Five for Friday: Getting down to the wire!

It's that time where I start getting sad about the summer coming to a close. I LOVE being home and spending time with my boys all day! I'm trying to finish a class up for my exit interview, prepare for a four year old birthday party, and prep for my incoming kinders =)

As I was prepping my back to school books, I realized I wanted more materials. I created this little pack of extension activities for the book "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes. Here is just a peek of what you will find:

You can check it out in my shop:

Back to School with a story!: "Chrysanthemum" extension activities

 I have it on sale today, along with the rest of my goodies, in my shop!

We ventured out to the drive-in to go see "Pixels" this past week.  The kids had a blast and it was a nice change from the movie theater =) 

So, I went into Hobby Lobby to get some things for my classroom. Jax asked if we could stop to get an ice-cream cone on the way since he had just finished a hard run in the jogging stroller ;) We get to the window and he requested an entire meal instead. LOL! It actually worked to my benefit, though, because he ate the entire time I went through the store. He was quiet and self-contained. BONUS!

Along with his meal, he got this little number and I LOVE IT! In fact, I think I am going to do this story when school begins with my lil kinders. First of all, who doesn't just love "Pete the Cat"? The story is about wearing the glasses when you are feeling blue to help see all of the good in the world. By the end of the story, Pete cracks the glasses on accident and learns to find the good in each and every day without them. Such a great lesson! Even as adults, we need to still find the good in each person and day we encounter. 

If you follow me then you know that I am a runner and I love to cross train with Jazzercise. I recently participated with a partner and attended 70 classes between the two of us since mid June. Our prize was this chevron bag =) Who doesn't love jazzy bags?!

This is nothing in comparison to the runner I have been following on the news. His name is James Lawrence and refers to himself as the Iron Cowboy. He recently completed 50 Iron Man races (2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles riding a bike, and a complete marathon... 26.2 miles running) in 50 consecutive days in 50 states!! Seriously, I was completely in awe following his endeavors. You should check out his Facebook page and be amazed yourself. He set out to raise money in conquering childhood obesity. His wife must also be a saint because she went with him each step of the way along with their FIVE children. No joke. What an awesome thing to achieve!

I really like to dive in with my class and get going as soon as we begin school. I'm printing out all of our superheroes for the classroom theme but also getting my assessment binders in gear. I do my own assessments so that I can get a comprehensive view of their knowledge but we also have to conduct the state mandated test called the KRA-L (Kindergarten Readiness Assessment in Literacy). We can use the diagnostic to meet the reading diagnostic portion of the Third Grade Guarantee.  Unfortunately, the measures don't give us a lot of data that are specific so I created my own!

This pack is for every Kindergarten teacher that needs to assess their students in each domain of the Common Core in Reading, Writing, and Math. You will find activities that allows you to utilize manipulatives in assessing OR there is the option to give them an activity they can complete independently in showing their skills. Almost 100 pages of activities WITH teacher recording pages! You will find:
* Upper/lowercase letters on flash cards
* Beginning/Ending activities with recording page
* Syllable counting
* Rhyming activities with recording pages
* Writing pages to show 
- beginning/middle/end of story
- first, next, last
- define character, setting, plot
- plain writing page with lines and place for illustration
* Math numbers, tallies, ten frames, addition and subtraction 
equations with recording sheets
* Money identification cards
* Shape identification cards
* Positional word practice
* Counting and Cardinality
* Measurement and data
* Patterns

* Student writing sheets

Lots of printing and laminating in the next week! LOL!

Kindergarten Assessment Pack

Have a great weekend and enjoy the TpT Sale next week. My shop will be participating so come visit =)

Time is flying!

I say this every summer.....when I pull out of the school parking lot on that very last day, I know the summer will be over in a blink of an eye. Don't get me wrong, I feel like it has been a while since I was with my kinder kiddos but the time with my own children is going way too fast. Although, today was one of those days that seemed like everything was going wrong but at least I could feel the warm sun on my face to make it all feel better. These are some of the things that have been going on in my life.....

Who doesn't love a good snickerdoodle cookie? They are my kids' absolute favorite. Unfortunately during our move, I misplaced an old cookbook and lost our awesome cookie recipe. I am so thankful to Pinterest as I found an even BETTER one! I made a batch yesterday to take to a dear friend only to find an empty container this morning....such is the life of living with four boys! LOL! In case you have loved ones that enjoy a snickerdoodle, here is the recipe from "Love From The Oven":

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup butter ( 2 sticks) 
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

For the dough:. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cream of tartar. Set aside. 

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix well.

Stir in the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

Cover bowl (or remove dough from bowl and wrap in plastic wrap) and chill for 2+ hours. You can chill for up to 24 hours if you have time.

When ready to bake, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Form the dough into 1 inch balls. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and roll each ball of dough through the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat well. 

Place on a greased baking sheet or a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or silicone baking mat. 

Bake 8-9 minutes. Do not overbake. Allow to cool on baking sheet for at least ten minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

I have been looking for an online tool to connect with my families on a more frequent basis. Have any of you used bloomz? I read about it on a Facebook page but was waiting to see if anyone has had any success with it. I have also heard of educators using Remind 101. I have been researching both and this one seems to offer more services.  I always have one or two parents that have difficulty using technology in which I need to send a hard copy but this seems like it would be so much easier!

I

My oldest broke his wrist riding his bike about a week before we left for vacation and had a cast on the past five weeks. We went to the doc today to get a new X-ray in hopes of seeing some progress. The doc was thrilled to see that an entire shaft of bone had grown and repaired the damage that had been done. So happy! He was given a brace to secure it during soccer camp next week but then it should be good to go. We are so lucky that kids are resilient and their bodies heal so well!

I am getting things ready for my upcoming kinders. Our school theme this year for our reading program is "Take the lead and read!". I designed everything to be a superhero! Check it out in my store if you are looking for :

*lunch orders
*name cards
*nameplates with alphabet, colors, shapes, and 100 chart
*alphabet letters with illustrations from A to Z
*numbers with dice, tallies, and ten frame illustrations 0-10
*3d shapes
*greater than/less than, and equal to
*labels for table numbers
*labels for items around the room
*locker name plates 
*a 'Welcome' banner with blank penants too
*calendar items: numbers, days, months, today, yesterday, tomorrow
*identification cards for 2d/3d shapes, numbers, ten frames, tallies, simple addition and subtraction, upper and lowercase letters, and high frequency words

Many items that you can use to foster an educational and inviting environment for your active learners! 

I'm going to use this as the front of the name plate and the bottom one as the back for the kids to use as a reference. 

Alphabet cards for your wall...

numbers....

and calendar items...plus much more =)

Check it out here:

Superhero Classroom Theme

If you read my blog, you know how important physical activity is to me. I run everyday as well as go to jazzercise. I want to instill the same in my children who tend to be a bit more lethargic for my taste but that comes from my husband...LOL! I even bought my pre teen a Garmen Vivofit band to ensure that he is active enough throughout the day in getting his steps in. He has been doing an awesome job and it working towards a good goal he has set for himself. I am so proud of him! I take the kids out every morning whether it is to the park, splash pad, local playground, pool, etc. It has been so much fun =)

We have a playground that is 3.5 miles from our home. I jog with the jogger stroller to and from with sometimes getting suckered by the little ones to get a glazed donut from Dunkin Donuts across the street. LOL!

I love our neighborhood. It used to be a golf course so we have all of these beautiful paths and greens. The kids love going over the bridges and finding the wildlife all around us.

The splash pad is also a fan favorite!

Well, we would never allow this on the school playground...LOL! I found them like this asking for a picture so I had to snap it =)

Speaking of athleticism, I don't know if you have heard of the guy who has been doing the 50/50/50 but he has been doing an iron man course each day for 50 consecutive days in 50 states (refers to himself as the Iron Cowboy). I have been following his story as he works to conquer childhood obesity. This poor guy looks like he has been worked down to the core as he has almost completed his journey. In fact, he finishes THIS Saturday! His family (wife and five children) and crew have been going with him the entire way as he works to break a world record. You can follow him on his Facebook page as it is an amazing story!

The Iron Cowboy

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Fly like a Superhero!

I finally finished it! I am so relieved as this has taken quite a bit of time for me to put together. This year our school is focusing on a superhero reading theme. I searched high and low for every clipart imaginable to create a classroom environment that I thought was educational and fun for my new little learners. If you are searching for a theme for your room, check this out!
Fly like a Superhero Classroom Decor

I included:
*lunch orders
*name cards
*nameplates with alphabet, colors, shapes, and 100 chart
*alphabet letters with illustrations from A to Z
*numbers with dice, tallies, and ten frame illustrations 0-10
*3d shapes
*greater than/less than, and equal to
*labels for table numbers
*labels for items around the room
*locker name plates 
*a 'Welcome' banner with blank penants too
*calendar items: numbers, days, months, today, yesterday, tomorrow
*identification cards for 2d/3d shapes, numbers, ten frames, tallies, simple addition and subtraction, upper and lowercase letters, and high frequency words

I can't believe school is just around the corner. I am loving all of the time with my sweet boys at home. This is just the beginning of many preparations for things to come!