Back from Hiatus...I hope! :)

Hello all!

I am back from my self-imposed hiatus...I hope! I know I have never been that consistent of a blogger so I am hoping that this time away (and dealing with my personal problems) has helped me realize I need to update my little blog more often!

Since the last time I blogged, I've been trying to take some time for me while focusing on the ending of the school year. I won't pretend...I didn't take many photos to document what my littles learned...I was in FULL ON pity party mode!

I will share a few photos of my littles when they made insects out of candy back in May! :) This group of students really enjoyed learning all they could about insects! It was wonderful to engage their brains in a different way AND assess what they've learned at the same time! I wanted to see if they remembered that insects have 3 body parts and six legs. I was ecstatic to see that some of the students even added antennae/wings!

This idea came to me from DeAnna Jump's Insects pack on Teachers Pay Teachers! Check it out; it has TONS of great resources and ideas to help out with any insect study! Here are some pictures! Enjoy the cuteness!

The kids really enjoyed this culminating project and so did I! Yes, there were a few tummy aches. Yes, I warned them not to eat so much sugar. Yes, it was FUN! Oh, and YES, I would do this again in a heartbeat! :)

If you're still interested in know what I've been up to, I'll share a few more photos! :)

If I haven't mentioned it before (let's face it, I probably haven't), I LOVE baseball. Love it. There isn't a better sport out there, in my opinion! I will watch it on TV, I will read about it, and I will go to as many games as I can possibly afford! ;)

This spring and summer, I got my hubby into/back into baseball (YAY!). I've been convincing him to drive all over Ohio to watch the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians as often as possible! There is nothing better than watching a game of baseball at a stadium! It, along with the beach, is my happy place! Ha! We are having so much fun rooting on our Ohio teams; it has been a great summer so far! Here are a few pics of our baseball adventures!!!!

So much fun!

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio 

Mascot race!! Mr. Redlegs edged out Rosie for the win!

Love this man!!!! :)

I'm a happy girl!

So there you have it...I have been obsessed with taking care of ME after a very trying time in my life. Selfish? Maybe. Needed? Definitely. Feeling better? Yes. Still going through a tough time? Yes, but definitely getting better. 

Thanks for sticking it out! If you need me, I'll be a the ball field! Ha!!!!!

Mary

The Great Disappearing Blogger!

Hello blogging buddies! I know I haven't updated my blog since February (yikes!). I am going through a tough time in my personal life and just haven't had the time (or sanity) to update my blog. I hope you won't forget about me! I also hope to update you on my classroom happenings soon! :) Thanks for understanding!

Mary

Go to Sleep, Groundhog!

Hello again friends!

On my last blog post, I said I was going to work on a companion for the story, Go to Sleep, Groundhog! I’m happy to say that I kept true to my word and made it!

I’ve uploaded it to TpT for FREE. Go check it out!

That's all for me...busy day ahead! Cleaning the house, prepping my food for the week, and running errands! I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)

Mary

Click here to see it! If you like it, please give it 4 stars!

Groundhog's Day Resources

It is STILL cold here in Ohio! :( Seriously, I'm pretty much done with this cold and wintery weather! I have been to school ONE DAY this week! Only one! I'm not a typical teacher who does snow dances and wears her pajamas inside out... I really don't like to miss school. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy an occasional break but come on! I've been in school 11 days since coming back from winter break. 

I can't get those little sweeties back on a regular schedule! It's been stressful and tiring just to keep up with them and keep them engaged! Whew! Rant over...again...I promise! I hope that this is not a pattern...I want warmer weather STAT! :)

With Groundhog's Day coming up, I was thinking of what activities I could do to keep my crazy littles occupied so I came up with something I PRAY they will love!

I made a story retelling/counting game based on the book Ten Grouchy Groundhogs by Kathryn Heling. If you haven't seen this book, do yourself a favor and GET IT! Click on the picture to see it on Amazon.com!

Click here if clicking the picture doesn't work! :)

Before reading the story, place the picture cards up on a book stand, whiteboard, etc. As you read through the story, take one groundhog card down until the last one remains. As the remaining groundhog finds his friends above ground, add the cards back and count back to ten! Click below to grab the game! I hope you like it!

Try clicking here if clicking the picture doesn't work! :)

If you download it and love it, please let me know by commenting below! If you don't love it, please let me know why (remember to be professional and courteous!) I'm also hoping to work on a cute companion to the book Go to Sleep, Groundhog! by Judy Cox. HOPEFULLY I can motivate myself to work on it later tonight before going to sleep! :)

Okay...ONE more thing to share! I follow Scholastic Teaching Resources on Facebook and they posted a link to a page FULL of Groundhog's Day activities & ideas! Click here to be taken to that page! It has a video about groundhogs and a link to the "Let's Find Out!" magazine that is interactive and helps teach your little people all about groundhogs! I'm geeking out because it is so great! :)

Well friends, I hope to write to you soon discussing all the OCEANS of fun I'm having WITH my Kindergarteners! Have an excellent rest of your week! Keep me accountable and make sure I'm working on that companion to Go to Sleep, Groundhog!

Thanks for Reading!

Mary

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

I finally went to work today! Yay!

Here is Ohio, we have been having an amazing awful winter! It has been cold, snowy, and did I mention cold!? We've had scads of snow days lately...almost back to back with winter break and long weekends!

This week, my littles had Friday off so that teachers could have a work day. We all had Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. day. AND...yesterday (Tuesday) was a snow day due to the extremely cold temperatures and icy roads! To top it all off, this morning, we followed a two hour delay schedule so I just can't get my sweet littles into a routine! Argh!

Okay...my rant is over! ;)

I'm trying to plan AHEAD for once in my life so let's talk all things Winter, the Super Bowl, and President's Day, shall we?!

I'm going to read my littles The Mitten very soon! I created a game to go along with this book to help my sweeties recognize numbers 0-30! It's a FREEBIE so grab it!!! Click on the picture to get it!

If you like it, please let me know! If there is a mistake, please let me know! If you don't like it, please let me know! Are you noticing a pattern here?! Ha!

What winter activities are you doing with your littles this week???

The Super Bowl!

So the Super Bowl is coming up soon and I am blissfully unaware of the teams playing in it! LOL! My hubby and I aren't big sports fans. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching a good football or baseball game but I just am not that into it! Anyway...

I want to have my littles play some football-themed games in the weeks (days?) leading to the super bowl! I am thinking that my "Football Frenzy" games are a bit too complicated for them (boo). I'm stuck on whether I should make more or simply let the even go without mentioning it... I think I'm going to be working on my laptop soon! LOL

If you teach 1st grade or need something challenging for your advanced littles, I have just the games for you! Check out my Football Frenzy games at my TpT store by clicking here. They are available individually AND in one large MEGA Bundle! If you purchase the MEGA bundle, you will get a discount of $4.00 as opposed to buying each game individually.

Finally, I have ANOTHER freebie for you! In honor of President's Day, I'd love to share with you my Abraham Lincoln's hat craft! Click here to see it on TpT! I blogged about it last year! It is the cutest craft! I hope you can use it!!!

Thanks so much for reading friends! I hope that the weather where you are is a bit better than where I am! Stay warm!

Mary

Randoms, Freebie, and I Love my Kitty! :)

Wow! I can’t believe how long it has been since I have blogged! I had set what I thought was a reasonable goal of one new blog post per week. I feel like I’ve let myself down for not keeping to my commitment!

I hope to start up again and actually stick to that goal this time around!

Today’s blog post is all about catching up! Over my winter/Christmas break, I really didn’t rest a lot! It seemed as if my hubby and I were running all over the place! We figured out that something was wrong with my sweet little boy, Kitty.

My brave boy in his carrier on the way to the vet!

When we took him to the vet, she informed us that he has stones in his bladder. If you are a cat owner, you know that this can be very serious! His doctor prescribed some pain killer and special food to help dissolve the stones and we go back tomorrow (Saturday the 18^th) to see if the stones are dissolving. I'm nervous but confident he is doing better! :)

Before winter break began, my littles focused on how they use their 5 senses to interpret their surroundings, learn about things, and describe objects. I purchased candy canes for each student and asked him or her to use each of the 5 senses to describe the candy cane to me. As they described it, I recorded their descriptions on a large anchor chart. See the picture below! If you want it, I’ve created a recording sheet for students to fill in. Click here to download it for FREE. J

 

I also read the book, Who Will Guide my Sleigh Tonight?. If you haven’t read this story, do yourself a favor and GET AHOLD OF IT! 

It details Santa’s search for the perfect animal to guide his sleigh. After reading the story, I asked my students to think of other animals that could guide Santa’s sleigh! I recorded their ideas; their thinking impressed me! Some wanted to stay true to tradition and said, “Reindeer” so I allowed them to use that! 

Next year, I will have students draw and label/write about animals that could guide Santa’s sleigh THEN read the story to see if their ideas match!

Also, I can’t even begin to tell you how awesome my mother in law is! J She knows that I often have to stop what I’m doing to get up and walk across the room to sharpen a pencil! She bought me a PORTABLE pencil sharpener that quite literally SAVES me so much time each day! Little things just make me so happy! J

I will conclude my “recents” with this sweet picture of my sweet little guy, Kitty. He isn’t much of a “lap” cat but here is a picture of the first night home after the first day back to school from Winter break. I’d say he missed me a bit… J I love my sweet Kitty!

I hope your weekend is OCEANS of fun! Next week is all about Snowmen (we are getting more snow here in Ohio)! I’ve purchased DeAnna Jump’s Sneezy the Snowman unit and CAN’T wait to use it! See you next week friends! J