Art projects up the WAZOO! :) And a FREEBIE (of course!)

Happy Saturday, Peeps!! Kerri here...
I woke up to the sound of rain this morning!! I know, I know, you East, South, Northwest, etc. Coasters say whoopidy doo, right? Well, here in So. Cal, we haven't had ANY rain since the beginning of December! AND, since it is Saturday and I don't have to worry about RAINY DAY SCHEDULE, I love it!!


I finally got pictures of the Jan Brett "Three Snow Bears" project we did this week, and our Martin Luther King, Jr. Art! Here we go...

We filled out the story map together, because this is the first time I introduced them to this type of Story Map. You can get your own copy of this here! The igloo I found on Jan Brett's website and I shrunk it down to half the size. Click here for the igloo.


We also made our Martins this week. When I taught Kinder, I always did the TLC art Martin, and he came out Fantastic! Last year, we step drew him, also great, so this year I thought I would combine the two and make a "Mixed media" project (how you like those arty words, huh??) Here they are...

We wrote the poem that I posted about here. It is actually a song, so I taught it to them first, and then we wrote it. You can also grab the writing paper from that post and save it for next year!


Looking ahead to next week, we will be making these fun little Chinese New Year Dragons made totally  from die cut shapes. These are oldies but goodies! I created these in 2001, so maybe you could call them "vintage??" HA!!

The poem glued to the top is for Kindergarten, but my Firsties will be copying the poem in their very best printing! Click here for some writing paper to use...

We also found out that our little blog was nominated as a "Most Fascinating Teaching Blog" in 2011!!

WOW! What an honor! We feel so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community of dedicated ladies and gentlemen who are passionate about children!! YAY for Teaching! Can I get a whoot whoot??
Have a great weekend, Peeps!!

Jan Brett Author Study and New Arctic Unit Posted!!

Hi Peeps!! Happy Tuesday! Kerri here...
First of all, thank you for all of your kind words regarding my new tattoo. I KNEW you wouldn't judge me for telling you!! I plan on adding my hub's initial and my initial to it, so our whole family is represented. One of the male teachers at my school made the comment, "So, he got your initial and you didn't get his??" Whatever, dude...way to lay on the guilt!! :)
 Don't worry, I'm not going to get all crazy and tat myself up, but it IS quite fun! :)


We started our Author's Study on Jan Brett last week. We study her books for 8 weeks and create a project for each book. At the end, we make a really cool cover and bind the projects into a book. Many of the ideas I got from my dear friend Kim who I used to work with (miss you, Mrs. Mac!!) and some I added myself last year. I also got some FAB ideas from my fellow bloggers!! 


We read The Mitten last week, and created this project:

Where did I get this worksheet?? It is FABULOUS!! Is it yours? Please let me know so I can give you all the credit!!

We glued the animals in the order they appeared in the story...

This week we read The Hat, and made this little project...

We step drew Hedgie the Hedgehog, which came from www.janbrett.com (this website is AMAZING, and she gives sooo many great ideas!!) We also filled in this Venn diagram together comparing and contrasting The Mitten and The Hat, which is from the lovely Cara Carroll, of course!! My kids LOVED drawing Hedgie and they especially loved adding their own hat!
Next week, we will be reading The Three Snow Bears and I will be back to share the project that we make for it. It is the perfect book to introduce the Arctic, which is the perfect segway to my newest unit that I just posted on TPT...

Here's what you get...

Literacy Centers:

-Arctic Life Sentence Scramble-

laminate and cut out word cards. Students unscramble sentences and complete the worksheet, adding correct capitalization and punctuation to their sentences.

-Arctic Life ABC Order-

laminate and cut out word cards. Students put cards in ABC order and complete the ABC Order worksheet.

-Arctic Life Noun & Verb Sort-

laminate and cut out word cards. Students sort words into nouns and verbs and complete the noun and verb worksheet.

Math Centers:

-Arctic Life Add 3-

laminate and cut out cards. Students sort the number cards by their Arctic characters, add the 3 numbers together, and record the addition sentences on the worksheet.

-Arctic Life Place Value Match-

laminate and cut out cards. Students match the place value cards to the number and fill out the corresponding worksheet.

-Arctic Life Telling Time-

laminate & cut out cards. Students match up the clock cards to their time cards, and complete the worksheet.

The clip art is SUPER fun, and the 3 Lit and 3 Math Centers are perfect for this time of year!! You can click on the picture above to go to my store!!

One more thing...I will be back later this week with a RAD Giveaway. Here is a little teaser pic, Timree, the artist who made this, is offering her best selling product to one of our followers!! Check it out...

Ooh, la la!! Isn't it fantabulous!! Stay tuned...