February 29, 2020
A Leap Year Sale + FREEBIE
It's a Leap Year, which means we get to enjoy one extra day in February AND have a reason to celebrate...like this Teachers Pay Teachers sale! Over in my shop you'll receive 20% off everything - but it's only for today only!
If you're ready to start thinking and preparing for the end of the year, be sure to take a peek at these printables that are my go-tos every single year!
End of the Year Awards
Every year I always want to recognize my students for their hard work from the year and so I created these awards! It highlights the character growth of each kind of student and includes 50+ different awards. This is also so FREE! So pick it up and see how you can enhance your class awards this year!
EOY How-To Writing
How-to writing is something I love working on throughout the year no matter the theme - and the end of the year is no different! It has pages for kinder-6th grade that also include planning and publishing pages.
This piece of writing is wonderful to showcase on an outside-the-classroom bulletin board for not only the end of the year, but to keep up at the beginning of the year for the incoming families and students to read through!
Not only is there an awesome sale going on, I've also added a new freebie to the shop!
Scratchy & Signing Spelling Freebie
Not only is there a sale going on, but I've just added a new FREEBIE to the shop!
Signing Spelling
This resource has been an amazing activity that works for both a center itself or something that students can do when they're finished or have extra time between activities. It's also very easy to differentiate.
My kinders are always practicing their alphabet and took great interest in ASL when I shared Jack Hartmann's 'Sing It, Say It, Sign It' song. Afterwards, I just knew I needed to add some ASL to my workshop centers and this last week I introduced it to my students. I found it was a great option for my kids to choose from when they've finished their work. It was also such an easy thing to prep! Just print and laminate and done!
Want to differentiate it? Add some sight words to the bin and have students sign their sight words to each other. Place white boards in there too so they can record the letter as their partner signs it.
Scratchy Spelling
This activity is another that my students really liked to explore last week. The prep is also super simple in that you print, slice, then laminate the letter cards. Each card shows the students how to form them to make it easy to follow. To play, students work in pairs and using the letter cards, write the letter (upper or lowercase) onto their partners back using their finger.
February 11, 2020
Valentine Creative Writing FREEBIE
It's valentine week here in kindergarten and I am so excited by the centers that I have prepped for my students! This week we're sharing the love and keeping up with our learning - even if we're so close to our winter break!
It never fails that right before a break my students (and I) begin to feel it...and thus we can't shake those moments of behavior. So, it's ever so important to keep my kiddos engaged and this week with the excitement of Valentine's Day I'm capitalizing on that energy.
I'm so excited to share a new FREEBIE that's heading to my TpT store, this Valentine Writing center!
Materials:
- Hershey Kisses
- These fun containers from Michael's for less than $3!
- Valentine Writing Center FREEBIE
- Glue sticks and pencils
This student used her Hershey Kiss wrapper as a pink circle balloon. I love the details in her illustration and this activity lent itself for the conversation about building a picture around the wrapper.
Another student went above and beyond and used her wrapper for a few different items in her picture! She used the Kisses paper along the top as the string lights and her wrapper as a birthday cake, a bouquet of flowers, and additional lights on her string. She's one of my more advanced writers in English and was so proud of her work!
Valentines!
As an additional activity within my writing center this week are these valentine templates. Students' names in class are shared along with the directions on how to complete the center. They are to select either a heart or card and then pick one student in class to write a valentine to. Once they write their name, they then think about and write one kind thing about them. This is another opportunity for them to feel a personal connection to their writing and express themselves to others.
Easily edit this page by using a text box to write the names of your students. This is a handy tool for them to not only practice their own names, but the names of their peers. I love how easily this is another way to expose my students to the written English language!
I hope you have as much fun with this writing center as my students did!
Feel free to snap a photo of your class using this FREEBIE and share it out on Instagram using @LittleFoxTeaching!
Linking this freebie up with The Bender Bunch!
February 9, 2020
Easy Prep for Valentine's Week in Kindergarten
It's Valentine's week and every year I somehow lose the sense of time. I honestly try to plan ahead and prepare all of the heart and pink themed materials that make this week so much fun for my kinders and yet here I am hustling to get things done.
As I plan and look forward to this week, I've found a ton of resources (many of which are free!) that will keep my kids engaged up until our minimum day on Friday.
Creation Station Ideas
Love Monster Directed DrawingsDirected drawings are not only fun, but they help practice skills such as listening, following directions, and fine motor. I love the idea of this being presented in a Creation Station workshop center with each stage shown or a whole group activity with a paired writing prompt. I personally love that this particular design is easy enough for my kinders yet great for older kids in the older grades, too.
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| photo | from the pond |
Either way, they're super adorable and can be picked up at From the Pond blog! She has this printable ready over on her TpT store, too!
Valentine Goodie Bag
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| photo | art bar blog |
ABC/Word Work
To keep our learning going throughout the week I've found a number of great resources that keep with the Valentine theme that are not only easy prep, but many of which are FREEBIES! |
| photo | madebyteachers.com |
Some other free letter and tracing resources are:
- Heart shape and word tracing sheets from Elementary Lesson Plans
- This Valentine's Day emergent reader from All Students Can Shine
- A Valentine workbook complete with a variety of word work skill practice from Penley's Pointe Elementary Resources
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| photo | pocket of preschool |
V is for Valentine
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| photo | easy preschool craft |
Work on Writing
An easy way to get my kinders writing during workshop centers is providing them with a station that is easily transported from class to class (remember, I'm a pop-in English teacher). So, writing stations are wonderful, but I always have to keep in mind that the materials have to be able to be on the-go like I am.Here are my favorite ideas for Valentine writing centers!
Valentine Post Office
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| photo | a pinch of kinder |
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| photo | glitter and glue for K-2 |
I also love a good Write-the-Room activity and have stocked up on quite a few for the year. One in particular that I love (and my kids love doing) are these Valentine's Day write the room cards from Whitney at Glitter and Glue for K-2 blog!
It's an easy way to introduce thematic vocabulary and have my kids practice their fine motor handwriting skills. And for only $2? Yes, please!
Win, win!
There's so much fun and learning to be had this week! My hope is that you're feeling inspired as you plan the week ahead and find some useful resources and blogs along the way. I wish you all a very exciting week with your students!!
Happy Valentine's Week, everyone!
February 6, 2020
My Warby Parker Home Try-On Experience
This post contains affiliate links, but all of my opinions are 100% my own.
I've been wearing Warby Parker eyewear (both glasses and sunglasses) for almost 4 years. I ordered my first pair shortly after my son was born and since then I've never looked anywhere else for affordable glasses that stand the test of time and are stylish, too. I've never been one to deviate from my standard no-fuss glasses that I would get from a traditional eyeglass retailer, but I found myself spending hundreds of dollars on frames and my lenses would become so scratched over the years of wear. I knew I couldn't keep it up, so I would just wear the same pair for years on end.And that's a huge no-no for my eye health. Just like any other part of my body, keeping my eyes healthy should be a daily priority and that involves regular check-ups and adjusting of my prescription as needed.
Try before you buy.
A feature of Warby Parker that I enjoy the most as a customer is their Home Try-on Program. This allows you to skip the store and select up to 5 frames (glasses or sunglasses!) to try on in the comfort of your own home. Try them on, see which style you love most, then ship them back. This process is simple and convenient – especially for those who can’t drop what they’re doing and visit a store (or don’t have one readily nearby).Today I'm excited to share my own home try-on experience and I'll definitely need your help in picking a favorite frame - they're all so great!
Warby Parker makes shopping for glasses an experience; both in-store and from the comfort of my own home. I loved learning more about their company as well as their approach to eyewear that is intended to last and made ethically.
How are they so affordable?
Okay, so Warby Parker frames are stylish and they make getting a prescription easy-peasy. What, then, makes them so affordable and still high-quality? Well, here’s how they do it:- They design and make all of their frames in-house. This cuts out the middle man and therefore the third party markups that are found in traditional eye-wear retail stores. By doing everything themselves, and up to high standards, Warby Parker is able to keep prescription eye-wear extremely affordable!
- Each frame is made from cellulose acetate and colored organic pigments that are mixed in to create the beautiful colors you see. Acetate is a high quality plastic that is made in-house at Warby Parker, which is durable and hypoallergenic.
- Each frame is also hand-assembled and polished in-house.
- Your prescription lenses are cut just for you and just for your frames. No one-size-fits-all mentality here! Each lens is made from polycarbonate, not glass, which makes them durable and dropable! Polycarbonate is simply a big word for transparent plastic.
- Each frame from start to finish is handled with care, tested, and reviewed to ensure high-quality standards are met before shipping them off to you!
My home-try on experience
When I was curious about a few frames I knew I wanted to head over to Warby Parker's website to see what was new. Already having a couple of frames, I knew the styles I liked and fit my face well. Because I want to mostly change the style of my frame, I chose five different frames to try-on at home.The Warby Parker website made choosing my frames so easy! All I have to do is view the various frames available for a home try-on and select the ones I'm interested in. There's staff picks, popular picks, and highlighted ones that fit my face the best. After I made my selections I checked out like normal and didn't have to pay a single cent. Within 3-5 days I received my box straight to my door ready to try on.
Let's see how they fit!
Frame: Jane
Color: Blush Tortoise with Gold
These were quickly a favorite of mine the moment I tried them on. I love the feel and the coloring of these Jane frames is absolutely unique! I already own both a blush and tortoise colored frame and this pair combined what I love about both. They sit easy on my nose and the rounded lenses compliment my face.
Frame: Welty
Color: Violet Magnolia
I already own a Welty frame, but in the rose crystal color. I already knew I would like the style and so for me, I just wanted to see about a different color. I've been feeling their tortoise frames these days and what's not to love?
Frame: Violet
Color: Rose Gold
This pair of Violet frames surprised me a bit. I used to own frame-less glasses and since my first pair of Warby's I really enjoyed the style of a thicker frame. However, when I saw the Violet frame in rose gold I knew I just had to give them a try. When I put them on they were so comfortable and I love the retro-esque style along the top. Plus the shiny rose gold adds a pop of color and makes them fun to wear.
Frame: Chamberlain
Color: Crystal
This is another style that is very similar to the Welty's I already own. But, I fell in love with the clear crystal color of the Chamberlains! The lack of color in these frames make them simple, minimalistic, and easily worn with everything. This is another frame made of 100% cellulose acetate, making them lightweight and durable.
Frame: Haskell
Color: Crystal
This Haskell frame is very similar to the last one I tried on, the Chamberlain. I was curious about the difference between a more rounded frame and it turns out they both look and feel great! It really is hard to choose which one I enjoy more...
Not into frames and want contacts instead? Warby provides those, too!
Warby Parker just launched their line of contact lenses, called Scout, in addition to providing a variety of other brands we all know and trust.
But, don't just take my word for it. Try your own five pairs on completely free and from the comfort of your own home! Happy shopping!
Exploring Winter + FREEBIES
We're onto our unit of Winter and it's always been one of my favorites. Although we, in southern California, don't get a traditional winter like everyone else, it's still a lot of fun to discuss and explore the season full of snow, arctic animals, and one of my favorite stories, The Mitten!
Here's a peek at our month as we kicked off our winter unit. I found a lot of great resources that really enhanced my centers (and many of them are FREEBIES!). I hope this inspires your winter unit!
Read Alouds: The Snowy Day
Skills: Sequencing
To launch our winter unit I first began with snow - we watched a short video on how snow is formed (moreso to build schema) and made a list of all the fun things people get to do in the snow. They said things like: build a snow fort, have a snowball fight, make snow angels, etc. This lead to introducing the story The Snowy Day. (I am using Vooks as a trial and so far I love their animated stories!)
Here's a peek at our month as we kicked off our winter unit. I found a lot of great resources that really enhanced my centers (and many of them are FREEBIES!). I hope this inspires your winter unit!
Week 1: Snow
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| using snowballs to form the sight words, then copy it to a handout. |
Skills: Sequencing
To launch our winter unit I first began with snow - we watched a short video on how snow is formed (moreso to build schema) and made a list of all the fun things people get to do in the snow. They said things like: build a snow fort, have a snowball fight, make snow angels, etc. This lead to introducing the story The Snowy Day. (I am using Vooks as a trial and so far I love their animated stories!)
For centers I found a lot of great practice activities that reinforce the learning we're doing in this unit. Life Over Cs has this really great snowball blend sorting mats (FREEBIE). For a quick Write-the-Room I used this FREEBIE from Hopping Into Kindergarten and I also really enjoyed these January Sequence Writing pages from Miss Faleena (a great extension activity for whole group or centers for inventive spelling). I also incorporate a lot of Write-the-Room activities from this bundle I purchased from Pocket Full of Centers.
Week 2: Snowflakes & Snowmen, MLK
Read Alouds:Pete the Cat Snow Daze (January Writing Sample), The Biggest Snowman Ever
Skills: How to Build a Snowman (sequence writing) using the words: first, next, then, and finally.
One of the bigger writing projects we did together this week was take their learning about sequencing and introducing key words like first, next, then, and finally. I wanted to bridge this understanding with their first "How To" writing piece! Each day we worked on one sentence that would be combined into their flip books and they each turned out great!
Skills: How to Build a Snowman (sequence writing) using the words: first, next, then, and finally.
One of the bigger writing projects we did together this week was take their learning about sequencing and introducing key words like first, next, then, and finally. I wanted to bridge this understanding with their first "How To" writing piece! Each day we worked on one sentence that would be combined into their flip books and they each turned out great!
There are so many great writing templates out there - I made these very quickly (I do realize now that I need to switch the 'then' and 'next' order- oops!) for my class as I have emergent and pre-writers and needed something that is a little simpler. For each sentence we discussed the steps and I transcribed what they said during shared writing. From there they went to their seats to copy the sentence and practice drawing their pictures according to the step they wrote. By the end of the week they were so proud to display their books!
Martin Luther King, Jr Day
Working at a French bilingual school I have to remember that a lot of American historic people are largely unknown to my students. It makes it even more fun to introduce people like MLK to them - especially having it tie into our overall theme of SEL (social-emotional learning) and kindness.
I found this video of Kid President who shares a little about MLK and the kids loved that he's a kid just like them talking about someone important in US history.
Working at a French bilingual school I have to remember that a lot of American historic people are largely unknown to my students. It makes it even more fun to introduce people like MLK to them - especially having it tie into our overall theme of SEL (social-emotional learning) and kindness.
I found this video of Kid President who shares a little about MLK and the kids loved that he's a kid just like them talking about someone important in US history.
After viewing the video and talking a little more about MLK, I linked it directly with the ongoing discussions we're having in class about being kind to one another. I loved the idea of this egg demonstration to represent how we're all the same on the inside, but what we look like may look different. However, that shouldn't keep us from friendships and sharing kindness to others.
Pick up this (FREEBIE) MLK worksheet here.
Week 3: Penguins, Chinese New Year
Read Alouds: The Little Penguin, If You Were a Penguin
Skill: charting ARE, CAN, HAVE
This week was a fun one with our study of penguins! Although I'm not responsible for science, I couldn't resist spending a day with the ever popular blubber experiment! Students recorded their findings with this super cute worksheet (FREEBIE) from Khrys Greco.
For our mini-study of penguins I used this penguin labeling worksheet (FREEBIE) from Letters of Literacy. It was a great way to have my kids begin using things like a word bank and to practice their labeling. We watched a short video introducing penguins and worked together to label the parts of a penguin.
We also documented our learning with a similar anchor chart. This one is from Mrs. Lisa's Pre-K Crew.
Chinese New Year
Since I didn't have a ton of prep time for Chinese New Year this year I simply shared this video and had a simple coloring page for my kids. We didn't spend a lot of time with it, but I did find that the kids really enjoyed the video and learned a lot about how others celebrate New Years. For next year I definitely want to tie in a comparison of traditional New Years to Chinese New Year!
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We also documented our learning with a similar anchor chart. This one is from Mrs. Lisa's Pre-K Crew.
Chinese New Year
Since I didn't have a ton of prep time for Chinese New Year this year I simply shared this video and had a simple coloring page for my kids. We didn't spend a lot of time with it, but I did find that the kids really enjoyed the video and learned a lot about how others celebrate New Years. For next year I definitely want to tie in a comparison of traditional New Years to Chinese New Year!
Week 4: The Mitten Unit
Read Alouds: The Mitten (Jan Brett), The Mitten (Alvin Tresselt), The Mitten (Jessica Southwick)
Skills: Story Elements, Making Connections
I'm so excited to share more about our study of The Mitten! It's one of my favorite stories and this year I've created a workbook to go along with my planned lessons about sequencing, story elements, inventive writing prompts, and more.
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