Mixed Up Monday {Finger Knitting Fun!}

Good Monday morning, friends! I hope you are enjoying your holiday vacation or are enjoying your last couple days of school with your crazy little sweeties. Today I bring to you one of my DIY projects. On Saturday, a dear friend of mine came over for coffee and finger knitting. That's right...finger knitting. If you haven't tried this, I encourage you to get to YouTubing and try it out this winter break.

I have decided to make some ear warmers for stocking stuffers for those family members we have coming to visit. What do you think? What kind of crafty stuff do you do when you have time?

I JUST CAN'T STOP!!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Secret Santa Blog Hop {Merry Christmas!}

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I am always looking for ways to incorporate more writing into my day. You can ask any of my co-workers, though, writing is my absolute favorite subject to teach. The holidays provide so many different writing opportunities for our little sweeties. I read a book and automatically begin thinking of how I can extend the book into a writing assignment. For example, I used the template you will see below on two different days.

First, we have been learning about fairy tales, doing A LOT of comparing and contrasting, so it just made sense to try to write our own. When I taught Kindergarten I always started with a visual. It seemed to get those creative juices flowing. I would have my little kinders color a picture and then tell me about THEIR picture. Each would be uniquely written masterpieces when they were finished. This writing assignment was no different. We began by building a snowman (yes, it is okay if you just sang the Frozen song in your head...I did, too).

Next, we brought out the writing starter for A Snowy Tale. It begins like most fairy tales...Once upon a time. We discussed possibilities for their fairy tales. They were able to tell me that they should have a main character, a clear setting, a problem and a solution. My sweeties described the plot, paying careful attention to the beginning, middle, and end.

Because they were able to look at their snowman, the stories wrote themselves! I was walking around astounded and how much they were writing and how fast. Many had to use the back of the paper!!!

At the end of the week we began the second lesson, although it is not finished. We started by reading the story Snowmen at Night and then discussed snowmen activities at night. This was such a fun conversation! We brainstormed whole group on the SMART board and came up with different activities. I modeled a story where my snowman, Blizzard, constructed a game of checkers using other snowmen! They loved this activity. Again, the creative juices were flowing, and I was not pulling teeth to get an opinion writing sample before our break.

Sound like fun?! Well you are in luck because I have put all of this in a fun pack for you for FREE!!!! Merry Christmas to all of you! I wonder...how many Olaf's will you have in your class?

{Click the image above to download your freebie from my TPT store} Don't forget to provide feedback and follow me on TPT!

Don't forget to check out all my other friends in the blog hop!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wordless Wednesday {12.17.14}

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I told you I was on top of things this week! Look at me getting on my exercising in, all my planning, all my products, and all my DIYing. I must be excited about my upcoming three weeks off. Gotta love that year-round schedule! :)

What do you do to increase and reinforce comprehension skills during the holidays? What do you do to relieve stress on the weekends?

Mixed up Monday {12.15.14}

I know, I know. It has been a while. You know how the holiday season goes. BUSY BUSY! But I am back and ready to roll. New products, new crafts...you name it I am on top of it.

For today's mixed-up Monday I have for you some crafty stuff I am working on.

First up is my pallet. Here I am sanding and brush painting this baby. That was taking waaaay too long so the dear husband allowed me to use the paint sprayer. YEAH! I found a picture of what I hope the end product will look like. Check it out below as well. As soon as this is all dry I will post it up on my wall later this week. Y'all know I have to pretty it up first! :)

What I hope it will look like without the shoe rack

Next I have for you...arm knitting. While I am still in the process of producing these babies, you have to check out the YouTube video below. This lady does an amazing job at explaining how to make these cozy neck huggers. I am thinking quick and easy Christmas gifts for family and friends. BONUS!




I hope you enjoyed this week's version of Mixed Up Monday! More to come...don't forget to link up and show some love for my friends below! :)

Unwrap A Gift! A Linky Party!

 

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So I am sure as it nears Christmas you are sitting there on your couch with your eyes glassed over wondering how you will muster up enough energy to make it through the next two weeks of school before Christmas break. Am I right? Well if it is only me that feels this way I do apologize. Hehe!

As y'all know, I have recently started this little blogging journey and I am still getting the consistency down. I get better by the day and I am starting to get the hang of making products for TPT. So I have put together a little gift for you today that will help make the next two weeks a little easier.

Anything I can use in my small groups is a plus! I know many of you are looking for ways to simplify your planning for small groups. These pages may be just what you are looking for.

First, I need a schedule. I don't know about you, but I need to know who I am working with and what we will be focused on for the week. This sheet is a life saver at my table. Simple checkboxes and one or two words to describe what we are focused on. I meet with groups that are focused on similar skills and strategies to make planning easier.

This detailed lesson plan template comes in handy while I am meeting with those small groups. I can take notes, jot down any interventions, and plan out what I need to work on with certain students during our next meeting. Don't forget that academic vocabulary!!!

Pulling and tracking data is easy peasy with this progress monitoring sheet (technology is not nice to me right now...head over to the TPT store to get the freebie that is NOT digitized). I keep one of these for each student in a binder for both my READING and SMARTIES stations. I can monitor standards mastery with ease!

 And who doesn't love a good To-Do list??? Use this to make sure you have all your copies and resources in check for the week.

For this sweet little freebie, head on over to my TPT store and download. Happy Holidays y'all!!!

{Click the picture above to be taken directly to TPT to download the file}