Stickers and notepads! A teacher’s favorite things! These cute fall resources from Carson Dellosa are perfect for so many things! Not just the obvious. We know we can put stickers on papers as we grade them. We know we can write notes home about how great our students are on the notepads. We can also use them in other ways. We can use the stickers in a rebus sentence or story for our beginner writers. We can use them as counters in ten frames to make a matching center. We can use them to make patterns. They are a great quick way to get a picture in a center activity. The notepads can be used the same way. Each student could get one and write a sentence for a class book. The paper is already done for you. You could use the notepad to make matching pieces for an alphabet game, beginning sounds game, matching numbers to sets, matching numbers to ten frames. The list goes on as far as you need it. These are great quality products from Carson Dellosa. So cute for this time of the year! As ...

Thinking Mats -Math Thinking Mats!  Oh Carson-Dellosa you have read my mind again! As many of us move to Guided Math, this is a great resource! It is divided into the five topics of math – Counting and Cardinality, Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Number Operations in Base 10, Measurement and Data and Geometry. 20 activities in all! It is already laminated! Hands up people! Once less thing to do on the list! Cut and go! The ONLY thing other than this book you will need is a write on/off marker! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy! There is even a check off in the back for you to check off which student has done which activity. There is one for students also. The mats are color coded so you know which piece goes with which mat – not that they EVER lose a piece, but just in case! The directions are not hard for them to follow either. If you use it in a guided math group first, then move to independent practice – they will be set! Looking forward to using this tomorrow – and it won’...

Well, here we are already at Chapter 6! This book packs such a punch and is such an easy read all at the same time! Here are my thoughts on Chapter 6 Lesson Design. This is an important chapter. I love the gradual release model. I love the Lesson Design Tool (Figure 6.1). I love the plan on page 81: "Teacher Modeling Guided Practice Within the Lesson Guided Practice Beyond the Lesson Independent Practice Application" I love how she relates it to her lessons on page 83.  "She explains She shows kids how Give significant time to practice time for students to reflect, share and teach assess I reflect and consider next steps" I love Figure 6.2 also. I love the chart and the time breakdown. I agree with all she has to say. I know we need to do this! I beleive this is a great way to plan. I just don't know if there are enough hours in the day! I know I don't have to do this with every lesson - well, I couldn't do this with every lesson. I ...

Infographics! How cool is that? Carson Dellosa has a cool new tool for us to use! This book fits great into the new in-depth reading that Common Core is looking for. This covers many different content areas. I think I found one for almost all the content areas that I need to cover- including math! The pages are perforated of heavy card stock!  I’ll be taking the book apart and putting each card in with the materials for the units so I don’t forget to use one. The pictures are colorful but not over stimulating. Well labeled too! That is another bonus – use it as a modeling tool!  The topics range from insects to dinosaurs to video games – with tons in between! And the questions are on the back of the pictures! This will be a great resource to start a topic or to end a topic. It will be integrating reading and content knowledge. Did I mention hitting the standards? What about: ·          With prompting and support, retel...

Phonics- The simple definition from Merriam Webster is “ a method of teaching people to read and pronounce words by learning the sounds of letters, letter groups, and syllables ”. Kindergarten teachers do this all day long. We sing, we dance, we match, we play. Sometimes it feels like we stand on our heads to do this! Once students start making the connection – it is WONDERFUL! There are those students who just don’t seem to “get it”. They are the students who need the small group/one-on-one time. They are the students who we work it into EVERYTHING for. They are the ones who need some practice at home. We can help them get the practice they need at home by recommending Spectrum Phonics K from Carson Dellosa. You can go right now and see the page – but don’t forget to come back and finish reading! http://www.carsondellosa.com/brands/spectrum This is a well-organized workbook. It practices what we do in school. It has a few pages for tracing lines, left to right practi...

Ahhhhh! Summer! That time of year that a teacher can take a breath and be ok. That time of year when  a teacher can drink two cups of coffee and not worry about making it till lunch time or special! LOL The end of the year is bitter sweet. We are so ready for summer. The kids are too! The thought of saying goodbye after all those days together is still sad - even after 26 years! I can't even believe I have been teaching that long! Where does the time go?  I can't believe my kids are almost all grown up! The DD will be starting her teaching career this fall. OMG! She will be moving to a new state and everything. When I walk by my living room right now, I kinda can't wait. I know when the day comes, I will be crying like a baby! I am so happy and excited for her though! She has worked so hard to get to this point! Super proud!  It will just be different that she will have her own place and not come home for the breaks! Another new. The DS will be a sophomore. That is goin...

        Carson-Dellosa Summer Bridge Activities Well, look at me! I'm blogging! I really LOVE to blog. I just don't get how all of you wonderful bloggers get it all done! I'm kinda jealous! I have so much I want to share. I'm thinking this will be the year! Watch out people! lol Have I said that before? Any who's! Carson-Dellosa sent me the Summer Bridges Actvities  book to bridge K to 1. I think this is a GREAT resource for kids during the summer! It is substantial but not overwhelming.  Any it is so well organized! There are three sections - one for each summer month. :) There are activity pages, experiments, social studies activities, fitness ideas and outdoor ideas. They are covering it all! We CAN prevent summer lose! We just need to get the parents on board and this is a great way to do that! Check out the video!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vek6YTeiFY There is a simple, easy, straightforward introduction...

Spring!!!! It’s here! Well, it says so on the calendar! Now if the weather would figure it out! I’m tired of coats! I’m tired of still helping zip up the little one’s coats! I want no coats! I want the coat closet doors to close and not have anything fall out! Soon – it has to happen soon! Well, I took down the bulletin board. Now to decorate it tomorrow. I can’t wait to use this new set from Carson Dellosa! This set has tons included. I’m laughing ‘cause it is called a Mini Bulletin Board set, but I know that it will cover the whole board! It has headers, accents, smaller signs, and lots of student pieces. It is soo cute! There are flowers and rain stuff and a sun and umbrellas. So even though April is for showers – there are some cute pieces that are sunny! I’m pretty sure this will last the rest of the year! ;-) I am not quite sure what I will use it for but I’ll figure that out. Maybe the kids will help me! I know I can use it for displaying student work...

Interactive Notebooks -Science The interactive notebook craze continues. Carson Dellosa continues to support the trend. There are great kindergarten appropriate topics in this book. All the topics are sorted by the categories – life, physical, and Earth and space. Eleven activities in each category. Jammed packed if you ask me! I love being a Carson Dellosa Brand Ambassador – makes my heart happy trying out these products and breathing a sigh of relief when they fit perfectly into my curriculum! This is a fun thing to do with the students – and really helpful in their thinking process. We all know – hands on is the way to go! This gives them a great way to make their learning stick – it is interactive and helps organize their thinking. The more we do this type of organizational thinking in the younger grades, the more the students will transfer it on their own as they get older. I really enjoy teaching these science topics with the students. The resources in this book make life ea...

OK where does life go?? How is it February? How is it half way through February?? I have written this post and about 20 more in my head. I just can’t find the time to get them on paper. I am really shocked how busy life can be even when the kids have left the house! OH MY! I keep thinking that every week, I will get there….and then I don’t. I’m sorry – I feel like I start off every post like this. I don’t know how some of you do it! Hats off to you! On to more important things… Valentine’s Day may be over. But the Mini Bulletin Board set from Carson Dellosa is still A-DOR – ABLE! There are 56 pieces in this ‘mini’ set. I think that is not so mini!  What a great set to use for the holiday or for a unit on writing letters! Or for a Random Act of Kindness bulletin board. They even give you some cute ideas for using it too! It will make a great full size bulletin board. There is a sweet mailbox – don’t kids love getting mail! We, as adults, only think of mail as bills. It ...

                                                                                                                          I wanted to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching  for Five For Friday. I had good plans to get this done- then life once again got in the way!  So I figured better late than never, so here is my Five For Friday on Sunday!                                                            Found this at Target. It's pink, it's glittery and it's HAPPY! Perfect for my classroom! It's sitting on the cabinet a...

Well, it's Sunday night and the football game is on. :-) I stayed out of the building for the whole winter break! I did it! I have been busy cleaning arou nd the house. We have thrown out TONS! I have three bags to take to school this week. You all do that too don't you? You clean out at home and decide that you can use it in your classroom. Oh that needs cleaned out too. I'm feeling motivated though! This is the year!  I cleaned up the emails from school - it's all fresh and ready to go! I made a list of things that I want to do tomorrow with my kinders! None of it is on the lesson plans. That's ok! I'm good with it. I knew I better make a list though or I would forget what I wanted to do with them. I really want to talk, work on, discuss, move toward a POSITIVE GROWTH MINDSET. I bought the book Mindsets In the Classroom  by Mary Cay Ricci today. I'm super excited to start reading it. Probably when I'm done this post. lol  I also bought Beautiful Oops...

2016?!?!?! Really?? How did that happen??? I feel like it was just Christmas last year! Everyone always says that the older you get, the faster time goes. They didn't need to be correct!!! 2015 has been a crazy kinda year. I think  HOPE that 2016 kinda settles down a little. I'm thinking it will. I think it will. I think it will. HAHA Christmas break is always a great time! This year has been super nice with the weather! I can't remember another Christmas Eve service that we didn't wear coats to! Running errands wasn't so bad either. I could have gone for some more sun, but I'll take what we get. So it is New Year's Day Evening. We ate our pork and sauerkraut. Hoping for the luck it is suppose to bring! We ate at a regular dinner time. We are having an evening! This doesn't happen often people! I'm loving that my husband has been able to have two three day weekends! That doesn't happen often either! So since he is relaxing sleeping on the ...