A New Years Suprise!

I opened my email today and saw a sweet message (which is one of the best things to a blogger!) from Lisa. She honored me an award... the Versatile Blogger Award!

Now on to the blog award rules...

1. Thank the person that nominated you with a link back to them.

I want to say that I love a mom who is a teacher at heart and stays at home with her kids. I am not that type of mom, so I truly admire any moms who are. I also found her blog too late in the season to do this activity, but I am dying to try this with my little one! I think you will enjoy so many elements to her blog, so please check it out.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself.

-I married my husband a year and two days after our first date.
-I am a true Disney Fan! It is my favorite place to be!
-I have a almost three year old, who believes that she truly and completely IS a Princess! (I am NOT going to tell her otherwise.)
-I just got an iPod/iPad station in my classroom.
-I ask for and receive more classroom gifts that personal gifts from my family for Christmas.
- David Shannon is my favorite author and illustrator.
-I am addicting to making games for children to play... it is a running joke at this point. I am ALWAYS making games.

3. Pass this award on to 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know that they’ve received an award!

This is where I want your help! I know there are so many great blogs out there, so if you KNOW I need to 'discover" your blog, comment below!
I know there are SO MANY awesome bloggers who want to be heard and seen and noticed.
Comment below and I will post my 15 on January 2nd!

Happy New Year and...Another Freebie

I hope all of you have exciting New Years plans!

Exciting for me is making games, so I made a new game tonight... a cupcake themed I have/Who has game... well games... there are 5 versions. (If you know me by now, I like to differentiate a LOT!)

Since I am so grateful for each follower and person who checks out my blog, I put the games on TpT and you can get to it here for absolutely FREE. I would appreciate anyone who takes a few minutes to give me a rating as well. (Can I also hope for another great rating?!?) I hope you all are enjoying the multiple versions of the activities I create. If you want to see any particular words or skill, just leave it in the comment box or email me at maryamoson@gmail.com. I value your time and effort to check out my blog and want to make products you can use.

I also put my Snowman Unit on sale for the New Year as an extra treat! It will be on sale until 1/1/12.

Best Wishes for a GREAT 2012!

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake

*Updated 1/3/2012*

When my class returns in January, we are learning about the letter Cc. I am planning on using this book the whole week to make the letter as "cool" as possible. Since I am planning for my class, can I help you SHARE KINDERGARTEN!

Of course, we read the awesome book by Laura Numeroff. Then, we are going to play this game in one small group...

It is a freebie from First Grade ala Carte... you can get your copy here. Thanks Kathy for the awesome game!
http://firstgradealacarte.blogspot.com/2011/05/if-you-give-cat-cupcake.html


Another small group will be creating their own cat and cupcake art. I really like allowing my kids this year to do their own art in small group. I got my ideas for art via Pinterest!

This idea came from Saylor's Log Blog!

Another group with my assistant will be making cupcake with my mini cupcake maker...I got one of these for Christmas last year and it cooks 8 muffins and cupcakes in front of the kids in 8 minutes! Perfect for small groups. They LOVE IT! Best yet, when they are warm, the frosting is optional. We could save them for snacktime and let me decorate them then, too!

I found some additional games and cute cupake ideas and bookmarked them here on my Pinterest board.
LOVE Pinterest!

I also found some additional freebies here from Tamara on TpT.

I am also making some FUN cupcake items here... I have three completed already. I think my last small group will do this activity, or perhaps we will do this in centers!

Since we are doing so great with followers, I am going to give away one now just click the picture below...



I got a little carried away and ended up making a games, activities, and fun pack for this book. I am putting it on sale through tonight 1/3/2012 so everyone can pick it up. I think it is going to be so much fun!

New Years Goal

I am learning so much about all this educational blogging, such as how much time goes into every post/freebie/link(... and how much money goes into each graphic pack!) I have so many goals to work towards, so here are a few...

Personally
1. Make my family first (Sometimes they sadly come in after work and that isn't right!)

Professionally
2. Make more activities for my students and utilize the iPad/iPod station in my room(... it is brand new and I am sooo excited to get it rolling!)

Technology
3. Learn more!
Like how to create more/better images of products to show you guys as well as get publisher to work on my home computer. ( I have the disc and have downloaded it, but my school's code isn't working....grrr!)I am also trying to talk my administration into letting me attend a conference in February.

If anyone knows how to create the images of what they create... PLEASE let me know... it is next on my to-do list. I know some of my stuff is super cute and my class LOVES it, I just need to display it better for all of you!

Hey... what do you know... TWO HOURS later... I did it!!!

I learned how to do it. It wasn't as easy as I hoped, but I DID IT!
This is my new unit on Snowman on TpT.

Giveaway!

We now have 50 people to Share Kindergarten together with! WOO-HOO!

To celebrate, I have a special giveaway...
Last January my team and I attended a Dr. Jean conference. I highly recommend going to one if you can. It was so much fun and got me motivated to try so many things in my classroom- esp finger plays and handshakes. I didn't learn these as a child, nor did I see any teacher do them when I was in college learning how to be a teacher, but I saw her do them and I "got it!"

She gives her handshakes and finger plays away on her website... www.drjean.org
I needed something on my students' calendar to remind me of them so I would do them. I copied and pasted both the finger plays and handshakes into word and made them into little books. (I hole punched and laminated them, then attached a book ring.) If I forget how to do them, I go to her site or I you tube them... but I always use my book. When my students play teacher, they also like to use these books to read them! She truly is an inspiration to all teachers.
Here the the files with Dr. Jean's awesome stuff:
Dr Jean Finger Plays
Dr Jean Handshakes

Here is a picture of my book on my shelf right next to calendar.

I am also so excited and nervous because I added my first unit onto TpT this morning. It is a snowman unit filed with math and literacy ideas and LOTS of differentiation. There are 5 different math activities but lots of different versions. I personally have one special education student in my room and five students that will test for gifted at the end of the year. Therefore, I need very different activities to meet at the needs in my room. For example, I have 9 different number charts for students to fill in ranging from 1-15 to 1-100 and three different write the room tally mark activities.There are 6 different literacy activities including a little book with sequencing sheet.
I made a sight word reader book called How to Make a Snowman. Some of the words are tougher (like eyes and hands), but the pictures can help out. I am so excited to use this with my class when we get back. You can get the book for free here using TpT.(I just updated it because the Google Docs wasn't working correctly.)
Please remember that this is for your personal, classroom use only. Refer others here to get their copy.

I love to use the pocket chart cards for ordinal number practice with sequencing and as help for some of my low babies with their sequencing activity.

Lastly, I am joining up with Fern Smith's Linky Party. Here are my top three
When I remember that I only starting blogging on December 3rd, I think this isn't too bad. I hope I have shared some of Kindergarten with you! I saw that I had over 2100 hits so far!

More Mouse to the Movies- 79 Views

Number 100 Games- 42 Views

50 Followers Freebie- 31 views

Something to Share!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I got to share it with my awesome hubby and little girl. It is so much fun to see Christmas through the eyes of a child. I also got a few teaching goodies as gifts... am I the only one that has classroom needs on their Christmas list?

Anyways... I found a GREAT Laura Numeroff site to share...
http://www.mousecookiebooks.com/mouseCookieBooks.html

It is from her publisher Harper Collins Publishers and has tons if activities on it that connect to her books... INCLUDING her new one... "If You Give a Dog a Donut." I have looked it over for just a bit, but bookmarked it for future reference.

I also just looked at the number of followers and I am at 49 at 10:54! I am sooo excited that soon, I may have 50 followers AND that I can share something that I use almost every single day that I teach.
I also have been working on something I am super excited about... I will be posting that soon too! Hopefully I can reach 50 followers tomorrow AND post my hard work at the same time.
Here's to ONE MORE follower!

Techy Tuesday

So... we LOVE Have Fun Teaching songs on youtube... we do at least one a week for the letter we are learning about. We saw a link to this....

so we checked it out. We watched the Dancing Tree Song and Rudolph and the Snowman. Both were cute. I liked the calmness to the beat... def what my class needs this time of year.

What in the World... and a THANKS!

I am very new at this whole Blogging Education thing... very new! When I checked my comments recently, I saw a sweet comment (and who can ever get enough of those!) from

Not only was this blog a great find for me, but she gave me an award...

I uses Google like everyone else would who has NO CLUE about these things. From what I read, it is an award for new bloggers to "share the love" of blogging!!!

Here are the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.

2. Thank the giver and link back to them.

3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
I get to name 5 others new to blogging! WOW!
Conversations in Literacy
Terri's Teaching Treasure
Best Practices 4 Teaching
Classroom Magic
The Diary of the Not So Wimpy Teacher
4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers!!

I am so so so grateful for everyone who has taken the time to look into my world of Sharing Kindergarten. I have seen over 600 hits in less than ONE WEEK! WOW!
To thank you all, I made a Freebie. My class did this today and LOVED it. Since differentiation is as Kindergarten as it gets, this activity is all about it. This is a number fill in chart using the book, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies.

Labels

I use labels all the time... ALL the time. My school uses student agenda for each student, which I think is awesome. When I communicate to my parents via the agenda, I have found that using labels help to save me time, keep my parents informed and reminded (some of them don't read or remember that weekly newsletter!), and provide the opportunity for parent/student communication. Many parents have told me how much they love the labels.

These are pictures of the labels in my students agenda this week... our class party and the gingerbread house reminders.

Another reason I use labels and pictures is to help teach students how to order weekly events. The labels and the pictures help understanding when events are going to take place.

I use labels for TONS of other things too, but this is just one idea to share today.

My simple TECH TIP: I tend to use Avery labels since they are easy to find at stores. I keep the Avery template on my computer, create my labels, then use SAVE AS to save them to their new name, like naming the new created labels gingerbread house or Christmas party. When you do this, your original document is not changed and therefore you can use it again and again. You can make labels easier through Word document, but I like to add my own colorful pictures. Totally worth the extra time!

A Bit of Organization and Center Time!

I love things organized. I feel like my room is so "unorganized" but I am told it IS IN FACT organized. (I guess I keep all my sloppy stuff hidden!)

To start... I have a color theme in my room. Each work table in my room has a color- yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and green. During center time, I put these colored baskets from Really Good Stuff at each table. (Obviously each color gets that color basket.) Each basket has the work, needed materials, and a class cross off sheet... aka class list!

I store the baskets on top of my weekly bins. (I will save that for another post.) I keep with the color code a little more... please don't judge. This just helps keep it all balanced.
Yellow- math
Orange- writing
Red- Reading
Purple- Phonics
Blue- Social Studies
Green- Science

Here is my center board. It is on magnates on a file cabinet!

I try to put the picture of the location by the free centers to help out the non-readers!

I have three types of centers... work, free, and bonus.

I start the year with only work centers, which turn to fun as soon as each student completes the activities. All these clips have the color word written on them. (That way the don't "suddenly" get stripes on them and become free centers... yes it HAS happens!)

Once we get the hang of work then play at the tables... I add free centers... like loft, train table, legos, carpet with cars. (These are free standing and do not need the use of tables.) All free centers have stripes because they can never be work.

Once we master work and fun... then I add bonus. ALL BONUS clips have stars on them. Once students have completed all their work, they can do bonus activities for rewards. (This is for those students who always finish quickly, can be challenged, and need to be busy!) Ideas for this include sight work work, write the room, magnetic letters to make words, etc.

More Mouse to the Movies

Freebie Alert!!!

I had some time today to make a game. Well, actually I wanted to make this game badly so I MADE time! I updated my If You Take a Mouse to the Movies Games Galore Pack with before and after number fill in for numbers 1-50. It is 55 pages of LOTS of FUN!

I also made a skill based game using the same theme. It is FREE on TPT.
I call this the Popcorn Game just because the board has popcorn on it. The game covers the skills of number recognition, sight words, addition, subtraction, and blank cards. I also lined up the cards to make 2 sided printing as easy as possible.

Number 100 Games

I have made up a few games to learn numbers that my class LOVES! I want to share them with you because they are cheap, easy, enjoyable.. and they work to teach children their numbers 0-100.

SMASH Game... This game was my creation and may sound complicated at first, but it is easy once you actually play. I bought a pack of Trend 1-100 flashcards cards at a school supply store since they are thick and durable. They have lasted several years. You can buy or make your own.

I wrote on my cards using the 25's as special cards.

I start by teaching my kids one number a day during calendar time. I show them each number card each day. We also talk about skip counting by 5's. This is the key. Once we get to the number 10, we start to play.

1. Mix cards.
2. All students stand up. I start in the same spot and give each child a chance tell me a number on the card. If they are correct, the stay up. If they are wrong, they sit.
3. Go to the next card and next student. If a student get the SMASH card, or a number that is a skip count by 5's, the NEXT student sits, even though they did nothing wrong. (This is the variable to make sure the same kid can't win each time. It is also good practice on loosing.) It is fun for the WHOLE class to say "SMASH" when this happens.
4. Continue on with the game, reusing cards when the pile has only a few cards in it.
5. Students can get saved with the 0, 25, 50, or 75. (This is good to keep interest in the game, even if you are sitting down AND to learn 25's.)
6. The last student up, wins.
7. You can also allow the person who gets the number of the day to also be a winner. For example, today was the 83 day of school and we learned about the number 83. The person who gets the card 83 automatically wins, although the game continues.

Guess My Number... I didn't create the game, but this is how I use it.

I buy two matching 100's charts and laminate them whole. (The one of the right was used LOTS last year, so I decided to buy a new matching one (on the left) and cut up my old one.) I like this chart because it is good for 6 and 9 confusion and shows odd and even numbers so well.

I saved the header to put in the storage bin.

Here are the numbers in the storage bin. (I also kept my old numbers from last year, so now I will have double. My number 100 was worn out because the kids LOVED it so much. Plus, this keeps it more fun.)

I pull a number from the tub. Each student gets to ask ONE yes or no question to find my number. I use a dry erase marker to cross out the numbers it is not on the whole 100 chart posted for all the kids to see. (This age group needs a visual, but older kids could keep up with it on their own chart.)
For example, if a student asks me, "Does your number have a 3 in it." If it doesn't, I answer with a yes or no, then I cross out the numbers that begin with a 3 and the numbers that end with a three.
I also add a tally mark to the top to count the guess made. I mark a tally for double questions. The student who figures out the number wins, and I show them my number I pulled. If everyone guesses and no one gets it, I win.

I usually allow the winner to erase the board. YES- they love that job! Isn't it funny!?!
If I win, I choose the student who asked the best question to erase.

Hope these games help you!

Take a Mouse to the Movies Games

***See bottom for freebie!***

So... I needed a book theme for a short week next week and I starting having a little too much fun... being totally serious here! I got inspired late last night to make a game, then other ideas came to me and I ended up with a 39 page collection of games using this book. I am really shocked at how long it is, because i really got carried away. It is hard to NOT make a learning game when you think of one. I would rather teach this way than with a work sheet any day.

Here it is on TPT.
This unit is all about games using the Take a Mouse to the Movies theme!
The first set of games is all about sorts- 15 in all covering:
-upper or lowercase letters
-vowels or consonants
-letters or number
-word family sorts -ap or –at
-sight word no or on
-sight word ran or run
-him or his, addition or subtraction
-6 or 9
-odd or even
-nouns or verbs
-more nouns or verbs
-wants or needs
-blank/extra
The next set of games is number memory and number order game. (It uses number words, 0-9, 10-19, 20-29, and a blank form.)
Another is sight word memory and ABC order game. (All sight words were pulled from the actual book with a blank card at the end.)
Lastly, there are 5 different blank BINGO cards for personalized use.

I tried to make a sort for skills to cover the needs of my class as well as other grades. I would LOVE to add more sorts if you give me more ideas.

I will be happy to give away a freebie or two or ten... but I am unsure which of my games others can and will use more of, so if you follow my blog and leave me a comment with your email, I will email the whole pack to the first 10 people.

Bad Weather Recess

Today was rainy and windy and cold... and we had no recess. Normally, this would cause problems... but let me share one of my favorite new finds on the internet... Adventure to Fitness!

They have a new 30 minute adventure every week. They are history and education based, but are centered around movement and fitness. This is perfect for a rainy... windy... cold day without recess. You do have to log in, but it is free. I think you can choose your adventure by searching on YouTube which may help history teachers out there.

Put this on your favorite list and try it out on a bad weather day... or after you have sugared up your class for a holiday party... hint, hint... IT WORKS!

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed

So I printed and assembled some of the MANY games and activities I made this week. My class is going to use them next week. We are going to be

-filling in numbers before and after a given number(far left) TPT here-making patterns using pattern pieces (black and white copies on bottom) TPT here-comparing numbers in centers (four activities on rings on far right) TPT here
-sequence story (top left) TPT here-sight word ABC order or memory game (top center) TPT here-Blank BINGO sheet (Top right corner) TPT here
-number order or memory game (middle right) TPT here

I loved them before, but they look like so much more fun assembled and ready for play!

New Adds

I don't know why... but I am having FUN making these games.
Here are my new games using this book!

Number Memory

Blank BINGO cards

Sight Word Memory AND ABC Order

The first two are FREE and the last is only $1... Any funds that I make go towards the cost of graphics, then straight into my classroom for my students.
I would LOVE to get some followers on my blog and followers and feedback on TPT! Help me and let me know if these games work for your students in your room.

Compass Rose

I found this stamp at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents! Since we learn about the Compass Rose in Kindergarten and talk about it often... making maps, the globe, seasons, Christmas (My Kids always ask, "Where is the North Pole?)... I HAD to get this.

Now I am think up ways to use it.

Comparing Numbers/ Adding Game

**Also see the bottom for a freebie and additional math game.**
I made this game up, but I am SURE it is already something you already do. I did step by step photos to help anyone who has not played this game up.

Start like this:

Dump pieces... leaving colors alone.

Sort red on one side, yellow on the other.

Count and write the number of pieces underneath.

BIG HELP- put a dot- it helps to make the alligator bite!

Make the alligator bite the biggest number or put an equal sign if both sides are the same.

With my higher group, I have them add the two numbers. Here is the work my students completed. (It took only a few rolls for them to discover that there total was always going to be 10. The even understood that it was because the cup always had 10 chips in it.)

How I Play
We play this at school two different ways... whole groups and small group. When in small groups, I allow each child to do this independently. When in whole group, I break students into pairs, naming one yellow and the other red. (I purposely choose all high or all low to be one color so every group will have at least one able student.) The yellow person dumps, sorts yellow, write yellow, and collects. The red person sorts red, writes red number, make alligator bite, and erases.

*Modifications*
I love this game, because you can review so many math skills on so many different levels. I use different amounts of chips in different students cups. Some groups can add, some groups can compare; some groups can compare, then add.
I also like to do with the the letter Bb using the two sided counting beans... just some extra fun.

I also made a There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell Comparing Numbers. I made 4 different sets for my class. Check it out here.

Here is freebie for numbers 1-10. It is a before and after number fill in. My kids are struggling with the before number this year, even though they can count back.

My First Activity

Check out my activity on the book... There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro.


I love these stories and so do my students. Here is a sequencing activity using Google Docs.

Here it is for free using TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers.)

The graphics are by http://www.scrappindoodles.com.

I have just added pattern pieces to go with this story on TPT. I LOVE pattern pieces because I use them for EVERYTHING!!!

You can print them in color and use them for patterns... or if you are like me, printing in color is sometimes tough. I made each pattern on its own sheet so you can print them on color copy paper and cut out to make cute black and white copies.

Other ideas include using these for class graphs, memory, or sequencing.
You could also write letters, number, or math problems on them to create additional centers and games. I will be happy to do this for you if you tell me what you want to see on them.

The Why

This is my 7th year teaching Kindergarten and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I have learned so much from this grade and can't imagine doing anything else. The kids are amazing, the curriculum is fun and exciting, and I never get bored.

My first year was a wake up call to teaching... I didn't "get kindergarten." I wish someone would have spoon fed me ideas to get me prepared. (If there is any way to be prepared!)

I have also learned that... I have a LOT more to learn. I love checking out teaching blogs and their ideas... esp on Pinterest. I wasn't able to publish my ideas on Pinterest until I published them online... so here I am.

I am still learning, still having fun, and open to all ideas in the world of Kindergarten... so here are some of my (created or stolen) ideas to add to the world.