Commotion in the Ocean

At Art Center, I keep this sign to remind children the steps to complete their art projects. Usually, it keeps them independent. The pieces are velcro, so as art projects change, I just swap the steps.

Here the students are told to write names first, then paint!

The Ocean theme is my favorite! As always, you have to keep lessons integrated, so I am incorporating math patterns in art!

Kid's favorite.

I drew goggles and a snorkel and used the riso to make copies on sturdy construction paper. This is a very difficult cutting task for a kinder, when cutting out the eye window. They wear these on their heads for the rest of the school day. In the journals, the children wrote about what they would want to see in the ocean with theeir goggles.

Water Table Center.

I put TONS of soap in there and some fake ocean life. Another favorite!

Organization

I keep this bin on my front table and put all worksheets, transparencies, and reminders for that day in there. Everything is within arm's reach. Very handy!

End of the Year Stuff

The students made invitations to our End of the Year Celebration today. I'm turning them into lil' scrapbookers! Since I am in Vegas, the casinos give out 5 packs of craft/crinkle-cut scissors once a year, so I have my entire family grab the scissors and I keep them all for my students!

Front cover of the End of the Year folder. I hand these out on the last day of school.

I tuck special projects, poems, writing, etc. inside.

Goody bags given on the last day in our classroom.

At our End of the Year Celebration, we will sing and dance our way to First Grade. The necklaces will be given to the students to wear at the performance and the sunglasses are for a very special song!

Memory Books

Here is the cover of our Memory Book.

The students have pages to complete about our school, their favorites, and their friends.

I include pictures from the school year and special activities.

Here is a poem I stole from student teaching. :)

I Love You To Pieces!

For Father's Day, I buy magnetic picture frames. I take pictures of the kids holding up the "I Love You to Pieces!" sign. The children glue puzzle pieces around the frame, put it in a colored paper bag, and make a sweet card.

Mother's Day

Here is the plate I made in kindergarten. We make the exact same plates (from the same company) for the moms on Mothers Day.

Wrapping 50 plates is pretty difficult, so I just throw them in a pretty bag and tie the bag off with ribbon. The bags are scented as well!

We decorate the tables with cards, table cloths, homemade cookies, bottled water, and mother-child activities. While the moms sit in the kids' tiny chairs, we sing, recite, and dance for them.

The bottle labels are my favorite part.

Theme: Taking Care of Pets

I love this cute, quick activity. We talk about what fish need in their bowls, why there are only 3 fish, why there are rocks, and how/why we keep the water blue. We used the colored Goldfish.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

I hope all of my fellow teachers are feeling appreciated this week. I certainly do. I have received wonderful gifts, from candles to gift cards to a scrapbook set! Thank you cards are soooo important and as teachers we need to set examples! A great idea (I think :) is to take a picture of how you used the gift you received, with your digital camera and stick it in with the thank you. For example, I took a picture of my new candle burning in my bathroom, therefore the parents know how much I appreciate it and I used it!

I am trying to keep this up; it is hard during Christmas though!!