February Currently!

Wow, oh wow!  I cannot believe it is already February.  I am not sure why I am surprised, though.  This seems to happen every year.  One day school is just starting and the next it is more than half over! This is my February 'Currently' post.  This monthly linky party is hosted by Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade.

Currently I am 

LISTENING: to HGTV {the Property Brothers}  I have a secret crush on them, but I guess it's not secret any more.  :)

LOVING:  that it is Saturday!  Not only is it Saturday, but it's a Saturday that I don't have anything planned.  Bonus!  I can just putz around and be all leisurely.  We all need those kinds of days every once in a while.

THINKING:  I am going to a Super Bowl party tomorrow.  I need to figure out what to make and take.  If anyone has any suggestions let me know!

WANTING:  the maid, any maid to show up!  It's amazing how much dirt gets tracked in from the salt, snow, etc. 

NEEDING:  to stop procrastinating and get on my homework.  The good news about online classes is that you can do them from the comfort of your own home.  The bad news is that I have to be self-motivated!  There always seems to be something else I would rather be doing.  :)

2 TRUTHS and a FIB:  Amazingly, we have NOT had any snow days this year, so far.  It seems the big snow has hit every other part of the country.  We have had minuscule amounts and that is it!  However, our first major storm is supposed to hit this week.  I don't like a lot of snow days, but one here and there can be nice.  :)  Barring any unexpected catastrophe I WILL have my 40+ hours by next school year.  I should have done it long ago, but I will be excited to finally have it done.  I HAVE NOT put in for a transfer to teach regular ed. at the elementary level.  That is my FIB.  There have been times I have fleeting thoughts about it, but I love my current job so much.  I also love my co-workers.  I would hate to give that up...........at least not right now.  :)

Be sure to link up with Farley over at Oh'Boy Fourth Grade to post your 'Currently'.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day. :)

We are Scientists!

The past couple of weeks have been so busy.  I haven't had time to breath, let alone post something on my little ole blog.  This is what we have been up to....

Another co-worker and I hosted a 'Science Night' at our school.  It was a huge success, especially since it was only 8 degrees outside!  Here are a few shots of the fun.

This week I hosted my own science activities in class.  We made our own goggles that we used all week.  The sweeties LOVED them.

Monday was color mixing 101.  Some of our activities included: hypothesizing what new color would be made by mixing two primary colors together.  

The scientist recorded their hypothesis.

We then took turns mixing food coloring in water to see if our guesses were correct. 

 We then recorded our conclusion on our data sheets.

Tuesday was 'magnify the situation' day.  We matched tiny pictures to bigger ones by looking at them through magnifying glasses.

We then looked at all sorts of objects with magnifying glasses to observe diffferent characteristics of each.  Finally, we dipped our fingertips into ink pads to look at our fingerprints with magnifying glasses.  We identified what type of fingerprint we had and then turned our prints into different kinds of objects, such as animals, people, and vehicles.

Wednesday was 'sink or float' day.  We hypothesized about which objects could float and which ones would sink. 

 

We tested our hypothesis and recorded our results on a fishbowl cut-out.

Thursday was 'magnificent magnets'.  We hypothesized which objects would stick to a magnet and which ones would not.  We recorded our results in a take home book.  We used a water bottle to fill with objects attracted to a magnet.  The little scientists took them home so they could conduct the experiment at home.  

 Check out these faces!  They were so excited.  :)

Whew!  We packed a lot of learning in during this fun, fun week!!!

You can find directions, recording sheets and ideas in my 'Sensational Science' pack on TpT or TN.

Click HERE for a science theme color freebie.

Link up your 'Five for Friday' weekly fun with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

A Tacky 5 for Friday!

We learned about penguins this week.  I have been trying to introduce more non-fiction books and this was the perfect theme to do so.  Of course, we had to read "Tacky the Penguin" as one of our fiction books. We turned our door into 'Tacky the Penguin' to celebrate.

 Our little ones love Tacky.  We made our own Tacky penguins.

You can find the patterns on my Tacky ELA Pack at TpT or TN here.

We added them to our door.  I think they turned out pretty darn cute.  :)

We also sorted pom poms by color onto penguin bellies.  Little ones used tongs to pick up the pom poms to add a fine motor element.

My most amazing SLP brought styrofoam balls into our room for a snowball fight.  It was 'snow' much fun!

We also played with shaving cream on our table.  

For my sensory avoiders I squirt a little shaving cream under a sheet of bubble wrap to warm them up to the idea.  Usually it's not long before they are in to it, too!

How was your week?  Link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and share with everyone.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Peter's Pocket~Freebies for "A Snowy Day"

Last week, we read "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.  It is one of my all time favorite books about snow.  After we read the book, we made this ADORABLE craft I snagged as a freebie from Michelle Hudgeons.  We also drew pictures of our favorite part of the story.  Some of us even added a writing element.  Big stuff for preschoolers!  I am so proud of them.  :)

 

 

I also created some activities to use at circle time.  {I have to admit I kind of have a 'theme sickness'.  I love it when my circle time activities match my theme!}  There are color, shape and counting activities to go with the book.  I named this pack 'Peter's Pocket' for the main character who puts a snowball in his pocket.  Click HERE or on the pictures below if you would like your own copy.

I hope you enjoy using these as much as we did!

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Back At It! Five For Friday!

Oh my goodness!  Am I the only one wiped out this week?  We only had three days with the little ones and I am T.I.R.E.D!!!  I do have to say I am so very proud of my sweeties.  They came back from break and seem so grown up. I think they were ready to be back to school.

The first day back I received some great presents.  Like I have said before, one of the best things about teaching are the sweet presents I am given.  Check it out..........

I got a wiggle eye, a photo card, and a drawing of a bag and money.  LOVE!

Our theme this week was 'snow/snowmen'.   We read 'There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow' and retold the story with items from my pack I sell on TpT and TN.  My little ones love the old lady books.  

We also read one of my favorite winter books, "The Snowy Day".  We drew our favorite part of the book and made these awesome Peter' crafts.  I think they turned out so cute.  I put the two activities together and this is what they look like.

 This sweetie loved it when Peter made a snow angel.

 Lots of little ones loved it when Peter slid down the hill.  Check out the writing!  I had some words on display if they wanted to use them, otherwise they just wrote what they wanted.

 I love the string of letters!

I have some great artists and writers.  I am in love.  :) This is the first year I have incorporated so much writing in our projects.  They have exceeded my expectations, by far!  You can find the pattern for Peter as a freebie HERE .  Unfortunately, I can't find the original source for the writing prompt.  If you know where it came from please let me know so I can give proper credit to the creator.

We also made these adorable snowmen, 

along with snowman names.  You can get the snowman names as a freebie from my TpT and TN stores by clicking on the initials of the store you prefer to use or from last week's post from my blog through Google docs, if you prefer.

Here are a few random shots of our work in progress....

{The most fabulous Ms. Valerie losing the skin from her fingertips hot gluing the 'ear muffs'!}

and these three goof balls being silly while making their snowmen.  :)  They crack me up!

Here is a picture of my new rolling chair.  The idea is not mine, but it is genius!  Take a student desk chair, don't put on the back when assembling, and cover the seat with any fabric by stapling it to the underside.  How easy is that?

Be sure to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and post your 'Five for Friday'!

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)