Pin 3 and MORE

Hi again. I tell you when it comes to me and blogging it's either hot or cold, feast or famine, flood or draught. At the moment it's a hot feast flood– I think this is my third post in a row with more coming in the not too distant future. Today I have several things to share that are MOSTLY about my top favorite Pins for May. However, there are a couple other things ya gotta know about.

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Zayda from Magically in First for winning my giveaway of Secrets of the Vegetable Garden. She loves teaching science and is going to use this neat shine-through book to introduce her plants unit. Her firsties are gonna love it. Way to go Zayda. Read about the book here.

Second, I am participating in another big ol' giveaway with some fellow bloggers. You can win one of two fifty dollar TPT gift certificates. Wouldn't you have a great little shopping spree with that!

Just sign up here. You can have twenty three chances!

Teacher Appreciation Week
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Here's who's in the giveaway with me. Check out their blogs by clicking below.





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Kovescence of the Mind

123 teach - Brittany Kiser

Michele Luck's Social Studies

Momma with a Teaching Mission

Mrs. Beattie's Classroom

Stephanie Rye - Forever in Fifth Grade

Embellished Education

Classroom Action with Ms.Jackson

The Education Diva

Patty Rutenbar at 2nd in Line

Miss Johnston's Journey

Believe to Achieve by Anne Rozell

Cait's Cool School

Smart Teaching

KidpeopleClassroom.com

Adventures in the Mitten

Inspired Owl's Corner

Teaching Superkids

Pawsitively Teaching

Second Grade Estrellas

​And NOW check out these three pins!

Okay, so I couldn't make up my mind which KooKoo I liked the most, so I'm posting three of Koo Koo Kangaroo's movement videos as my first pin. These are our newest discovered vids– they have many– and our current favorites. Do you know KooKoo? If you don't, you should.

I mean come on... grown men who sing about their fanny packs! Hilarious. The kids like them, too. Their facial expressions are great and the music is very well done with a variety of styles. These goofballs really know kids.

I don't do Go Noodle, but I do collect movement videos on my Brain Break Pinterest Board. When we need to move, I just open this board and we choose the dance of the day. Love. We don't use this collection as much as we did in the mean winter months, but sometimes you only have five minutes to move and my Pinterest board is super handy for this. Click to see these guys and more faves. You might consider following just so you can get the variety of choices immediately.

My next Pin comes from Two Writing Teachers. I guess my mind is drifting toward next year. THIS year I had a good handful of kiddos for whom writing was very difficult. Both the physical aspect of putting pen to paper, and the recording of stories. I am doing early research for next year, looking for ways to scaffold better for my challenged kids. I LOVE teaching writing and I strive to be the best I can be. Check out this article, and while there, you'll see other posts in similar veins pop up. All kindergarten teachers have low kids and these ideas are valuable in helping us reach all our kiddos.

Consider following Two Writing Teachers, too. This group of blogger authors, considerably more than two now, share cutting edge thoughts on the teaching of writing, and they are pretty good writers themselves. I always find the posts worth my while.

Hmmm.... and three should be.... 

I've been using this super simple idea for my lowest reading group. Before they come over I write the sight words we're working on on slates with Expo marker. I hand them the slate and a Q-tip to "Trace-Erase" the words as a warm up. The novelty makes it fun to practice writing their words. Just one more teaching strategy in my ever growing collection. Next year I'll do some letter writing practice with Q-tips, too, as it's needed.

And because I JUST found this and want to do it THIS week for Mother's Day, I share it here.

I think this is the cutest dang Mother's Day card I've ever seen. Tips to make the photo come out right are included on Bren's blog.

Can you believe I have today off! It is voting day and our schools are polling places. So in an effort to stay away from potential gun toting voters, our district decided a month ago to close and label today as a "snow day." I am THRILLED with the day off, even as I am not thrilled with the reason.

My To-Do List:
Get tire fixed
Work on animation project I'm doing with the kiddos
Get ready for an all day field trip on Wednesday
Write lesson plans for three days I'm out next week
Meet some new students I'll have next year
Help my daughter who's home on semester break with a painting project
Have my mom up for dinner
And...
And...

Okay, so I have a week's worth to work into one day... I can do it... I'm a superhero-teacher-type...

Thanks so much for stopping by. Go check out some more Pin love by clicking below on the blog buttons. Heaps of thanks to Lisa and Marissa for their monthly Pick 3 Pin Linky. I love to party... linky party, that is!

If you'd like to post into this linky sponsored by Pawsitively Teaching, Just Reed, and Inspired Owl's Corner, you can! Just click on their buttons below for the guidelines and buttons.

See you next time!

An InLinkz Link-up