Fancy Nancy says it right!

Saw this on Facebook tonight and thought it rings true in many ways!  What are your thoughts?!

RAISE A READER! Encourage reading everywhere you go. Read labels at the grocery store, play word games, read billboards and road signs, look through magazines.

So what are you doing to raise a reader with your child?  Many of the above listed ideas are just a start to what you can do to create in the reading life of your child!

Love some help!

I have decided to create an account with donorschoose.org.  I have heard and seen so many great things come from it!  I am hoping that I can get my project sponsored so my students can benefit!  If you'd like to see my project for my classroom and donate please do!  Just click on the link below to see what it is all about!

http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/1890633.-162769446

Can't wait to share more about what is going on in my classroom!

:)

Infographics

So one of my class's assignment was to find an infographic that we liked.  So I decided to get on pinterest and type in kindergarten infographics.  I was very happy to say that I found two right away that touch home for me!  One describes how technology is effecting our young ones so early and the other one stresses the importance of students and their attendance!  Take a look and let me know what you think.

Student Teacher

So it's that time of year where most people are getting to see great growth in their students.  I have been able to experience that plus see it in my student teacher.  Being able to know someone who was as caring and a natural at teaching as I feel in myself in my classroom this past week of being away at DMI training was wonderful!  I love that I had that experience and sad that it will be ending at the end of April.  I have been planning for a gift for her and love that I can just go to pinterest or the internet and find!  I can't wait to see the students smile when they get to work on it this week when she is away at a job fair!  Speaking of a job:  I am excited that she was offered a job and to be able to see that she was so successful was a wonderful sight and feeling!  You just never know what you get to be apart of!  I am happy for the journey she will be apart of and wish her the best of luck and wishes! :)

Valentine's Day!

On Valentine's Day you would expect to see much fun and games going on, especially in my classroom!  However, learning was the main goal and was seen when walking into it!  Here is a video of what you could see:  Valentine's Animoto Video!
I was experimenting with some other ways to show you what happened in our class, so enjoy a thinglink! Best thing about Valentines!
I also created a glogster:  best-thing-about-valentines
Hope you enjoy!  I hope to be posting somethings soon with our inferring unit!

Friends Idea!

 I am a lover for Pinterest and have always been looking for some cute thing to make with my Kindergarten friends that would be a memory!  So I think that I have found it!  I hope that I can get it to work out because I think that it would be amazing to do!  Here is a link!  Let me know what you think!

Friends

Graphing

 

 

This past week we worked on graphing.  One of the great things that we tried was telling their favorite ice cream.  The students tested the ice cream and then used discussed what it would look like in a graph.  Later this week we then put the students into groups and each group had pictures and put it into a pictograph.  This really helped each student to learn to work together and helped give students an idea of what was expected of each one.  Team work was real big! 

Nonfiction Conventions

Just last week we worked on Nonfiction Conventions.  The students love looking through all the books and picking them out and sharing them with each other.  I wanted a way for the students to continue to be excited for nonfiction books so I let them use two different technology pieces to work with during our daily five time.  One was little bird tales, which you can go to and see one of the books they created:
nonfiction conventions
The second one was a voice thread.  This piece was a lot harder for them to work with and they had even said that they didn't like as much too.  Therefore I probably won't be using it as much.  Here is the link though so you can see how it turned out. 
voice thread
Please let us know which one you liked the best!

How to blow a bubble!

We have had a great beginning to our week!  We have begun to work with graphs and finishing up our how to writing.  So to combine the two we did an activity that worked on how to blow a bubble and they had to write about it.  Here is a prezi that shows how it went!
How to blow a bubble prezi

Teaching writing with technology!

I am taking a class for my masters and this semester I am taking teaching writing with technology!  I am beginning to learn so much it is beginning to be hard to soak it all in but I am!  Many of the things I will probably be posting will be ones that I will show the students in my class.  The kids love it when I use them with the technology.  This one that I am posting uses just pictures but I am sure they will love it just as much!
http://jenglish82.edu.glogster.com/daily-five
Hope you enjoy it as much as they do!

Princess Buttercup

Copy of Princess Buttercup

Here is a video I created to show the kids after Princess Buttercup arrived in our classroom.  She had to visit the vet  and it was so cold I didn't get her into the classroom so they were really upset she wasn't there.  So I decided to show them this video to let them know that she was doing okay!  I was surprised at how excited they became with just a couple of photos of her to reassure she is doing great!  Hope you enjoy as well!

Princess Buttercup

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With the winter break coming to an end, kids were excited to come back to class and see their friends.  What the kindergarten class of Mrs. English’s did not know was that upon their return they were going to be greeted by their newest friend Princess Buttercup.  Over the break Princess Buttercup who is a Russian tortoise was purchased with the help of a grant provided by Pets In The Classroom.  An organization that gives funding for classroom pets to help further the education of children.  With the addition of Princess Buttercup the kids will be given several unique opportunities.  The kids in Mrs. English’s class will have an opportunity to take Princess Buttercup (a plastic turtle not the real one) home with them and then write about their adventures and then compile a book of the many adventures that Princess Buttercup has had.  This will help the class develop their reading and writing skills.  They will also engage with her in several science and life lessons such as how to properly take care of pets, discuss different habitats and feeding habits of other creatures, and why different animals are important and need to be treated with respect.  Everyone at Pickett is excited about the newest addition to our community and we look forward to the many adventures that we will have together.