Hanukkah Linky Party!

Happy Hanukkah!!  

With Hanukkah starting tonight! I wanted to share one of my hanukkah resources with you! 

These are two dice games! A Hanukkah roll and cover game as well as a Hanukkah Bump! These two games will help your students with their numbers 1-12. Hope you enjoy! 

An InLinkz Link-up

TPT Cyber Sale!

Wow! It has certainly been a busy month! The last couple of weeks have been busy preparing for Thanksgiving!

We accomplished so much in the last couple of weeks...

Leaf printed T-shirts

Pattern Shape Placemats and Turkeys

Indian Beaded Necklaces

I'm Thankful For... Written on Turkey Feathers

My students also made pinecone turkeys, Indian headdresses, pilgrim hats, and pilgrim bonnets. We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast! Check out some highlights!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is time to gear up for the holidays! Don't forget to checkout the TPT Cyber sale!

Trick or Treat Blog Hop!!

I just love Halloween! This awesome blog hop will get you in the trick or treating mood! Thank you to Rachael from The Classroom Game Nook  for hosting this blog hop! Each participating blogger will share with you a "trick" (trick of the trade) or a useful tip/technique they use in the classroom, a "treat" will also be shared which will be a limited time freebie AND a product giveaway!! Just click on the picture at the bottom of this post that says "click here to trick or treat to the next blog." You get to go "trick or treating" from blog to blog and gather all the freebie treats! If you start on my blog, and blog hop to the other participating blogs, you'll eventually come back to my blog and that is when you'll know that you have completed your "trick or treating" adventure! This blog hop will run from October 24-31. Enjoy and have fun!

I have 2 useful organization tricks that are very useful in the classroom. If you are looking for ways to  organize your things in a way that doesn't take a up a lot of space, then these 2 tricks are for you!

Classroom Materials Organization

First of all,  I have to give credit of this trick to my co-teacher! We used a over the door shoe organizer that was cut down to fit the cabinet door and I poked holes at the top with a hole punch for the hooks. We couldn't use the metal over the door hooks because then our cabinet wouldn't close properly, so we used command hooks and strips so it can stick on the door.

Teacher Resource Organization

My second organization tip has become very useful to me especially as I started out teaching. Instead of using a file cabinet to organize all my units of study. I use binders which are organized by the seasons (Fall, Winter, Spring/Summer). Within each binder are sheet protectors where worksheets, center activities, examples of projects, and master copies are kept in an organized manner. I have found that organizing my resources this way is great especially when moving to a new grade level, a new classroom or moving schools.

Freebie!!

I am featuring a band new product in my store! It will be free for a limited time during this blog hop so get it while you can! This freebie is my "Fall Fun Game Board" and the best part is that it is EDITABLE!!! You can edit the cards to go along with whatever you're teaching! It is great! Hope you enjoy it! You can grab your freebie HERE!

Giveaway!

The best part now is a special giveaway for my Number Poems! These are the perfect size to hang in your classroom! Your students will LOVE the rhymes and will remember them all year long! Check them out in my store HERE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for "trick or treating" to my blog! If you like what you see, lets stay connected! you can follow me on TPT, Instagram, or my blog! Be sure to click on the picture below to "trick or treat" onto the next blog!

Apples! Apples! and more Apples!

Fall is finally here and who doesn't love apples! There are so many ways to study apples and the possibilities are endless of how you can use apples in your classroom!! In my class we focused our apple study with science and math.

Students were asked to bring in apples of a variety of colors and sizes. Here are a few activities we did during apple week!

Sorting Apples

 First I had my students guess the different ways I was sorting the apples. First, I sorted by size, then I sorted by apples that had stickers and those that did not. Last, as a class my students sorted by color. Surprisingly, we didn't have any yellow apples so we sorted them by red, green, and a red/yellow mix.

Do Apples Sink or Float?

Students were asked the simple question if they thought the apple would sink or float. Students first made their predictions! Then we tested the apples! We found that the apples FLOAT!! My students also made predictions comparing a big apple vs a small apple.

Who doesn't love some good Brain PoP Jr to help explain why different things sink or float.

Apple Tree Race to the Top Game!

This is the perfect game for your math centers during your apple week! Students play with a partner where they take turns rolling a die. For each turn you take the number that you rolled, and color in the same number of boxes that you rolled. For example, if you roll a 5, then you color in 5 boxes. Whoever gets to the top of the tree first is the winner! Your students will love this game! You can grab it for free in my store here!

Apple Tasting

Students had the opportunity to taste a red, green, and yellow apple. They decided which apple they liked the best! Students helped with the graphing process by placing their favorite tasting apple on our big class graph. 

           

Applesauce!

To end our apple week the students made applesauce! They all had a chance to help peel and chop apples! They all loved the applesauce and it was so easy to make! Oh the power of a crockpot! :)

What do you like to do for apple week with your class?? I would love to hear your ideas! 

Happy Fall with 2 Fabulous Freebies!!

Goodbye Summer! Hello Fall!

 I love the season of Fall! Here in California it certainly doesn't feel like fall with temperatures in the 80s!! I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures, warm sweaters, boots, great holidays, and all things apples and pumpkins! In celebration of this new season I have 2 great freebies for your classroom!

 Pumpkin Roll and Cover

This is a great game to play during math centers and it is a great way for students to practice their number recognition and cooperation. These roll and cover games are popular in the primary grades and really fun! This game can can be played where each student gets their own paper and they take turns rolling the dice. Whatever number they roll they have to cover the number with a chip or counter OR they can color in the number. The first student to have all numbers covered is the winner!

Race to the Top of the Apple Tree Game

If your students like competitive games, this game is perfect for your students! They each get their own paper and take turns rolling 1 die. Depending on the number that they roll, that is how many boxes they color in. They take turns doing this until they reach the top of the tree. The first one to reach the top is the winner!

If you like these products be sure to rate them! Hope you and your students enjoy these fabulous fall freebies! 

Beginning of the Year Self Portraits

I hope all you teachers out there are having a great start to the new school year! One of the best things about teaching kindergarten is being able to see so much growth during the year! Writing is one area that I love seeing the growth as you can compare the beginning of the year to the end of the year. I especially love showing parents at conferences just how far their child has grown within the first 2-3 months of school! I have always done a first day and last day of school self portrait. This activity is a great way to see growth from the beginning and end of the year especially with how the students write their name and how they draw themselves.

If you want to try this activity with your students, you can purchase the kindergarten self portrait in my store here. I also have a version that is for all grades which can be purchased here

Enjoy!!

First Day of School!

Today was my first day of school with my new kindergarten students! It was a great first day! I have 22 lovely students and I can't wait to watch them grow this year! I had a real positive start to the day with all of my students staying calm and nobody cried when their parents left the classroom! I was shocked! That is almost unheard of the first day of kindergarten! My students are already navigating their way around the classroom as they are starting to learn the rules and routines of our class. The first day of kindergarten at my school is a half day, so tomorrow will be the first full day of kindergarten! On the agenda tomorrow: self portraits, read aloud: The Kissing Hand and Chrysanthemum, and a special name craft.

Welcome!

Hello! Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog!  My name is Shaina and I live in sunny southern California. I will be starting my 5^th year of teaching. I have taught 2^nd grade for a year and for the past 3 years I have taught kindergarten! I love teaching kindergarten because the students are so excited about learning. Their level of excitement is very contagious! It is amazing to see how each child grows and develops during their time in school.  I love telling parents that the child you see on the first day of school will not be the same child on the last day of school. 

Currently I have a lot of great things happening in my life! I recently got married (May, 24, 2015), and I will be working at a new school this year. On top of those great successes, this summer I joined Teachers Pay Teachers as a seller! You can visit my store here. I decided that there are so many great things that happen daily as a teacher, it is about time that I document all the ins and outs of my life as a kindergarten teacher! Hope you join me on this crazy bumpy ride!