Giveaways Are Awesome!

One of my favorite new sites, First Grade Blue Skies, is having an awesome giveaway! Your choice of a $ 25 gift card to Target or Amazon.com! Go to her site and check out all she has to offer – excellent, easy to implement ideas for your primary classroom! And a sweet girl, too!



Cute and Cheap Classroom Decor

Alright, friends, went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and found this A-M-A-Z-ING stack of tissue paper for $5.99 (with coupon 3.59).

It has 10 different colors with 10 sheets each! So, here's my plan… 10 of these:

If you want an easy tutorial on how to make them, check out:

Tissue Paper Flower Tutorial

What do you think? Would these work in your classroom?

Cheap and easy at about 36 cents each! Love it!

 

 

Themed Book Basket Labels

Freebie!

Here are some book basket labels that are for themed/author related books. Hope they are something you can use!

Book Baskets

I can't believe how quickly the summer is flying by! As I think about fall, I realize there are some things that are going to have to change quickly for my Kindergarten room to be transformed into a First Grade room. That's right -- I am looping this year! So super excited to be working with my kiddos for one more year. They are fabulous! But, you know what that means.. Major overhaul of the classroom! Here are a few things that will be changed:

-new rug for the book center
-new book basket labels (I am including a link!)
-new baskets for the tops of my lockers
-switch from tables to desks (probably the biggest change of all!)

What have I missed? Anyone out there looped with your Kinders to 1st? Any words of wisdom or advice? As you think about it, here's a link to my new book basket labels (love me some Lettering Delights!):

Enjoy!

Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

As I start thinking about the beginning of the school year and what skills my students usually need, cutting and alphabet recognition are on the top of my list! They seem to especially need extra practice with lowercase letter.

Oh my word - it seems like these are things my kids could stand to practice every day! What about you? I am linking up a simple document that I've created so that kids can practice finding and cutting out lowercase letters. Further into the year, it could be used to find beginning sounds in words. If this is something you can use, click the link below and enjoy!

A Wonderful Literacy Resource!

This is a wondeful literacy resource, just type in your grade level and decide which area of literacy you are looking for - it will share awesome lesson plans and printables!

http://www.fcrr.org/scasearch/SCA_Search.aspx

Enjoy!

5 Reasons Why I LOVE Kindergarten

Yes, I said it.. I LOVE Kindergarten. There are days that are harder than others, but it truly puts joy in my heart to see and interact with my Kinders everyday! Here are 5 reasons why I LOVE Kindergarten:

1. We sing and dance and never realize the whole time we’re singing and dancing, we’re learning too!

2. Seeing the face of a child who is successfully learning to read is a precious sight!

3. Hugs, hugs and more hugs.. Anytime you need them, hugs!

4. My kinders are so compassionate! They truly love each other. One of my sweeties, D, is very concerned about any “friend” who is hurt or upset. He even gets sad when someone goes home early! It’s just too sweet!

5. They appreciate everything! Even the little things that we do for them, they appreciate it. On one of the last days of school before Christmas break, we planned a Christmas Craft Day. We had parents and volunteers come in and help us create some awesome crafts to take home for Christmas. As we were rotating from one station to the next, my little “L” said, “Mrs. Duggins, you are the greatest teacher in the universe!”. Ahh.. What joy!