Five for Friday TGIF!!

Five For Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching

I hope you all had an amazing week. We were very busy, but we got so much accomplished and I can't believe how much I've seen my kindergarteners grow in just TWO WEEKS!!
They are already learning how to be kind, considerate, patient and loving. I am thoroughly loving all the learning and growth that is taking place.

So to kick things off this Friday here's my first highlight of the week!

 

I don't know if any of you are as OBSESSED with pumpkins as I am, but let me tell ya- I might have a problem! I start thinking about fall and pumpkins in March and April and it gets me excited and gives me the little UMPH I need to push through to the end of the school year- a little crazy but it works for me :)

I got a flyer in the mail for NOAH's pumpkin bagels and I almost had a conniption fit! I NEED TO GET SOME!

I also celebrated our first chilly morning (its starting to feel like fall) we've had by picking up a pumpkin spice latte- Can I say Bliss???

 I saw this super cute idea on Pinterest, and thought it would be an awesome way to get my kiddos excited about learning. We are filling it in halfway- each day we are reading and adding on an extra minute. They have been doing SO well! I'm very pleased!

  

Since my group of kinders is pretty young this year, I thought it might be better to ease them into partner reading. This week we got to wear reading "glasses" and pick a "partner" (stuffed animal) who we can read the pictures with.

        We are quite the typing experts! 5 years ago I discovered the joy that is bbc typing and ever since I have taught my kindergarteners to use it. By the end of the school year they are able to type independently and feel so proud of themselves!

Check it out here:

Dance Mat Typing for kids!

 This week in science we talked all about germs. How they spread and how we can prevent them from spreading. We started our conversation by testing out what will happen when bread is touched by dirty hands. The bag labeled "dirty hands" has bread that was touched by every student. The "clean hands" bag has bread only touched by a few students with clean hands. The "control" bag has bread that was not touched. We are still waiting to see what will happen.

I found some amazing videos which helped make our learning more meaningful. The students especially enjoyed this treasure:

Don't Infect! Protect!

 

By the way, I am LOVING these Interactive Social Studies Journals (K-2) by Primary Graffiti

Interactive Journals K-2

I have enough material to cover all the units we will be studying this year! HALLELUJAH!!!

We kicked off our solar system unit yesterday. Take a look at this AMAZING mobile a student asked if they could bring in and share! I think it will make our study so engaging and exciting!

HAVE A FABULOUS WEEKEND!!!!

Thank God Its Friday!!

Five for Friday (a little late) oops!

I'm gonna try something new that's pretty popular in the blogging world. Here is my Five for Friday. 

I meant to post it yesterday, but let's be honest- at the end of the first week of school I (ridiculously) thought it would be a good idea to go home and make lasagna (from scratch) and after slaving away for 2 hours I promptly ate dinner with the hubs and then passed out on the couch at about 7:30pm. NO JOKE! 

That's a teacher's life for ya folks. After the school week ends, its pretty near impossible to stay awake like normal people.

So excuse my tardiness, and let's just pretend it's Friday and I'm posting this yesterday :)

#1  Fun New Clips This Year.

I absolutely love how my students clips turned out this year. I found these stickers at walmart and think they add a little something special. 

#2  I can't get enough of these new nails!

A friend of mine gave me a sample sheet of Jamberry Nail Designs and can you see how cute the chevron pattern is??? I couldn't possibly paint that in a million years and now all I have to do is stick a pre made pattern on my nails. So easy and so cute!!

#3 What Do Scientists Do?

This week we talked about the scientific method. We discussed what scientists look like and what they do.

Aren't these cards so cute! A big thank you to Deanna Jump for sharing these! You can download them for free right HERE

I read the book Meet Einstein and my students absolutely LOVED it!

I also had the kids draw themselves as crazy scientists. Look at how cute their pictures are!

 

#4 Selfies Galore!!
My coworker (she teaches 4th/5th grade) found the cutest template for student selfies!
She picked it up on TPT  HERE

#5  A Fun First Day Gift!

After what had to be the longest first day of school for both me and my hubby, he did the sweetest thing! He brought home flowers for me! He always brings me flowers on the first day (its a tradition).

I'm so grateful for this man and his incredible support!

And on that note I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com

Back to School Night and the First Day of School!

Well folks, its that time of year again. The school year has just begun and I can't say I'm surprised I haven't blogged in a month. It has been so hectic trying to get ready for school these past few weeks I've hardly had time for anything else.
I guess I should fill out in on what my schedule looks like this year.  Its a bit crazy!
For the first time ever I will be teaching 4 grades! AH! Doesn't that sound overwhelming. I guess I should also mention that the class sizes are really small so it is manageable, but boy am I prepping and planning like NEVER before! Whew!

So this year I will be teaching Kindergarten/First Grade (10 kiddos) in the AM and at lunchtime my kindlers go home and after lunch my firsties (3 boys) join me as I teach the 2nd/3rd graders. That comes out to a grand total of 16 students in the afternoon. Not too bad, I know :)

Needless to say, my days will be very full and I'm sure my weekends will be consumed with lesson planning as well. I am job sharing with the 2nd/3rd grade teacher so she will be teaching math and language arts in the morning and then I will teach science, social studies and bible in the afternoon. 
I find the jump from 1st grade science to 3rd grade science a bit daunting, but I've got some awesome units planned and I'm very excited to share them with you as the year unfolds.

So here is a little peak at our back to school night (last Thursday) and also our first day of school (today).

A new addition to my classroom! I am totally OBSESSED with how cute these itty bitty buckets are.

Basically when I "spy" a student being kind and filling a friend's bucket, I'm gonna fill their little metal bucket with little glitter pom poms. Isn't kindergarten magical! This is something I LOVE about my job! :)

A new way to organize my pencils. Can't get enough chevron in my classroom! 

I found the labels on TPT. Check them out 

HERE

I also snagged these very helpful signs. For years I've been trying to find the best way to teach my kinders how to tell the difference between left and right. Now they will know because I'm planning on saying "We'll go RIGHT to recess."

You can also get these FOR FREE on TPT

 RIGHT HERE

Next we come to back to school night.

I saw some very fun blog posts and TPT products that inspired me to make these signs. I had never thought of it before, but it ended up working great and I loved the way it all looked.

  

    

  

  

 

I had the parents decorate popsicles sticks to look like their child. I use these sticks in my classroom job pockets.






Step 6 asked them to fill out important forms and turn them in before they left (getting to know your child form)

This was just a fun little treat I found to thank the parents for coming.

I also had this out in the hallway for all the elementary parents :)

First Day Of School:

I always like to give both my parents and students a little something to make the first day special. I have been using this parent survival kit all 6 years I've been teaching. I love that it has scripture references as well as cute reminders. I think some of the kindergarten parents needed their goody bags more than the kids today (its so hard to watch kids grow up, because you want them to stay tiny forever)

I found these super cute tags for my kiddos and thought it would be a fun way to start the year.
You can purchase them HERE

And last but not least, I decided to go with the Kissing Hand theme since I have so many new kindergarteners this year and thought it would be a good way to help ease them into school.

Here are the fun crafts we did today:

I hope you had a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!