Three for Friday (on Saturday)

Hi there, friends!

I'm popping in today with a three for Friday!  On Saturday.  Seriously, what is that??!?  I hardly had my camera out at all this week, so I only have four things to share.  And I had plans last night, so I'm posting on Saturday instead.  I knew you all would forgive me because the last few weeks of school are not for the faint of heart and teachers are just BUSY in May.  There is no way around it!

1. I hosted our Girls Only Lunch on Tuesday.  I only have six girls this year, so I was really looking forward to this day of pampering and loving on these sweeties. 

We had a picnic at our carpet area complete with girly cupcakes.

 I invited each of the girls' moms to join us and they were all able to make it!  It was so much fun.  After lunch, all the moms painted their daughters' fingernails and toenails.

I picked up some nail polish and each girl got to choose a color to take home with them.

 Melt me.  These girls.  We had the best time.  There were so many smiles and giggles.  Definitely a highlight of my year.  Hopefully a highlight of theirs too!

Now I get to look forward to my Boys Only Lunch with all 18 of my busy boys.  I might be asking for prayers on that day!  Ha!

2. I changed out my math stations this week and the kids had a lot of fun with the new activities!

Addition, addition, addition is our focus right now!  We are practicing like crazy!

 I whipped this activity up quickly and it was a hit!  We use these bugs for all sorts of things -- especially in the Spring.

CLICK HERE to grab this page from Google Drive!

 Race to 100!  Just change up the graphics on the page and the kids think it's a brand new game!

Again, we're working hard on addition, so the kids used two dice and added them together.  

You can grab a copy of this game by heading back to THIS POST from last year.

 Lima bean math is a classic and always a great activity for addition practice.

3. My sweetie had her Kindergarten screening on Thursday.  She is so ready for Kindergarten, and I am thrilled for her because I know how much she'll love it!!  

That's it for me today!  I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend!

Five for Friday {April 25}

Here we go!  It's Five for Friday time!!

And...if I can just say...YAY for Friday.  That's all.

Okay!  Let's chat about my week!

1. Earth Day.  We didn't go overboard, but we did do a few fun activities together.  Talking about how to care for the earth tied in perfectly with the unit we just finished in science, so my kids were very engaged as we completed this graph and bubble map together.

 And we illustrated this cute student reader to put in our book bags.

 These activities all came from the "We Save the Earth" pack by Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten.

2. We completed an Earth Day craftivity to replace the bunny display we had up for Easter.  

The students colored the earth (these pages came from our science curriculum).

 

 Then, they wrote about what they could do to help the earth.  There were so many great (and adorable!) ideas.

 

 My teacher assistant (high school student that comes two afternoons per week) painted each child's hand to finish off their projects.

3. We began our Fictional writing unit this week.  Oh my, are my kids looooving this unit!  The stories they are writing are so great!

This little girl is writing about a princess.

I lovelovelove Spring Kindergarteners.  They are so confident and smart!  This guy's story is about a frog and a dog.  

And this one?  About the tooth fairy.  Melt me.  She has grown SO much this year!  

4.  My students wrote some really cute sentences about the sun on our Brain Boost this week. 

 The sun is really hot.  I love it.

 The sun is hot and it hides up in the sky. (Another little one who has come SO far!  Such a proud teacher!)

5. These invites went home today!  AND I spilled the beans that we're following up our lunch with a little nail-painting party!  I can't wait to pamper these special girls!!

CLICK HERE to check out my Girls Only lunch from last year!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!!

Girls only lunch

A few months ago, a colleague of mine hosted a girls only lunch in her classroom.  She invited only the girls and had a special table set up just for them.  I LOVED the idea so much that I stole it!  Isn't that what all good teachers do??? ;)

Actually, I asked if she minded if I used her idea and, of course, she didn't mind at all.

This is the first year that I've had students at school for lunch.  My previous eight years of teaching Kindergarten, we had a half-day program, so I had close to fifty students each year and no students there for lunch.  

I can't say enough good things about the switch we made this year to full-day K.  I LOVE it for so many reasons...and at the top of my list is the difference it's made in my relationships with my students. Spending all day with them has allowed me to KNOW my students and invest in them so much more!

I was so excited about the idea of having a special boys lunch and a special girls lunch.  Of course, ladies first, so I put together this invite and passed them out to the girls a few days before the big day.

While the girls went to get their lunches from the lunchroom (my cold lunch gals waited in the hall), I quickly set up our special picnic area in an open carpeted space in my classroom.

Each of the girls decorated place cards and I made them each a treat bag to take home.  Just jelly beans, a click pencil, and a fun eraser.  Nothing big, but hopefully a reminder of how much I value them!

 I made some girly cupcakes for a special dessert treat.

We had the best time!  We chatted about clothes, jewelry, and getting our ears pierced!  Such perfectly girly conversation!

The boys will get their turn next month, but this time was just for my girls!  After we had finished eating, one of my sweet girls said "I will remember this day forever!".  They might not remember it forever :), but I do hope that these nine sweeties ALWAYS remember that they are special beyond words!