Meet Abraham Lincoln

Since President's Day was on Monday, this week we learned about who a president is, what he does, and where he lives.  The kids were very excited because they knew that I got to visit the White House in November.   :o)  They were full of questions. "Did you see this?"  "Did you see that?"

Although our week ended up being a very short week due to the crazy Kansas snow storm, we got to meet two of America's great presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln!

We made these cute little Abraham Lincoln masks, and the kids had a blast.  You should have heard them, "Hello, I am Abraham Lincoln."  "Nice to meet you. I am Abraham Lincoln."

We even put a "note" in our hat just like Abraham Lincoln did to remember important things!

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9

Freebie Fonts! I Did It! :o)

I just finished making my first two fonts!! Wow!!  Thanks to some great ladies in Kinderland and some google searching, I realized that making fonts wasn't just for the techie people out there!  Yeah

I am so excited, and I want to share.  

Fun Freebie Fonts

"They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share," 1Timothy 6:18

Whole Group Instruction & Accountability

Whole group instruction is a necessary part of a teacher's day, but I want to make sure all of my students are participating, actively engaged and held accountable for what they are learning.  To ensure this I use answer cards.  :o)

With a few questions and the correct card, I can do a quick check for topic understanding.

In this Whole Group Answer Cards set,  I have included Yes/No, Fact/Opinion, True/False and ./? cards.  I continually update this set with different cards when needed and have them printed on different colors of paper for easy classroom use.    These cards can actually be used in any setting where individual student accountability is the goal!!  :o)

Click here to find these on TpT.

Whole Group Answer Cards 

How could you use these in your classroom?  What other card combinations can you think of?

"For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them." Matthew 18:20

Be an Illustrator!

Most kids love being able to color a picture and illustrate their sentences, but this week we talked about how important that actually is.  An illustrator has a big job!!!  They must understand what the author wants the readers to see.  

We talked about several examples.   If the story has the little girl wearing a pink dress, the illustrator can not say, "Nope, I like red."  ......   and color the dress red.  If the author has the boys in the story playing football, the illustrator can not say, "Nope, I like basketball better."  .....  and color them playing basketball.  Otherwise, he might loose his job.  "You mean like get fired Mrs. Rucker?"  Yep!  The author gets to tell the story, and the illustrator makes it visually come alive. 

One of the activities we do to practice this is play our "Be an Illustrator" game.  I have the kids put up their desk dividers (so they can't see each others papers), and then I tell them to put on their Illustrator hats.   They must listen to the sentence and illustrate what they hear.  When everyone is finished coloring, we show our pictures.  They love to see if their picture looks like the others at their table.  The sentence I used in these pictures was, "The fat yellow cat sat on a blue mat." :)

This activity can actually work on sooooo many different things like listening, comprehension, vocabulary, and I am sure you can think of many others!  :o)

How could you use this in your classroom?  I would love to hear about it!

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

February Shout Out Linky!

I am linking up with Growing Firsties for a fun little February Shout Out Linky party!  :o)  We are recognizing and encouraging other bloggers that have done some inspiring things.





First off, let me introduce a blogger with fewer followers ........ meet Holly from Holly's Hobby: Kindergarten!  She has some super cute stuff for February and an adorable blog.

Now I want to Shout Out a blogger with more followers ........ meet my blogging friend Elizabeth from Mrs. Hodge and Her Kindergarten Kids.  It is so cool when you find out a blogging friend is only and hour away!! :o)  She has so many fabulous ideas and resources.  Definitely check her out!
It is sooooo fun to share the love.  :o)  Happy blogging!









"Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." Proverbs 19:20

More Time, Less Time & Shoes????

How do you introduce time?  One of my favorite games to play is our More Time, Less Time shoe game.  Yes, we take off our shoes!!!  It does get a little stinky, but trust me, you will have their attention.

The night before I always pray that the kids will wear the "correct" shoes in the morning.  This is usually not a problem because I always have someone in cowboy boots!! :)  (Sometime more than one....living in the country, I have a lot of country boys.) Shoes....check!

Then it's race time.  The kids take a vote..... "Who will put their shoes one the quickest?"  "Who will take the longest?"  Thus, our introduction to more time and less time.  I also have the kids give me an explanation about why they made their prediction.

Of course everyone wants a chance to play, and yes, some shoes are way more time consuming than others.  So if you play, be prepared to help tie some shoes!

After that we move on to blocks.  They use their face partners at their tables, and one person gets 10 blocks and the other gets 5.  Again we make predictions about who will take more time and who will take less.  Just to be funny, because you know they are sitting on the edge of their seats, I pause a little before I say......GO!

This fun little activity is a great lead into our time unit.  We have transitioned to clocks now, and they are doing so good.  I have some fun analog and digital clock matching activities in my new Love Bugs: Time, Money and Measurement unit.

And yes, I did have a parent call and say....."Thank you sooooo much for teaching my child how to tell time.  Now they tell me, 'No Mommy, it's not bedtime yet.  Mrs. Rucker taught me how to tell time.'"

"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors." Psalm 31: 14-15

Sunday Super Sale

It's A Sunday SUPER Sale!!

Superbowl Sunday - Feb. 3

Everything in my store will be 28% off!! Yeah!  Check out some of the fantastic things you can get for your classroom or home!  Click on the link in the right side bar to visit my TpT store.

   

   

"A friend loves at all times..." Provers 17:17

Kansas Day & A Funny Joke

Today was Kansas Day!  :o)   We have been learning about our Kansas flag, our state name, our capital, and our state bird, reptile, amphibian, insect, tree, flower, and mammal.

We also learned many other interesting facts about Kansas.  Today we decorated the Principal's office with the "unofficial" Kansas bird - the Jayhawk.  For you K-State fans (like our principal), I did explain to the kids that it was an "unofficial Kansas symbol."  The term "jayhawk" was first used before the Civil War.

I do have his daughter in my class, so we thought it would be a funny joke to play on her daddy.  With the help from the office staff, the whole wall ended up being decorated!  

Happy Birthday Kansas!!

Freebie: Our Favorite Season Classroom Graph

We officially started working on time this week.  Notice I said "officially!" We actually work on it  throughout the year, but it's time for the big unit.   :o)   We talk about days, weeks, months and year as part of our morning calendar time everyday, but I always like demonstrating with a flashlight and globe what is actually happening with the sun and the earth during the "day" and the "night."  This is also a great science integration activity, and the kids love being able to spin the globe!

Another one of my favorite parts of this unit is talking about the different seasons.  Of course I have a favorite - Summer!!  Yeah baby!  I could totally hang out on a beach and read a book all day.  So after we talk about each of the different seasons and discuss all the different things you can do during each season, we make a large classroom graph.  Summer totally won this year.  Last year winter did.  I think it was because we had more snow last year!! 

Each student gets his or her own maker card, so when I call out a season, they get to put the card up themselves.  My kids are always excited when we do our large classroom graphs because they feel like they are part of the graph.   After we finish collecting our data, we complete our data collection and analysis sheet.  Most of my kids can read these simple sentences by themselves, so it is so exciting for them when they can complete these totally on their own.  Go Kindergarten!!  

Click here to download this fun freebie, Our Favorite Season, classroom graph from TPT.

What is your favorite season???  What you would do in your free time??

"He is like a tree planed by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." Psalm 1:3

100th Day of School Fun

Tuesday was our 100th Day of School!  Yeah!  :o)  The kids were so excited, and I had lots of exciting things planned for us.

We started off the morning in math with a fun little roll to 100 activity from Lanier's Lions.  My kiddos just loved getting out our new foam dice.

Later in the day we worked on our 100th Day of School posters.  By counting and gathering objects in groups of 10, we made our way up to 100.  We used yarn, noodles, buttons, stamps, stickers, finger prints, our name, numbers 1-10, smiles, and my favorite 5 hugs and 5 kisses (XOs)!  I went around and gave them all 5 hugs and 5 kisses.  They loved it.

The day ended with my favorite activity.  Sorting and graphing 100 M&Ms.  Yummy!

"Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself.  Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."  Matthew 19:26