Magic Spoons

Why hello there my fellow blogger buddies!

Were you wondering if I fell off the face of the Earth?  If I did not, in fact, survive the madness of the holiday season?  If a pack of rabid kindergarteners ate me alive??!!  DON'T FRET!!  I'm back. :)

Not only am I back, but I have a great little somethin' to share!  Now, let me first just say that this is in no way my idea. Nope. Negative.  All the credit for this idea goes to one of my fellow kinder teachers, who got it from another kinder teacher, who . . .well, you get the idea.  Not original, but just one that I thought ought to be shared.

So this little phonemic awareness activity is called Magic Spoons.  Basically, in order to help children with sounding out words, even those pesky nonsense words, you take a pack of spoons and on each spoon write a consonant. (For the letter Q you write a "qu" combo - because those two are always together.)  These will be used as the initial consonants of the words the students will be reading. Then, students practice with one spoon at a time adding the first letter to various different word family endings.  As the Magic Spoon moves from word ending to word ending . . . POOF!  A new word appears!  Magic.

When my teacher friends were sharing this idea with me, I immediately envisioned shiny, glittering, golden spoons that were oh-so-magical.  So, when it came time to make my OWN Magic Spoons, I had to track down . . . you guessed it . . . golden spoons.  (The power is in the golden-ness, right?)

Anywho, I found these packs of golden spoons at Party City for cheap (AND was able to walk out of there with ONLY the spoons - yay for self control!).

Next, I wrote on my spoons.  (Best kindergarten printing!!)

Finally, I created three sheets to use with my magic spoons.   On the left is a sheet of two letter word family endings, the middle sheet is three letter word family endings, and the final sheet is ONLY consonant letters.  My plan with that sheet is to then create a second set of magic spoons where the word family ending is on the spoon.  Are you following all of this?

For a PDF file of these three sheets, click on the image below. (I plan to copy each sheet on a different color of cardstock and laminate for durability . . . and for protection from all the magic-ness!)

But wait, there's more!  If you would like to use this idea in a whole group setting, fear not!  I plan to (in all of my spare time . . . whenever that may be) get large wooden spoons to use to get the whole class involved at once!  Gold spray paint . . .here I come! 

Anyway, I would love to hear about if and how you use Magic Spoons in YOUR classroom! Or maybe you yourself are the inventor of this great idea . . .in which case, thanks!

Happy teaching this week! 

Lindsay

WInter Words Photos, TPT SALE, and some Writing FREEBIES!!

Hi Peeps!! Happy Saturday! Kerri here...
Geaux Saints! I just had to say it. Actually, I am NOT a football girl, but my husband's whole family is from New Orleans and he was born there, so by marriage I am a Saints fan, I guess. He and his dad are busily watching the game as I write this! Too many turnovers, Saints!! (WOW! I just impressed myself with my football lingo! HA!)


I finally got around to taking pictures of my kids doing their Winter Words Writing Books, which they do every Friday as a Lit Center. We are working superdy hard on being more descriptive when we write, and I am quite proud of how their writing is coming along, AND they really SUPER love this center! Check out their work...

You can pick yours up by clicking on the picture below, and what the HEY, why don't we just say that I am throwing a MLK, Jr. Weekend SALE!! Everything on sale until Tuesday!!...

You can also get this little number...

AND this one...

I also have some writing paper FREEBIES for you! Snowman, Penguin, and Martin Luther King, Jr. themed. We will be making our Martin Art project this week, and also copying this song/poem onto the writing paper in our "very best printing!" to go with it. Our music teacher teaches the kids a really sweet song called "Sing About Martin" (have you heard it?) and we are going to use these words as our poem:

Sing about Martin,

Sing about caring,

Sing about peace,

All around the world.

Sing about Martin,

Sing about loving,

Sing about peace,

All around the world.

Click on the pictures below to download your writing papers...

Enjoy your 3 day weekend!! I know I'm gonna, fo' shizzle!!

What's Happening ?!?!?!

Hi Bloggy Friends! Kerri here...
Do you read the Tacky the Penguin books to your class?? Of course you do!! Who wouldn't?? They are absolutely hysterical and probably my all-time favorite series of books to read to my kids. I went on AMAZON and STOP. THE. PRESSES...there are 2 Tacky books that I do not own (well, didn't own. Of course, I ordered them the minute I saw them. Because, as my husband tells me, I HAVE A PROBLEM.)
ANYWAYS...here they are...Seriously, have I been under a rock or what!! I can't WAIT until they come in the mail. (insert giddy squeal!!)

 Well, today we made our Tacky Art, which I have been making for years and is one of my all-time faves, and they came out RIDICULOUSLY silly, of course. Many of my kids asked if they could do "CRAZY" eyes, cause you know Tacky is an ODD bird, so of course I said SURE!! Here they are...

I used scrapbook paper from the dollar spot at Target for the shirts, because we didn't have time to design our own shirts. Come to think of it, we forgot to add his bowtie too. Oh Barnacles! Too bad...


I also wanted to share the most beautiful, sweet, kind thing my room mom has been making for me. Every few weeks, from September, she will hand sew a little piece of fruit out of wool and put it on my front table. It has become a little game for the kids to come in and see if there is any new fruit in the bowl. One of my boys found an old piece of green felt on the floor before Christmas and was all excited to give it to her so she could make a strawberry with it, and yesterday, I found a strawberry in the bowl!! This is SERIOUSLY one of the most thoughtful things any parent has ever done for me. Take a looksie!

Aren't they precious?? I appreciate her so so much. I wish I could knit cute little things like that, but ALAS, all I can do is sew on a button.


That's it for today, friends!! Thank you a GINORMOUS bunch to those of you who have already purchased my Arctic Life Unit. I can't wait to bust it out starting next week with my little friends!!

Of course, I will be making some FREEBIES to go along with this unit, and I'll be back this weekend with other fun stuff!! TGI almost F!!

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...

Got inked...and a TARGET find!

Hey Peeps! Kerri here...
I debated whether or not to tell you this, and my Bestie told me that I should ABSOLUTELY not tell you, for fear that you might judge me, or worse yet, UNFOLLOW our blog! (The horror!!) But, I have faith that you will still be my bloggy friends if I tell you that yesterday, the hubs and I (in honor of our 13th anniversary, which we celebrated on December 21st)...got INKED!! Yes, that is right. You heard it here, inked is the cool way to say WE GOT TATTOOS! Now, if you know anything about my hubby, he is NOT the tattoo type. Me, on the other hand, well, let's just say that this was my 5th tattoo. The other 4 I got in college, when I was a self-proclaimed hippy. It's all a blur now, but what I DO know is that my guardian angel was working over time for me back then. Thank you Jesus for your Grace and second chances!!
Anyway, back to the big reveal!! My hubs doesn't like wearing rings, so he got our initials on his ring finger (cuz he's gonna be marked as mine ONE way or another-HEE HEE!!)  and since my fingers are SUPER bony, thanks alot Mom, AND since I LOVE my wedding ring, I got my girls' initials on my wrist. TADA....

I absolutely LOVE them!! And, if you live in Orange County and are willing to get inked yourself, then I HIGHLY recommend Life After Death Tattoo in Costa Mesa. The owner, Chris Perrin, is an awesome Christian guy, was SUPER cool and easy to work with, and his shop is FABULOUS!!


In other news, I found these adorable little gems at TARGET today in the Dollar Spot (of course!!)

Little Valentines take out boxes!! Aaaawww!! Aren't they soooo cute! I plan on making some Valentined freebies to share with you that utilize these boxes, so HURRY out to Target and pick yours up!! Also, I would love some suggestions on what I can use them for! I am thinking some sort of SORTS, language arts or math themed obviously, but I welcome your ideas!! I'd also love to know how many of you have tattoos...I know there must be some of you out there!! 


P.S. A big huge hug to those of you who have purchased my newest unit, Winter Games Math and Literacy Centers! I feel so honored that you like my TPT stuff!! Don't forget to pick up your Winter Games Number Order to 100 FREEBIE!! It already has 624 downloads-AMAZING!!

Winter Games FREEBIE and Snowman ART!

Hi Peeps! Kerri here...
Well, I am now officially back in the swing of things. I'm not gonna lie, those first couple days were R-O-U-G-H, but now I feel back in teaching mode. YAY!! I even created a little FREEBIE for you, my peeps, mis amigos, meine freunde (excuse the German, I took 4 years in high school and that is almost all I remember!!) But, first things first...
Here are our uber-adorable, TLC art made Snowman! I tweaked the nose a tiny bit, but other than that I got this project from the TLC Art Winter book. Have you ordered yours yet?? It is THE BOMB-DIGGIDY!!

I heart snowmen sooo much!! And, did you notice the Moon labeling art that we also did this week? Yes, it is straight out of Cara Carroll's Moon Unit, which I also heart a whole lot!!


I finally have all my Winter Games Math and Literacy centers, laminated, cut and ready to roll for next week. Here's a little looksie...

Snowmobile Addition Sort

Winter Games Sentence Scramble

Winter Games ABC order

Snow Much Fun Short and Long Vowel Sort

Winter Games-Spin, Tally, and Graph

Ice Fishing Fact Families

Ski Trip Subtraction Sort

Winter Games Story Writing Paper

And...now for your FREEBIE!! Let me just preface this with saying that this center was a TRUE LABOR OF LOVE, because I lost almost the WHOLE DARN THING after finishing it and saving it without making sure it was all there...I know, I know, what a loser, right??  I have NO IDEA what I did, all I know is I was P!$$&D (Can I say that on my blog??) 
After freaking for about 30 seconds, I re-made it and it is so very cute! It is a Winter Games Number order to 100 Math Center which is a perfect companion to my Winter Games Unit (thank you, by the way, to those of you who have already purchased it!!) Just look at this freebie...

You can click on the cover picture to go to my TPT store. While you're there, be sure to pick up my Winter Games Unit! Thanks, Peeps!!

Winter Writing Freebie!

Happy New Years, Ladies and Gents!! Kerri here...
I hope you all had a wonderful New Years Eve and New Years Day!! I have to go back to work tomorrow, so my New Years Day has been filled with Target shopping, laundry, newsletter writing, etc. Not exactly relaxing, but it will be good to be back in the swing of things again.  We had SOOO much fun last night watching football and some motorcycle jumping thing (the boys) and playing Pictionary and Taboo (the girls!) At midnight, we went outside and it was wicked foggy, which was weird and wacky.  All the kids lit sparklers and ran around like maniacs! See exhibit A...

And Exhibit B...

I hope the neighbors weren't TOO annoyed with all our shenanigans!! All in all, it was fantabulous and I cannot believe it is 2012 already!!


I have a little FREEBIE for your Lit Centers! My firsties will be working on writing Super (who, what, when, where, and maybe even why) Sentences when we go back tomorrow (is it really tomorrow?? I think I'm in denial still!!), so I created this little chart for them to use to get their Super Sentence brains working....

They choose one word from each column to create an excellent, fabulous, maybe even a little silly, SUPER SENTENCE!! I also created this little diddy so they could make their own little book of super sentences...

BTW, I am LOVING this font called "Fontdinerdotcom Sparkly" from www.dafont.com! It is so much fun! 
Anyway, back to the center directions. I plan on having my kids use the chart, choose a word from each column to write  SUPER sentences in their little books, and then illustrate their sentences. Easy Peasy lemon squeezy!! If you click on both pictures above, you can get your very own copy of the chart, AND the cover + writing paper for the book! TADA!! Instant writing center!!
For those of you who get to sleep in and watch the Rose Parade/Rose Bowl game tomorrow, well PIN A ROSE ON YOUR NOSES! :)
Just kidding...enjoy every last second of your break!! I will try not to be TOO jealous!