Spring Fever...do you feel me?

Hey! This is Megan from Kindergals to talk to you about SPRING FEVER. We are two days away from spring break and my children think we are one step away from summer vacation. I found myself taking 4 steps backwards today and reviewing our class rules and behavior expectations.

Now, there are tons of behavior systems and plans floating around out there in the teaching community. Some involve clips, some tickets, and some neither. I think the key here is that behavior management should be private and consistent. I don’t think a plan in and of itself is bad or good. It’s really the manner in which the teacher delivers her plan and carries it out.
I remember the days of giving check marks and writing their names on the board. I remember the days when the principal had a piece of “wood” that he used. Not so sure either of these systems would work with my thinking, but most others do.

As you can see from the picture, our clip chart hangs on the back of the door that leads out of our classroom. Why? Because it is no one’s business! We don’t need to air our dirty laundry. We handle our own discipline and others don’t need to know about it. In case you aren’t familiar with the clip system here’s how it works:
*Everyone starts on Right On Rhino.
*During the day, the kids can move their clips up or down as directed by the teacher.
*At the end of the day, parents are sent home a card that shows what animal their child FINISHED the day on. No need to report all the in between!
So how do we use it?
*Kids can move up for doing something extra—being kind, helping a friend, going out of their way, getting back on task after moving a clip down.
*If we are working in a small group and a child is having a difficult time doing what we are asking them to do (behavior not academic of course), we can very quietly tell him to go move his clip down.
*When, he comes back to the table, we remind him of what we are expecting to see.
*If he redirects himself and gets busy with the expectations, we can tell him we are so proud that he can make good choices and that he can move his clip up.
Now, to be honest I was very skeptical at first. But, guys it is amazing! The kinesthetic moving of the clip helps redirect the behavior.

I just recently picked up a copy of The Seven Habits of Happy Kids!  I read through the whole book last night before going to bed. I cannot wait to read my children some of the stories. It is a great resource to teach our children habits that will help them become happy kids, teens, and adults! I just bought the adult copy for myself and I can't wait to dig into it over spring break!

Here is a toast to all teachers battling spring fever in their classroom....we can make it!

Spring Umbrella CVC/CVCe Word Sort and Craftivity

Hello Friends!
Here in the Midwest, things are finally starting to feel (a little) like Spring (Some parts of the Midwest are expecting over 4 inches of snow today). The daffodils and tulips are starting to peek through the soil (poor things; hope they don't freeze)  and we can finally go outside without bundling ourselves up with mittens, scarves, and boots (I packed away my winter coat last week when we had 70 degree weather and had to get it out today... Boo..)! In the hope that our snow is gone, I thought I would share a rainy day umbrella craft that is fun, educational, and cute hanging in the classroom.

The first thing I have my kiddos do is a word sort with CVC and CVCe words.

When their word sort is complete, they have a recording sheet in which they write some of their sorted words into the proper column.

After they have a good feel for CVC and CVCe words, I give them a construction paper umbrella shape to be decorated. I like to have my kiddos paint their umbrellas. It does take more time to do it this way, but I LOVE the end result. I have them paint one side of their umbrella one day and then on the following day, they paint the other side. You can make this much easier by simply tracing the umbrella shape onto colored construction paper and then asking your kiddos to decorate with markers or construction paper shapes. (Construction paper is what was used in the examples below.)

Regardless of how you decide to have your students decorate their umbrellas, make sure that they decorate BOTH sides of their template because they are going to sort their words onto both sides of the umbrella.

That's it! Easy peasy! And it is really cute hanging from the ceiling in your hallway or classroom!

If you would like to do this activity with your kiddos, you can find the umbrella template and words for FREE in my TPT store! Happy Spring!

Easter Freebies!

Hey y'all! It's Rachel from the tattooed teacher. 
It know it is definitely Spring here in the South! My allergies have kicked in full blast, it's 70 degrees one day and 50 the next, and we have baseball every night of the week!
I wanted to share a few freebies I use each year in my classroom-I know not everyone is allowed to celebrate Easter at school, so there's a few non-religious ones, too.

Using Starburst jellybeans, we investigate what happens when you place them in different liquids.

Freebie from Hope!

After reading the cutest little book called Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes, we made these little bunnies from tangrams. 

Freebie from Inspire Me ASAP

Even though these are in plastic eggs, they don't have to be! Or you could use them in an animal study, too. This Math Egg Hunt is a favorite every year. I've done it outdoors and in the media center. Team the kids up, give them a color to find, and let them go! It's perfect for reviewing how to synergize after Spring Break!

Freebie from ME!

and here's another little freebie! I'm currently obsessed with watercolor and I've been working on printables for teachers, too. So here's a little sample! Hopefully I'll have more to post soon! 

Just download from Dropbox and save on your computer. It's a png, so just print on nice card stock or have it printed pretty cheap at your local office store! (that's what I do!)

And click here to see all my posts about Easter activities in my classroom!

Happy Spring Blog Hoppers!

EASY. CHEAP. STURDY. Easter Baskets

Hey guys! It’s Katie from Little Warriors.  Ahhhhhh!!!! Almost Easter already?!?! Where has the time gone??? Seriously!!!

I have posted about these baskets before on my blog….but, they are truly my FAVORITE!!!!

Soda, pop, whatever you call it... start saving those boxes to make the cutest, most sturdy little Easter Baskets with your class!!
The first time I made these, I had been to a workshop and someone donated a great big box of these little empty soda boxes to any teacher that could think of a use for them....I was the only taker!!! Here are the baskets that I came up with:

Eventually, that first, donated supply ran out!  Where would I get more boxes???

Then, one day I was standing in line at the grocery store in the little town that I work in. I saw the soda guy taking the glass bottles out of the boxes and I ran over to him and said, "Hi! I'm a Kindergarten teacher! Ummmm....what are you going to do with those boxes???"

He said he would get me as many as I wanted!!!! Score!!!! Now, every time I go into the grocery store, they have a box of these waiting for me!! Yipppeeeeee!!!!  

(It's the little things :)

These little boxes are so, so, so simple to make! Just wrap them in white construction paper, add ears, a nose, google eyes, whiskers and a cotton tail, and you're done!! (and maybe cut out a couple of bottle separators from the inside) The best part is they are sooooo sturdy!! And, they are just the perfect size for little hands! ;)

Hello from the Newest Blog Hopper!

I am so thrilled to be the newest member of the Blog Hoppin' crew! For my first post here, I thought I'd just take a moment to introduce myself. I'm Denise and I've been blogging over at Sunny Days in Second Grade for the last four years or so.

This is my 21st year in the classroom and I still love it. There are definitely moments when I love it more than others, but that's totally normal. On my blog I share mostly classroom related ideas, giveaway announcements, product reviews, and my TpT work. I've been a TpT seller for about as long as I've been blogging. You can find my store here. 

On a personal note, I just celebrated my 16th anniversary. My husband is also a teacher so he totally "gets it".  He knows how passionate I am about my classroom and my TpT work, my blogging, my internet friends... he is super supportive and I am beyond grateful for that. We don't have any babies or furbabies for that matter, so a huge chunk of our time is spent working on and talking about school stuff. He has a background in ESE, but is currently teaching in the computer lab as well as being the school IT guy and he designed and maintains the school website and all of their social media. So he's a pretty busy guy too! 

There we are on our wedding day. Awww... that's a picture I posted recently to my Instagram account. You can follow me here.  You guys - I am ALL about Instagram. I post a mixture of classroom happenings, my personal life, and random things I find funny or interesting. I'm also on Facebook and Twitter. I have to admit, Facebook annoys me more than anything with the way it seems to limit what my followers actually see and I don't Tweet nearly as much as I Instagram. But I DO love Pinterest.  My recent obsession is to clean up my Pinterest feed and pin on a more regular basis. I pin from all over, not just my own blog and store. My boards are mainly educational, but I do have a couple for yummy stuff and fun household finds.

So, that's a bit about me! I'll be back at the end of this month with some resources that will help you as we enter spring and near the homestretch to the end of the year! Can you even believe it?