Thursday, June 30, 2011

Cards & Cardigans

I haven't had much to talk to you all about but as I was reading another blog this morning I found a blog I would like to share with you. It is not an educational blog, even though the writer is a teacher. This blog is dedicated to hand made cards, they are darling too. It is called Cards & Cardigans.

Here are a few examples of her work:

Like them? Well, then your in luck. To celebrate her 100th post, Ashley is giving away a set of 10 custom handmade cards. "The winner will be able to choose what type(s) of cards he/she would like. Sets might include all of the same card or an assortment of different cards. An assortment might include BIRTHDAY, BLANK, GET WELL, HOLIDAY, ROMANCE, SYMPATHY, THANK YOU, or a MIX! The winner will get to customize his/her set."

So if you are interested hop on over to Cards & Cardigans and become a follower to enter.

Hope your enjoying your summer break, I am. Don't forget about my Digi Web's Studio giveaway. I will pick 3 winners on Sunday , July 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm CST.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Digi Web giveaway

I am back with another graphics giveaway. this time I am giving away 3, that is right 3 $5.00 gift coupons to Digi Web's Studio. I originally was going to give 2 away but Leah was such a sweetie that she is sponsoring the 3rd gift coupon!

The best part is that she is now having a site wide sale where everything is $1.00! That means with just $5.00 you can get 5 clip art sets.
Just look at some of these cuties.



Are you ready to hear how you can win a $5.00 credit to her store? Here is what you have to do.
1. Hop on over to Digi Web's Studio, take a look around, come back here and leave a comment here telling me what you would buy with your $5.00.
2. Follow this blog and leave a comment saying so.
3. Help spread the word by blogging, posting on Twitter, or post on Facebook about this giveaway, (1 entry for each) come back here & leave a comment.
4. Follow Leah's Facebook and/ or Twitter pages (1 entry for each) then come back here & leave a comment.. 

Regardless if you enter this giveaway or not I would urge you to hop on over to Digi Web's Studio and take advantage of her $1.00 sale.

Please make sure you leave a comment for each entry, for maximum chances to win.
This giveaway will run until Sunday , July 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm CST.

I am off now to go get my self some clip art sets at Digi Web's Studio. :)
Good Luck!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Calendar Template

I had a lovely teacher request a calendar template for her lesson plan book and I thought I would put it up for you all too.

Calendar Calypso
Go to A Teacher's Plan to read more about it including what font I used. 

I'd love to hear about any other template you would like to see me make.

Patriotic ABC's

Here is a new ABC/ Alphabet strip for you all to use. It is perfect for you if you are a homeschool teacher, but if you aren't feel free to save it for next year, or use use it at home with your kids on summer break. :) Whatever you do I hope you enjoy it
July Fireworks ABC

I love feedback so if you download feel free to share how you will use it. :)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

New Donors Choose Grant

A few posts ago I asked about using a Nook in the classroom, because I was considering putting up a new Donors Choose Grant for one. However, I did not get much feedback and I am still not sure I want to create another reason to blow a whole paycheck at Barnes & Nobel. However, I did REMEMBER about one goody I have wanted for YEARS but never had enough extra cash to order. Maybe it's too much Target, Office Depot and Barnes & Noble.

Those of you that follow and read my blog, know that I have a small classroom. Next year it will be larger but still not too big. I've always wanted one of those fabulous learning carpets for my room. The problem? No room. I particularly love the Fun with Phonics series. Just look at this cutie.
It comes in several sizes too, oval, semi circle, vertical runner, horizontal runner and the ADORABLE carpet squares. When I saw them I knew I just had to have them. They are perfect for my room because I can pull them out when students are using them and stack them away when they are not. I can also customize the size. Meaning that I only need as many out as many students I have in my room. I just couldn't afford them.
However, while pondering over the whole Nook idea last week I had the brilliant idea of getting these babies through Donors Choose instead. What do you think? I absolutely love them. I envision teaching with them in several areas of my class!

So for those of you that have asked me about my new DC project it is now up! You can get there by clicking on my new DC button in this post or on the right hand side of this blog. :)


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Thank you for your support!

Somebody, wanted to, but, so...

I mentioned in a previous post that I spent all morning at a professional development. We discussed several strategies on how to get our ELL students from a very structured and modeled environment to working more independently. One of the activities used was the infamous Somebody, wanted to, but, so.

I love this activity, but it can get boring if all you use is your graphic organizer. Also, what do you do with students who are not writing and are not ready to be independent? Here are some variations that were discussed.

Dramatic retelling:
Split your class into 4 groups, then have each group come up with an action for their section. Then students act out each section, as they say what happened in that section.



 Hula Hoops:
For this version you will need 4 Hula Hoops. Each Hula Hoop is a different section, ie: your first hula hoop is labeled "Somebody", your second "wanted to", etc... You get it right? The students then hop into the hula hoops laying, in order, on the ground and tell the story as they jump through the hula hoops.





Mats:
Do the same thing as the hula Hoops, with floor mats.



 4 Square: 
Instead of using the the regular graphic organizer that writes the sentence horizontally, have students fold paper to show 4 squares and write each section in one box. This works better for my students who have a hard time writing in narrow columns.
  
Summary Bounce:
Make 4 squares on the floor with masking tape. Label each square with the 4 sections, somebody, wanted to, but, so. Have students stand around the square and bounce the ball in each square in sequence while orally state the section correctly. I can actually think of different ways to do this I just can't seem to explain it. I think I will have to think about it longer.


I am sure I did a poor job of explaining these. I got so excited I don't seem to be thinking clearly. Please feel free to ask questions for clarifications. I would love to hear any other variations you have used in your room.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Flip Flops

I have been very envious of all you ladies reading Debbie Diller's new Math Workstations book. However, I did dig up one of Miss. Maddie's math bulletin boards to share with you all. I just loved walking by this bulletin board every day. So much that I had to snap pictures of it before school let out. I can't go into the teaching of it, but I think it is pretty self explanatory. The best part is that it has a summer theme! Here are some pictures.





On another Math note Brenda from Primary Inspired is giving away a Math Mat Challenge game for her 200th follower giveaway. It would be a wonderful addition to a math center. :) 
Head on over to her blog to enter.


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Monday, June 20, 2011

Todays Meet

I spent the morning at a professional development and at the end the presenters asked us to reflect on what we had learned. I cringed. I hate that part of professional developments. Personally I have to take time to reflect. I like to think about the strategies some time before I think about how it can work or not work in my class. However, this time it was different. The presenter had us go to a website, and write our comments into a kind of chat box. I was so intrigued that I immediately wanted to find something to write down.

As I was typing, I thought... What a wonderful tool! I bet my students would LOVE this. How can I use this in my class? They could type in answers to an informal quiz, review, test. They could reflect on an activity. I could open a room for groups and they can share their thoughts with group members without shouting and talking over one another. I think it would work better with older kids than younger, but I can still see them using it.

Want to know what this wonderful site is? It is called TodaysMeet.com
Have you heard of it? Here is what it looks like.
It is basically like a chat room that can be opened for a period of time and people can leave comments. Today we used it to share our reflections. So when I got home, for fun, I opened a room for you all. I wanted to get an HTML code to embed it to this blog, but I don't think they offer that yet. It will be open for a year, because that is the longest I could leave it open. Feel free to jump there and leave me a comment.


Before you go, could you tell me how you would use this technology tool in your classroom?

Ms. K1ELL TodaysMeet room.

Sweet Giveaway Winner

I want to thank everyone that entered. Keep an eye out I will have another graphics giveaway in July. Withour further ado.
How often does this happen??? The winner is #1. I guess in this case it is true, the early bird did get the worm.

Sarah please email me at msk1ell(at)gmail(dot)com to I can give you the instructions on how to retrieve your Gift certificate.

Don't forget you can still be entered in a $25.00 giveaway from Thistle Girl if you make a purchase from Thistle Girl Designs between now and June 30th, and mention that you came from Ms. K1ELL's blog. Remember you have to say in your purchase "I came from MsK1ELL's blog". 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Edu Pups

Have you ever heard of Edu Pups? They are some of the sweetest pups you will meet. Edu Pups is part of Domesti pups which are dogs that have been trained to to be a therapeutic and teaching tool in the classrooms and schools. You can go here to read more about them.

I've had the pleasure of meeting several Edu Pups in my district but non compares to Joker and I am lucky and proud to say that his handler is my ELL Team Leader. The children LOVE Joker, you could easily say he is the mot popular one in the school. I think every child in the school knows his name.

I personally got to see the power of having an Edu Pup in the classroom when one of my ELL Kinder students was having a though time fitting in. He was new to the school, as many of my ELL students are, and missed his old school and home. Because of this he began to lash out in appropriately at other students and teachers. All that changed when he met Joker. Joker was a friend that did not reject him. Someone that would always be there when he needed some comfort. This changed him and what a difference it made. From that point on he was happy and had a positive outlook, because he had a friend.

I was scanning my schools website the other day and found a video about Joker and what he does in the classroom. Wanna see?
You see those happy students? Those are my students! Well, at least the little ones are.

I hope you want to learn more about Domesti/ Edu Pups. If you have had an experience with an Edu Pup I'd love to hear it.

The Art of Teaching Kindergarten

FYI Bri over at The Art of Teaching Kindergarten had made a FABULOUS H-Z unit! 
Take a peek:

Do you like it? Head on over to her TPT store.
So get on over there!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Debbie's Digital Math and a Question

Hi everyone,

Hope your summer vaca is treating you well. I am enjoying all the quiet reading time I am getting. If you are not on summer break yet, just hang on a little longer. I am sure you are almost there.

As restful as my vacation is I have still found some time to whip up a new Math Template inspired by Debbie Diller's new Math Workshop book. I worked with two fellow bloggers, Fran from Kindergarten Crayons and Melissa from F is for First Grade. Here is what was created.
Debbie's Digital Math Plan
(Click on the pictures to enlarge)
To read mote about it hop on over to A Teacher's Plan.



Before you go I have a question for you.I've been thinking of putting up a new Donors Choose Grant. I wanted to get a color Nook for my class library.
 I think it will add another dimension and motivate my students to read more. Not to mention keep my library a bit more organized. I love that they have a new interactive feature and that is VERY appealing to me too. Here is my hesitation. I don't want to buy every picture book I already own again. I have heard that B and N does not have many free books in their Kids section. I also don't want my students to ignore all the books I have in my library either. So my question to you is, have you used a nook in your class and how did it go?

If I don't get it I think I will put in an order for some Scholastic big books. Either way I know my next DC grant will be literacy related. :)

Do you have a favorite blog?

Do you have a favorite blog?


It’s time!  Time to submit your favorite classroom/teacher blog for the 2011 Really Good Classroom Blog Contest!  We are looking for the best blogs around.  They could be ones that amuse you, help you, provide ideas, or highlight the happenings of their class.  With three categories to highlight (K-4, 5-8, Specialty) there is a great chance for your favorite blog to be spotlighted.  Simply click here to nominate the blog you feel has the stuff to be a 2011 Really Good Classroom Blog!

Entries must be received before 9pm EST on June 30, 2011.  All blogs who are nominated and whose authors agree to participate in the contest will be required to place a badge on their blog with a link back to The Teachers’ Lounge.  All submissions will be reviewed and blog authors contacted within 48 hours.  Voting will take place July 1-7, 2011 and one winner from each of the three categories will be chosen.
How it works:
  • There will be three separate categories.  Entries will be accepted for K-4, 5-8, and Specialty (counseling, reading, etc) blogs.  The blog should focus on events in your classroom and other teaching related topics.
  • Entries will be accepted June 13, 2011 through 9pm EST on June 30, 2011
  • Once the blog has been reviewed (to be sure that it qualifies as a class/teaching blog), a contest badge and link back to the contest voting page will be sent.
  • Voting will be from July 1st – 7th, 2011.
  • One winner will be announced for each category on July 8th.
  • Winners receive top blog roll placement, badges that indicate the award, a Teachers’ Lounge blog feature, invitation to guest post on The Teachers’ Lounge, and a $75 Really Good Stuff gift certificate.
  • Runners-up get Teachers’ Lounge mention, link backs, and a contest badge

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Something Sweet!


First I have to aks, do you all like my new Favicon? That little image next to my blog URL? I love it. Thank you Kristen!
Just the other day I hit 300 followers and before I could arrange for a giveaway I had SEVERAL more follwers! You all are amazing. :) So my way of saying thank you for sticking around and reading all of my ramblings is to give away a $15.00 credit to one of my favorite graphics site... Thistle Girl Graphics

I am sure you recognize her work from Ladybug Teacher's (Kristen's) blog designs. If you have not heard of Thistle Girl Designs, you have got to check her out. She makes the cutest graphics. I personally have had a Life Time Memberships for 5 years now and it is one of the best purchases I have made.

For all you blog addicts Ashley even has her own blog now too, Thistle Girl Designs Blog.

Are you ready to hear how you can win a $15.00 credit to her store? Here is what you have to do.
1. Hop on over to Thistle Girl Designs, take a look around, come back here and leave a comment here telling me what you would buy with your $15.00.
2. Follow this blog and leave a comment saying so.
3. Hop on over to Thistle Girl Designs Blog and follow her too. then come back here and leave a comment saying so.
4. Help spread the word by blogging, posting on Twitter, or post on Facebook about this giveaway, (1 entry for each) come back here & leave a comment.

In addition to my giveaway if you make a purchase from Thistle Girl Designs between now and June 30th, and mention that you came from Ms. K1ELL's blog, Ashley will put you name in a drawing to win a $25.00 gift certificate to her sight too! Isn't she sweet? Remember you have to say in your purchase "I came from MsK1ELL's blog". 

Here is a cute button you could use to help spread the word.

Ms. M’s Giveaway

Please make sure you leave a comment for each entry, for maximum chances to win.
This giveaway will run until Monday , June 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm CST.

Good Luck!