Friday, July 27, 2012

Weekly Newsletter Template

I am hooking up with Freebie Friday over at Teaching Blog Addict.




Here is a newsletter template that I created to use each week to share news with parents and students.  It was quick and easy to fill in each section.  Click the picture above to grab your copy.  You can change the font to suit your needs and also change the size of the boxes depending on how much information you want to share.

Update 7/19/13

Hi There,
Over the summer, I created an editable monthly newsletter with a similar look to the freebie above.  If you are interested, click here to go to my recent post, or click on the sidebar to go to my tpt store to look around.  
Thank you!  
Chris Kazanjian




Freebie Fridays


Happy Friday!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Liebster Award!

Lisa over at Teaching Kindergarten Kiddos gave me a Liebster award! Wow!  My first blog award!  This is just as good as finding a great deal at Target..okay, I know I need a life, but, seriously...I am really happy!!




This award is named for the German word "Liebster," which translates to "beloved" or "favorite", and is given to a "new, up and coming blogger." 


Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you. 
2. Post the award to your blog.
3. Give the award to at least 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.
4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.


I am giving the award to:


Karla at...



KinderKarla

Patti at...

Penny at...
Superlative Science

Sue at...

Cindy at...


Please take a look at these great blogs and thank you again for this award, Lisa!    

Common Core Math Posters for Kindergarten

My county has broken our math standards into four quarters which will be reflected on our new report cards.  My team usually posts the standards for each quarter on their wall or door.  I will use the standards I purchased from Deanna Jump's tpt store in the classroom to show current weekly standards being covered but I will  also use these posters I created to see the "big picture" each nine weeks.  Since I tend to be an out-of-sight-out-of-mind kinda person, this will come in handy.   I teach in Cobb County, Georgia so I don't know if all of you are dividing up the standards like this, but, please feel free to use if you can!  Just click the picture below.




Monday, July 16, 2012

How to Send a Blogger "Thank You!"

If you would like to send a blogger a "thank you", please feel free to copy the code below to include this button in your post to thank a fellow blogger! Then be sure to leave a comment on that blogger's page with a link back to your "thank you" post! :)




The Kinder ”garden” Blog

A Blogger "Thank you!"

The Kinder ”garden” Blog


I have been blogging now for a little over a year, and as I was looking through all the files I have accumulated over that time, I realized how many free items I have downloaded from fellow bloggers!  Wow!  It is truly amazing how many ideas and activities have been shared via teacher blogs!  I wanted to send a blog "thank you" to a couple of the teachers who I have followed stalked this year:

Fran over at Kindergarten Crayons  who visited my site to welcome me to blogging and who I got lots of teaching ideas from...thank you so much for sharing!

Tammy over at Live Love Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten for her wonderful polka dot CAFE posters!  I love checking out your blog for creative ideas and detailed posts!


Please click the button above to learn how to send your own "Thank You!"

Friday, July 13, 2012

Student Nametags

Last year I made my students name tags to wear for the first few days of school.  I added a photo of each child and printed them on card stock, then inserted them into vertical badge holders.  We also used them for centers by hanging them on the center chart at each center.  Please feel free to change the background color or font to suit your needs.    The kids loved wearing these as they felt "grown-up" by having a badge just like their teacher!  Click the picture below to grab this freebie!


Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Student Information Sheet

I was going through my files and came across the sheet I use to keep up with student information. I had these on the student tables during Meet and Greet for parents to complete (copied front/back on cardstock...the back side has space to document parent contact/communication). It was a quick and easy reference to have all the information in one place.  Click on the picture to get a copy.

Lil' Country Kindergarten Giveaway!

Marlana over at Lil' Country Kindergarten is having a giveaway...head on over to enter and win one of the following great prizes:


 $10 Amazon.com gift card
$10 Target gift card
$10 TpT gift certificate
$10 iTunes gift card
5 items of your choice from my TpT store

click the picture below...and good luck!


Monday, July 9, 2012

Organizing Student Supplies

I selected this post to be featured on Kindergarten Blogs. Please visit the site and vote for my blog!

I love organization... but sometimes, when school starts and everything has to be done all at the same time, I end up settling for something that isn't my first choice.

I have tables for my students and I purchased one of those tubs from the Dollar Store for student supplies along with two smaller containers for crayons.  There weren't enough  compartments for all the supplies and it was a chore to keep clean.   At the end of the school year I put it on my Summer To Do List to come up with something better!

I am really excited with how this project turned out.  Hopefully, it will inspire you to get organized for the coming school year.  



First, here are some of the items you will need in order to get started  (I found everything at Walmart... except for the tickets- those I purchased from SchoolBox):

black tray-about $5



plastic freezer jars -about $4 for a pack of four




Tickets - about $5 for a pack (I use these for table rewards for following directions, using good manners, keeping supplies neat, etc. and at the end of the week the table with the most gets to pick a special treat such as candy, free time, or eating lunch in the room).


Maxwell House International Coffee containers 




Next, download the attachment below for the label patterns that I made to cover the coffee containers and more directions.


Download the blank template if you want to create your own covers.


Here is a picture of how the crayon boxes turned out... love them and cannot wait until the kids come with their supplies to fill these up!!!  Is it sad to get this excited over...CRAYONS??!!??




Here is another view of the organizer.  I hope you are motivated to try this and please let me know how it goes!!




Sincerely,

P.S. I checked to see if all the links work with Google Docs.  If it doesn't look right, click file and download and it should appear normal in the pdf file.  Leave me a comment with your email address if you have any problems and I will send the files to you.





Common Core Math Resources

Check out this great site for math resources to use with Common core standards...it is broken down by grade level and standard...with free printables!  Does it get any better???  Not today!!



Sincerely,

Insect Vocabulary Cards

I made these insect vocabulary cards to use  with our bug unit.  Click on the picture to download.


Sincerely,

Little Red Hen

(posted last year)
Wow!  Spring Break always goes too fast!!! When we return tomorrow we are focusing on The Little Red Hen with a week of fun and educational activities.  I came across a great site with lots of information to use.  Kindergarten Nana has puppet clip art, sequencing pages, writing activities, and bread machine rolls which turned out delicious on the trial run tonight!!!  I am bringing in my bread machine and toaster oven to make them at school.  I followed the recipe but changed to two smaller pans to fit my oven and turned down the temperature to 325 degrees and they turned out great!  We are wrapping up the week with an in-school visit from Nana Nature titled, The Little Red Hen.  It will be a great end to this book study!

I made two pages to use during Writing this week.  One is for answering if you would help the Little Red Hen and one is a graphic organizer for telling how you help your family.  Feel free to use!
Sincerely,

Awesome Clipart

I found a really cool link for black and white clipart to use in the classroom.  I was traveling through blog land this weekend and came across Mrs. Spatafora's kindergarten blog.  She has the link on her side bar titled, Awesome Clipart!  Click on the example picture below and enjoy!!!

 
                                                     

Sincerely,

100th Day of School Powerpoint

(posted last year)
Tomorrow is the 100th day of school for us!  Wow!  It sure has gone by fast!  I made a power point to share with my kids to show them just how old 100 looks.  Then we are going to make Deanna Jump's 100-year old portraits!  It is going to be a fun, but busy day! Click on the picture to download the power point!


Sincerely,

Ten Frame Number Line


My kids are working on numbers to 30.  I created ten frame cards to post in the room.  They have been quite helpful so far!  Please click on the picture to purchase them from my tpt store.  Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Great Site for Math Centers and Games

Free time is amazing!!! I found a really cool site loaded with ideas for the classroom and printable pages to make getting started super simple!  I spent most of the morning looking through the Math Centers and Games section to find partner games for my kids to play.  Thank you, Shari Sloane for sharing all your great creations on your site...


Sincerely,

Smart board Lesson on Segmenting/Blending

(posted last year...)
When I head back to school next week I will be working with my kids on segmenting and blending sounds.  I came across a smart board lesson tonight that I made in a post graduate class and think I will give it a try on my students.  The blanks underneath each section are for dragging the letters and segmenting the sounds and the arrow is for the students to use the cool pen to trace over as they blend the sounds to make the words.  Hope you find this helpful.


Sincerely,

Christmas Coupon for Students


Here is a coupon I have used in the past to give my students as a Christmas gift.  I usually print it on card stock and then roll it up and tie it with a ribbon and put it in their stocking. I normally let the kids pick one thing a day once we return from break.  I usually let 5 or 6 kids sign up to eat with me on Fridays until they all have had a chance.  Click on the picture to grab a copy. Hope you enjoy!


Sincerely,

Classroom Photos

(posted last year...)
Wow!  This year is off to a great start!  Kindergarten has been a blast!  I love the kids and the activities!  We go non-stop from beginning to end but I am loving every minute!  I have loved checking out all the blogs to see the great ideas!  Here are my classroom photos!  


This is my small group area.  I meet with kids here for Reading, Math, Writing, and also for art projects.  


This is a shot of our Morning Meeting area.  Our school purchased the alphabet rugs for us this year!  They are gorgeous!


This is our Writing/Art Center area.  Our Word Wall is up and ready and waiting for some words...:).


This is the Listening Center.


The Computer Center is right across from Listening.  


The Book Center has been popular this year.  It is great to stretch out on our alphabet carpet with a good book and a friend!


Our  Homeliving area is constantly in use during Free Choice Centers.  


Our Games and Puzzles Center stays busy too.  


The Art Easel Center can fit two but we have been squeezing in four with smaller sized paper.  The kids have loved creating pictures here.


Our comfy couch is another spot to share a good book with a friend, or two!


This is our cabinet space right by the front door and cubbies.  


Another shot of front door area and our para pros desk.  The white stackable drawers hole lots of our supplies like, glue sticks, crayons, markers, highlighters, rulers, glue bottles, dry erase markers and such.


Here is shot of the book bag area.  I have more stackable 3-drawers filled with craft materials.  (Ooops, my Zoo Phonics letter S is down...)  


This is the front of the class.  The table on the left is for our Social Studies/Science center.  The one on the right is our Math center.  


Another angled shot of Math Center and Computer Center.


Our Birthday shelf and months of the year.


Classroom seating.  Each table has a laminated poster taped to the middle.  We have an owl, butterfly, fish, and frog table!


One more shot of the Morning Meeting area.  My desk is behind that and the door to the bathroom and connecting classroom.


Storage area behind my desk.  Desk was too messy to photograph!  


Materials storage for daily teaching.  This is one of the ideas shared with me by my new team and I love it!  One box for each day plus a box labeled "Next Week".  As the para prepares materials, she places them in the next week box and then I move them into the days for the coming week.  I love this idea.  Initially, I was just going to use the daily boxes behind my desk but there was not enough room to store all the materials.  So I use both and feel SO organized.

Well, that is all I have for now.  As soon as I add/finish up more things in the room I will add more pics.  Please click on the photo below to go back and see more great room pictures...