Friday, December 7, 2012

Lighting up our Names



This cute activity really brightened up our hallway. I wish I could hang them in the classroom from the ceiling, but that luxury was taken away this year :(

The students cut out a variety of colored bulbs, they had to count the letters in their name and cut out that many. They added tin foil to the top.  We wrote their names, one letter on each bulb.  Students traced the letters with glue, added some glitter, some string, and we ended up with these. :) ENJOY!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Lighting the Tree

Just created a center for my lovely Kinders.  This one has 20 bare trees, with a number in the star.  They need to place a specific number of lights on the tree, matching the number shown in the star. The trees go up to the # 20 and there are three different sheets of colored bulbs.  Check it out on TPT if you are interested... 

Lighting The Tree

ENJOY! :)

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Elf on the Shelf Tears

Oh my... We started our Elf on the Shelf this week, and if you have done this you know the rule.  DO NOT TOUCH THE ELF!  Of course there are always certain students that have to "test" and see what they can get away with... and of course that happened.  HOLY TEARS! The students were crying that a student touched him and he couldn't return home.

So what to do??!!  Well I couldn't take him away from the whole class, so I came up with this poem and made it look like he wrote it out (very small scribbled writing... harder to do than I thought haha)  I figured it would look more realistic if it was written out.... otherwise you could always place him at the computer to make it look like he was typing it.

Either way, here is the poem I wrote (he wrote):



Please stop touching me,
It made me so sad.
I couldn't fly home,
and miss Mom and Dad.

You have all been so good,
so please let me be.
I want to tell Santa
All that I see.

If you don't touch me
My magic can grow.
Then at night...
to the North Pole I'll go!

Sincerely,
(name of your elf)


Hope this helps...ENJOY!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Halloween Four Corners



Halloween is almost here!  I have created a quick and easy game that anyone can use in any classroom.  Just click the link above.  It is a wonderful time filler/saver that students ask to play again and again! ENJOY!!

Friday, October 26, 2012

The Dollar Tree Strikes Again!

I swear I just can't walk out of that store with spending under $10... but my "findings" today were well worth the money spent.  THE DOLLAR TREE HAS JUMPING BEANS!  I may have let out a squeal when I saw them.  If you are not familiar with Jumping Beans, you need to check them out; Mexican Jumping Beans. Sounds kinda gross but they are oh so neat and interesting. :)  Happy Friday!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom has taken over our room! The students LOVED reading this favorite with me. I created this Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree for a Word Work activity.  I used thick cardboard cores, painted it with magnetic primer, spray painted it brown, put an umbrella on top, and glued on some fleece leafs.  The students LOVE sitting under it to read, or using the magnetic letters to build words on the trunk.

Hats, hats, wonderful hats!  After reading the story students made their Chicka Chicka Boom Boom hats.  I had the patterns pre-traced.  Students had to cut them out and stamp their names on each of the leafs.
ENJOY!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Just A Quick Note

Like so many others, I have switched grades this year.  I am now back to being a Kindergarten Teacher!!  YAAAAY... but I do miss First Grade too!  This blog will remain First Grade Exploration, because it is just easier. But, I will be posting my Kindergarten ideas... as I continue to get settled in. :)

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Book Study

Hello All,

Our wonderful Kindergarten Teacher, Amanda at Love, Laugh, and Learn, and I are looking at doing a Book Study with our Parents this year... optional of course.  I have been looking for books that would be great for both Parents and Teachers. I was looking at the Love and Logic books for starters, something that would benefit the classroom and home life.  Any other suggestions??  I would love to hear your input!  Thanks much!!

Friday, July 6, 2012

THANK YOU Amanda at Love, Laugh, and Learn for nominating me for this award... even though I have neglected my blog for quite some time!  Haha. Darn summer, distracting me!
Here are the rules....
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Include a link to their site.
3. Include the award image in your post.
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself
5. Nominate other bloggers for the award.
6. When nominating, include a link to their site.
7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated.

And the rules....
1. Follow the person that gave you the award.
2. Link back to the person that gave you the award.
3. Pass the award on to new bloggers.
Seven Random Facts About Me:
1.  I love all seasons.  That's the great thing about Wisconsin.  Although, this heat we are having is insane. But, I enjoy wakeboarding, snowboard, and everything in between.
2. My perfect summer night is sitting around a bonfire with friends/family.
3.   My favorite color is green.
4. I am afraid of wasps... go figure my classroom was infested with them last year. ICK
5.  I used to row on our college rowing team.
6. I have a boot obsession.  One (of many) amazing things about fall... the clothing!! Skinny jeans and boots <3   
7.  Ready for this one??  I HATE picking grapes off of the vine. I dunno, the way my hands feel after doing it grosses me out.    
Now, for my nominations:


Obsession Confession Linky Party

**I'm way behind on this one, and too late to add it in (summer has really gotten away from me, YIKES)... but I still wanted to share.  

Living A Wonderful life is having a fun Linky Party about teachers obsessions. Check them out, I can relate to way too many!!

 Here are my obsession confessions:
1) Keurig/Magic Bullet
AHH-MMAZING! During Fall/Winter/Spring my Keurig makes me smile in the morning.  LOVE sitting on my couch in the morning with a hot single serve cup of coffee. Mmmm.  The, there is summer.  Nothing better than a morning smoothie from the Magic Bullet, that thing rocks.

2) Fitness Magazine
I used to purchase this every month but finally caved in and ordered a subscription... much cheaper.  Here's the weird part... I have to read it from back to front.  I don't know why but just do.

3) Scholastic Book Orders
OMMGGG do I love buying new books!!  I see a new book and HAVE to have it.  Haha. It's like Christmas when you get that cute white box at school!  My best friends daughter comes over just to "check out books" from me. 

4) SPORTS, SPORTS, SPORTS
I am from Green Bay... and I think it is a law that you must LOVE the Packers.  If I am not heading to the game you can still find me in the parking lot tailgating!  There is no feeling like Packer game day, it truly bring our small town together.  But, I also have to give some love for my Badgers and Brewers.  I love them all.  Can't wait for the Olympics, let's go U-S-A!!!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Our Mother's Day Gifts


 Take a peek at our wonderful Mother's Day creations!  The students worked with blending colors in art class, on a canvas... then we added their silhouettes.  After everything was dry I had them write their message to their mom!

ENJOY :)





Wednesday, April 4, 2012

My latest creation for our School Auction.  Melted crayon on canvas, like the previous post, then added silhouettes of my students holding umbrellas :)   I hope the parents bid on this one;  I had a hard time giving it up.  It turned out better than I imagined! <3

Monday, March 19, 2012

Melted Crayons & Bible Verse Flowers


With working at a Catholic School, our biggest fundraiser is our Annual School Auction.  This year each teacher is in charge of coming up with something to put in the auction that the students helped make.  I have seen numerous melted crayon projects on Pinterest and wanted to add a religious twist.  I melted the green crayons, on a white canvas, so they would look like stems.  Then using copied pages of specific bible versus we cut out petals, Mod Podged them onto colored paper, and glued four petals to the back of giant colorful buttons. The flowers were glued into place and you end up with this amazing project!  I just might need to go bid on it myself... or make another ;).

Monday, January 16, 2012

Mooseltoe!

Wowie... It has been WAY to long since my last post.  I am so sorry!  Here is an activity we did during our Christmas party.  We read the story Mooseltoe, then created our own moose.  We used yarn and gobbed on glue so that we could shape the moose's mustache. These dried for a day, then at our party we decorated them with anything we could find (garlin, bulbs, glitter, candy canes, etc.).

They turned out SOOO cute! ENJOY