April Awesomeness...Photos

April was a busy month!

New life....it can't be stopped.  This sweet little sprout was found by my parked car.  There is something so tenacious about this photo.  It's on my desktop and I find myself looking at it often.

This is an example of the writing that we did after our field trip to The Butterfly House.

We made this torn paper project in art class.

Notice the nice sunsets in a couple of backgrounds :-)

This is a sneak peek into something we have made for our mothers!  The children traced their hands to use as a base to hold the bouquet.  They also used templates to trace and cut the flowers.

I'm sure I found this idea on Pinterest.

Some letters are tall, some fall, and some are small.

We used rulers to measure the flowers in this math station.  The activity is from a theme kit that was purchased from The Mailbox site.  A couple of months ago, they were offering a "buy 2, get 2 free" deal AND the kits were on sale for $5.  I am so very happy that I took advantage of the sale.

The activities are colorful, laminated, and perfect for our current learning targets.

After reading "Tops And Bottoms", we discussed how vegetables grow.

We "planted" a paper garden...the tomatoes, corn, and peppers 

are now ready to be added.

We are all hoping that the forget-me-not seeds will sprout soon!  They were planted in an ice cream cone, then the cone was placed in a cup.   Just bury the cone in your potted soil or dirt!

We enjoyed using Dr. Panda's Veggie Garden app on the iPad!

It is also available for iPhone.

Currently...it's MAY!

It's MAY!  Already?!

Hop over to Farley's for a line-up of CURRENTLYs!

Our school is moving to a new location.
Good news:  it's 1.5 miles from my house!
Bad news: the room set aside for K is about 1/3 the size of the room I have now.
Enough said....
Praying pals, say a few prayers for enrollment!

I'll be back with LOTS of pictures from our learning in April!

Please come back :-)

Success...What do you see?

The scores from our TerraNova testing arrived....
and they are good, very good.
Which makes the administration and board (and, I'll admit--me) very happy.

What the scores do not reflect is the intangible growth I've seen this year.
* The friends who could not hold a pair of scissors can now cut with skill.
* The little ones who sagged by the end of the day have adjusted to the rhythm of K.
* Bathroom accidents are now nonexistent.
* We think before we speak, most of the time.
* Heartprints are regular gifts among us.
* Illustrators have become writers.  Stories have been crafted and shared.
* Friendships have matured and blossomed where distrust reigned.
Success....it's not always what you see.

iPad Fun!

This quarter, I've been able to add an iPad to our literacy and math stations!
These stations encourage independent learning while offering the opportunity to differentiate according to needs and abilities.  Every Friday, a fabulous website, SmartAppsForKids, offers free apps for a limited time.  Bookmark the site!  Below, I'm introducing you to several apps that we have used.  The pictures will not take you to the app store, but you can search the names and choose downloads for iphone or ipad capability.  Some may be available for PC, etc.

Paint Sparkles is the first app that we tried on the iPad.  

It is easy to use, fun to print!

I've taken screenshots of many finished products; some are very detailed and others show room for fine motor improvement.  This may be a glorified coloring book, but the children enjoy making choices!

The lite version is free;  the extended pages are worth the price.

A kindergarten colleague introduced me to Subtraction Lite.  Her class experienced success with subtraction mastery by practicing this game.  I tried it with our class and I am pleased with the results!

This is a free app!

Letter School is a new discovery, and I was able to grab it for free, through SmartAppsForKids!

I've noticed that some of my students are forming letters from the bottom up, or are adding curves after picking up their writing tool.  We use D'Nealian, and 

this app includes a D'Nealian set of letters and numbers!

I'll be using it over the next four weeks with the children, 

and I'm  encouraging the parents to use it over the summer.

I have not tried the next two apps, but both look relevant and interesting!

Need to know what NOT to do with an iPad?

Check out this article at teachingwithipad.org

Do you use iPads in your classroom?  Please comment and share the apps that are working for you!

TIME for a Giveaway!

I'm giving away a copy of my mini-reader

"My School Day"!

Each page is split in half.

The book is also divided for boys and girls, 

similar to my Fairytale Friends mini-book!

I've also included two pages of matching schedule cards, 

for customization and to use at a math/writing station.

My kindergartners have become pros at matching
digital and analog time, 

but need more practice with the concept of time passing.

This book would be an excellent addition to first grade lessons during the beginning of the school year.

What is your favorite time of the day, 
in your class schedule?

Leave a comment with your answer 
(and an email address).

A random winner will be chosen on Friday, April 19!

Need it now?  It's only $1 at my store!
UPDATE: ALL 3 COMMENTORS WILL RECEIVE THE BOOK!
THANKS FOR COMMENTING!

Butterfly Photos, Field Trip

We wrapped up our butterfly study with a trip to 

The Butterfly House.

This week's study is in my top five for the year!

We read to the docents!

We all took a turn in the human cocoon.

After we decorated flowers and butterflies,
we demonstrated our knowledge of camouflage.

Blue Morpho

The butterfly blends in with the bananas!

The proboscis can clearly be seen in this pic,
curled up under the head.

Moth
Aren't the antennae fascinating?

This butterfly has hatched and is waiting for wings to dry!

Camouflaged Butterfly

The giant cockroaches are... interesting.
According to the docents, each roach has a unique personality!

A sweet mom made treats for the children:
mini Oreos and Ritz crackers.

In art class, we decorated the caterpillar side before
opening the template to reveal the butterfly side.
This was a fun way to illustrate symmetry.

We also wrote about our field trip experience, but I haven't photographed the writing!
Do you have a favorite field trip?

Now, a bit of wisdom from 
Krissy Venosdale at venspired:

Behavior Chart Update and 5forFriday

For weeks, I've intended to join this terrific link 

but life has had other ideas.

This week, although I'm late, I'm jumping in!

1.  I went commando with a visual behavior system in my classroom.  Yes, it felt like not wearing any underwear!  (Sorry for the visual, but it's the truth!)  However...I'm thrilled with the results of this experiment.  The children are taking ownership for their choices in a more thoughtful way.  I'm taking more time to get eye-to-eye as I facilitate understanding.  Next week, we will begin using a goal sheet to choose ways to improve and evaluate our progress.  Would you like to have a copy?  The goal sheet can be found HERE!  If you'd like to see what I told the parents, hop over to our class blog.

2.  This video is on my lesson plans for the week!

3.  My sweet daughter made the varsity dance team for next year!
She's headed to a Taylor Swift concert in this photo!


4.  The Easter Service at our church was superb.
You can watch it online at
HERE at The Crossing website.


5.  I'm working on a unit for telling time.  It should be finished within the week!  Keep your eyes open, I'll be giving away a copy or two!