favorite thematic units. The details are AMAZING!

The third and final angel to come to my rescue was Erika from The Honey Bunch. Erika worked her magic and put it all together. She took my love of doodles, squiggles, black & white polka dots and Disney, and made it all come to life. I couldn't be more excited about how it all turned out!

 I am so grateful to all three angels and the time, love and energy they each put into helping me make this BLOG come to life!  Thanks, angels!


Lost In Space

 
"WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD!"
World; Earth Day
This is one of my very favorite Kinder-Craftivities.
It makes me smile deep in my heart every time I look at it
and every time I listen to my KinderCuties 'sing and sign' the song.
 
 
 "SODA POP ROCKET BLASTING"
Mr. Botten VS Mr. Moffat
 
Oops! Run, Mr. B., RUN!

My KinderCuties and I took cover from the SODA SHOWER!

Mr. Botten and the boys pondered what went wrong.

Mr. Moffat gave out HIGH FIVES to the crowd.
 
KinderCuties recorded their observations.


 
  
 
 "ALIENS ... SAVE THE WORLD"


 
 
 
 
"BRAIN WORK....MAKE AN ALIEN" 


The KinderCuties designed an alien at home with their families and brought it to school.
Then, they wrote stories about the adventures it took in space.
 
 
 
 
"KINDERCUTIE ASTRONAUTS...LOST IN SPACE"
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
"KINDERCUTIES EXPLORING SPACE" 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 




"ELA & MATH SPACE ACTIVITIES"
 
Vowel Tally
 
  
 
 
Postcards from Space
 

 
 


Moon Facts with Glow in the Dark Moons

The children LOVED the story "No Moon, No Milk",
and the REALLY LOVED Jack Hartman's version of the song "Hey Diddle Diddle!"
 
Short Vowel Sorting
 
Moon Tally

 
Roll, Add and Cover
 

Alien Tally
 
Data Charts
Measuring
 
Add caption



 
 
 
 
"TPT RESOURCES"
 
 Alien Invasion Math and Literacy Fun
 

Space Math and Literacy Fun

Label It Space!
 
 
Out of This World {Common Core Based MATH activities}
 
 
Out of this World Space Math 
 
 
 


 

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