2012 Monthly Patterned Calendar

I've created a patterned Calendar Date Cards file for the 2012 year.  This 113 page file has been uploaded to my TpT store for $3.50.  Link to my blog, leave a message  if you are interested in this calendar file.  I'll draw a winner on New Year's Day.

New Years Resolutions...Mission Organization

Need to get organized?  Read my post on PreK K Sharing to help you get started!
http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com/

Christmas Gift Ideas and Polar Express Freebie

I hope many of you are enjoying the start of your Christmas break!  I'm not because we have 5 more days!  BLAH!!  I have been Little Miss Craft-O-Holic these past few days getting ready for the last week of school and putting together some gifts for my daughter's 3 teachers and my parent helpers!  Wowsers!!  It was exhausting!!

I saw this super cute idea on my co-workers desk and fell in love!!  I decided this would be a perfect gift along with ornaments and gift cards!  All you need are the jumbo size binder clips, scrapbook paper, ribbon, and beads or buttons.

I have been working on a new Polar Express Unit but it is not quite ready for my TpT store...sorry.  I decided to offer a part of it free and will update you when I finish it.  Click the picture link to download.

Polar Express: Build-A-Train

Happy Holidays!

Polar Express

Click photo to link to my blog and grab your copy of each image above!

Grinch Day and Exploring New Waters

Click my picture above to link to my recent post with freebies of the images above!

Winter Holidays Tips and Freebies

Hi everyone! This is Shelley Gray from Teaching in the Early Years. It is hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner! If you are looking for some great holiday ideas for your classroom or some free printables and activities, you will definitely want to check this out! Rachel Lynette, a TpT veteran, has compiled this free winter holiday e-book featuring tips, ideas and activities from 50 TpT authors, some of which are also authors right here on Blog Hoppin'!

To download this fantastic e-book from Teachers Pay Teachers, click on the image below:



If you do not have a Teachers Pay Teachers account, you can download the e-book from Google Docs by clicking on the image below:



Enjoy! Happy Holidays!

3D shapes Christmas Town Map

We had such a good time with our 3D shapes unit this year! We have always built shapes from gumdrops and toothpicks, but this year we decided to have our students turn their shapes into something "real!" What that means is that when they created a cone from paper, they decorated it and it became a Christmas tree. A cube became a house and a pyramid was attached to the cube to create the roof! To create the house, children used toothpicks and gumdrops. A rectangular prism and a cube became a Christmas train (This was hard!) and a Styrofoam ball sphere became a light when it was placed upon a cylinder lamp post! We gave the children little Christmas people that they colored and attached to a toothpick and gumdrop. This allowed children to move their Christmas people around the town. Each child made a paper lake and we sprinkled diamond dust glitter around the ground for snow. We used corrugated cardboard as a base with a piece of 12" x 18" construction paper glued upon the cardboard. (We went to our local grocery store and asked for their flattened boxes and then cut them apart!) The children LOVED this activity! AND they could name every shape when they were finished! This could also be done in a Winter unit and be called "Snow Town" or something cuter than that! :)

These pictures really do not show how cute the towns turned out, but hopefully they show what fun our students had with them! :)

The Santa Connection

Hi Everyone,

Happy Holidays from Second Grade Shenanigans! Can't believe I am actually saying that! This year is absolutely FLYING by...sheesh! It is going to be short and sweet for me tonight, but I just have to share this awesome little site with you before I head to bed and prepare to survive one more week before a nice....LONG two week break!

I know that some schools do not allow the "talk" of Santa...BUT...if you do, this site is so wonderful. It allows you to personalize messages directly from the man himself. I know there are lots of other sites that are very similar, but this site is the best I have seen yet! Thanks to one of my sweet, sweet teacher friends for sharing this little gem.

Last week, I created messages for each of my students. On Friday morning, they watched their private message on their laptop. Here are just a few of the adorable moments that I caught on camera! I tried to take a candid shot of each student to give to parents. I think they are just way too precious!

Laptops.....check! Messages ready....check!

Priceless faces and reactions....check...check....check!

I seriously do not know how I caught some of these faces, but they are full of awesomeness!

"Mrs. King, Mrs. King...he knows my name and what I want and how old I am and and and and...oh my goodness!" Too stinkin' cute!

 

This site also has messages for adults which are hilarious or you can make them for your own kiddos.

 

If you are interested in this cuteness...you can check it out here: Portable North Pole

 

Enjoy! I hope that everyone has a fabulous week!

 

 

Pinterest "Pin It" Tutorial for blog posts

For all of you who have joined the world of Pinterest, you might find this tutorial helpful in allowing followers and blog viewers to "Pin" your blog posts. Click the link below to see Julie Ann Art's Awesome tutorial!!!

Happy Pinning!!!

Literacy Freebie, Our Gingerbread Cowboys, and so ready for the vacation!

I don't know about you but I feel like my kids are on overload with excitment for Christmas to come. I still have 14 days left! Our district decided to start our winter break December 23rd! Hello? Who's idea was that? I may have to take a day off just to take my daughter on the Polar Express train ride that is 5 hours away!!
Oh well, I guess I will have to put up with one more week of classroom management...C-R-A-Z-Y!

I am still in the holiday spirit of giving so here is another Freebie from my Holiday Literacy Center Unit. I have added this and a few more activities so if you have already purchased it, go back and download again for the new additions.

Since we live in Arizona, The Gingerbread Cowboy has always been a favorite of mine and the students! We made Gingerbread Cowboy Glyphs to go with their new ending to the story. Some of them turned out so cute and funny!! This activity is also available in the Literacy Unit.

We still have a lot more fun activities to do and I hope it continues to keep my class engaged! I hope your countdown goes smoothly too!

Happy Holidays!!!!

Buzzin About Bees

I know that it is winter and all thoughts are on the holidays, but I wanted to briefly share our adventure through a beehive this week. Our Reading Street story of the week was Honey Bees.  We also covered the long ee and comparing how communities of insects are like communities of people.  The students were begging for more with these little buzzers by the end of the week. I think we may have to go on a field trip to a bee farm soon!

We read our story of the week and watched the Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive.  We also used a few informational books about bees and ants to complete our compare and contrast activities.

The students had fun with the bee themed Daily 5 centers.  Felt boards are a big hit in my classroom and fun to make! 

The class made bee and ant glyphs during writing and filled them with fun facts about each one.

You can check out my Honey Bee Unit by clicking the picture link below.