Cute Customized Stamp!

I am so happy to have a new customized stamp from PJ Greetings Company! Here is a link to their webpage:  http://www.pjgreetings.com/default.htm
A few weeks ago I won a contest from Ms. Nelson's blog! I used it for the first time today on some of my kiddos' papers. They loved it too! :) If you are looking for a new stamp or a gift for somebody, I recommend their company. They also have lots of other products. Thanks again Miss Nelson! If you haven't checked out her blog, I recommend it! :) It came in a cute pink bag:

Here's a close up picture. There are lots of ink colors available. I chose navy.

Let me know what you think! I love comments! :) ~ Lisa

Patriot's Day, Grandparent's Day, and Constitution Day!

My kiddos are adjusting really well to kindergarten! Of course, there have been days when I've had to review the class rules over and over again! But, for the most part they are trying to get used to our routine and procedures. Last week for Patriot Day, our Primary classrooms gathered around our flag pole to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Our principal spoke about 9-11 on their level, our music teacher sang the National Anthem with us, and later in the day all the kindergarten classes made flags. Our lessons focused on Patriotism and heroes. Since "my" was their sight word, they wrote "my" flag and attached it to their flags.

 

 

We celebrated Grandparent's Day on Wednesday. Our honor choir sang a beautiful "Grandparents" song. Afterwards, all the kindergarten kiddos (3 classes) sang the 100 Song from Heidi Songs, Humpty Dumpty and A Beautiful Day by Jack Hartmann. They were so cute and sang so well! I'm sure everyone enjoyed their performance. We had 3 rotations: cafeteria for snacks, lobby for photos, and our classrooms. Of course, we knew there would be students who didn't have a grandparent or relative, so we asked staff members to be their "special" friend. We have the best staff who were so willing to help us! Here is one of the books I read aloud to my kiddos, What Grandmas Do Best/What Grandpas Do Best by Laura Numeroff. They loved it!

 

 

For Constitution Day, I read a picture book titled, The U.S. Constitution by Norman Pearl and explained the importance of this famous document on their own level. Also, all the kindergarten classes watched a video about Constitution Day. I wish I had more time to spend on this lesson. I saw a book in blogland titled, We the Kids by David Catrow, that I would like to have for next year.

 

 

 

Please let me know your activities or lessons you used for these special days. I love learning new ideas and maybe next year I can improve on these lessons! I appreciate all the fantastic teachers in Blogger Land! :)

 

~ Lisa



 

 



 

 

 







Yay! I Won!

I found out that I am the winner of a contest from Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera! She had a contest to celebrate having 1000 followers. I am so excited to win a custom stamp from http://www.pjgreetings.com/default.htm. I also won $10 of free products from Miss Nelson's TPT store! This is a fantastic prize and I appreciate it so much! Here is a link to her blog. I highly recommend it. It's wonderful! THANKS SO MUCH Miss Nelson! ~ Lisa

A Giveaway for Square Cat!

In a previous post, I wrote about reading a book titled, Square Cat, during a lesson on squares. My kiddos love the book! It's about a cat named, Eula, who is square but wants to be round. It is also a great book for teaching diversity. The author and illustrator, Elizabeth Schoonmaker, posted artwork by one of my students on her blog (http://www.eulathesquarecat.com/) and also sent an autographed book to our class! She also donated another autographed book so I could offer it as a giveaway on my little ole blog!!! If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. I know your students will love it as much as mine do! You can follow Elizabeth on twitter: Follow @Eulasquarecat. If you don't win the contest, you might want to purchase it on Amazon or in stores. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway Thanks for entering the giveaway! I'll post the winner on September 11th! ~ Lisa

Please Vote for my Project on oo.com!

I need your help please! I have a new project on Donor's Choose for a classroom rug and books about shapes. Please take a few minutes and vote for it on oo.com. You may vote daily and also "like" it on Facebook. I appreciate it! If you have a project, let me know and I'll vote for you. Here's the link:

http://www.oo.com/safkids/detail/projectid/844903

Directions: Sign in. Then you'll see "Classroom To Be Funded Next" in yellow. To the right of this click on "See all projects". Under "Search for Projects", type Mrs. E. Be sure the "Non-Funded Projects" is showing. Use the magnifying glass to search. It will say Mrs. E. Willis J. Ezard Elem, Conway, MO. I know I probably put way too many steps for you, but I promise it's so easy! Also, now is the time to get a project(s) on Donors Choose because Sonic's Limeades for Learning promotion is starting sometime in September. Let me know if you have any questions! :)

After you vote for my project, please pass the word to your friends and family. All the votes will help! Thanks so much!

~ Lisa

Zero Hero's 1st Visit and Braxton

We just finished our 12th day of school! The kiddos have tomorrow off while we have professional development. They were so cute when I told them they have a 4-day weekend because of Labor Day. They all sounded like us teachers! Several told me they were going to sleep late! The first few days really exhausted most of them, but they are starting to get used to being in school all day and I am so proud of how much they are learning.

I mentioned in my last post about Zero Hero. His first visit was Tuesday and all the kiddos were so excited to meet him. He will continue to visit us every 10th day we are in school. He brings gifts shaped like zeros. The students ask him "Big" questions to try to find out what each gift represents from Zero Planet. They also count by 10s to 100 and count up to the day they've been in school. During our calendar times, the kiddos always want to know how many more days before he visits again, so this gives them more practice of counting up the days. Here's a photo of his visit on Tuesday.

Today was our first lesson from our school counselor. She gives a lesson to the kiddos every other week in our classroom. We are happy to have a school service dog named Braxton. Our counselor brings Braxton with her for most of her lessons. Everyone was so thrilled to see her and be able to pet and love on her. Braxton has made such a positive difference in our school (and the Jr. High/High School). She helps in the following ways: reading buddy, teaching responsibility,  giving encouragement, love, hugs, and friendship. You can only imagine how wonderful it is having a dog at school! The teachers love her too and sometimes feel stress just drain away after petting Braxton! Of course, the school does have guidelines and rules in place and there have been no problems. This is Braxton's 3rd year with us. Here's a picture of her with a tropical lei around her neck to go along with our PBIS theme: Beach/Ocean. She was a good sport and kept it on for a short time! :)

I know this post is getting long, but I have one more exciting thing that happened! The author and illustrator, Elizabeth Schoonmaker posted a picture and link about my students' artwork. She also left a sweet comment on my blog. I showed my students her blog and comment and they were so happy! She is also sending our class an autographed book! I will be offering a contest very soon so you will have a chance to win a copy of  Square Cat courtesy of Elizabeth. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. Your kiddos will love Eula the Square Cat!

Don't forget to be watching for the contest. I should receive the book this weekend and will start the contest soon! Have a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend!

~ Lisa

Fun With Shapes!

Today was our 9th day in school! Tomorrow we have a special visitor, Zero Hero! He comes each day we've been in school that ends in zero until Day 100. I told my kiddos about him today and they were so excited to see him tomorrow! Let me know if your school uses Zero Hero!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is completely exhausted after starting school! But, I am gradually getting back into the swing of waking up early, teaching all day, and getting used to the hard floors at school! Also, I have a great group of kiddos who are starting to learn our routines a little better. :) Most of them have been pretty eager to learn and seem excited to be in kindergarten.

For math, I started teaching 2D shapes. Like many of you, our district is using the Common Core State Standards. So, we only teach 5 2D shapes (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons) and 4 3D shapes (cubes, cones, cyclinders, spheres). After the lesson on circles, my kiddos made cute ladybugs. It gave me a chance to see who needed extra help with using scissors. I quickly found out that some of them needed to be reminded to listen and follow directions! But, I tried to have patience knowing that they are so young and just starting school. I still keep reminding myself of this!!!

After the lesson on squares, I read the book, "Square Cat" by Elizabeth Schoonmaker. It's about a cat named Eula who is square and wants to be round. It's really a cute book and my kiddos loved it. Afterward, they cut orange squares and glued them on to green paper. I asked them to draw ears, a face, legs, and a tail. They turned out adorable! I displayed them in our hallway. The creativity of some of my students really amazed me!

I hope everyone is having a great start to their school year! I'll try to write posts more often and have enjoyed following all of my blogging friends! Thanks for sharing your ideas, activities, and photos! Also I love all the products people are posting to TPT and Teacher's Notebook and of course the FREEBIES! :) I haven't been as creative as so many of you! Maybe someday? I'm still pretty new to the world of blogging but I love it!