That's a Wrap and Some Little Freebies

Whoot. I'm Out! I link with Doodle Bugs Teaching Five for Friday to give you five little tidbits from our last week, and some freebies.

1.  My class is really into dragons... well, along with monsters as my regular readers know. We sing and read Puff the Magic Dragon and do various dragon things throughout the year. DH Jonathan was just in a dragonish mood a while ago and drew up this dragon for me. I used it several ways in our last weeks– as a counting mat, and with words to a dragon poem for the kids to put in their poetry notebooks. I thought some of you might like it for those or other reasons. You can download it by clicking on the image.

2.  I took adorable photos like this one of each kid.... well, the real ones weren't weirdly blurry, of course... the joys of posting on the internet.

I found the talk bubble mini bulletin board at the Target Dollar Spot. Oh, yeah! I wanted to highlight the photos and not just send them home loose, so I glued them to the front of my goodbye cards which I write for each student.

Jonathan worked up the word bubble phrase in big fat letters so I could cut out the words in one clump as opposed to each letter individually. You may have it if you like. The downloadable freebie has "I am a kindergartner" thru "I am a fifth grader" so it can be used by teachers in preschool on up. Just click on the photo above to get it.


3.  I have a very precisely planned last half day with my kiddos. There is our end-of-year assembly, the backpacking of special things that can only go home on the last day, and then the completely unpredictable last minute "thing" that pops up no matter how much you plan, which I've come to count on (this time, a gigantic double chocolate milk spill... no, we don't usually drink chocolate milk but the lunch lady kindly gave us the leftover cartons.) If all goes as planned (rarely) I have a special craft activity in my back pocket, and this year we actually got to do it, in spite of the chocolate milk.

I told the kids we were going to make popsicle bookmarks and that I was going to take a bite of each one. Hee. The kids colored and cut two of them. Then we glued in the popsicle stick. I used one of those flower shaped paper punches to take a bite. I found the downloadable years ago at Lisa Storms' site. You can have them for free, too, by clicking on the image above.

4.  On the first day of the year I have the kiddos draw a self portrait and write their name. On the last day I have them do it again (and no, they don't see the one they did at the beginning of the year before hand). As they are writing their last day letters to me– sob– I paste the first and last day into a construction paper folder. I use this folder to send home their work from our Writers' Wall where we collect and display their best piece from each writing unit. I took some shots of the folders before sending them home. Fun to see growth, eh?

Sure can see growth, can't you?

They got the idea of adding details to drawings, I think?

And adding dialogue.

And she's pointing, right? I think she's pointing. Surely, she is pointing...

When I look at them I smile... okay, I chuckle. I must work in a kindergarten class... or a looloo bin... Ah. I love my job. I'm gonna MISS my little loonies.

5.  I had one more... but I can't find it... on my camera... or in my bag... or in my brain. I really am pooped. You know that old saying, "There's no tired like the end of year teacher tired." I guess that's me. I'll tell you next time.  For now... have a GREAT SUMMER!!!!

Scoot on back to Kacey and see what the rest of your teacher friends are up to.

The Winner, Tips, and Funnies!

It's Friiiiiiiday..... Friday, Friday, Friday! Today is Friday day.  Friday day!

Do any of you remember that song? I think it came from a musical. Anyway, it is indeed Friday and I have four and a half more school days to go... well, after today... SO I'm joining in the fun of Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday Linky party to share what's going on! Thanks Kacey!! Oh, and yes, this is a Funny Kid Friday week, too.

Coming up below... hee hee.

1.  First things first... drum roll, please.... our winner of the HUE Animation Studio is Carol Davis!  Carol is a STEM teacher for third thru fifth graders and she writes about winning:

"I am so excited about this! I thought about many things that I could do with the Hue! I think having kids use it as a follow up to a design challenge, maybe even to show their devices work, will just be amazing! The creativity kids will use, not too mention the intense collaboration it will take to complete, is just going to be so fun to be part of. I teach third to fifth graders in a magnet school and I can see my kids of all ability levels really benefiting from making the videos as part of our STEM class."

Pretty neat! I look forward to hearing what Carol is up to next year with the HUE... and we will hear because Carol blogs at Teachers Are Terrific!

Way to go, Carol! 

If you some how missed the hype about the HUE Animation Studio that went with this giveaway, you'll want to swing back to these posts and check out our animated videos!

2.  Do you remember cootie catchers from when you were a kid? I do. Also called fortune tellers, I had my future husband predicted many, many times... wrongly, of course, as Jonathan's name never showed up! With school getting out for us next week Friday I went looking for FUN skill practice activities and I found these free math themed cootie catchers at 123 Homeschool 4 Me.  They are designed for practice with addition, subtraction, and number recognition. Every kid in our school seems to be into cootie catchers right now, so I shared the link with my colleagues– with a little teacher inventiveness, these can be differentiated for practice with higher math skills. You can find this little Freebie by clicking on the image below.

You can also google to find lots of other cootie catchers for practicing a variety of skills. And if you're like me and it's been some time since you made a cootie catcher, not to worry because the downloads come with directions... or you can ask a third grader!


3.  I made this card for our music teacher who injured herself at school. I asked the kids to tell me any "remedies" they knew. We had to discuss that a "remedy" is something that helps a person feel better, as it was a new word to many. Good old common core vocabulary building...

Here are shots of our final product. Super BooBoo Buddy started out as a bandaid. You can really see all the knowledge kids have of sickness and injury– from medicine called "namonia," to tubes, to distracting your brain. I think my favorite was "Stay calm– no wildness." Good advice for whatever ails you. It brought a smile to my colleague's face for sure.

4.  Have you seen this KooKoo Kangaroo video yet? I am using it in our last week of school as my parting message to my kiddos. It is a totally silly– in the KooKoo Kangaroo sort of way– and totally upbeat, but it's making me teary :(

5.  Okay, so the kids are on a roll this week giving me Funny Kid Stories. They're making sure I have a supply to last me over the summer, I guess.

My kids were lined up to come in from recess and they didn't know I was standing just inside the door about to pick them up. I heard, "Well, Mrs. Wright isn't here so I can say it all I want– D-O-M, D-O-M, D-O-M, D-O-M..."

Anyone fluent in kindergartenese knows that D-O-M is the kindergarten spelling of the "D word–" DUMB. "Dumb" is really only a "bad word" when it is labeling a person as such, but kinders think it is bad all the time, and most teachers let that stand.

I wiped the grin off my face before the one flaunting naughtiness could see, then stepped out and said, "Why is someone spelling Dom, Dom, Dom? We don't have a Dom in our class." They all just looked at me. "I sure hope nobody was trying to spell dumb, dumb, dumb!" I gave "the teacher look" to the guilty-looking guilty party and we continued on our way.

Hope nobody ever says you are D-O-M!!

ONE MORE WEEK FOR ME!!  Hope to see you again soon. Scoot on back to Kacey's Five for Friday and get this week's scoop!

Grin, Win, and Three More on Friday

Yes, this is a Saturday post, but that is okay. Some of you will be happy I posted no matter the day because you get to be the last people to slip into the HUE Animation Studio Giveaway....

Thanks to Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for her always great Five for Friday linky!

1.  It's been a while, so here's a quick one.

Student A:  I'm in love with my mom and dad.
Student B:  (in smart alec voice): Are you going to marry them?
Student A: hmmm.... no, they're already married.... but I can still be in love with them.

Sweetness all the way.

2.  Isn't this the CUTEST bracelet for a teacher! Especially a kindergarten teacher. Love.

Yes, Mischief Managed comes from Harry Potter– it's part of the spell that makes the Marauders' Map work. However I say, managing mischief is what I do all day! hee I got it from Etsy. I'm not going to recommend this actual one, though. The silver is too thin and soft and it warps out of shape really easily. I'm not so sure how long it is going to last. I think it is a great idea, but you might want to look for a sturdier rendition.

3.  Nothing like having writing workshop at the bus stop! What better time to record a small moment from a field trip than when you're still on it.

4. Regular readers know I'm into little monsters. I thought this art project was especially good.

The teeth stick out of it's mouth because the mouth is a separate piece made like this– Draw the oval. Draw the rectangles. Color the oval red. Cut the whole thing out on the outer edge. Glue down the oval and fold down the rectangles.




Simple, brilliant, 3D teeth! These monsters must be in kindergarten because their toothy smiles are a lot like the ones I look at all day, with wiggly teeth just about ready to fall out. grin. You can see the post on Krokatak HERE.


5.  Last but not least... QUICK enter to win a HUE Animation Studio!!! Don't know what a HUE Animation Studio is? Well, it allowed my students and I to make these animated movies.

I posted about the projects HERE

And I have a free downloadable tip sheet available HERE

Follow, enter, and WIN! You can follow my blogging buddy Stephanie at Forever in Fifth Grade for another chance to. But HURRY. Only one more day!

OUR GIVEAWAY IS OVER :( CAROL D. IS THE WINNER!

Now click on back to Doodle Bugs learning and see what others have going on in life.

See you around! Thanks for stopping by!

Pick 3 Pins for JUNE!

Hey! It's the third of the month and that means Pick 3 Pins... er, maybe four.... and a giveaway! Thanks to my bloggy buddies over at Pawsitively Learning, Just Reed, and Inspired Owl's Corner for their idea generating monthly linky party. Love this one.

With Father's Day right around the corner I've been looking for a cute gift idea for my kiddos to do. I like this one because the kids will have a neat experience drawing on the golf ball surface. And I'll come up with a sports themed card idea to go with it... you're a good sport, Dad. Or, you're better than a hole in one! Even Dad's who aren't golfers will enjoy their one of a kind art piece, I think. (Sorry, this PIN only went to advertising for t-shirts, but I still pinned to remember the idea. You just give the kids Sharpies to draw on the balls with. Easy-peasy!)

Whether you're still at school for a few more weeks, or already home with the kids, here's an easy fun outdoor activity. Found these little shooters that take basic materials. I think I'll knot and cut the balloons, then let the kids stretch them over the cut cups. I'll give each kid a marshmallow (chepaer than pompooms) and head outside. I might bring out some empty cups, too, so some kids can be the catchers, as well.  Find it on my outside board where more outdoor ideas for kids can be found.

I don't know about you, but I do a lot of online reading. I am always finding articles that I want to have at my fingertips for reference– to either put into practice or share with a colleague later. The easiest way to remember and find it again, is to PIN it. So I started a "Pin Now to Find Again Later Board." Click to see what I think will be handy to have and reread again.

And last but not least, for those of you who haven't stopped by in a while, my kiddos and I put together two animated movies with the help of my HUE Animation Studio. YOU can win a HUE Animation Studio, that comes with the camera, too. I blogged all about it, and even put together a free downloadable tip sheet. Check it all out!

This was our first video

And this was our second:

I blogged about them here!

Get the free downloadable tip sheet by clicking on the image below.

And ta-da! The giveaway! Hurry and enter as there's only a couple days left!! Sorry it's only available to readers in the US. 

OUR GIVEAWAY IS OVER :(  CAROL D. IS THE WINNER :)

Big thanks to HUE for the cameras and opportunities to learn new technology!

NOW, go find more stuff to PIN by clicking below on those wonderful pins! 

An InLinkz Link-up

And thanks for stopping by! See you next time!