Thank you! Thank you!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked over at my blog roll and saw my name.  Yippee!  It's my first giveaway (officially) that I have won from a blog.  Thanks to What's the Buzz in 1st and Stepping Into First Grade, I have won some awesome character units.

          

Be sure to check out their units on TpT.  They're great!  I will be actually giving them to my wonderful husband as he teaches 1st grade and these will be perfect for his guided reading groups next year.  (Maybe I can even convince him to start his own blog this summer!)

I also wanted to say thank you to a wonderful teacher blogger from Florida who gave away this AMAZING sea life canopy on her blog a couple months ago.  Believe me, my kids are crazy about this canopy and love to tell others how it came all the way to Indiana from Florida!  My wonderful teacher friend (KindergartenWorks) won it and gave it to me.  How wonderful is that!  I felt very special that day that this showed up in my classroom.  I can't wait to find a good spot to put it in my room next year.  So thanks again, Leslie! 

Seriously though, you teacher bloggers are INCREDIBLE!  I have been so inspired by all of you this school year.  Your dedication to the teaching profession is a breath of fresh air (even though I am very blessed to work with a wonderful staff).  So thank you to everyone for your ideas and your excitement shared through your blogs.

Also, thanks to my followers.  I'm getting close to 100 and will be doing a little giveaway. =)

Kindergarten Memories

We all have our own memories of kindergarten.  Maybe it's about who we played with or what our favorite snack was or even what little boy chased us on the playground!  Either way, I'm sure most of us have positive memories or our year in kindergarten.  I get so excited knowing (or hoping!) that I am a part of my students' memories as well.  To help them remember cute little things later in life, I created a Kindergarten Memory Book for their end-of-year gift.  I hope they will treasure it in the years to come.  My thinkers are excited every time we get to work on this book because it's all about themselves!

I hope that you will snag a copy of our Kindergarten or First Grade Memory Book for your own classroom as well. 

Leave me a comment about your favorite memory of kindergarten!

Our butterflies are emerging...

but I'm not ready to let them go yet!  Literally speaking, our classroom butterflies have begun to emerge from their chrysalises.  My thinkers are so intrigued that it's difficult to get them to do much else.  I hope we get to watch one the moment it emerges in the next couple days when its wings are crumpled.

Here's one of my little thinkers working hard at recording his data in his butterfly science observation book.  He was so excited to report that his butterfly emerged!

My own little butterflies (my thinkers) have really shown me their true colors the past two days during our end of the year testing.  I am blown away with how much they have grown this year!  With one child in particular I got a little choked up and it brought tears of joy to my eyes (not joking!).  She asked what was wrong and I explained to her that sometimes teachers (like mommies) cry when they are happy and proud!  She beemed the biggest smile.  THAT is why I'm a teacher!  Even though I know they are more than ready for 1st grade, I'm going to have a hard time letting them go. 

I know they will feel the same way as they let their butterflies go next week.

A Metamorphosis

There was an ecstatic BUZZ going around our classroom this morning!  (It could have been the appearance of the mobile SMARTBoard, but I think it was all about the caterpillars today.)  Something "magical" had happened to our sweet little caterpillars overnight.  They pupated and are in their own chrysalis! 

Last year, my wonderful teacher friend I am blessed to work every day with at KindergartenWorks got me started in growing butterflies in our classroom.  (Be sure to check out her post about this awesome experience in her classroom as well.  Our kindergarten thinkers are so cute when they get to talking and realize that they are studying the EXACT same thing too...haha!)  It is truly magical watching this through their eyes.  My thinkers have really enjoyed taking care of their little friends and trying to guess when they will change.  While some of their guesses may be a little off the wall (May 35th?), most of them have really been using what they learned in our nonfiction study of butterflies to give a pretty accurate prediction.

My thinkers have really gotten a "kick" out of recording their observations in their butterfly observation books that I created for them to use during this study.  They have really felt like scientists and are eager to write down their observations when a significant change has occurred.  Be sure to check this out to use in your classroom as well:

I can't wait until I get to see their cute little expressions as they watch their butterflies emerge.  A few days after they emerge, each student gets to release their butterfly.  Even though it is CRAZY to get a picture with each of the students holding theirs (or what they whole-heartedly think is theirs), it is such a great memory to preserve for them.

This is one of my favorite units to do with my soon-to-be 1st grade thinkers before I let them go for summer vacation.  I can't think of a better way to end the year!

Dollar Well Spent

I'm sure you have probably seen these hanging out in the dollar section of your nearest Target, but if you haven't, go get a couple now.  This is the best dollar I have spent in a while.  My kindergarten thinkers have been getting a little bored with their same old games in one of their centers, so I wanted to introduce a new option for them as we wrap up the year.  They LOVE this popcorn sight word game.  I have included all of their sight word (popcorn words) in this game and have thrown in a few new words as well for a challenge.  I literally have thinkers jumping up and down in excitement for this game.  Hil.ar.i.ous!  While my blog and TeachersPayTeachers site gets up and running, I'd love to offer you this game for FREE!

New Blogger!

Hello blogging world!  After many months of checking out some super fabulous teaching blogs, I've decided to add my own.  I'm excited to share some of my own creations as well as sharing how I have used some of the fantastic ideas I have found from other bloggers. 

Now I just need to figure out how to center by header and make it bigger.  Oh the joys of blogging!