tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42946711517237240862024-03-14T04:07:54.202-05:00News, Views, and StewsTales of teaching in the Evolving Classroomkorrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-5058065022963288702016-06-08T00:24:00.001-05:002016-06-08T00:24:47.920-05:00Reverse Catch Up<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKTQWPP_X3x6H18NVki5uR98-hM16IXSypspX1Rlvxr2ku1vG0CnWiEDj5ahHalD_NVSFMSvcooeamoe-JOU5RUP-m1i0NE_VaAjKjHDrs-5nMHyC2CB13_i4xAQG9vtyKhNSZTgtJpI/s640/blogger-image--1514944154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKTQWPP_X3x6H18NVki5uR98-hM16IXSypspX1Rlvxr2ku1vG0CnWiEDj5ahHalD_NVSFMSvcooeamoe-JOU5RUP-m1i0NE_VaAjKjHDrs-5nMHyC2CB13_i4xAQG9vtyKhNSZTgtJpI/s640/blogger-image--1514944154.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I c<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">an hardly believe this year is already a thing of the past. I kept thinking that I would eventually get back to blogging....but here we are, and my last post was....well, last year! I had an amazing year full of learning, challenges, and growth. I have implemented yet again new technology and utilized familiar technology in new ways. I'd like to begin with the end and work my way backwards through my year. If for no other reason than to help me reflect over the year's events and make notes to myself. </span></div><div><br></div><div>We ended our year with a few earned "theme" days. We had a Read In Day and a Bring Your Own Center Day. <br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnTcKTnptlwE6Dtx0z0QLR074gCKImJ5X_izIQddinoXBNao9wqPJdzsiJ9vp8cE8KAbo308sdmPU0mIgUsnEdTbpslsRv5lm_4Gx3ftx_SsWb89xHroexUEWNQC1_WKigVjlPbMFis8/s640/blogger-image--139613770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnTcKTnptlwE6Dtx0z0QLR074gCKImJ5X_izIQddinoXBNao9wqPJdzsiJ9vp8cE8KAbo308sdmPU0mIgUsnEdTbpslsRv5lm_4Gx3ftx_SsWb89xHroexUEWNQC1_WKigVjlPbMFis8/s640/blogger-image--139613770.jpg"></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">These days were not only fun and engaging for the kiddos, but also allowed for teacher cleaning, organizing and packing up. Games are very educational. I did not allow electronic devices. I figured that these would be getting plenty of use this summer. I had one student who brought in cards and taught his friends how to play solitaire! What a valuable game to know. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">How did we earn these days, you ask? We earned them with our class Dojo points! This is an awesome app that is so easy to use and has had some pretty awesome updates this past year. My favorites have been their Big Ideas series. These have been a fabulously easy way to address growth mindset and the elasticity of the brain! My kiddos have truly embraced the power of YET!<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB0rJjsrUgLY37n6Fhyo6MeZRn5dLHFbE4E5CpHATIu49Kri8l2L4nzO5zdDcXnHtl3qy80jpwAvaEShcyv16xzCpwqUwtrQ7CxxxE-NtTTkcVJaRkKTkPHGxWmhQIKUc9C3ooOtmcOQ/s640/blogger-image--815409808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB0rJjsrUgLY37n6Fhyo6MeZRn5dLHFbE4E5CpHATIu49Kri8l2L4nzO5zdDcXnHtl3qy80jpwAvaEShcyv16xzCpwqUwtrQ7CxxxE-NtTTkcVJaRkKTkPHGxWmhQIKUc9C3ooOtmcOQ/s640/blogger-image--815409808.jpg"></a></div></div>korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-42832480358359009312015-05-26T14:10:00.000-05:002015-05-26T14:10:58.969-05:00Hallway Fun!At the beginning of the year when we are covering our All About Me unit, I had my kiddos make what I lovingly refer to as, "Hallway Heads". I must admit that this was not my original idea--but what is when it comes to teaching?! These "Hallway Heads" are above their cubbies. It was originally tied to a lesson on how we are the same yet very different! We looked in mirrors to compare our eyes, nose, cheeks, dimples, etc. We looked at details like skin color, freckles, glasses and more. We talked about the different colors in our own heads of hair! Then we took time to make a "mini me" of sorts for the hallway. I prepped them by letting them know that these would be important ALL year long and that we were going to give our very best efforts. These 4 and 5 year olds did AWESOME!! I provided a tracer for the head and had a few different hair shapes for them to choose from as well. We had a draw along, while I talked them through each part of their face and showed them different shapes for eyes, lips and noses.<br />
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-49123297502613245072014-07-15T21:56:00.001-05:002015-08-15T11:02:13.574-05:00Gearing Up and Getting Set!<div class="" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXv3x-d4BrS-YuIrNcnDU1LjP1sRl0i8BfYmAk3fVGlttuhvoEOmMLdONuOMGyJ91EvNATNIHFI3vx24s8NDcFMZ1AW5QmavGNuyN74kCXasP4SZ1xLNtPw1h1fqRDfWz9OMidcZU1nNQ/s1600/plexus+preferred+customer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXv3x-d4BrS-YuIrNcnDU1LjP1sRl0i8BfYmAk3fVGlttuhvoEOmMLdONuOMGyJ91EvNATNIHFI3vx24s8NDcFMZ1AW5QmavGNuyN74kCXasP4SZ1xLNtPw1h1fqRDfWz9OMidcZU1nNQ/s1600/plexus+preferred+customer.jpg" width="213" /></a>Tis that time of year again! Time to think about all that went right last year and the changes you want to make this year. I love how a classroom is like an open canvas! I absolutely LOVE setting up a classroom! So I thought I would go through some ideas I have for this year. I may be making some big changes this year....but, we'll see :-) It's a good thing that I have my energy back and am feeling great thanks to MY Plexus Products!! I cannot tell you what an impact on my daily quality of life these all natural products have made! Do yourself a favor and before school gets back into gear and your health takes a back seat...choose health...choose Plexus! <a href="http://www.korren.myplexusproducts.com/">www.korren.myplexusproducts.com</a> If you don't know what I am talking about, check out the video below:</div>
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My First Love! Books! Books! and more Books!</h3>
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I <strike>LOVE</strike> Adore books. I have quite a few but never enough. I am always looking for great picture books to use with my lessons. How do you keep them organized?! I have tried many different ways from book boxes, baskets, cardboard dividers (not bad) to you name it. Well I was exploring a closet at our school when I happened upon this Brilliant system! Paint Sticks! So simple and CHEAP, I'm in love! I think I have just found a nice way to organize.</div>
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This reminds me also of a system one of my special librarians used to help kids remember where their book came from on the shelf if they decided not to choose it. She called them book buddies. The kiddos would use a stick (plastic but I think paint sticks would work too) to mark the place on the shelf that their book belonged. Take and give the book a "looksie" and if they wanted it, then they took their stick out. But, if they didn't want it, they knew where to put it back! Was she smart or what?! How blessed we were to have her at our school:-)</div>
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Reading Corners:</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_O9IdaiQyTDjYkwFF8zkFREwLYFFpZUUHR8-dAhhItioC5ztHhJXsAfQyerNp63pghQF4pjYicrG0zDzwEFOHGApiqAv1xATxJacx-xUWaBODTzGKYqUTtXBhS_mf5pGyaXWL8bmcOIw/s1600/Photo1145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_O9IdaiQyTDjYkwFF8zkFREwLYFFpZUUHR8-dAhhItioC5ztHhJXsAfQyerNp63pghQF4pjYicrG0zDzwEFOHGApiqAv1xATxJacx-xUWaBODTzGKYqUTtXBhS_mf5pGyaXWL8bmcOIw/s1600/Photo1145.jpg" width="320" /></a>Gotta have a few cozy places to read around the room! This corner is a little bland but it still worked. I like to keep a tub of "reading buddies" (aka stuffed animals) around for kiddos to take with them to their reading spots. </div>
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<a href="http://www.myclassroomideas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Cozy-Readin-Nook-Idea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.myclassroomideas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Cozy-Readin-Nook-Idea.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Love the lanterns and colors in this cozy nook! I have a beach umbrella that I plan to use. I'll keep you posted!! I love how the books are very accessible yet still organized in a simple, clean manner. Instead of lanterns, I think I'd like to try these tissue paper pom poms. Super cute, colorful, and great for the budget. Check out the video for a "how to".</div>
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Work Displays:</h3>
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I love using clips! Whether they are attached to the wall or this fancy clothes line style pictured below. Clips are a huge time saver! No staples to remove and not stuffing INTO a page protector that doesn't always seem to be big enough.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZ8I1qNrLhyphenhyphenoTQbLvRYqcaSRCz0G7tG52X-Q_PHzmp2tOE3EwRnO7zGzMmey0HCT1pTFByyf5DUw-ld3lbHAIow4ut49tZtRS7XZCAhA-fKDhbscy9Por1e92VGVa9v1rvSL13Ts-PbE/s1600/first+next+last.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZ8I1qNrLhyphenhyphenoTQbLvRYqcaSRCz0G7tG52X-Q_PHzmp2tOE3EwRnO7zGzMmey0HCT1pTFByyf5DUw-ld3lbHAIow4ut49tZtRS7XZCAhA-fKDhbscy9Por1e92VGVa9v1rvSL13Ts-PbE/s1600/first+next+last.jpg" width="240" /></a>Stations: I love utilizing the low wall space for interactive pocket chart activities. In my case, tables are hard to come by so we use the wall and floor! Interactive pocket chart activities are easily changed out, cleaned up, and remain clutter free! When your classroom has to share it's space with a church this is a huge time saver! No storage--who wants to play with an empty pocket chart?! My point exactly!</div>
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Always need a special chair! I will definitely keep my Dr. Seuss rocker. The kiddos always love to sit and present in it and I like to sit and read to them in it too! It adds a sense of warmth, pizazz, and comfort to the classroom.<br />
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Charts and Tools</h3>
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My tiny birthday chart--great for jam packed walls. I always hang it on my bulletin board near my calendar to ensure that I am on top of the birthday celebrations without having to take up an entire wall!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj_HuPIe-PshsEsTWzwddzW7PmtIKYpzbsyAsVkZ3WfeaKg-UKpCkw9ehZdoYEN5nxzyQ7YWuOBi0E6mV7HJzkpJSlPFs48kgFbyyL2wwZHdXHyAm1gVrcphfhM8ORWJsL4tfWkcv5A9WDlnWm46dj0XnbJtlczvGlBpsjvtiikj6OnA7hMZ4ZMSJvXPxzXfVqre8PfahwRHabH-PmqAFRD=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Leveled-Reading-Cheat-Sheet/original-430559-1.jpg" height="307" width="400" /></a> I will also continue to use my lifesaving guided reading "cheat sheet". This is a powerful reading instructional tool! It helps me to be sure that I am meeting my reader's needs at the various levels. Be sure to check it out at <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Leveled-Reading-Cheat-Sheet-430559" target="_blank">my TPT store</a>!</div>
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<a href="http://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Scientific-Method-Lab-Report/original-318589-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Scientific-Method-Lab-Report/original-318589-1.jpg" height="400" width="307" /></a>And I cannot wait to use this beauty again....My Scientific Lab report! I have been in PreK for the last year and had to let it go. We would verbally use the scientific method--but there was no writing on their part. I did blow it up and laminate it for our experiements though and that worked great! I highly recommend it for the primary classroom:-) <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Scientific-Method-Lab-Report-318589" target="_blank">Check it out at my Store</a>!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCzkB97ZPpWXJNDBgBgw5ANd0xF2cQPSvIXMFaerHka8s8ZKv3lct4cvbUVdDDouui0sfktU4a4-Ov-s8Cb8yfWVCSlJld8COZX6LwJEV6GVxKADbSnZ5jnYfQ9ZPjiwdaR7oZeLHZjE/s640/blogger-image-1046734310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqCzkB97ZPpWXJNDBgBgw5ANd0xF2cQPSvIXMFaerHka8s8ZKv3lct4cvbUVdDDouui0sfktU4a4-Ov-s8Cb8yfWVCSlJld8COZX6LwJEV6GVxKADbSnZ5jnYfQ9ZPjiwdaR7oZeLHZjE/s640/blogger-image-1046734310.jpg" /></a>Happy Summer! I hope that everyone is taking a little time to catch some R&R while summer is still going strong. Above, I am dropping my soon to be 4th and 5th graders off at church summer camp (sniff, sniff)! We have never done this before and I don't know who was more nervous me or them?! Poor baby girl was heart broken because sisters aren't around to play with her...good thing mommy is! I have played barbies, read a million books, and played beachball volleyball...all before lunch! Good thing I am a <a href="http://www.korren.myplexusproducts.com/" target="_blank">Plexus Powered</a> mommy, cause I wouldn't be able to keep up without it! These all natural products give me the health and energy to keep up with the demands of life!</div>
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I am a huge proponent of Reader's Theater in the classroom! It does take a little creativity and organization to fit it into the elementary day. I committed about 10-15 minutes each week and it was WORTH every minute! The pay offs are BIG!</div>
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Powerhouse Pay-Offs</h4>
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<b><span style="color: red;">-Kids are excited about reading!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">-Parents get involved, are excited, and supportive too!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">-Poise, intonation, ennunciation, and authentic fluency and voice are learned through practice, repetition, and peer demonstration!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">-Kids are empowered and aquire greater self-esteem about their abilities as a reader!!</span></b></div>
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These are huge benefits because kiddos who believe they can read are more willing to take risks and push themselves to become better readers! What teacher doesn't want that for every student who walks through their classroom door?!</div>
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How it works for me:</h4>
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In my classroom I dedicate a roster strictly to keeping track of who is assigned to what script. This helps ensure that NO one is left out and keeps track of what scripts I have used that year (I try REALLY hard not to repeat). In the beginning, I try to pick scripts by flexible reading groups. This allows me at least 1 initial lesson to go over my expectations of a Reader's Theater presentation. It allows the group to learn to follow a script, ask questions, etc. I initially did this with 1st graders and it worked just as beautifully with 2nd---I have not yet braved trying this with my preschoolers. Not sure how it would go or how to modify. If you have ideas, PLEASE share!! Our initial lesson during group time would also give me a chance to go over intonation and voice with my kiddos. We discussed how it was important to read through and understand what your character was like based on their actions (super authentic reading lesson!!). We would also discuss what props they might be able to look for at home to help support their role as this character. (in my letter explaining the scripts to the parents it is noted that they are NOT to go out and purchase props.) Props are a lot of fun and add to the experience, but I had many students who never got into that sort of thing and that was perfectly fine. Props were completely optional. In my experience, as the year went on and the kiddos grew more confident, I saw more and more props. I had to eventually make a rule, that if you brought a "costume", you had to be able to slip it on over your school clothes---no running to the restroom to change! (great problem to have to solve in my opinion--kids so excited they are willing to go the extra mile to present their script to their peers.)</div>
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The Schedule:</h4>
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So a typical week would have been that I handed out the scripts with explanation letter and part attached on Thursday or Friday. This would give them the weekend to begin going over their lines.</div>
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The next Monday or Tuesday I would utilize 1 reading group time to meet with my theater performers. This lesson is essential in the beginning to "set the stage" so to speak. If you have high expectations, like I do, it is necessary to ensure they don't get up their and read like robots or stumble over all their lines. I'm not talking perfection---but I AM talking practiced. In fact, in my class I told them that if they could not read their lines then I would become their character. No one likes to have to struggle in front of their peers. (this only happened once or twice, Reader's Theater is a pretty strong motivator!)</div>
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Then depending on our schedule that week we would present to the class on Wed or Thursday. I would take pictures that I would post to my website, there was applause and bowing, and then we would have comments. I would call on 3 people from the polite audience who had a compliment for the group. Then I would call on 1 person who had a thought for something the ENTIRE group could work on. (this takes training...if your kiddos are new to this type of feedback sharing, I would let them do the complimenting and YOU do the "work on" part. Eventually they're coming up with ennunciation all on their own! Easy, right?! </div>
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I have such fond memories of our Reader's Theater times! Here are a few of the pictures I dug up from years past.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzmcR8qdR6cNZbG4kz7qjp2KhkkZDlKj6OY7LTSmhFZZM9O2TM_SgNFlZmuWob6OZn99ODz7Msfnt1hGXt7sFBSAlFh2xGYzjSVp14Pbdsit8O0qjKEx3HBXpvXvlc0iUxrVxB_9zxUY/s1600/Photo0858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzmcR8qdR6cNZbG4kz7qjp2KhkkZDlKj6OY7LTSmhFZZM9O2TM_SgNFlZmuWob6OZn99ODz7Msfnt1hGXt7sFBSAlFh2xGYzjSVp14Pbdsit8O0qjKEx3HBXpvXvlc0iUxrVxB_9zxUY/s1600/Photo0858.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>sometimes I would use the smart board to project an image. Especially if we were doing a nonfiction Reader's Theater! The kiddos LOVED this!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPEO8Asy6ikMVPM4HKvDZ6cioUUa3IQki0nDzGsTMVOsBLSwsfxXcgKi0vq-rP1-azLLgojyH3YsAMiMh4AyR41cNfyWe_fTb8NMK1fNCYggXN7s0LTTfH_Zug2qHiGAFkpN5hl1K52o/s1600/Photo1078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimPEO8Asy6ikMVPM4HKvDZ6cioUUa3IQki0nDzGsTMVOsBLSwsfxXcgKi0vq-rP1-azLLgojyH3YsAMiMh4AyR41cNfyWe_fTb8NMK1fNCYggXN7s0LTTfH_Zug2qHiGAFkpN5hl1K52o/s1600/Photo1078.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> Can you guess what we need to work on here? If you guessed eye contact and not hiding behind your script, you are right! Always an unending battle!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUG7RqaePqowUkO1U5oH8DLSRgglp0cxLhyAqjysC3FFhk0caL5NUvmHKNIsiI9f9dZ68qk2k6_FnbdEI9nkq_NJ0Qm8eqUQmtCZ-1p-UUcBG7kel2hPhpHitW1Fie3D7jdiu4_244ssk/s1600/Photo1128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUG7RqaePqowUkO1U5oH8DLSRgglp0cxLhyAqjysC3FFhk0caL5NUvmHKNIsiI9f9dZ68qk2k6_FnbdEI9nkq_NJ0Qm8eqUQmtCZ-1p-UUcBG7kel2hPhpHitW1Fie3D7jdiu4_244ssk/s1600/Photo1128.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> Before our first few presentations we would always review what appropriate "audience" behavior looked like and sounded like.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJbqbklcxZAzmbUmGqX_l-VoRGcqA4llgQX18aym7iaIujzmRc5cszYB8KFR4YEWrgQ-D_pCCo2LO9Wd0lzlEIow5oB82IcBdkTuhI_WSlLHGX6nZypFn82JBhSRpxNBGmNRmEHoGgZg/s1600/Photo1310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJJbqbklcxZAzmbUmGqX_l-VoRGcqA4llgQX18aym7iaIujzmRc5cszYB8KFR4YEWrgQ-D_pCCo2LO9Wd0lzlEIow5oB82IcBdkTuhI_WSlLHGX6nZypFn82JBhSRpxNBGmNRmEHoGgZg/s1600/Photo1310.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Eventually if I did not have an image that needed projected. I would just project the stage template found in the images on notebook software.</div>
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I hope this helps to either affirm or inspire YOU to utilize the reading powerhouse of Reader's Theater in YOUR classroom!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQp00XZTPzy0A2Jhe3GTrvucucqWAAmOqzayQ57Jff6naTpZF4Tw2jmStJa7PUqc9dQaZ9IZ5P1FOkWMwoWffoT_zqGaKfcyqBEZU4b-G2KoOQNK2gRuZabJkpD6FRArhUf6UY3pdWkI/s1600/signature+happy+face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfQp00XZTPzy0A2Jhe3GTrvucucqWAAmOqzayQ57Jff6naTpZF4Tw2jmStJa7PUqc9dQaZ9IZ5P1FOkWMwoWffoT_zqGaKfcyqBEZU4b-G2KoOQNK2gRuZabJkpD6FRArhUf6UY3pdWkI/s1600/signature+happy+face.jpg" height="315" width="320" /></a></div>
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-33680102680781201902014-07-02T21:44:00.002-05:002015-08-15T11:04:44.421-05:00Currently it's July, Happy 4th Y'all!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I am jumping back on the band wagon and linking up with Farley at <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Oh Boy, <strike>3rd</strike> 4th Grade!</a> I know, it's been a while!</div>
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<u>LISTENING: </u> I am currently listening to my 3 girlies....NOT fighting! I know, inconceivable right?! Well, for some strange reason I have received a blessing from above and they have been delightful with one another today :) </div>
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<u>LOVING:</u> My Pink Drink! Ever heard of Plexus?! I'm here to tell you that it is an amazing ALL NATURAL drink that will change your life!<br />
Check it out on my website: <a href="http://www.korren.myplexusproducts.com/">http://www.korren.myplexusproducts.com/</a> If you are looking for a way to reclaim your health, your energy, overall feeling of well being, and lose some weight along the way then Plexus is the product for you!</div>
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<u>THINKING: </u> Thinking about how much time I have let slip by without taking the time to keep my blog updated. So, with this currently post I am attempting to jump back on the bandwagon and do a better job at updating regularly. I have so many ideas I want to share. </div>
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<u>WANTING:</u> If I could jump up and down, stomp my feet, and throw an all out tantrum, I would! I am so dying to get my hands on my newest niece! My youngest brother had his very first sweet baby girl on....are you ready for it....Father's Day!! Can you believe it! What a terrific Father's Day present! Unfortunately, I probably won't get to get my hands on her until August! (if I make it that long!) Just look at this sweet face!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDaiSMxe10Lg7Tkr09RzOVQtOgOdu-NrQha85VXAUVBquNkYvyeuJBOgGBlwhudFI4JLtZUjJieYZs_YLnFP23ZSfjU5_D1LWM_VwzUWMwExKVRI5t7hxgKOXEUODCR0VeTcTpp5yOBA/s640/blogger-image-1435223772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDaiSMxe10Lg7Tkr09RzOVQtOgOdu-NrQha85VXAUVBquNkYvyeuJBOgGBlwhudFI4JLtZUjJieYZs_YLnFP23ZSfjU5_D1LWM_VwzUWMwExKVRI5t7hxgKOXEUODCR0VeTcTpp5yOBA/s640/blogger-image-1435223772.jpg" /></a></div>
I have a major case of newborn envy! Almost makes you want to have another....I said ALMOST!! Being an Auntie is the best deal. You get to love on them and then give them back : )<br />
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<u>NEEDING: </u> To mow the lawn AGAIN!! It hasn't even been a week and the grass is so long you can't even tell I just did the lawn. Being on yard duty goes along with the territory of being a single summer parent. Yep, the hubby has a job that calls for a bunch of travel in the summer months. So, Grandma, the girls, and I make do without a man around the house. While the hubby is off building relationships with all those great kiddos on mission trips and summer camp, I get to mow the lawn and keep the household going. I really don't mind, but the tending to the lawn is NOT my favorite.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsU5j9c_ftqf5n4qENRxT4dMZlafZBp37Luptmp1_Eny-hRLLmdmC2X8gM484bzo08wKayqwiToXsBxnTeV_dHA_7pwfZcM79wEjJnLXNVknqUeghPYSBpXwqWbb748jaFu_hpgyMS2WM/s640/blogger-image--1640983408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsU5j9c_ftqf5n4qENRxT4dMZlafZBp37Luptmp1_Eny-hRLLmdmC2X8gM484bzo08wKayqwiToXsBxnTeV_dHA_7pwfZcM79wEjJnLXNVknqUeghPYSBpXwqWbb748jaFu_hpgyMS2WM/s320/blogger-image--1640983408.jpg" width="320" /></a><u>4th PLANS:</u> We got to celebrate WITH the hubby while he was home for 2 days last weekend! Hooray! We sat cozy on our blanket and watched the sky light up in a beautiful display of fireworks!! So, on the actual 4th of July, we have a quiet day planned of hanging out at the pool and a possible bike ride. (mostly because...yep, the hubby will still be at camp.---who plans summer camp on the 4th of July?! Apparently, we do!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEp-XwYQXf9FsLM8t-mmiDiod-TnhuprvEzmiIIcX4ZeGNRl5picgeZTm7_obwMMvTxe1uO14DN1JWNGk7t_v_x6PZ9QbvB41vhHuE0PGeGW-4xJ-wS8L3L7GK1PrRBJFlEIhk8pGiXPg/s640/blogger-image-1118833773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEp-XwYQXf9FsLM8t-mmiDiod-TnhuprvEzmiIIcX4ZeGNRl5picgeZTm7_obwMMvTxe1uO14DN1JWNGk7t_v_x6PZ9QbvB41vhHuE0PGeGW-4xJ-wS8L3L7GK1PrRBJFlEIhk8pGiXPg/s640/blogger-image-1118833773.jpg" /></a>We had so much fun celebrating together! What a blessing family time truly is!!</div>
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That's all that is currently going on in my life! Signing off for now, but reminding you to take some time to...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOli_CNxqwVNQJDaAgVYyqVJ7dD57uvs3Z9H7BVn_hd0o978BkgfmwBKKPlg3jA3nzGiZHBQC9mPRMDXwSpxaOi0-4ESi6T4gpwG_ftqsKOr0hufK24bGYBBHG_3n_NuebSqOkADtTfVM/s1600/signature+happy+face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOli_CNxqwVNQJDaAgVYyqVJ7dD57uvs3Z9H7BVn_hd0o978BkgfmwBKKPlg3jA3nzGiZHBQC9mPRMDXwSpxaOi0-4ESi6T4gpwG_ftqsKOr0hufK24bGYBBHG_3n_NuebSqOkADtTfVM/s1600/signature+happy+face.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-4802481261584113602014-06-28T11:43:00.001-05:002015-08-15T11:16:06.112-05:00Celebrating the Seasons of Life....Priceless!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love photos! A picture truly is worth a thousand+ words! I guess that's why I love to give them as gifts. At the end of the year I like to write a note to my volunteers, helpers, etc. to express my gratitude and give them a little something to commemorate their time with me. I do this with a photo and usually a quote.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWwW1nDVfB1zMB2e_SNIhBy18SIUZoFQU_F2Xy-FOZlfcznWf-ojZ0HMnVzYTs3GSD2XB6rUVMNqn6vA8kYJVbzkfm50co4KlOg1mw1pO9X7tLZunaqNwAsa1CxmfMbqX940CP9bY7Xs/s1600/playday+eoy+class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWwW1nDVfB1zMB2e_SNIhBy18SIUZoFQU_F2Xy-FOZlfcznWf-ojZ0HMnVzYTs3GSD2XB6rUVMNqn6vA8kYJVbzkfm50co4KlOg1mw1pO9X7tLZunaqNwAsa1CxmfMbqX940CP9bY7Xs/s320/playday+eoy+class.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I take the photo from the back so that I don't have to worry about permissions and privacy, etc. The quote I chose this time is by Angela Schwindt: "While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about. "<br />
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I have used these photos by using glue dots to stick on the inside of a retro looking glass jar. (easy enough!) I have also used these photos to print cards to use throughout the year when a special thank you or note of recognition was called for. <br />
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<a href="http://s7d3.scene7.com/is/image/AveryDennison/72782-04383-p09t?$s7product$&wid=193&hei=248" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://s7d3.scene7.com/is/image/AveryDennison/72782-04383-p09t?$s7product$&wid=193&hei=248" /></a></div>
I have also discovered printing on those <a href="http://www.avery.com/avery/en_us/Products/Crafts-&-Scrapbooking/Sticker-Project-Paper/_/coat-type-matte-coated-clear/?Ns=Rank|0||Product%20Number|1&N=4294967231+4294963548" target="_blank">Avery clear stickers</a>! Awesome! You can stick these on to anything. I have used those glass blocks from <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Concrete-Cement-Masonry-Glass-Blocks-Accessories-Glass-Blocks/N-5yc1vZasj8/Ntk-Extended/Ntt-glass+block?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5" target="_blank">Home Depot</a> or <a href="http://www.lowes.com/Search=glass+block?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=glass+block#!" target="_blank">Lowes</a> and yes of course my favorite, glass jars. I like to buy mine at <a href="http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/37-ounce-glass-jar-with-brushed-metal-lid-853820/" target="_blank">Hobby Lobby</a> when they are half off!!<br />
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Recently, we had a flood of graduations to attend. I quickly applied this same concept with a group photo of all the seniors at an end of the year celebration. The great thing about this is, that while it costs little, the meaning is big! Like I said, a great photo can be priceless.<br />
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On a side note, I have recently entered another season in my own life where I am reclaiming my health! Fighting exhaustion and stress, among all the other things life seems to throw down along the way I have decided to give Plexus a try. So many testimonials from friends that have had dramatic, life changing results. If you'd like to know more about this ALL Natural Health and Wellness company, check out my website: <a href="http://www.korren.myplexusproducts.com/">http://www.korren.myplexusproducts.com/</a><br />
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Signing off for now and reminding you to take some time today to...<br />
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-66791660931684255612014-05-27T13:37:00.001-05:002014-05-27T13:37:36.917-05:00Don't forget Father's Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I did this creation for Mother's Day, but did not get it posted in time....so, I thought it might be easily adapted for Father's Day. Often schools forget about the dads and they get the short end of the stick. As you think about wrapping up your year, think about wrapping a little something for the dads before you are through.</div>
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You will need the lids from as many coffee creamers as you have students.</div>
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I love a little coffee with my cream, so these lids are not hard to come by for me. However, I am certain that they would not be all that hard to come by if you put the word out that you were in need.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SobE1w2epKw/U4TNBx5IrOI/AAAAAAAAGSw/QydUkRBTxno/s1600/IMG_2215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SobE1w2epKw/U4TNBx5IrOI/AAAAAAAAGSw/QydUkRBTxno/s1600/IMG_2215.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTSdyAXhutXeHuhBmrjQE5swdwAKh8yk9Wt_6QdxMTPL_hvaSH3d9BvO-Q_hfUT1oJnVak5yB_pIRwEefpuR5JcU_txF1lZ38YV3oHjc0oFbenOBZLP9yWOBpxe0AisXxjtEWct325Zo/s1600/coffee+frames+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTSdyAXhutXeHuhBmrjQE5swdwAKh8yk9Wt_6QdxMTPL_hvaSH3d9BvO-Q_hfUT1oJnVak5yB_pIRwEefpuR5JcU_txF1lZ38YV3oHjc0oFbenOBZLP9yWOBpxe0AisXxjtEWct325Zo/s1600/coffee+frames+2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Wash lids and open so that they stand up like little picture frames.</div>
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I printed pictures on my computer using a circle mask (a template that keeps the size uniform). I measured my lids to be about 2.5 inches in diameter. I cut these circles out, used masking tape to secure and viola! Cute frames ready to decorate.</div>
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I then gave the kiddos some sequins and craft glue and they glued about 6-7 "jewels" around their frame.</div>
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Then because we were in need of wrapping paper, I had the kiddos decorate white lunch sacks. We placed their frames into the bags complete with a homemade card (the best kind!) and called it done!</div>
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I don't know a dad out there who doesn't love a homemade gift from their kiddo!! </div>
<br />korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-87296492424424637512014-04-28T16:03:00.001-05:002014-04-28T16:03:09.491-05:00A Hop, Skip, and a HOLY MOLY! Where Has the Time Gone!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I have had a bit of difficulty maintaining my weekly posting goal as of late. I am adjusting to a few changes around the house...AND we hit birthday season where all but 2 of our 6 family members celebrate withing a period of 5 weeks!! It's a bit nutty in and of itself, but let's go ahead and throw Easter on top of it and that's a whirlwind of activity that has led me to put my blogging to the side for a bit. I must admit, mama's T-I-R-E-D! But enough whining! On with the important stuff :) <br />
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We have been busy having fun in our little classroom preparing for Easter. We began by sequencing the story from Palm Sunday to Easter through pictures. (We are a Christian Preschool, so we are allowed to actually teach our kiddos about God!) I combined this sequencing activity with a review of our ordinal numbers and general number writing.<br />
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We also took some time to decorate our hallway making beautiful cross "stained glass" windows! The kiddos had a lot of fun doing this quick and easy activity. It turns out that tissue paper is a great exercise of those fine motor muscles!!<br />
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We die cut crosses into a folded 8.5X11 regular piece of construction paper. We folded it in half (like a hamburger). </div>
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Then we cut 2 rectangles of contact paper per student. This just has to be large enough to cover the cross cut out. </div>
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We pre cut squares of multi colored tissue paper so that they were ready to go for the kiddos!! We taped the contact paper down so that the sticky side was up and let the kids cover the sticky side with a beautiful layer of colored tissue paper! After the first piece of contact paper was covered (at least where the cross would show--a few spaces doesn't hurt anything!), we took the 2nd piece and sealed the tissue paper in. Then the kids glued their piece of "glass" on the inside of the folded cross die cut. They turned out beautiful! But, before we hung them up, I could not pass up the opportunity for a teachable science moment! We used a flash light to talk about solid vs. translucent materials. I of course had to relate it back to our previous discussion and exploration of shadows. We discussed how the black paper was a solid and the tissue paper would be transluscent--or allows the light to pass through. They had fun making their crosses glow :) We "discovered" how the glow changed depending on the light that we chose to shine behind it. We observed how the colors changed with the different lights as well. We LOVE science!!</div>
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Moving on, we did some more very "eggscellent" science! What better way to keep with the theme of Easter than to study the ever prominent symbol, the egg. We did some "eggsperiments" with our eggs and learned a lot.</div>
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We conducted this super simple "eggsperiment" over 2 days. You take a raw egg and place in vinegar. We used an air tight jar so that we did not have to smell our "eggsperiment". By the end of the 1st day the egg had already grown in size and begun to float. I have done this experiment for years and have always let it sit in the vinegar until the shell is completely gone! It's very cool to watch the vinegar eat away all the calcium carbonate out of the shell. However, this year, when brushing up on the science behind the coolness, I found that I could let the shell get soft for a day or two and then let the egg sit out and the shell would pull the calcium carbonate from the liquid in the egg to reform the shell! Well, I was super excited to try this...but we got a little rough when feeling the softened shell and had scrambled egg before I could get a chance to do this. Note to self: next year, 2 eggs in the vinegar!</div>
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Afterwards, we had a little more fun with our egg themed week. We did some creative writing. If you could have anything come out of your Easter egg, what would it be?</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JexmvR52qUU/U168MXom_9I/AAAAAAAAF_g/_om40lB0mzI/s1600/dog+in+the+egg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JexmvR52qUU/U168MXom_9I/AAAAAAAAF_g/_om40lB0mzI/s1600/dog+in+the+egg.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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"Inside my egg I have a dog!" (but mommy would not be happy)</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bSb9-I4LbIE/U168TkiRGrI/AAAAAAAAF_o/6vOz8VmBG2Q/s1600/ironmanegg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bSb9-I4LbIE/U168TkiRGrI/AAAAAAAAF_o/6vOz8VmBG2Q/s1600/ironmanegg.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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"Inside my egg I have Ironman Patriot!" (gotta love this kid! Everything this year has all led back to Ironman!!)</div>
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"Inside my egg I have an octopus eating a snickers!" (yep, this one's ready for kinder!!)</div>
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I LOVE these kids! They make me smile each and every day! How blessed I am to be a part of their early formative years. </div>
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And that was the "eggsciting" <a href="http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/">News, Views & Stews</a> of my week!</div>
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-6004004158838572862014-04-11T17:41:00.001-05:002014-04-11T22:51:06.324-05:00Five for Friday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #4e2800; font-family: 'Cherry Cream Soda'; font-size: 24px; line-height: 33.599998474121094px;">Linking back up with </span><a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #b5653b; font-family: 'Cherry Cream Soda'; font-size: 24px; line-height: 33.599998474121094px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Doodle Bugs Teaching </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #4e2800; font-family: 'Cherry Cream Soda'; font-size: 24px; line-height: 33.599998474121094px;"> for Five 4 Friday! Happy Friday Everyone!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 33.599998474121094px;">First things first! We finally got to finish celebrating my sweet Hubby's birthday with the rescheduled hockey match between the Dallas Stars and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. This was so much fun and very much unexpected. I figured when they rescheduled the event for a Wednesday it was going to be out of the question (see I'm married to the church via my husband and we lead bible studies on Wednesday night!). However, we found wonderful substitues and decided to continue in our celebration of the wonderful man God has blessed my life with and go and enjoy a night out! It was fun and best of all our home team won, Go Jackets! (we are originally from C-bus).</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 33.599998474121094px;">Zero the Hero made his appearance again this week!! On the 10th of April (because we had school and the date contained a zero). I have modified the way I do Zero the Hero due to circumstances. I now teach a 3 day a week program and so counting every 10 days would take WAY too long to get to 100. So I just celebrate with a little treat every time we are actually in school on a date that contains zero and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgb(78, 40, 0); font-family: 'Cherry Cream Soda'; line-height: 33.599998474121094px;">journal about what "zero" left for us. It has been a great way to keep the kiddos paying attention to numbers in general. This time around we had die cut 1's and a mini donut left on our snack mats. The kiddos had discussion (facilitated of course by me) about why Zero left the things he did. They have caught on pretty quickly that Zero really likes round things because he is round. They eventually figured out that they could make the number 10 with the objects he left them! Fun for the kiddos and great for their budding brains!!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 33.599998474121094px;">We were studying birds this week and what is bird week without a cute art project? Now, I can't take credit for this one, but my teaching neighbor Ms. Kim did the most adorable extension after reading the book <a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175/shelf" target="_blank">Owl Babies by Martin Waddel</a>. For a closer look, check out my shelf on <a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175/shelf" target="_blank">shelfari</a>. I did read the book with my class and we did a venn diagram after having a discussion on nocturnal animals. We decided to compare bats and owls (since we had previously studied bats during the Halloween season). They did a great job, but thought the name of the chart "venn diagram" was a really funny word:) Kids at this age are so sweet!! My sweet neighbor managed to squeeze in an art project that used cotton balls to create the 3 owl babies!! Absolutely adorable!! I will need to remember this for next year. This is a pic that I found on pinterest, but my neighbor used just 1 cotton ball per owl and googlie eyes instead of construction paper. Still super cute!! I'll have to remember to take some pics of hers and post.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;">Instead of a craft, we did a journal entry. I had a whole bunch of pictures of different types of birds that I gave to the kiddos to pick one that they liked. Earlier in the week we had talked about how we might draw a bird on our own using simple shapes, like circles, ovals, triangles, etc. So the kiddos took the pictures (which conveniently had the name of each bird on it) and drew </span><span style="color: rgb(78, 40, 0); font-family: 'Cherry Cream Soda';">their version and wrote the name. This is the first time I have ever given them actual lines. I know that the opinions vary about when to start using lines for writing, but I just wanted to see what they would do. It was interesting actually. Some didn't use them at all, while others drew their own lines to use.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;">As a part of our bird week, we of course had to paint with feathers!! I normally offer kiddos the choice of table or easel, but this time, I asked them to use the easel. I only had one kiddo who really did NOT want to use the easel. It was surprising how much the kiddos who don't usually prefer the easel, LOVED it. I always tell them how important it is to try new things!! We had a lot of fun painting with a variety of feathers and "feather-like" objects. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;">Don't even get me started on the importance of paint in a child's early development!! Some of the important ones can be reviewed below for those moments when your adult brain and fear of mess tries to convince you otherwise.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;"><em>“Given an easel, paper, and paint, and no directions, every child will paint!” </em>(Katherine H. Read 1967)</span></h3>
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<strong>Paint and Physical Development</strong><br>
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<li>Painting provides numerous opportunities for advancing physical abilities including fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and visual perception (Danko-Mckee & Slutsky 2003). In addition, teachers regularly observe children developing gross motor skills, sensory integration, grip strength and balance when working at the easels.</li>
<li>Research has documented that the act of painting promotes lateralization of the left and right brain hemispheres (Feldman 2003), improving the brain’s ability to integrate functions such as creative thinking with planning and execution.</li>
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<strong>Paint and Emotional Development</strong><br>
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<li>The process of painting can be a soothing sensory experience for young children. At Bing, it often aids in separation from caregivers and can be used as a tool to process emotional experiences.</li>
<li>The medium of paint has the ability to transform feelings and ideas into visual form, offering children a means of communication other than verbalization.</li>
<li>Engaging with and conversing about paintings (both those created by children and professional artists) promotes an awareness of and an appreciation for the aesthetic qualities in art and in life.</li>
<li>The act of painting supports the development of self-efficacy, self-restraint and self-correction (Feldman 2003).</li>
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<strong>Paint and Social Development</strong><br>
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<li>Painting supports the development of a self-concept (Feldman 2003).</li>
<li>It provides an opportunity to observe peers in their process and connect through a shared interest.</li>
<li>Group painting invites planning, turn taking and collaboration.</li>
<li>Painting also supports group project work as a method of documentation and sharing children’s ideas.</li>
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<strong>Paint and Cognitive Development</strong><br>
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<li>Painting involves a number of cognitive tasks for children, such as “experimentation, exploration of cause-and-effect relationships, critical thinking skills, and visual discrimination” (Danko-McGee & Slutsky 2003).</li>
<li>While painting, children encounter opportunities to learn about colors, shapes, sizes, textures, categorization and numeracy.</li>
<li>Painting inspires planning, problem solving and symbolic thinking, as well as discussions involving a child’s own observations and evaluations.</li>
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<strong>Paint and Language Development</strong><br>
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<li>Painting can encourage children’s discussion of art terminology, qualities of the paint, order, direction, location and spatial relationships.</li>
<li>Children often incorporate story elements into their work or provide a narrative of their thoughts and theories while they work.</li>
<li>Research with young children suggests that children who are encouraged to draw and paint at an early age will later learn to compose stories more easily, more effectively and with greater confidence than children who do not receive this encouragement (Applebee 1988; Clay 1995).</li>
<li>Finally, painting also provides the opportunity to explore visual patterns, imagery and literacy concepts that precede formal writing (Olshansky 1995).</li>
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<span style="color: #4e2800; font-family: Cherry Cream Soda;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 33.599998474121094px;">Just wanted to share a few important reminders as to why getting a little messy every day is important! Hoping you have a terrific Friday!! That's the </span></span><a href="http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/">News, Views & Stews</a> of my week. How was yours?</div>
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Linking up with Molly at <a href="http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/" target="_blank">Lucky to be in First</a> and Deirdre at <a href="http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Burst of First</a> for Sunday Funday, where we fight the Sunday Blues by sharing some of the fun we had over the weekend! ( and catching up from Friday as well by Linking back up with <a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Doodle Bugs Teaching </a> for Five 4 Friday!)</div>
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Wow! Is time flying by or what?! I can't believe another Friday got by me without a post (slippin' on my commitment to blog weekly! shame! shame!) But, I will try to redeem myself by giving you an update of all the fun that I have been having around here.<br />
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First, the count down is ON! Open House is THIS week and the kiddos and teachers alike are <u>SO</u> ready! Check out the cute hallway that our awesome aid put together! (love her!!)<br />
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For those of you who have been following, these are the little astronauts that we made with the kiddos sweet little faces on them! So cute!</div>
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We had the opportunity to make our own planets this week. We took the extra large coffee filters and used washable markers to decorate however they wanted. I put wax paper sheets under each to contain the ink. Then we used spray bottles to spray with water. The kiddos were directed to tilt their planets in various directions to create the desired effect of marker ink on their planet. </div>
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After creating our planets, of course we had to name them! Creative juices were flowing and we had planets of all kinds from "Planet Coconut" to "Planet Ironman". After naming them we made maps utilizing our letter of the week "X" for "x marks the spot". We practiced our oral language skills, space vocabulary and positional words by describing their space maps to partners during circle chat. It was a fun and meaningful activity that got the kiddos talking up a storm and using their imaginations!</div>
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Then we took some time to read a fun story with lots of rhyme, rhythym, and hilarity! The kiddos enjoyed doing some cloze activities during the reading by filling in the rhyming word. They are getting much better at this as the year progresses!! After reading <a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175/shelf" target="_blank">Don't Take Your Snake for a Stroll</a>, we created snakes of our own design. We talked briefly about snakes and why they might be different colors, etc. But this was more of a fun activity. Then we took our snakes on a "stroll" to look once again for the signs of Spring. This ties back into our study of seasons and the revisiting this concept as our climate begins to once again change according to season. As I walked with my kiddos I continued to question what signs their "snake" was observing. They got a kick out of this and were readily responding with the observations of their snake. While this adds an element of fun and silliness to the activity of a nature walk, it also adds a degree of safety to voice any and all observations. When your snake makes an observation that isn't quite what we were looking for, it's ok....That silly snake got mixed up! I was so impressed with the things that my kiddos took notice of. Of course the obvious things like flowers and green leaves were noted, but we also noticed different birds were back, the wind had picked up, and bees were returning! What terrific observations! I believe that encouraging our kiddos to be more observant about their environment fosters learning and curiosity.<br />
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That's the fun we had last week along with daily rehearsals for our singing performance for Open House this week!! My weekend was just as full with a double Birthday celebration for my oldest, who is now double digits (does NOT seem possible!) and my youngest who is turning 5!!! We had a delightful afternoon of creating masterpieces and fellowship with friends at the <a href="http://www.arthousetx.com/" target="_blank">Art House of Mckinney</a>. <br />
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We enjoyed cake...2 different kinds for 2 very different gals. Now my 10 year old wanted a cookie cake that she decorated ALL on Her OWN!! (you go girl!) And my 5 year old wanted the enfamous Elsa from Frozen. NO Laughing please!! I gave it my best shot :)<br />
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What a great week with an even better weekend!! And that's the </div>
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<a href="http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/">News, Views & Stews</a> of my week! I hope your's was fabulous as well!!</div>
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Linking up with Molly at <a href="http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/" target="_blank">Lucky to be in First</a> and Deirdre at <a href="http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Burst of First</a> for Sunday Funday, where we fight the Sunday Blues by sharing some of the fun we had over the weekend!</div>
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My Sunday has been pretty relaxing.</div>
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So I took a bit of a break from blogging last week and skipped my Five for Friday posting....but since it was Spring Break, I thought that I should give myself a bit of a break! How the week flew by and I am so sad to have to say goodbye!! I would say that I spent the week relaxing and having fun, but that would not be entirely true. Last week my dear mother in "love" (law is SO not the case in this situation!) hurt her hip and has needed a little TLC to get back on her feet, so to speak. Luckily for us and her, we had plenty of time to give her and get her nursed back to at least walking (slow as it may be....but still! We are walking!) on her own. <br />
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Aging is a difficult thing. I am learning that it never gets any easier to ask for help. Sometimes in life, you must be carried through by those who love you...in the figurative sense and yes, sometimes in the literal sense as well. We made sure to have some fun though too! It was just a very different week than I had envisioned but, I wouldn't change it for the world! How blessed we are to have Grandma in our lives!!<br />
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My daughters spent their beautiful Saturday creating stories.<br />
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Manipulating the character's hair, eye, and skin color. Placing them into the scenes they wanted for their storyline. Adding text in either text boxes or a variety of speech bubbles. ( remember, this is all on the first real day if spring break!!)<br />
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And, the kicker is I had even turned on a movie (planes) just to see if I could pull them away!! Talk about a teacher's dream come true!! I actually had to kick them off and tell them that they had worked long enough for today and promise them they could work on it tomorrow. This has gone on for more than 3 days now!! So.... </div>
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I'm thinking, no!! I'm wishing that I had a classroom to try it out in!! The motivation is obvious. The teacher aspects are even better. First of all, the program is EASY to use!! If my 4 year old can do it with little help then any grade school child or partner pair would be able to navigate through(obviously she can't type her story yet). Hmmm I wonder if you can record?? </div>
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I absolutely LOVE the teacher dashboard! Logged in as a teacher, you are able to see the storyboards of all your students at a glance. In a moment you'll be able to tell whether Suzy Q. is really hard at work on her story, or hard at work creating an imaculate picture. </div>
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You are also able to present student's storyboards from your dashboard. I would utilize this mode for group editing mini lessons. Simply select the desired student's storyboard from the teacher dashboard page and open. Then located at the bottom of the storyboard are buttons with options, such as "make visible to classroom".</div>
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If you are needing an actual product or would like to share with others the work of your students you are able to print and download a powerpoint of the storyboard.</div>
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Another fun feature I have discovered while playing with this program is the ability to create a storyboard and save it as a template for your students to use. I can see this being extremely beneficial for younger classes or faster paced assignments. I could even see using it as an evaluation of recently taught grammar lessons or writing techniques. The possibilities are endless!</div>
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Well, even though it's late....I believe it's a good one! I hope you have enjoyed this Tuesday's Tech Tip! </div>
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-89257386719479003452014-03-16T16:36:00.000-05:002014-03-16T16:38:08.923-05:00Sunday Funday; Happy Early St. Paddy's Day!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Linking up with Molly at <a href="http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/" target="_blank">Lucky to be in First</a> and Deirdre at <a href="http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Burst of First</a> for Sunday Funday, where we fight the Sunday Blues by sharing some of the fun we had over the weekend!</div>
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My Sunday has been so very relaxing! Church this morning and lounging by the fire with good books</div>
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My daughter's pick</div>
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My Pick</div>
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My middle daughter's Pick (she was reading to my youngest!) </div>
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and good company this afternoon! We're such book lovers!! What is better on a cold and rainy day. But wait, Hmmm, what's missing?? Lesson Plans!!! Happy Spring Break to me! Yep, that's right, as envious as I was last week of all those lucky peeps last week who did not have to go to school, now I get to sit back and relax for the week!! Good things come to those who wait, right!? After the crazy playoff week for my girl's basketball team...to which they made the final playoff game! we needed a breather because they were TIRED. And when they get tired, they get whiny and CRANKY and that makes for an even crankier mommy! So proud of how hard they worked in each of their games! One of my girlies even made her very first basket! It was a great ending for a great season! And that's my Funday! Hoping you enjoyed yours! Until next time, I'm reminding you to...</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Linking back up with </span><a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Doodle Bugs Teaching </a><span style="text-align: center;"> for Five 4 Friday!</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFD2ible82O-OpUGO3v7fmlSimXSaBnTZ5WwUlPXBzOeQFkmNgXZBAjEQz4bQPJwR1wGPmtxmq4ibuPLDrOziIAuC15trTA44ownFijIKkWawOX74J9-fxCBCbsr3zQpD8daObTCAS2Y/s1600/eric+at+stars+game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFD2ible82O-OpUGO3v7fmlSimXSaBnTZ5WwUlPXBzOeQFkmNgXZBAjEQz4bQPJwR1wGPmtxmq4ibuPLDrOziIAuC15trTA44ownFijIKkWawOX74J9-fxCBCbsr3zQpD8daObTCAS2Y/s1600/eric+at+stars+game.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>1. Well the day had finally arrived to go out and celebrate my hubby's birthday. He's not a big "deal" kind of person, so this is definitely a rarity in our household. We had tickets to the Dallas Stars team against our home team The Blue Jackets (from Columbus, OH). We got a sitter for our 3 angels and<br />
went out to dinner on a Monday night....also a treat AND with adult company! We had a delightful dinner and headed to the game where we settled in with our Nutty Bavarian treats to enjoy the game. Now I have to emphasize the fact that getting my husband to agree to doing something for him is not an easy task, nor is finding the time in all our schedules. So, the fact that this had all come together so beautifully was a miracle of sorts...until.... 6 minutes and 23 seconds into the game a player on the Stars team collapsed! Scary!! Long story short, the game was postponed and we were home before 10. Oh well! We still got to have dinner out!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9at2LTqp73AMXm_ocilOuXIvVMgFC_9VUVkx19Kw5HoI-I3-vn1sUQQL-CBH-ZHq2P42vmGtxRqPWzla_jHlx6GVkIYbmoNZUU5tqHx8vTxM0FiAEOpayPqoAtUsojZ-t86uCWDt_y4A/s1600/kirby+rocket+background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9at2LTqp73AMXm_ocilOuXIvVMgFC_9VUVkx19Kw5HoI-I3-vn1sUQQL-CBH-ZHq2P42vmGtxRqPWzla_jHlx6GVkIYbmoNZUU5tqHx8vTxM0FiAEOpayPqoAtUsojZ-t86uCWDt_y4A/s1600/kirby+rocket+background.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>We created a background for our Name Rockets by stamping stars onto a black piece of construction paper. It created a nice effect and will look great on our walls for open house!!<br />
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3.We created our astronauts for our hallway wall display for...you guessed it, open house! We decided that simple and cute was the way to go!<br />
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Obviously, the head is actually an adorable picture of each kiddo in an astronaut helmet! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my mac and the ability it gives me to manipulate images!!</div>
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We have read some really great books, but my kiddos really, REALLY loved this one! <a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175/shelf" target="_blank">Aliens Love Underpants!</a> Find it on my shelf in the sidebar. After reading we had fun creating our own underpants to hang on a clothesline in our room. My boys and girls alike got a real kick out of this entire experience. I love bringing a book to life! I'm thinking about printing a fun looking alien to hide in the underpants to see if the kiddos notice. Then we can discuss where it is using our location words such as on, under, between, above, etc. Simple. Fun. Effective!</div>
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5. As spring is beginning to bloom I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather we have been having. To learn more about seasons and using our observation skills we used our handy dandy yoplait binoculars to go on a "signs of spring" hunt. We were able to create a list of observations that we noticed of how things were changing, from the daffodils beginning to peak through and the wind picking up, to the sounds of new birds we can hear! It was such a great activity and required very little prep! My favorite observations were the beauty of the trees during this time.</div>
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And that was the <a href="http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/">News, Views & Stews</a> of my fun-filled week. Thanks for reading!</div>
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Type your comments and add your name as usual. On the next line you want to type <a href="URL of target site">anchor text</a><br />
The word "anchor text" is a description (the title of a blog, post, anything you want it to say) and is what will be displayed on a browser. For example, the HTML for the hyperlink to my blog should be typed as:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="</span><a href="http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">">News, Views & Stews</a></span><br />
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Try it out in the comments below!! I'd love to visit your blogs!! Happy Linking!!<br />
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<script>linkwithin_text='You Might Enjoy:'</script>korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-21102419055112947082014-03-09T21:42:00.000-05:002014-03-09T21:42:30.979-05:00Funday Sunday; March 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Linking up with Molly at <a href="http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/" target="_blank">Lucky to be in First</a> and Deirdre at <a href="http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Burst of First</a> for Sunday Funday, where we fight the Sunday Blues by sharing some of the fun we had over the weekend!</div>
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<img border="0" src="http://myturnstone.com/files/kapost/happy-birthday-cupcakes.jpg" height="184" width="320" />Today is my dear friend's birthday and I had my ladies sing to him in a video!! It made him smile and made my day! Happy Birthday friend! Hope it was terrific.<br />
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My weekend went by in the blink of an eye and was spent on the basketball court. We had our final regular season game and it was super exciting!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6yZrGl8BeKiMLkRIDoTEMpHIeJiHALmpuiCynqdiK6oQwcugtNE0ozYMFKIgEm1lY2IFtuMlMHTRKamg0Z8soLTjD4s87oWEAYI4aVbxHPmJ02rbkVeiK08f9aYH0ebKcD0IjLsSGeg/s640/blogger-image--1264703772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6yZrGl8BeKiMLkRIDoTEMpHIeJiHALmpuiCynqdiK6oQwcugtNE0ozYMFKIgEm1lY2IFtuMlMHTRKamg0Z8soLTjD4s87oWEAYI4aVbxHPmJ02rbkVeiK08f9aYH0ebKcD0IjLsSGeg/s640/blogger-image--1264703772.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here are my cuties!! Check out there numbers that they happened to get! In age order the youngest and the oldest make the middle number:)</div>
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I also had the priviledge of listening to my middle girlie play in her percussion group at church this morning. How I love seeing my girls involved in church.</div>
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And that was my Funday Sunday! Wishing you all a Sunday that was just as fun!</div>
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</div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Listening: </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, it's that song that everyone loves right now from the ever popular Frozen and my ladies just adore singing to the youtube video sing-a-long version!!</div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/L0MK7qz13bU" width="560"></iframe><br />
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It continues to make me smile and chuckle watching them and their little faces and body language as they reinact this song even for the like 1000th time!!<br />
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<h3>Loving: </h3>We adopted a new fur baby about a month ago now in an attempt to help our older pup, Buckeye adjust to the move. He's 11 and his new sister, Bonnie is about 1.5. I am loving watching the 2 of them bond with one another and seeing his youthful side again! It's been the best thing we could have done for him!<br />
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<h3>Thinking:</h3><br />
Well we finally got our tax return filed and now I am dreaming at the possibilities! I'm thinking bathroom upgrades but who knows!! I get so excited at the mere mention of home projects. Home is definitely where the heart is, but it's best if you have a happy heart! My heart loves to redecorate, remodel, or even just rearrange!!<br />
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<h3>Wanting:</h3>Spring can not come soon enough! I am growing weary of having cold toes, and fingers. I'm tired of coats, gloves, scarves, and closed toed shoes! Bring on the flip flops and sunshine! This roller coaster of 70 degrees followed by freezing ice can stop anytime as well!<br />
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<h3>Needing:</h3><br />
As always, there is too much to do in any one day! I thought that this problem would go away when I dropped to working part-time, but somehow it has not! I thought that I would have dinner planned and my house would be clean....but somehow this is not the case I find myself in...How does this happen?? So, I find myself staying up late to get a few more things checked off of my "to-do" list and not getting my much needed "beauty" rest. That SHOULD be my Lenten challenge! Getting enough sleep would definitely mean sacrificing something. Hmmm....<br />
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<h3>???</h3>So I had a hard time coming up with something creative for this one. 7 is not my lucky number! I have come to believe that I have somewhat of a curse upon me when it comes to attracting terrible, uninsured drivers to me on the road. I think that I am testing probability at this point. I have been in 7 car wrecks, 2 of which were major resulting in hospital visits! What are the odds?! (disclaimer...I have not been at fault for any of these, so no, it is NOT my driving). I guess I'm just a sort of magnet. Guess that's why carpooling has been such a challenge for me (heehee).<br />
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Well that's the <a href="http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/">News, Views & Stews</a> of March for me! Thanks for reading :)<br />
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-83560606302391960062014-03-06T23:09:00.000-06:002014-03-07T07:30:46.203-06:00Five 4 Friday; March 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Linking back up with <a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Doodle Bugs Teaching </a> for their Five 4 Friday!<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKo6oF6sjpw/UthWEHkfkrI/AAAAAAAAWDM/1I15bnbggw0/s1600/fiveforfriday2_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKo6oF6sjpw/UthWEHkfkrI/AAAAAAAAWDM/1I15bnbggw0/s1600/fiveforfriday2_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Let the Space Unit begin!! This week we have started to create some of our many space related projects that will line our hallways and adorn our classrooms for the ever important open house that is just around the corner.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOic55rgC0YBwQjHcrxCNEvS34AJqMhSmJdE6f0UOoaOfeBNIE_J3SjkToD-xrEo4p8HT-rWVywOcust5ZpSSvKpVnR9-A6mOZyKH_W2bJhOX8QhyphenhyphenZGQuv9xJso5wyTFWUeD6DzDca_5A/s1600/circle+painting+framed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOic55rgC0YBwQjHcrxCNEvS34AJqMhSmJdE6f0UOoaOfeBNIE_J3SjkToD-xrEo4p8HT-rWVywOcust5ZpSSvKpVnR9-A6mOZyKH_W2bJhOX8QhyphenhyphenZGQuv9xJso5wyTFWUeD6DzDca_5A/s1600/circle+painting+framed.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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1. Circle Painting</div>
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to create a fun background for our robot project and add in some free art experience, we created a collage of painted circles. The kiddos were given various circles to choose from with white and yellow paint on black paper. The effect turned out great and the kids had a blast making them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2gLAZ-KZ4THGH3Iw0j3vORLzbMw-QBuznWyX_xmrAdDd9s_vwHsiDZclqkDyQPn0HdyM-T9QH-wnovm95-3DeG7nCnJrh8vUdtM-ESUOcaImVpmAMilYbQMdDYNYLHWRjkS2Aw67l08/s1600/circle+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2gLAZ-KZ4THGH3Iw0j3vORLzbMw-QBuznWyX_xmrAdDd9s_vwHsiDZclqkDyQPn0HdyM-T9QH-wnovm95-3DeG7nCnJrh8vUdtM-ESUOcaImVpmAMilYbQMdDYNYLHWRjkS2Aw67l08/s1600/circle+collage.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Science journals: You guessed it! Space! As we discover the elements of space through read aloud and discussions the excitement and interest continues to grow. Taking full advantage of the interest level, I asked them to journal about space by drawing what they knew. We had discussion about what things would look like in space, what things they would see, etc. Here are a few of their entries.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYbBAsEUqzJd2OJrvbiOL9otdXZJq12DtE77yaWJ_2H650zuDVbhVReHBGkNhPxqKCRUvVv9hmacCobnP0fJ-YuBf_t0j0T9fS6GRm-ktvtAzBHr74-ptgC4nkK4u5iNTTBjE4tkNoq4/s1600/space+journals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYbBAsEUqzJd2OJrvbiOL9otdXZJq12DtE77yaWJ_2H650zuDVbhVReHBGkNhPxqKCRUvVv9hmacCobnP0fJ-YuBf_t0j0T9fS6GRm-ktvtAzBHr74-ptgC4nkK4u5iNTTBjE4tkNoq4/s1600/space+journals.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a><br />
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3. Robots: What's a space theme without robots?! We decided to use geometric shapes to let the kiddos create robots. We used their circle paintings as a background. The contrast really sets off their robots and makes for a nice looking piece of art.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzuKquNNiIek5kUs7wYVvgGcStMN2uVdFUupABJ-0-sMXPwkGrrlUFLUycbRRbTCvom5nMcpkVOP_SGrmAW41WV65lp6GDEplRmSS_MbBLcP0VcPZvHgv5Gm8tXYe9Q-KPH68nxpCPeI/s1600/robots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSzuKquNNiIek5kUs7wYVvgGcStMN2uVdFUupABJ-0-sMXPwkGrrlUFLUycbRRbTCvom5nMcpkVOP_SGrmAW41WV65lp6GDEplRmSS_MbBLcP0VcPZvHgv5Gm8tXYe9Q-KPH68nxpCPeI/s1600/robots.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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4. Liebstar what?! Me?! I am so excited to announce that I have been nominated for the Liebstar award! Yippee! I'm working on my post to formally accept, but wanted to share! Thanks for believing in me!</div>
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<a href="http://caity.nu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/LiebsterAward.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://caity.nu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/LiebsterAward.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mommy Time: Today I get to volunteer today at a pizza shop to help my kiddo celebrate and prepare for the upcoming STAAR writing assessment. The school has set up a "cafe" experience where the kids get to place their orders and my job is to play the "Amelia Bedilia" type waitress. It is an exercise that gets them to use descriptive and specific wording to express their thoughts. It's genius really! I am excited to be a part of this memorable learning experience for my baby girl!</div>
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And that's the <a href="http://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/">News, Views & Stews</a> of my week! TGIF!</div>
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<a href="http://eventbrite-s3.s3.amazonaws.com/eventlogos/2594547/worldreadaloudday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://eventbrite-s3.s3.amazonaws.com/eventlogos/2594547/worldreadaloudday.jpg" height="320" width="253" /></a></div>
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WRAD</h2>
We are so excited for World Read Aloud Day! (WRAD) Truthfully we are combining celebrations of Dr. Seuss and World Read Aloud Day. We have decided to share our love of reading with our class by having a couple guest readers come in and share their favorite Dr. Seuss books and utilize technology by listening to someone famous read a book. I found this really fun site run by the Screen Actors Guild called <a href="http://www.storylineonline.net/a-to-z-book-directory/?sort=titleb" target="_blank">Story Online</a>. Each book is paired with an activity guide and the videos are high quality. Check out a couple below. I hope you take the time to celebrate World Read Aloud Day and change the world by instilling a love of reading in our future!<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/EldIXkzI0dY" target="_blank">When Pigasso Met Mootisse</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBpk9B9nuYM" target="_blank">Romeow & Drooliet</a><br />
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A few of my all time favorite Dr. Seuss books are:<br />
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<img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/The_Lorax.jpg" height="320" width="234" /><a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175/shelf" target="_blank">See this book on my Shelf</a> I love this read aloud for modeling character voices, to talk about how character's can change, and for teaching about the importance of caring and conserving our resources.</div>
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<img border="0" src="http://www.scholastic.com/content5/media/products/70/9780679875970_xlg.jpg" /><a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175/shelf" target="_blank">See this book on my Shelf!</a> I love using this book at the beginning of the year to discuss emotions and how we all feel a variety each day. We discuss how feelings are not bad and all feelings are allowed. We then discuss how to properly handle and express our feelings so that we all remain in a safe environment.</div>
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<img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQdBiyLZNsPHifPd9HqcepV5EpWiTDbna-NtPW2cs4eOMphpKZh" /><a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175/shelf" target="_blank">See this book on my Shelf!</a> I love this story when addressing how we should treat others. This is a great character lesson book with "The Zax", "Too Many Daves", and "What was I Afraid of?" included.</div>
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Hoping Everyone has a WRAD day!!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/62AC8B62523E2EC1E17804A794F74B13.png" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px !important;" /></a> <a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/261BB0154931B1CC13E9B48B12A5C8E6.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important;" /></a></div>
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<br />korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-37188196906182202302014-03-04T09:26:00.000-06:002014-03-04T12:53:33.270-06:00It's Monday...err...Tuesday and time for a Tiny Tech Tip!<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQbNTeEYdfLw4g3gqTJGZ6yJ3DzNTcHjSg6BrfWDoj5s2K3ud-VPgv12C3b" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQbNTeEYdfLw4g3gqTJGZ6yJ3DzNTcHjSg6BrfWDoj5s2K3ud-VPgv12C3b" /></a>It's Monday and my kiddos are home because there's like a millimeter of ice on the road. Now for all you northerner's, it's hard to believe, but in Texas a tiny bit of snow shuts down the city. Seems strange, but it's true. I guess when you don't have salt trucks and rely on sand it really changes the ballgame. <br />
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Anyway, I have been making a strong effort to post once or twice a week. Why have a blog if you're not going to share right?! The truth is I have all these ideas and cool activities that I do in class but, I am TERRIBLE about remembering to take pictures BEFORE I send them home! So, yet another thing I am working to get better at! I have finally found a picture editing program that I like (mainly because I've figured out how to use it and it requires very little effort). It's called <a href="http://www.pizap.com/" target="_blank">pizap</a> so if you're like me and have struggled to find an editing app that you like, give it a try. It's quick and easy, lemon squeezy! Plus, you can use it on your phone for all those who are always on the go! Pizap has a bunch of easy to use frames, stickers, and my FAVORITES are the funny faces and glasses which are featured in my pics below. These are a MUST for disguising your kiddos in the pics you want to post AND much more appealing than just blocking or blurring out the face. <br />
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQbNTeEYdfLw4g3gqTJGZ6yJ3DzNTcHjSg6BrfWDoj5s2K3ud-VPgv12C3b" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUwTc9GUNJIZCD4tWytJE4_ewHQKgeh989u-Cd2Tws-xYWWXgdDyFJ3BMOy0I1FhuWag4zB4BRe9ldB026oYIrzuArJD8Dv4DVnU2z0BRGrNDE6UJJQbn-0w_6uyElaHQT99iDpPHdg0/s1600/profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUwTc9GUNJIZCD4tWytJE4_ewHQKgeh989u-Cd2Tws-xYWWXgdDyFJ3BMOy0I1FhuWag4zB4BRe9ldB026oYIrzuArJD8Dv4DVnU2z0BRGrNDE6UJJQbn-0w_6uyElaHQT99iDpPHdg0/s1600/profile.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a>fun with borders, cut out tools and more!!</div>
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My days at school for the past few weeks has been filled with evaluating skills as we ready ourselves for spring parent conferences in preschool. This is my first year with this school and it has been a LONG time since I have been in the preschool setting, so I have just tried to go along with the flow. As we evaluate I am reminded of a training I attended long ago that stressed the old saying "begin with the end in mind". In retrospect, how I wish I would have had this assessment at the beginning of the year. Sure my team has been great with team planning and lesson sharing, but there are little things like teaching opposites(!) that may have been left unsaid. My poor kiddos! At least I have something to focus on besides letters and sounds for the next couple months. Here's a little peek at what my room has been looking like during all this evaluation. We've been serious about evaluation (not!).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdjm-Ab2_Xde7tMyQ2Pgo7LhR6yVuROXqy3xTU8JFwz6FhwQauYiuEQytNv7d0G6nhRCmb09JSqN1pOeZLtLGZwcoAGd9zUOVpQ85OpT6on-SDA44ZeU3Z-LlIlsciJWrTZ7g6J939jY/s1600/one+to+one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdjm-Ab2_Xde7tMyQ2Pgo7LhR6yVuROXqy3xTU8JFwz6FhwQauYiuEQytNv7d0G6nhRCmb09JSqN1pOeZLtLGZwcoAGd9zUOVpQ85OpT6on-SDA44ZeU3Z-LlIlsciJWrTZ7g6J939jY/s1600/one+to+one.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a>Fun with one to one correspondence. He looks pretty excited about this job!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLrZRVi-K07XJ6CeIl3I8KYnhUzCBYWQqB-jD7q6VcAx0-rn9njwgITnOCeIrIiORqNfZagsb6-ZWKI1Vv0QPUEmzmhHVA9jRV7HmpAYiSEo-dNxjDziYMWtyJXIQWjJrcB8aLwppOS8/s1600/show+and+tell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLrZRVi-K07XJ6CeIl3I8KYnhUzCBYWQqB-jD7q6VcAx0-rn9njwgITnOCeIrIiORqNfZagsb6-ZWKI1Vv0QPUEmzmhHVA9jRV7HmpAYiSEo-dNxjDziYMWtyJXIQWjJrcB8aLwppOS8/s1600/show+and+tell.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Show and Tell is a great way to evaluate oral language skills! Great Questioning strategies, listening skills and super for the self esteem!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJn2L0M-rsOkVk0ca5xVquVuSbVzlmarDpIysHkDkgAp8NqgJO6WPqAMHukQ5aD_eUTHKqVzD3mc2hyphenhypheneKbeg9JLxnOAiUz1_qRXTxYNdLVV_GPMmWqtp1PvXr4LIqAW8XYeHNPeFx4yg/s1600/number+identification.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimJn2L0M-rsOkVk0ca5xVquVuSbVzlmarDpIysHkDkgAp8NqgJO6WPqAMHukQ5aD_eUTHKqVzD3mc2hyphenhypheneKbeg9JLxnOAiUz1_qRXTxYNdLVV_GPMmWqtp1PvXr4LIqAW8XYeHNPeFx4yg/s1600/number+identification.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Manipulatives and Number Cards to show Number Identification. You can use anything you like for this. I like to vary according to the kiddo. This guy loves things with wheels, but dinosaures, gems, or even polly pockets would work. Use your kiddos to drive your instruction.</div>
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Self correcting puzzles to practice sequencing; First, Next, Last! They don't even realize they are learning!!!</div>
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Evaluation and Assessment is so much more fun at the Preschool Level!! Below is the template I made for our spring conferences that are this week. </div>
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p13DeVWqoj8mnxPYBkaLmYIr2fbp44oWaJA01kz3YhY/pub" target="_blank">spring conference template</a> or <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p13DeVWqoj8mnxPYBkaLmYIr2fbp44oWaJA01kz3YhY/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">spring template as a google doc</a></div>
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<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p13DeVWqoj8mnxPYBkaLmYIr2fbp44oWaJA01kz3YhY/pub?embedded=true"></iframe><br />
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Let me know if I did this right and you are able to download and edit. If not, sorry I am still learning as I mentioned earlier. Sharing docs is a lot easier on a website than a blog. Please share if you know a better way...like I said, I LOVE to learn and am always open to help from my bloggy buddies!! Well, that's all I've got for now!<br />
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<br />korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-23494055050607314332014-03-03T09:55:00.000-06:002014-03-03T09:55:09.160-06:00Still Learning...<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11881367/?claim=8uqh7vj2k7p">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a><br />
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I'm still new and learning all the tricks of the trade. I have finally joined bloglovin! <br />
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korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-46701646524081378752014-03-02T14:33:00.001-06:002014-03-02T14:33:40.422-06:00Sunday Funday; Fabulous Weekend Adventure<span style="text-align: center;">Linking up with Molly at </span><a href="http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Lucky to be in First</a><span style="text-align: center;"> and Deirdre at </span><a href="http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">A Burst of First</a><span style="text-align: center;"> for Sunday Funday, where we fight the Sunday Blues by sharing some of the fun we had over the weekend!</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">My weekend began with attending a training on Friday! It was inspiring and ended before it was over due to being called to pick up my baby girl (not so baby anymore) who had a fever! Ugh. So I left early, but not before getting credit and that all important certificate, Thank Goodness! We had a really great presenter after our lunch break (which is always a tough spot to fill because attention has left the building) and she made me want to learn more about the program called <a href="http://www.boystowntraining.org/" target="_blank">Boys Town</a>. If you haven't heard of it, take some time to check it out. It helps teach our kiddos of today the skills that we take for granted. It explicitly teaches things like how to follow directions. The example was so simple it instantly made me want to take the training. It is especially great for working with those kiddos who LOVE to push the boundaries and make you want to pull all your hair out.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: center;">Example: Today we are going to practice the skill of following directions.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Create a chart with cute pics/illustrations/ or photographs for each step. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">1. Look the person in the eye</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">2. Say OK</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">3. And do it right away!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: center;">Let's Practice! And she went through modeling each step with a helper and celebrating when someone followed the exact procedure. Simple and brilliant all at the same time! This woman was such a wealth of knowledge and had a beautiful heart for our students who are often overlooked and have the most difficulties not only in school but in life. She is part of a beautiful program in our district called HOPE, that focuses on catching the kiddos young and giving them the social skills to survive not only in general education classes but out in the real world as well. Enough school chat and onto more fun!</span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: center;">It was a beautiful day, despite the unexplained fever...and there were no other symptoms, so despite wishing I could spend the weekend caring for her, she had to be cared for on the road, because we had a trip to Houston scheduled that could not be rescheduled. It's crazy what the third child has to live through compared to the first...but I promise I did everything I could to make sure she was well cared for...(I really think it's all allergy related because she felt fine as long as I control her temp). </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">My eldest little lady was to be a surprise guest at her bestie's birthday bash! They were heart broken when we moved, so us mamas worked it out so that they could be together for this special occassion! The party was a "glam"ping party and it was a blast! They by no means roughed it even a little bit. The princesses set up a tent inside and had a ball doing make-overs, having over-the-top treats and dancing like crazy. I'm not sure they slept much...but who needs sleep when you haven't seen your bestie in 6 mos! So precious are friends...It really warms my heart to see my girls truly forming real and deep friendships with others that stand the test of time and distance!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabmjqzXqFTYfC4bLbl_FP9hrX6M-SsvEDNJcUDlCLSDDEvW5Gy6aDitvT9CwDc2xHOBPl_6FUjCb0yuVpBNV4zQL6T8nsNL_kNcetZ8jAEuLrav1OIoG-SJ7_raUVMsGbGwrtCnlxWsg/s1600/friends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabmjqzXqFTYfC4bLbl_FP9hrX6M-SsvEDNJcUDlCLSDDEvW5Gy6aDitvT9CwDc2xHOBPl_6FUjCb0yuVpBNV4zQL6T8nsNL_kNcetZ8jAEuLrav1OIoG-SJ7_raUVMsGbGwrtCnlxWsg/s1600/friends.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: center;">Anywho, on to other adventures. Speaking of friends that stand the test of time, while my daughter was living it up with her "bestie", I got to spend some long overdue time with dear friends of my own! I put my other 2 tagalongs to bed and we had a slumber party of our own, talking, laughing, and just catching up on all that has happened since we last visited. It is so good to share in the seasons of your friends lives. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="text-align: center;">I also got to catch up with our family back home and attend my niece's track meet! It was great to see them and sneak into their busy weekend schedules for some hugs and love before they were off to their next event.</span><br />
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</span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SEeoCYKTbLvA5ekOfe7bccgCvipDw7SRsWXwD2rEeG1rDN1mhfko25E8Ix9_wQlGBnOcLnaERiDlaNsQjw8aSym_iaUiUUvAw6hB184-fNRuhmEjEP5bC0nxZnDel3fTf5goauD5OBA/s1600/IMG_1368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SEeoCYKTbLvA5ekOfe7bccgCvipDw7SRsWXwD2rEeG1rDN1mhfko25E8Ix9_wQlGBnOcLnaERiDlaNsQjw8aSym_iaUiUUvAw6hB184-fNRuhmEjEP5bC0nxZnDel3fTf5goauD5OBA/s1600/IMG_1368.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><span style="text-align: center;">Then after a relaxing afternoon of lunch with family and friend we packed it all up and headed back home. It was a fast and furious trip (our stay was not even 24 hours). On our trek back we finally did something we have said we were going to do since we moved to Texas! We finally stopped and visited the Sam Houston statue!</span><br />
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And that was my fun! (in case you were worried, my gut was right and my little one's fever was nothing to worry about...love that mother's intuition!) Hoping you had a terrific weekend as well! Link up with Molly at <a href="http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/" target="_blank">Lucky to be in First</a> and Deirdre at <a href="http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Burst of First</a> for Sunday Funday and share your adventures to brighten our day!!</div>
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/62AC8B62523E2EC1E17804A794F74B13.png" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px !important;" /></a> <a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/261BB0154931B1CC13E9B48B12A5C8E6.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important;" /></a>korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-72855843819524443732014-02-28T07:39:00.000-06:002014-02-28T07:40:41.722-06:00Five For Friday: Wow! Where did the Week Go?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Keeping my weekly posts going by linking up with<a href="http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> Doodle Bugs</a> for their <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKo6oF6sjpw/UthWEHkfkrI/AAAAAAAAWDM/1I15bnbggw0/s1600/fiveforfriday2_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKo6oF6sjpw/UthWEHkfkrI/AAAAAAAAWDM/1I15bnbggw0/s1600/fiveforfriday2_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></div>
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Science Journaling for Preschoolers<br />
I have always been a big fan of MEANINGFUL writing connections. I find that students are more willing to produce quality work when they are interested in the topic or have had a meaningful experience with the topic of choice. Getting my 90% boy class interested in practicing writing of any kind has been a challenge until....(drum roll please) I introduced their Science Journals! We began to record the basic concept of each experiment or lesson we had done that week and suddenly they weren't griping and whining about having to write words or draw detailed pictures! At first I thought it was a fluke. Maybe because they were excited that it was a new little booklet. But week after week they have willingly participated in writing in their science journals (which I might add is in ADDITION to their normal writing time) AND I have had absolutely NO complaints!! Our entries are very basic, but then again I'm excited that they are processing their science lessons through written expression this early on!<br />
Our topics in our journal so far have been as follows:<br />
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Ice Melts</div>
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Shadows and Light</div>
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Dinosaurs are Extinct</div>
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Habitat</div>
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Wheels Roll</div>
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I'm still working on my cover for our journals so check back soon!</div>
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<a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6ebalc0i71rnsje5o1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6ebalc0i71rnsje5o1_1280.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVt2t_FJEhtsExdgX1aFvTOQqy-_YPW3R1-6-oudP1DU1X17KPmdcoswKfXJWUOEKmOeNVwEdOvOpKf5y2Xb4gZd8sreqIMY_QvHek9rm_DTjJfmbdh63_FQQgOAugQZbfa2gufPDP9jI/s1600/Divider+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVt2t_FJEhtsExdgX1aFvTOQqy-_YPW3R1-6-oudP1DU1X17KPmdcoswKfXJWUOEKmOeNVwEdOvOpKf5y2Xb4gZd8sreqIMY_QvHek9rm_DTjJfmbdh63_FQQgOAugQZbfa2gufPDP9jI/s1600/Divider+2.png" height="200" width="141" /></a>Celebrate Love</h3>
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My "big kids" have had a week of celebrating love at school and have been practicing acts of random kindness. With all this paying it forward going on at the elementary level, I could not help but pass it on to my kiddos down at preschool. So we interviewed each kiddo and asked for examples of how they show loving kindness to others. The answers are of course precious and dear! Take a look for yourself.</div>
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Up Coming Open House Projects</h3>
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I know <span style="background-color: white;">it's probably cheating to make 3 and 4 on the same topics but they really are separate projects. Our theme at school this year has been space. So, needless to say, space projects are a must for our open house which is coming up the beginning of April. Being that this is my first year at this school, I am kind of just along for the ride. Sure I have an opinion every now and again, but really I'm just trying to figure out how things work here. So as the space projects are thrown my way, I just make sure that my kiddos and I get done what we are supposed to get done and of course, that we have fun doing so.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDFyv-eFoA28nFPCvf97DcphQwbTVgCHDpQOu6nGichzQctlb1eFsLKzfp5-ghs3VNe8XJ42Ba7ZwAyXnMi627MJJM1TWkKADJvTnXaPTiPR0UlzFB-sgVSL-trm6H1_r18oQxaSrrvo/s320/IMG_3156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDFyv-eFoA28nFPCvf97DcphQwbTVgCHDpQOu6nGichzQctlb1eFsLKzfp5-ghs3VNe8XJ42Ba7ZwAyXnMi627MJJM1TWkKADJvTnXaPTiPR0UlzFB-sgVSL-trm6H1_r18oQxaSrrvo/s320/IMG_3156.JPG" /></a></span><a href="http://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/An-Intro-to-Constellations-1137958-1393592245/original-1137958-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/An-Intro-to-Constellations-1137958-1393592245/original-1137958-1.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white;">We made name rockets and have started learning about constellations. Trying to find preschool appropriate constellation lessons has been challenging. I have had to make a few of my own because I just couldn't find what I was looking for. Not sure how it will go but I will let you know. For a quick peek check out my store on</span><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/4-Love-And-Learning-By-Mrs-Pugh" target="_blank"> TPT</a></div>
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Me a Coach? You've got to be kidding!</h3>
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So I am by no means a person you would call athletic! Yet I find myself coaching my daughter's soccer and basketball team! Oh the things we do for our children! Coaching soccer was a lot of fun. At this young age (pk-1) much of what we're teaching involves just kicking the ball in the correct direction. So when she asked to do basketball and of course if I would coach her team, I answered like any parent would, "why YES, I'd love to!" (When in my head I am terrified because I know nothing about teaching others how to play a game that I can barely comment on while watching with any knowledge!) However, I have somehow managed to make it through the season and our team (and I) are actually learning about basketball! I am coaching as part of an Upward league and they have made it extremely easy for me to seem to be a knowledgeable and capable----dare I say it---coach. To learn more about Upward Sports Ministry and Outreach opportunities, please visit their website at <a href="http://www.upward.org/" target="_blank">http://www.upward.org/</a><br />
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And that's the <a href="https://mspughsnews.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">News, Views & Stews</a> of my week! What did you do? Link Up and Share!!<br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/62AC8B62523E2EC1E17804A794F74B13.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/261BB0154931B1CC13E9B48B12A5C8E6.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important;" /></a>korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-85036180099789506022014-02-25T20:00:00.001-06:002014-02-25T20:04:04.818-06:00Tuesday's Tech Tip: Grab a Great Read and Share it TOO!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Check out Shelfari!<br />
I stumbled upon this great widget on Kristin's blog <a href="http://thereadbox.blogspot.com/p/about-me_19.html" target="_blank">The Readbox</a>. It's called Shelfari. Cute, right?! For a book lover like myself I love the idea of sharing the great books we are using and or planning to read. This widget allows me to share books with others who will hopefully be enticed to take a look and maybe even read. Short and sweet (according to wikipedia) <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28.80000114440918px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelfari" target="_blank">Shelfari</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28.80000114440918px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelfari" target="_blank"> </a>is a </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cataloging_applications" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28.80000114440918px; text-decoration: none;" title="Social cataloging applications">social cataloging</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28.80000114440918px;"> website for books. Shelfari users build virtual bookshelves of the titles they own or have read, and can rate, review, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_(metadata)" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28.80000114440918px; text-decoration: none;" title="Tag (metadata)">tag</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28.80000114440918px;">, and discuss their books. Users can also create groups that other members may join, create discussions, and talk about books, or other topics. Recommendations can be sent to friends on the site for what books to read.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28.80000114440918px;">Another fun and intriguing aspect to shelfari is that you can sign up to be an <a href="https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join/landing/main.html" target="_blank">amazon associate</a> and generate earnings for your advertising efforts that may lead to purchases. Bonus!! Visit the links above to find out more about how Shelfari can be added to your blog or stop by my shelf to check it out at <a href="http://www.shelfari.com/o1514779175" target="_blank">My Shelf</a> in the sidebar of my blog!</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/62AC8B62523E2EC1E17804A794F74B13.png" style="background: transparent; border: 0 !important;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54490/240/261BB0154931B1CC13E9B48B12A5C8E6.png" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px !important;" /></a>korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294671151723724086.post-59039095064724998042014-02-24T13:10:00.001-06:002014-02-24T13:10:19.349-06:00Sunday Funday...a little late but who's counting?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Linking up with Molly at <a href="http://www.luckytobeinfirst.com/" target="_blank">Lucky to be in First</a> and Deirdre at <a href="http://aburstoffirst.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Burst of First</a> for my first Sunday Funday post on well...Monday! <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0L0Eya1UFSFSH6zxWdq_7a1CXDo4sL0L82dmkwuTbs3h3R2NBBWcAhSV-h2sRfQjPyBY-0UO-IJtH6bhWxL4ORNID0Xdnf2vgMjUx7fqraWJ1WxT3GcH_XR1q9BP4RI7sI56s0zOrPH3H/s1600/Slide1.png" height="480" width="640" /></div>
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So this is just a fun posting to tell about something FUN to drive away the dreaded Sunday afternoon reality check. You know, when the weight of the week and all you must do comes falling down upon your shoulders again!</div>
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This weekend I did it again! I rearranged furniture in my girl's rooms. I have mentioned this in a post before that I have a rearranging addiction! I love to change things up every once in a while. This time I had a good reason. We are expecting a housefull for Easter and I wanted to be sure that we would be able to house everyone. So....what better way than to rearrange! My family has gotten so accustomed to things always being tweaked that they don't even blink an eye when a room is completely different! So, that was my weekend, among basketball games, spring cleaning (it was absolutely gorgeous this weekend!!) and yes...putting off the lesson plans until the last possible moment. What fun did you manage to squeeze in?</div>
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<br />korrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239435397567435309noreply@blogger.com0