It's Time for a SALE on TpT!

 Now is the time to check your wishlists because there is a SALE on TeachersPayTeachers!!

 I know I have been busy moving some neat products from my wishlist over to my cart so I can take advantage of the big sale.  There are so many great resources out there just waiting to be purchased and downloaded. Stop by my store and check out the savings!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

My principal and the assistant superintendent knocked on my classroom door yesterday to present a 

brand-spankin'-new iPad mini to me! 

Wow!!  

 

I received an email last week thanking me for participating in a district-wide health and wellness survey. Names were randomly chosen from over 700 participants and I was one of four who won! My mind was racing on how I could use this in my classroom! 

Well, now it's here and I need your suggestions on what apps would be the best to install for my Koala Kinder friends. So...What apps should I install and what makes them the best?
How about some suggestions for classroom use? I keep seeing the bar code activities on TeachersPayTeachers. They really intrigue me! Would the iPad mini be good for those?
How about stories? Do you know of some? HELP!!

   Send me your suggestions so I can get this new tech tool loaded up and going!!

Polar Animal Theme

    January brings the cold and the snow but it also brings an exciting new theme to the Koala class! The Koalas are going to be learning about Polar Animals and doing their own research project on their favorite Polar Animal.
     I just finished a cute "I Have, Who Has" Polar Animal card game with a set of Polar Animal picture and vocabulary cards. Click on the link below the picture to check it out on my TpT store.

Polar Animals~I Have, Who Has

     I have also been working on a power point slide show with simple facts and cute graphics for Polar Animals. I want to use this to get the Koalas excited about doing their research project on their favorite Polar Animal. I hope to have it ready very soon along with some research paper templates. In the mean time I want to share a book with you.
     One of my favorite books to read during this theme is 
"Where Snowflakes Fall" by Caire Freedman. The beautiful soft, powdery illustrations are by Tina Macnaughton. Every page gets a chorus of "awww's" because all of the pictures are just so cute!! 

You can find it on Amazon - click here!

What are your favorite books to read to get the kids interested in Polar Animals?

Two New Uploads for the Final Week Before Christmas Break

It's that crazy week before the break when the kids are hanging from the rafters and can't seem to calm down. I came up with a couple of quick activities to incorporate into our center time. The kinders are going to be excited and talkative so I am giving them a focus for their talk. First, I have created six different surveys for the kids to work on their questioning and their graphing skills.

I also uploaded a FREEBIE "I Have, Who Has?" Christmas Cookies ABC's and 123"s. Click here to download it from my TeachersPayTeacher store:

Earlier this month my daughter was is in a "Baking Christmas Cookies" stage and that gave me the idea to create some yummy math and literacy centers. Here's a quick peek at what you'll find in these Christmas Cookies Literacy and Math Centers.

 

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful last school week before the break!

~Janet aka KoalaKdgTeacher

Hands-On Math Makes it More Fun for Learning About Composing Numbers

See it HERE on TpT and get it for 20% off for the next 48 hours

My school district is using GoMath and talk about "raising the bar"! This past week my Koalas have been working on COMPOSING NUMBERS TO 10. When only 1/3 of the kinders "got it" the first time it is introduced in the chapter then it is time to find other ways to present and practice. My student teacher is currently teaching Math so I am able to sit back and observe the students as some of them struggle with the task of joining two groups of objects to make one set. In addition to understanding this task we are also asking them to find multiple ways to compose numbers to make the same sum. Then we throw a wrench in the gear and provide one addend and the sum. Essentially they are "subtracting to add", Aghhh!  

I created this math pack to help the students understand what composing is and all the different ways to make numbers through using a hands-on approach.

 

These math printables are perfect to use when introducing the concepts of simple ADDITION to 10, COUNTING & COMPOSING NUMBERS with a variety of addends. 

 

This pack includes worksheets to practice counting, writing numbers, and composing numbers to ten. Each page is set up the same way and includes a row of number blocks for placing the color cubes or other objects on, filling in with color, and writing addends and sums. There are additional cards that have the colors filled in and the students can place matching blocks over them to find the addends and sums or just count the color blocks to find the addends and sums. There are numbers in the corner of each card to tell how many cubes are needed to practice the composing math problem.

Bonus: Assessment pages are provided with number lines and number blocks. Two of these pages are editable!

I am offering it at an introductory 20% off for the next 48 hours!

Click HERE to see it on TpT.

New items on TpT!

Hi All! 

I just wanted to let everyone know I have been busy creating some new items for my TpT store. Check out the three newest resources that I just uploaded this weekend:

A Fall-Themed Mini Math and Sight Word Game Pack is filled with more than 10 activities and games to reinforce Phonics Sight Words, Color Words and Numbers 0-10!

Fall-Mini-Math-and-Sight-Word-Game-Pack

For my line of "All Things Koalas" I added a resource pack to go along with our Saxon Phonics Decodable Readers and Sight Words.

Saxon-Phonics-Decodable-Readers-Resource-Pack-K

If you liked the Saxon Phonics Decodable Readers Resource Pack but want cute "Little Learners" graphics then check out this pack:

Saxon-Phonics-Decodable-Readers-Resource-Pack-Kdg-with-Little Learners

We are winding down our first quarter this week and I will be gearing up for Parent-Teacher Conferences on the 23rd.

Do you give your parents a pre-conference form? I use a "Two Stars and a Wish" form. The parents list two areas that they have noticed academic/social growth and one area for what they wish for their child to accomplish or improve in. 

Two-Stars-and-A-Wish

Easy-Peasy Up-cycled Mystery Boxes

This past weekend I made four mystery boxes 

from empty Oxyclean tubs.

 I started out with clean Oxyclean tubs with the top edge taped off. I used clear contact paper because that was what I had on hand.

Spray paint the tubs with Krylon spray paint. It sticks to plastic and dries in about 12 minutes.

I made a paper template of the two sizes I needed and then I cut the fabric for the lids and the insides of the tubs. I used flannel-backed table cloth that I purchased at Walmart last year to use as seat covers and shelf curtains.

 To soften the sound of objects inside the bucket I chose to use sticky-back felt.  

I used a clean empty can to cut the circles in the top of the lids. First, I set the can directly on my flat-top stove burner (which was on HI) until it was extremely hot. I pressed it into the lid that was resting on a cutting board. I would reheat the can each time.

I hot glued the fabric to the lids and cut X's in the center of each opening.

I peeled the tape off of the tubs to reveal the white edge. I felt that was a nice contrast to the black bottom of the tubs. I used my Cricut to cut abc's and 123's for the outsides of the tubs. Now they are ready to be filled with magnetic letters and numbers or cards for centers.