Penguins! Penguins! Penguins!

Image via Wikipedia

Every Unit that I teach is usually based on a book. “The Emperor’s Egg” is my ultimate favorite penguin book, so this is how I “hook” the students into becoming excited about penguins!

See the emperor penguins in action!

Here is a cute video of a male penguin holding the baby on his feet, as well as feeding him! And then, the mommies arrive! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7M686pXr6M]

A mommy penguin feeds her baby…

Penguin Craft:

from: momto2poshlildivas.blogspot.com

Penguin Can Craft

kids-party-paradise.com

Footprint Penguin

allkidsnetwork.com

Penguin WEBQUEST Project: http://visalia.k12.ca.us/teachers/dbronzan/penguinquest/

Penguin Sight Word Facts– After reading “The Emperor’s Egg” and then viewing a non-fiction book about penguins, my students helped to read the words “have,” “can,” and “like” and were able to decide where to put the penguin facts. (Items on sticky notes: 1. Penguins have: feathers, flippers, a beak, an egg 2. Penguins can: swim, dive, not fly, slide 3. Penguins like: fish, krill, milk, snow). I then gave students writing paper and they wrote: “Penguins” and then completed the sentence based on what they learned from our chart.

“Penguin Love” Poem for the Poetry Station- I provide a peom for each child and they paste it into their poetry journal/notebook. Before placing the poem in the center, I write it large onto a big piece of chart paper and go over it with the students and let them find sight words in it. Then, I place the poem cut-outs and encourage the kids to illustrate thier poem, after gluing it. They do this by drawing what the poem is about-penguins! Then, I provide a penguin craft for them to complete when they are finished with their poem. Click the blue link for the Penguin Love POEM cut-outs to print.

Penguin Sight Words – This is the first time that I introduced a “word” as the foundation to finding sight words. I provided the cut-out sight words for students to cut out and paste by initial letter-sound. I placed this in my Word Work Station. Click here on the blue link for Penguin WORD WORK writing and sight word sort activity to print.

Recycled water-bottle Penguin Craft – I found this on Pinterest but no source was noted. So here’s to the awesome person who created this awesome penguin in a bottle!

“Wow! Words” from “The Emperor’s Egg” http://www.thevirtualvine.com/images/trophies/Vocabulary%20Matching%20Cards%20for%20The%20Emperors%20Egg.pdf My kindergartners will be so smart saying words like: waddled, slippery, horizon and flippers! Thank you ladies at the virtual vine website for sharing! this free download!

Sight Word Eating Penguin – I simply taped on this penguin to the front of a cereal box. Then, cut a slit under the beak. I passed out sight words that I wrote on clip-art fish. I called out the sight word and the student that had the word fed the penguin (we named him Bob, by the way!) As they fed Bob, I had them say a sight word sentence too. After this fun game, I put Bob into the Word Work station. Click on the link for the fish flash cards Fish flash cards (you write the sight words you are studying)

Penguin craft – I drew a simple “U” shape on black and then white construction paper, an egg, flippers, a scarf, eyes and beak shape on construction paper and the students cut out the pieces and created their own penguin. (This is the craft that I placed in my Poetry Station for students to complete after gluing their penguin poem into their poetry notebook.

Polar Bear Lesson Activities and Adorable Fluffly Video’s!

: Image via Wikipedia

: Cover of The Three Snow Bears

During the month of January we have been exploring Antarctica in our sweet Kindergarten classroom. Now, we are learning about Polar Bears and eskimoes. “The Three Snow Bears” by Jan Brett is a great foundation to teach about both. It is a beautiful story that reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but in the Arctic region and with polar bears. After hours of online research (while multi-tasking and cooking dinner, talking on the phone and watching the news) I have found so many great craft ideas and already made video’s from research that other smart people have made. I love being able to find exactly what I need on the internet. I have credited others ideas with thier website being posted below images. Enjoy! I hope you can find something useful here, for your classroom too!

Here is a video showing how real eskimoes build real igloos…

Can you saw “awwww!” Here are some beautiful bears in action

Polar Bear Fast facts:

* Polar Bears usually give birth to twin bear cubs.

* Moms give birth to their cubs in Winter.

* Polar bears like to swim and can swim up to 100 miles!

* An adult polar bear is between 7-8 feet long.

* Moms create dens to live in, which are under the snow.

* Their skin is black.

* They eat seals.

[fast facts from: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/polar-bear/] More facts, video’s and pictures of polar bears can be found at: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/polar-bear/

Polar Bear Craft 1

Step-by-step directions of how to make a bear using an old cd is at this next site. Instead of fake white fur, I will use ear cut-outs, cotton balls and wiggly eyes. I think using cd’s (if you have them on hand) is a great way to be “green.”

http://l.yimg.com/ck/services/swf/flowplayer.commercial-3.1.3.swf

Igloo Paper Craft

missjaymi.blogspot.com

Polar Bear Circle Craft – I drew out large and medium sized circles and the students cut them out and glued them together. This is the craft that I decided to place in the Poetry Station for students to create when finished with their poem.

Peotry Workstation – I always like to place a craft that focuses on the poem and brings it to life. I think these type of fun crafts are more appropriate for Centers than they are for whole group instruction. Kindergarteners are very independent and when in Centers, with a partner, they can help one another if they forget the next step. I also include a little cut out of the poem for each student to place in thier poetry notebook/folder and explain for them to illustrate thier poem as well. Hanging an example/model of the polar bear is also a good idea! Poem words from www.mrs.jonesroom.com

Student written poem inspired by the Poetry Station (My daughter in first grade, wrote this after school one day)

Polar Bear Writing – Turn a regular rectangle writing paper into a bear!

www.swimmingintosecond.blogspot.com

Related articles – PHOTOS: The World’s New Favorite Tiny Polar Bear Cub (huffingtonpost.com)

Snow, Snowmen and Snowflakes!

Snowmen Words – I read “Snowmen at Night” and “Snowmen All Year.” Then, we made a list on the whiteboard, of things that a snowman could do for fun. We learned about thought bubbles and made our own with writing paper. The children used sight words to write about what their snowman will do. Here are some of the sentences they wrote. “I will play.” “I will have a snowball fight.” “I see snow flakes.” “I will fly a kite.”

Winter Windows – After reading many stories about snow (since we don’t usually have snow in Houston, TX), we imagined what it would look like if we were to look out the window. The students painted icicles, snow flakes, snow balls, wind and of course, snowmen. This activity was so calming for the children-they were so quiet!

Coffee filter Snowflakes – Just fold 2 times and cut in any way and like magic, you have a snowflake!

Snowball Names – This fellow teacher made used pre-cut white circles-one for each letter of a child’s first name. I love that this is also another way of graphing and comparing amount of letters in each child’s name. White circle stickers can also be used in the same way.

www.pattonspatch.blogspot.com

Winter Animals and “The Mitten”

Children love to hear and act out “The Mitten” by Jan Brett. I love creating new things each year for my lessons and finding new ideas too! Below is a great puppet show based on one of my favorite stories, “The Mitten,” by Jan Brett. Check it out by clicking on this video!

This would also be fun to do at home with your own children. My plan is to show the above video to my students, so that they will be inspired and see that they can also help produce a video!

Here is a sweet little song about “The Mitten” that I found on YouTube. It is also a play that other Kindergarten students performed. I am amazed at how the internet can be so inspirational for new teaching methods. I can totally see my students participating in such a fun activity!

http://youtu.be/oUHW4GbJG30

I also love the name plates that these first grade students are wearing. It is a great way to bring in text and visuals.
http://youtu.be/7JFwZir8M8M

This is a Math Station Game called Off/ On Bears-you drop a given amount of bears and count how many land on and how many land off the mitten. This covers “decomposing” numbers and “ways to make__.” It is also a fun way to introduce addition.

Bring back the grinch…..

I love that old grinch. He is so mean, but so kind deep down inside. Let’s not forget what he can teach us in this new year…

Have you ever encountered the shopping Grinch? The week before and after Christmas was a time that brought out the best and worst in people. Unfortunately, a Grinch sticks out like green broccoli! I was shocked when I was in Bath and Body Works and a shopper bumped into a Grinch who then proceeded to yell at this stranger-making the entire store of packed customers completely silent. Oh, it was such an uncomfortable feeling that I had, so I left the store and was inspired to find good. Why is it that those bad situations are easier to remember than the good ones? After all, that mall Grinch is what inspired me to write this….. However, if you remember Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” the story ends with the Grinch changing and seeing that Christmas is not about what we give and get, but it is about the love that is shared and it is about family and friends being together. When we focus on just the gifts of Christmas, we are at risk of becoming Grinch-like. Christmas is not about how happy a gift can make someone, but it is about figuring out how to make people feel special in a very special way.

I am sure that we all have seen good grinches, like how the Grinch became at the end of the movie. Maybe even you yourself are a Grinch turned good-I know that I am. So, can you recall at list 3 good Grinch behaviors? Here is my list: 1.The stranger that held the door open for me, at Olive Garden-until I walked all the way through, as well as three other people too! 2. My parents-instead of telling me how messy my house is, they cleaned it! 3. The person who let me into traffic, which kept me from missing my turn.

I would love to hear your list too!

Since this is my Kindergarten blog, I must mention how this applies to Kindergarten. The week before Christmas break, I read the story to my students and we discussed how presents are not the most important things. I had them take turns to tell me what they are happy for, which they always have. The answers I heard were amazing- “my mom,” “our school and food,” “the markers and books,” they said! I was so happy that they understood the lesson. However, I did have one student who told me that he went home and pretended to be the Grinch and take everyone’s toys. I am sure that his parents were real happy about that, right?!?

(So…I wrote this post before I left for the holidays and just realized I didn’t post it. So I updated it and now it is posted! I guess I will stick to writing my drafts in wordpress instead of on Microsoft Word. Then, I will be able to retrieve it virtually. Lesson learned!)

WriteStuff: The Grinch Makes Appearance at Camden Christmas Outreach (gloucestercitynews.net)

2011 in review-Every blog is a success!

My first blog writing began with this blog. I was so happy to recieve this report from wordpress. This report may not be very interesting, but to me, it is a validation that I helped someone out there in cyber land to find what they were looking for. I was also able to see how people found me online. Thank you wordpress for making my first blog a success for me and others!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,400 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 57 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Kindergarten Christmas Party Fun!

Last year my room mom organized my Christmas party with Stations. It worked so well, so this year, I am planning the same type of game plan. I plan to have 5 stations set-up with 1 parent at each station. I plan to start the party with my students singing “Rudolph the Red Nosed-Reindeer.” I will paint a red nose with tempera paint and they will wear their antler ears that we made earlier this week. Then, for the remaining 45 minutes, they will go their party stations!

Christmas Party Station Rotations

Station 1: Snack and drink

Station 2: Ornament craft

Station 3: Gingerbread house craft- Pre-made houses will be places out on red party plates, with each child’s name on the plate in permanent marker. The teacher will help students use plastic knives or spoons to spread royal frosting onto the house and students will place candies and gingerbread marshmallows on top. When finished, place the house on the plate inside a large zip-loc bag for students to take home.

Station 4: Game—Santa Says: Same as ‘Simon Says’: The student standing up is “Santa”. S says “Santa says hop”. All Ss hop. S says “Stop”. Ss should continue hopping on until “Santa” says “Santa says stop”. Repeat for other actions such as jump, run, turn around, sit down, stand up, hands up/down, star jump, says “ho, ho,ho”, says “Merry Christmas.” Students will take turns being “Santa.”

Station 5: Games—-Pin the nose on Rudolph: Students will write their name on a red circle, close their eyes, and then place on Rudolph with tape……also…..Pin the beard on Santa: Santa’s beard poster will have circles with numbers. Students will have 5 white circles to tape to Santa (while their eyes are closed). The group will add up the numbers to write down the points for the child. Then it is the next child’s turn. You can do the same game with “Pin the snowball on the Snowman.” You just draw a simple poster for each of these games.

Gingerbread “No Cook” Play-dough fun!

My good friend Bethany (and a great teacher!) inspired me to make my own play-dough infused with the wonderful smell of gingerbread! My own children loved playing with it and using cookie cutters to make thier own pretend cookies. I made three batches of the recipe below (for less than $10!) and placed a little gingerbread man into a little plastic container. I made one container for each of my students. This will my Christmas present to them! Along with a cookie cutter and the play-dough, I will wrapping it in a little plastic bag and tie with curly ribbon. I love being able to make something for my own children and my classroom kids at the same time!

This is a great way to incorporate team work, recipe reading and following, and responsibility for cleaning up. Reading and following a recipe is a great way to teach sequencing and the skills of “first, next, last,” which is always a skill needed for any reading lesson. So, not only is making play-dough fun, it is also educational!

GINGER BREAD PLAYDOUGH Recipe
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 tbsp. of each: cinnamon, allspice & ginger (this is a nice dark brown)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup water

Mix with a wooden spoon until well mixed. When it is too hard to mix, take out of the bowl and knead on the counter. For an extra special touch, add multicolor glitter. It makes it sparkle nicely! This is a “no-cook” recipe!

Here are some great ideas of how to wrap up and “gift” the play-dough:

littlebunnyfeet.blogspot.com

homeschoolblogger.com

meandmarielearning.blogspot.com

shabbychiccrafts.blogspot.com

First, we made sure that we had all the ingredients.

This is why you “need” to knead the dough. It looks pretty gross during mixing.

Here it is! Isn’t it nice! And it smells so good!

Here are the kids using cookie cutters to make their own things.

These are the cute and cheap containers I found at Wal-Mart. Instead of rolling the dough into a ball, I cut out the shape of a gingerbread man.

Now they are stacked and ready for labels. Click below to print the label which contains the recipe and directions. You can also edit and change it in Microsoft Word and add in your own name.

Gingerbread play-dough labels

Which Is the Better Investment: Higher Education or Early Education?

Have you ever thought of this question before? Not I-not until I read this article which I stumbled upon, on LinkeIn.

I think the main difference between both is the age of accountability. Early Education must be chosen for our youngest, by us. They have no say in the matter. It is not thier choice, it is our choice. At least with higher education, scholarships can be obtained or a young adult can work to pay tuition and fees. This is merely my opinion, though. According to the “Reading Horizons” blog article, they found that: “if a student is given a proper foundation from the start of their education they are more likely to gain a quality education.” I agree!

Which Is the Better Investment: Higher Education or Early Education?.

Read the article to find out what scholars and research says about the subject matter. You might be very surprised!

The Gingerbread Man

Cover of Gingerbread Baby

I love Gingerbread cookies! I love to make them, eat them and read about them in with my students and own children. Today we read “Stop that Pickle” which was a twist on the traditional tale. The Gingerbread Baby is one of my favorites because it has a happy ending. Story comprehension is an important skill in school. By putting stories in order of events, by sequencing the characters, it helps kids to retell the story. This also helps with summarizing a story too. Here is a fun way to sequence the Gingerbread story. First I print out the large cards and glue to construction paper and laminate them. I pass them out to some of the students. Whoever doesn’t have a card gets a turn to help put the characters in order. Then, after reading many versions of the story, I have the students cut out the mini-picture cards and glue in the correct order onto a sentence strip. I let them draw the ending.

The Gingerbread MAN Story Sequence large cards

The Gingerbread MAN Story Sequence-mini student cards