Five for Friday :: November 13

 Hey there!  Happy Friday!

Every Friday morning during calendar time in my classroom, my students and I sing "It's Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday, Friday, Friday....wooooh!".  I've been singing it all day long.  Hip, hip, hooray for Friday!

Here's what 's been going on lately in my classroom!

1. Kindergarten students digging through their Halloween candy buckets to bring you your very favorite treats must be one of the most pure acts of love possible.  My sweet Kindies have been flooding me with Twix bars ever since Halloween.  Love them so much.  I know how precious Halloween candy is to kids.  Their generous little hearts are so special!

(And I'm just going to pretend that I don't see the calorie count on that full-size candy bar!  Yikes!!  Cover your eyes!  Don't look!!!)

 2. Sometimes teachers just need permission to take things one day/hour/moment at a time.  This verse has been in the forefront of my mind this week.  I'm so thankful for TRUTH and precious, timely reminders.

3. Few things melt me more than Kindergarten friends immersed in books.  Looking, talking, learning together.  I had to capture this sweet moment from today.

4. 'Tis the season for turkeys!!  We started these "Thankful Turkeys" last week and finished them early this week.  Love.

5. And we made these directed drawing turkeys today!  They turned out too cute for words!

Wishing you a relaxing and wonderful weekend!!

It's beginning to look like October!

Happy October!!  In Michigan, this week brought us from early September to mid-November!  The drop in temperature and bitter cold wind of the past few days has been a drastic change from mid-70's and sunshine!  It definitely feels like Fall has arrived....and just in time to turn the calendar to October!  It's beginning to look and feel like October in the classroom too!!

I make these spiders with my students every year.  I've gotten smart over the years and now always make sure to have a parent or two come in to help out.  These cute little guys require lots and lots of cutting, which is a challenge for some new-to-Kindergarten hands.  It's helpful to have another adult there to help.  My crew this year did a great job!  They turned out as darling as ever and they just make me happy! 

On Friday, we did a fun apple taste test.  Students tasted a slice of red, yellow, and green apple and then added their favorite to our apple poster....

 Later in the day, we analyzed our data and organized it into this graph so that I could tie in some of the concepts we've been practicing in math - graphing, comparing, more/less, greater/fewer.  Learning is especially fun when it's so delicious!!

 Each Friday, we do a directed drawing activity as a class.  Last week, we drew a pumpkin.  This week, my students got to paint their pumpkin drawings!  They turned out so beautiful!  I can't wait to pull out the watercolors again.  My students LOVED this calm, creative activity!

Caramel apples as a birthday treat from one of my sweet former students???  Yes, fall is here!!

Happy weekend!!

Five for Friday {November 7}

I'm a day late, but I'm linking up with Kacey for Five for Friday!

1. November means these adorable directed drawing scarecrows which I LOVE.  

CLICK HERE to read last year's scarecrow post for more information on these cuties!

2. We have been working hard during writer's workshop!  This week, we celebrated 16 minutes of stamina two days in a row!  The kids are doing a great job taking my specific feedback and putting it into their writing.  

This little guy is working on organizing his work and remembering to add details, details, details!

 This sweetie is stretching herself to go beyond just labeling her drawings.  She is ready for sentences and did such a great job this week!

I just LOVE watching budding writers!!

 3. Last week we made this awesome story map for our Reading Street story, Armadillo's Orange.

4. We began Math Work Stations this week.  Finally!  I just kept putting it off this year because other things filled the time and it seemed overwhelming to start.  BUT, since we run them exactly like our Literacy Work Stations, the students knew exactly what to do and they ran so smoothly this week!

These Fall Counting Mats are free in my TPT store.  Click HERE to check them out!

5.  I implemented "Learning Partners" by mistake a few weeks ago ;), and it has been awesome!  I randomly paired students up for an activity, and the pairings ended up being so perfectly matched that I decided to keep these pairings and call them Learning Partners!  Anytime we have a partner activity to do, the students find their Learning Partner and off they go!  So easy and makes our transitions so much calmer and quicker.  A happy accident!

I overslept by an hour yesterday morning.  I know you can relate....isn't it a terrible feeling to realize you've woken up late??!?  Thankfully, for me, waking up an hour later than normal still means I'm up at 5:50. #earlyriserperks

I saw this quote and it made me laugh.  So, so true! Ha!

Any other early risers out there????

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!!!

Five for Friday {October 24}

Happy Saturday!  I'm a day late with my Five for Friday, but I actually thought to take pictures this week, so I wanted to be sure to link up!

 1. We began our second science unit this week.  We had been learning about our five senses since the start of the school year.  That's such a good place to start, because it's the foundation for exploring the world around us.  We had so much fun with our five senses unit, but were excited to move on to something new this week....Motion!  And we got to explore motion on the playground.  My students were sold immediately!!

2. We completed one of my very favorite class books this week.  Even though this sentence-builder book is a little tricky for some students to figure out, it always turns out soooo cute!  Their little illustrations make it super sweet.

We completed two other class books this week too!  I have a blog post in the works.  LOVE class books!

3. We used this cute cute cute pumpkin life cycle freebie from Erica Bohrer for our interactive notebooks this week.  So cute!

4. We began academic vocabulary with a bang this week!  We added four words to our binders - two literacy and two math.  

 These great pages are from Kim Adsit.

We are really working hard on "speaking like scholars" and focusing on academic vocabulary really helps with that.

5. We did this fun early addition activity yesterday to display for parent-teacher conferences next week.  I punched circles with my 1" circle punch, and each student rolled dice to figure out how many apples and pumpkins to add.

It was a great week in Kindergarten!  Hope yours was awesome too, and that you are enjoying some relaxation this weekend!!

Five for Friday {November 15}

It's FRIDAY!!  And BOY did I need it this week!  It's been a crazy week, and I actually was gone from school two days.  Which really makes things so, so much crazier.  I'm so ready for a normal week next week, but I will enjoy my weekend first!

1. We have been enjoying all things November, and we finished up a sweet turkey craft this week.

 

2. I have a parent volunteer come each Thursday afternoon.  This week, the students worked on Thanksgiving patterns.  They rolled this dice to find out what type of pattern they would have to make.

Then, they chose the pieces they wanted to use to make that pattern.  They turned out cute!

 3. We've begun diving into Academic Vocabulary over the past couple of weeks.  As a school, we dipped our toes in the water last year, but this year have a much more organized approach.  I really enjoy this piece of my week and I LOVE hearing my students use these high-level words in their conversations!

 

4. Well, if there were ever a day that I NEEDED some quiet time, today was it.  Insert DEAR time this afternoon!  The students got out their book bags and an extra book from the reading corner, and we had five minutes of quiet reading time.  Yes, only five.  But I savored those five.

5. I only had three days at school this week because my son had surgery to remove his gallbladder on Tuesday.  It all went well and he did great....and he was back in school today!  We are so grateful!

Linked up with Doodlebugs!  Head over there to check out other Five for Fridays!