Thankful for PreK- Huge Giveaway!

It's been a wonderful year on my little blog and TpT store!  Although I don't have as much time to spend here as I would like, I've seen such an improvement in my teaching materials and lesson planning from making online connections with other teachers.  I'm so thankful to be teaching Pre-K in my hometown district with great colleagues and students.  I'm so lucky that my own children are able to spend their first year of school in caring, happy, and educational classrooms. Quality Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms are setting up our students for a successful school careers, and that deserves some celebrating!  I reached out to other Pre-K and Kindergarten teachers to throw a little party and have some fun with some GREAT giveaways!

This first giveaway includes some of my classroom favorites and I'm actually going to mail it to you!  In the real mail with stamps and everything!  The winner will receive Mr. Sketch Scented Markers (vital), Scentos Twistable Crayons (you need these), and a 2 oz. package of 4000 JELLY BEADZ (these are awesome)!  You might remember this post and the JELLY BEADZ fun I had with my children. My students loved these in our sensory table!  You will also receive a $20.00 spending credit at my TpT store, just email me your selections.  The winner of this giveaway will have 48 hours to email your home address so I can send you a package of FUN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On to our second giveaway... courtesy of some really great Pre-K and Kindergarten teacher-authors!  Pre-K resources are unique, and this prize will help you tremendously for the rest of the year! Lots of alphabet, number, and seasonal goodies for you! Thank you so much to all of the authors that donated, I love making connections with other early childhood teachers!  Here's the line up...

KinderMyWay

That Creative Teacher

Teaching Tykes

Lil' Sprouts Preschool

Kinder Dayz

PowerPoint Gaming

Fun in ESCE

Mrs. Schlachter

Kinders in NY

PreK Partner

The Kindergarten Connection

Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten

A Neighborhood Kindergarten

Mrs. Jones' Creation Station

PreKinders (Karen Cox)

Pocket of Preschool

Miss D's Classroom

Pink Polka Dots and PreK

The Weekly Sprinkle

 

The lucky winner of this giveaway will receive a huge bundle of resources from these generous authors!  Enter using the rafflecopter below, the more you enter, the greater the chance you will WIN! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for celebrating with us!  Check out my Facebook page this week, I'll be highlighting the resources in the bundle. Good luck! 

Interested in a giveaway?

I'm finally getting ready for a giveaway! Stayed tuned for Saturday, November 22 for my "Thankful for PreK" post! Are you a prek or kindergarten blogger who would to participate? Leave a comment or email me at yayforprek@yahoo.com and I'll send you the details!

Tricks and Treats Blog Hop: Painting in PreK!

I'm participating in a fun blog hop to welcome in October, thanks to Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten!  Check it out this weekend for great teacher "tricks" that will make your life easier and a "treat" from each blog!  I'm sharing a trick I just recently starting using in my class...and I'm not sure why I haven't been doing this all along!  This is a simple idea, but I often forget about it every time we begin a new theme.

My kids love to paint during our center time, I normally supply them with large paper, paintbrushes, a few jars of paint, and let the creativity fly.  Lately I've been reading lots of posts on directed drawings...an interesting idea but not age appropriate for all of my students (yet).  I decided to start simple, with directed painting!

Let's paint an apple! Sitting down with the kids and painting this apple step-by-step made a huge difference, compared with just displaying  a picture of an apple in my painting center.  I'll definitely allow the kids to paint freely from time to time, but they have such a sense of pride in their pictures when I give them a little direction. Check out these apples...

This little guy was having some fun!  

I'm loving these paintings, not bad for pre-kindergarteners in September! I guessing that the "Art Center" will be probably popular this year!  I hope that you're able to use this trick in your classroom, and here's a little treat for you, too!

Check out this FREE Apple ABC Pocket Chart Game in my TpT store.  My students love to "hide the worm" behind the letters, then take turns identifying the letters to find the worm!  We play this game together as a group, and then add it to our literacy center for independent and partner play. I hope that you can use this game in your classroom.  Enjoy hopping through for more tricks and treats!

An InLinkz Link-up

JellyBeadz - Sensory Table Fun!

Have you seen JellyBeadz yet?  They are so cool!  I ordered some from Amazon last week and played with them at home with my four year old.  I'm planning on bringing some to school soon for the sensory table, I think that my students will love them!

They start out really small, a little bit goes a long way!  We put a few tablespoons in a large, clear, plastic tub filled with water.

We got out the squirters to help them along!  They're slowly absorbing the water and getting bigger!

Then your little brother notices what's going on and joins in! 

Pretty soon your big sister gets off the bus and plays for a little bit.  Then she remembers that a friend at school gave her a lollipop, so she runs up to her room to hide and eat it in peace. 

Time for the potato masher, they're getting even bigger now!

Pushing through the potato masher is fun, we scooped them up and counted for a long time!

By the end of the night, the JellyBeadz were the size of marble!  We've been playing with the same batch for about a week, and they're still in excellent shape.  Have you used JellyBeadz in your classroom?  I'll love to hear some ideas!   

500 followers on Facebook!

Follow me on Facebook!

I'm soooooo close to 500 followers on my Facebook page! Thanks for all of your support! I'm planning a celebratory giveaway...stayed tuned!

Back to School Sale and my new bundle!

Is it sad be be so excited about a TpT sale? Teachers, I'm sure you understand! I hope that you're grabbing some great products to help this school year. I just posted a bundle that I use all the time in my classroom! I created my "I can learn the alphabet" and "I can learn the numbers" books a few years ago and I love them! I copy and bind these in September and then I have my workbooks ready for the whole school year. These sheets are the perfect complement to your hands on lessons, the students can spend a few minutes working on letter and number formation after your fun games, songs, stories, and art projects.  I like to date the sheets and then use them to show progress at parent meetings.  Grab this bundle today or tomorrow for less than $4.00 and you're ready to print and go!

Find it here

"What's your GNOME?" Handwriting Freebie

I just uploaded a name writing freebie to TpT, "What's your GNOME?" These gnomes are so cute, I had to use them in my classroom this year!  This freebie includes nameplates (lined and unlined) and a few versions of a handwriting worksheet.  Write each child's name in the top box of the worksheet, make several sets of copies, and allow your kids to practice writing their name underneath!  I love providing my PreK students with this model, kids can write their name five times or once a day for a week! You can grab your freebie here!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MADE pattern, "First Day Dress and Top"! Scroll down for the Rafflecopter!

Sewing for my classroom and MADE pattern giveaway!

      Now that school is over, I'm ready to relax and have some free time to spend on some of my interests...reading, gardening, sewing, and drinking iced coffee! I actually really like to sew, but don't have too much time to dedicate to it. So, when Dana from MADE asked for some volunteers to test out a new dress pattern for her, I figured it was a great opportunity for me to kick start my summer sewing goals. Have you read MADE? You really should! It was one of the first blogs I started reading, I was so drawn to her style and fun color choices. 

I make these bats for my house every year!

I want to make these for my next party or to use in  my classroom!

I love the projects she makes for her kids' school!

 
I made the dress and it turned out so cute!  Dana's patterns are user friendly with lots of pictures, perfect for beginners!  She even has tutorials on her YouTube page that are sooooo easy to follow!

Check out the pattern on MADE!

 Now that I'm back in my sewing groove, I'm ready to start some projects for my classroom!  My goal is to switch things up a little bit this year with some fun patterns and bright colors.  I'll be working on a new reading bench, curtains, storage covers, and pillows!  Here's a sneak peak...

Photos and fabric from the Online Fabric Store!

Do you have any summer sewing plans?  For your classroom or home? Dana has generously offered to give away two copies of her new pattern "First Day Dress and Top"!  Enter below and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Planting Week in PreK and Kindergarten

Wow! This blogging thing is hard, I really give a lot of credit to teachers who are able to keep up with it! Now that school is winding down I'm hoping spend some time updating my materials, visiting blogs for fun ideas, and working on my blog! 

We still have about a month left in school, but we're definitely preparing for the end of the year. One of my favorite spring activities to do with the little ones is planting! It's so fun to when the kids come to school in the morning to discover seedlings in their little cup! I like to plant marigold or zinnias, they are normally pretty dependable and quick. I came up with lots of fun activities to do with my kids this year, and just listed a new unit on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Check it out here!

A whole week's (or more) worth of materials!

This leaf counting activity was so fun, my students loved rolling the dice to determine how many leaves to add to their flower!

I'm giving away a few copies of this unit, would be lots of fun for a summer class or camp, too! Enter below or find it at my shop and I'll email it to a few winners this weekend! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Easter Week in PreK and Kindergarten

My district is on Spring Break next week (yay!) so the Easter crafts have already started in my classroom. I just uploaded my new unit and a fun freebie to TpT last night, and I love the way the bunnies and chicks are turning out! Check out my Easter Week in PreK and Kindergarten unit, which includes all of the patterns. I love formatting my patterns digitally, I would much rather print those pieces out than trace them all!

Are you working on Easter this week?  Come over to my FB page for a chance to win this unit and for a number recognition freebie!  

Free on TpT!

Five for Friday and a Sale!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for a quick look at my week! 

1. We had fun with the Rainbow Reading Club!  I do this every year, I really look forward to it. My third grade teacher did this, and I've always remembered it.  The kids work on three book reports at home with their parents.  I encourage the kids to copy down the book title and author's name themselves, and then draw a picture or write a simple sentence about the book.  When everyone has handed in three book reports, we celebrate with a bowl of rainbow sherbet!

2. Art Show time at my school!  We made these silly cats during the first week of March!  I used the patterns from Deanna Jump's Silly Cat Glyph packet. They turned out so cute!

3.  We also painted rainbows for the Art Show.  We gave the kids six colors and posted a model, and then let them free paint a rainbow.  I love how they all turned out a little bit different!

4. I wish I had more time to read!  My ebooks keep getting returned back to the library before I have a chance to finish them! I have an actual book sitting next to my bed right now that I'm determined to finish before the due date!I thought this was so funny, I grabbed it from Erica Bohrer's FB page!

5.  I'm so happy, I reached 250 followers on my TpT shop!  Thanks to everyone who follows me! 

I'm participating in the Spring Cleaning Sale this weekend!  Check out my shop for 20% off everything. Thanks to Krista Wallden for this cute button!

Counting Kites FREEBIE!

Thanks to Maria at Kinder-craze for the inspiration!

You read Kinder-Craze, right? If not, you need to!  I love her style! When I saw these kites on Maria's blog the other day, I knew they would be the perfect replacement for the stained glass shamrocks that were on the windows.   We made the kites (added yarn and bows) and hung them on all the windows.  There may be snow on the ground, but they add a little spring cheer to the classroom! 

We had so much fun with the kites, I created a little counting freebie to use with my kids. The kids are doing so well with their writing, but we still need practice with numbers.  We had a lot of fun today counting kites and writing the numbers on dry erase boards and our counting worksheets.  You can grab this FREEBIE by following my FACEBOOK page! Click on the "Fan Freebie" tab at the top and you'll be directed to the download!  I hope that you are enjoying spring in your classroom!

Five for Friday

 

 I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs today for a quick

 look at my week!  

1. It's official...I made the cutest shamrock cookies ever! 

2. Spent some time at the library with this little guy.  He loves the legos and running up and down the aisles screaming.  I had to break out in a run a few times to catch him! 

3. I love these rainbows brightening up the back of my classroom!  Pick up this freebie on my TpT page!

4. Is it seriously March already? Catching up on some handwriting practice in the classroom.

5. Working on a blog post about my word wall.  I need to put up a sight word wall, too.  Right now our most frequently used sight words are posted on the Writing Center.  

Have a great weekend!

Thanks to Doodle Bugs Teaching for Linky Party!

Handwriting in PreK!

Take a look on Facebook for a chance to win!

Lots of people have different opinions on handwriting in PreK.  

Do you use a formal program? 

 Lines or no lines?  

Tracing or no tracing?  

I'll blog tomorrow about how I teach handwriting in my classroom.  In the meantime, come over to my Facebook page!  "Share" or "like" this post of FB for a chance to win my newest file!

Three Million Teachers Strong sale! I love TpT!

Thanks Krista Wallden!

 Are you ready for the TpT sale this week!  I'll be participating and filling up my cart!  Although I really need to go a clip art spending freeze, does anyone else have the same problem?!??  Don't forget to use the promo code TPT3 for an additional 10% off your purchase!  Have fun! 

Don't forget to scroll down and enter 

my Rafflecopter giveway (it ends tonight)!  

I'm giving away 5 free files from my store! 

I'm busy working to add a few more

titles before the big sale! 

Enter this giveway!

Giveaway! Help me reach 200 followers!

 I'm so close to 200 followers at my TpT store, how about a little giveaway to help me along!  The winner gets to choose any five products from my store!  Giveaway ends on February 26, so get your wishlist ready! Thanks for entering! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fan Freebie!

Come "like" my FACEBOOK page to download this freebie!

Yay!  I finally figured out how to create a fan freebie on my Facebook page!  Wow, I made that harder than it had to be!  Anyways, I've uploaded a fun freebie that I know you can use in your classroom - alphabet recognition sheets!  My students like to work on these independently or in small groups.  I let the kids have fun with bingo daubers, paint pouncers, markers, highlighters, or crayons to identify the letters!  I'll leave these up for about a week, so come on over to "like" my new FB page and you will be directed to the FREE google doc!

Come "like" Yay for PreK! on FACEBOOK!