Growing Kinders: April 2013

Instagram!

Do you love Instagram? Did you know that Growing Kinders has an Instagram account? I post things on my Insta that might not necessarily make it on the blog or my facebook page! It’s super easy to follow!

You can follow me online or download the FREE Instagram app at the iTunes store or Google Play store. My user name is:

growingkinders

Or you can just click {here} to follow online

Here’s another fun thing! Every Tuesday, teachers will be posting something on their Insta using the hashtag (#) #teachertalktuesday

When you use hashtags, your content is grouped together with others that have also used that hashtag. You’ll be able to find lots of new people to follow and see lots of fun ideas!

Why don’t you come and join in on the fun!?

On a side note…. Farm Frenzy is ready!

Ten Frame Game..another one!

Here is another super fun, super easy 10 frame game that you can play with your kiddos TOMORROW! I prepped it in about 5 minutes!

You need some ten frames (1 for each student)

Some wooden cubes

some counters

and some sticky dots

Label 6 sticky dots

and stick them to the cubes. You’ll need enough cubes for each pair of students.

The object of the game is to fill the ten frame. The children will roll the dice and either add or take away that many counters. The first to make it to 10 is the winner! When they fill the frame, simply clear it and start all over again! Super easy, and the kids LOVE to play it over and over again!

I hope you’ll try this game out with your kiddos! It’s an oldie, but a goodie, and sometimes you just don’t need anything fancy or cute to get the job done!

But, if you’re looking for something fancy and cute to finish out your school year. How about a little number review? Fun with Numbers Part 2 and Fun with Numbers Part 1 are both available at my TpT store. I’ve been working on Part 3 for a while now, just haven’t been able to get it done! If you’re interested, just click below!

Practicing Coin ID with QR Codes

I’ve been playing around a bit with QR codes in the classroom over the last few weeks. It’s really been a trial and error type thing!

The children really enjoy using the iPads to scan the QR codes and see what pops up!

As is typical (it seems) for me this year, I don’t have many pictures!! So sorry!

My plan was to use the QR codes in my favorite foam dice, but the children were having trouble scanning the shiny surface, so we ended up just taking the cards out and laying them upside down on the table. They would choose one, scan it, and then write the value.

Yes, there are 6 cards and only 4 coins! Two of the cards are links to quick you tube coin songs. I also included the coin songs at the top of the paper so they can scan the QR codes at home.

If you would like to try this math activity at home you can download the file below! Let me know how it works for you!

Oh, one more thing – I added a couple of Mother’s Day activities to TpT if you’re interested!

Oh How I LOVE Mrs. Wishy Washy

Oh, yes I do! We are gearing up for our big farm unit next week and Mrs. Wishy Washy is at the top of our reading list! I love that the text is simple and fun, and the children LOVE to read it over and over again!

Hameray Publishing recently sent me two of their brand new emergent readers in a NEW Wishy Washy series! SO EXCITED. (They have not compensated me in any way for my opinions – just the awesome books for me to take a peek at and give my honest opinions!)

Listen to Joy Cowley herself talk about it…

Oh my! I think I’ll have to read Mrs. Wishy Washy with a British accent from now on! LOVE! Isn’t she the cutest!!??

Back to the books…

The illustrations are GORGEOUS and the text is in a great easy to read font! The books are available in a big book format and as small readers for independent use. I MUST get my hands on some of the big books – the kids LOVE reading this as a whole group!

and just LOOK at these adorable finger puppets!! How great are these for retelling?!

If you LOVE Mrs. Wishy Washy as much as I do, you’ll have to enter this AMAZING contest! You could win a whole classroom set of Wishy Washy books!! Just click on the image below to enter. (I TOTALLY want to win!)

You can find the lovely washer woman and Hameray publishing in these places:

Facebook

and their website!

This keeps getting better…. want to get your hands on some Wishy Washy books?!

Use the discount code ZJCC13 to get 20% off anything on their website! Yay!

But, wait…there’s more (now I sound like an infomercial…)

Do you want to WIN your very OWN Wishy Washy big book? Hameray is giving one away to one lucky Growing Kinders reader.

Just enter in the rafflecopter below and follow me on Facebook! Quick! The giveaway ends on April 26!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fix it up AGAIN! Finally Ready!

I’ve been working on this one since before Christmas! Finally finished it off this weekend! Click {here} if you’re interested in taking a peek!

I’m off to see The Croods with my girls while the husband is working on a paper for grad school. I’ll be back later tonight with a little give away! Hint: It’s wishy washy fun!

Music Monday–Brain Breaks!

music mondays

My daughter's teacher shared this awesome group with me. My kiddos LOVE them! Check them out and try them in your classroom when spring fever kicks in! (or when the snow just won’t melt and are tired of winter)

And my kids can't get enough of the gummy bear song! We LOVE these dance along songs!

(I think I sing it in my sleep!) What are your favorite brain break songs in the classroom?

Plant Centers are FINALLY done!

We started our plant unit last week, and the kids have been trying out a new organizational format with our math and literacy centers and so far it’s been a hit!

I’ve been working really hard on these activities to make sure they align with the common core and are fun!

Love this sweet little craftivity by Cara!

We are expecting a bit of a blizzard tonight here in the upper midwest (boo), so it’s hard to wrap my mind around the idea of planting our flowers next week. This is the worst spring (winter) we’ve had in a LONG time!

Anyways, if you’re interested, here is a peek at my Math and Literacy Centers for Little Sprouts! I’ve created 3 separate bundles: one with both math and literacy and separated math and literacy. I hope you like it!

The first five people to guess my favorite flower (I have 2!) will win a copy of this pack! Go!!

**Update!** That was fast! My favorites are tulips and daisies! Daisies were my wedding flower, but if I would have gotten married earlier it would have certainly been tulips!

Congrats to: Alexa (Bilingual Scrapbook), Shelley, Kristi, Mr. Naparalla and Gwen!

**Alexa, Ms. Naparalla, and Gwen send me your e-mail! growingkinders@gmail.com**

Hoppy Spring…a little late, but…

We made these sweet bunnies just before Easter, but I’m only now posting them! :P You could still certainly throw this cutie patootie bulletin board up in no time!

I needed something SUPER fast, and I knew this would fit the bill. I let the kiddos choose which color rabbit they would like to have and also let them choose the scrapbook paper. I think they turned out just darling and I see their personalities in each one! This board was inspired by this uber cute board! It’s so much cuter than mine, but I love mine so much!

PS – Do you think they need feet? I feel like there is something missing! (I just didn’t want to cut out all of the little feet!!)

Now, if only spring would cooperate and get here already!! Sheesh – you would think I live in Siberia!

Going Buggy!

We are going buggy this week in our centers! We have been learning about isopods this week in science, so it was the perfect opportunity to pull out our buggy centers!

Here’s a peek at what my kiddos are working on during math and literacy center time:

The children were SO excited about this game! And the best part….they don’t even realize they’re practice addition facts to 5! (Don’t worry, we fixed her mistake on this page!)

You can find this fun little game {here} if you’re interested. After centers this week, it will go in my math baskets for more practice.

I’m lucky enough to have 5 ipads in my classroom, and this week we were working with the app called Kindergarten Subtraction Lite. This app really helped kids to “get” the idea of subtraction. Plus, there is a fun little game they get to play after they practice a certain number of problems. It’s free, so go out and grab it!