I joined Instagram...what's next?

*I'm just going to pretend it hasn't been years since I've blogged.* Ok I'm on Instagram! That's a step in the right direction for putting yourself out there, right? ..I mean, I have been on Instagram "personally" for a while...but Mrs. Murray's Kinders (mrsmurrayskinders) is on Instagram as of a few weeks ago! I love the community that Instagram creates between teachers. And I even have a few followers! I'm currently at 37 and am so, so thankful for that little number! EEEK! Excited! 

I have some big, big dreams that I'd love to put into action before this year ends. I know it's only February...but I'm going to need some time! haha I have to say my inspiration comes from all the awesome teachers on Instagram. (You all) have really inspired and encouraged me to follow these dreams. I'm talking big dreams...for me personally and professionally. Whether the dreams manifest into what I imagine...part of the dream is doing something, anything! Let go and let GOD! 

I think I can, I think I can...

Do you ever feel like you need the encouragement of the little engine? I know I totally let the months of August and September pass...oops! It has been a BUSY year so far. At times, I feel like a first year teacher all over again...just trying to keep my head above water.

I started the Daily 5 this year...with a new Writer's Workshop (Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills published some AMAZING units)...with a Reader's Workshop (Kim Adsit and Michele Scannell have made an equally amazing set of units for RW) and basically a new math 'curriculum.' I'm still trying to juggle the newness of these wonderful things...as well as progress monitoring some of my kiddos for the lovely '3rd Grade Guarantee' and other assessments. I'd like to upload some pictures of things we've done so far this year...and my camera is at school- again. I'm fairly positive that I've said I would upload pictures to this lonely blog for over a year. Hmmm...maybe this weekend! We just finished up a unit on Community Helpers last week. I had some super inspiration from Julie Lee and Jamie Mayas and their community helper art! SO CUTE! Currently, we are doing one of my fave units- APPLES!!! Happy Thursday (tomorrow) to all!

Community Engagement

Happy summer! I began a graduate course this summer and have to create a community engagement project. I have to work with a district-wide concept that cuts across all grades. However, I began thinking of some things that could be done at the elementary level (just because!). Since I work at a K-1 building, I'd like to know what are some (K-1) things your building does to involve the community? Anything that you really like and is well-received? Please share!

On a family-related note... my son turns 1 next month and I made his invites similar to Sydney's last Fall...he loves anything that looks like a "ball" so we're running with that as a theme. I've found some great ideas on Pinterest. I'm excited to get started!

I hope to be back blogging with MUCH more regularity this summer...and this school year. Goals, goals, goals...

Popcorn Word Practice

Good evening! Just a quick post tonight...I realize I talked about pictures what seems like years  FOREVER ago...I do have them on my camera...still at school...(sigh)! Anyway, I was working with some of my kiddos on popcorn words this afternoon. These cuties just can't seem to retain even half of the words we've learned this year. So I'm trying to pull them in small group during literacy centers to work with them even more. However, I hate the idea of drilling them with flashcards and we've played games like BANG! and BINGO...so I was grasping for yet another fun way to work with my kiddos on these popcorn words that was quick and easy. As I was drawing a bingo board on a piece of paper, one of my K friends said "Hey, that looks like tic tac toe!" GENIUS! We work with the best kiddos in the world. So we played sight word tic tac toe in pairs. I made several different versions...and they had a BLAST! I made a quick copy tonight. Click here. Let me know if I can change it to fit your sight word needs! So simple, yet so fun! Yay for Thursday tomorrow!  

In other news...we are working on President's Day things this week. Let me just say that you HAVE (I wish I could double underline!!) to check out Growing Kinders' unit as well as Melissa Freshwater's unit for President's Day. Both are AMAZING!!!! I also bought Kim Adsit's unit Hooray For President's Day and it has some fantastic ideas. We worked on an Abraham Lincoln book today from her unit by recreating mixed up sentences and then illustrating it with the appropriate pictures. AWESOME activity Mrs. Adsit!!!

Pinterest, YouTube...technology!?

I've totally let myself down with this whole blogging thing! I have already thought about how I can do a better job for next school year...HA! I should probably focus on what's left of this school year first. In other news, Pinterest has taken a hold of my life...oh. my. word. It's actually to a point where my 2 year old daughter will get my computer and say "Let's see what's for dinner...." Embarrassing. In all seriousness though, (seriously!) I've tried sooooooooooo many GOOD recipes through Pinterest! I even made some Valentine cards for my cuties to hand out at the sitter's house. Thank you, Pinterest! Okay well I do promise to post some pictures of some things we've worked on in the last SEVERAL (EEK!) months! Better late than never!

OH! And...check out the two links below. A fellow teacher and I organized this High School Musical "production" for our entire district. One video features the bus drivers, high school, and middle school. The second video features our three elementary schools. We did the song twice so we could include our entire district. It was part of a "team-building" effort and a way to promote our school. SO FUN! Don't we work with some pretty fun people?!?! Have a super rest of the week!

Version 1

http://youtu.be/ApwBfI_pz0Y

Version 2

http://youtu.be/1mLFAolQ1aU

Pumpkin Roll and Trace

So I love Fall...and thought I'd create a simple Fall math center. I don't know about your kiddos, but my kiddos still need TONS of practice with number formation and number identification. At this point, our math tubs have included six-sided dice, but I thought the students would get a kick out of using the dice with numbers up to 20. Here's a Pumpkin Roll and Trace activity with numbers 1-20. We're taking Sydney and Landon to get pumpkins tomorrow so pumpkins have been on my mind! Enjoy your Sunday...it's supposed to be beautiful here!

I forgot that this was stress-relieving...

Wow! I am finishing my third week back from maternity leave and feel like I can barely catch my breath! Now I know how everyone else has felt since the beginning of the school year...overwhelmed! I am still adjusting to my larger class size and have really struggled to find a behavior system that has been effective. I am beginning the "clip chart" next week from The Polka Dot Patch. I've used a red, yellow, green system in the past, but am excited about the concept of moving up OR down. I'll let you know how it goes! It also involves classroom BINGO where students can earn rewards when everyone is following directions. I use SMART COOKIES right now, but am willing to try one more positive behavior idea!

I have a super simple freebie that I use in my classroom for our Bucket Filler system. When students are caught filling the bucket of someone else (student, teacher, etc.) I fill out this card and put it in our classroom bucket. At the end of each week, I draw some bucket filler cards and let them sit in rocking chairs for the AM or PM. Enjoy! Bucket Filler Cards

Oh and one last random addition...my baby girl turns TWO at the end of this month. Naturally, I was feverishly making her birthday cards today during my conference period- ha! We're doing a dog theme because she LOVES Clifford, Mac, T-Bone, and Cleo and anything puppy-related! So...you know when you have an idea in your mind about how you want something to look?! Well, I had that problem. I came up with a little rhyme and thought I could just add it to a template. But, of course, could not find a template that worked. Enter: DIY Birthday invites. Anywho, I found some scrapbook paper at Meijer last night that I thought could work. I drew a bone and traced it on different colors of plain paper and then added my little "doggy" rhyme! Voila! Birthday invites! There are 4 different versions...pics aren't the greatest because I took them with my phone. I'm happy with how they turned out for now though! Have a SUPER weekend everyone!

An Apple a Day...

Good evening blogging world! You'd think with no followers or traffic, I'd stop writing these silly posts...but it's so much fun! HA! This is my "adult" time. I LOVE being a Mommy, but I went to school to be a teacher and I truly enjoy that part of my life as well. Actually, I only have one more week on maternity leave and then it's back to the grind. I am actually looking forward to my return. I've been in every weekend and even during the week to get things ready so I figure...why not actually be there?! Oh well! I have enjoyed my time at home with my kiddos very much.

Anywho...I've been trying to look ahead and get some things around for when I will be the teacher again! The first two weeks I'm back, we're doing our apple unit. I'm SO excited that I haven't missed this part of the school year. One of the things we tried new last year was the apple/germ experiment. You probably do this activity...I found it online somewhere.

Here's a recap for this yucky experiment. Cut an apple in half. Then, take one half and let each of your students touch it with their hands. After students finish touching the first half of the apple, have every student wash their hands with warm water and soap. Pass the second half of the apple around and have students touch it with their clean hands. Put each apple half in a Ziploc bag. You should label each bag...we used "Clean :)" and "Dirty :(" **After a few days in the experiment, labels won't be necessary though!** It is actually really gross to see what the contaminated apple looks like at the end. It really makes the students think twice about washing their hands thoroughly!

Last year, I created a science journal to accompany this experiment. I remember I did it the day of our experiment so it wasn't anything great. Tonight, I revamped it with a new font and a cute border. Click here to check it out (and download it if you're out there!). My husband is taking me out for my birthday (27 on Monday!) this weekend...so who knows when I'll be back. (maybe tomorrow!?) Have a wonderful weekend!

What's for Dinner?

Well it's raining here and my cuties are napping...so I decided I'd plan dinner for tonight. I had my husband pick up a loaf of french bread at the store for garlic bread, but I think we're going to have french bread pizza instead. Yum! I found an easy-peasy recipe at Kraft Foods so I think we'll give it a try. In keeping with a pizza theme today, I created a pizza graphing activity! Print and laminate the pizza and the pizza toppings. Then, give each student a bag with a pizza and an assortment of pizza toppings. Students will build the pizza that comes in their bag and then complete the graph. I also added a quick extension activity for students to complete that focuses on concepts of most, least, and tally marks. I thought this pizza graph would be an excellent activity to go with some great books such as:

Enjoy and happy graphing!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Ahhh the signs of my favorite season are here...mums, cooler weather, and football! I love Fall! In celebration of this wonderful season, here is a Fall leaf pattern page to use with your students! It's a simple practive activity for AB, ABB, AAB, and ABC patterns! It'd also make a quick assessment to see what your kiddos know about patterns! Enjoy!

*Here's what I did yesterday for Labor Day...we took our daugther to a baseball game! She had a blast and so did we. Our little guy enjoyed some one-on-one with Grandma...we missed having him with us, but it was nice for his older sister to get some special attention from Mommy and Daddy.

Happy Tuesday!