Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Spectacular September give away: Time to Teach Kidz games!

Congratulations first of all to Julie and Jamie for winning last week's contest for a Hip Notions Tool Belt. :)

Now onto this week's prize:

 Up for grabs are two nice educational games, hand-made by Etsy seller Time to Teach Kidz. One is a CVC-words game where children find the missing letter in a word. The other game is Letter Bingo. Both come in bright colors, laminated, pre-cut and ready to play, each in it's own little plastic envelope/pouch. These are very nice and this seller has lots of choices for more games in her Etsy store at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TimetoTeachKidz





To enter to win, do any of the following and you'll get one entry for each thing you do. Leave me a comment on here letting me know exactly which things you did so I can count up your entries. One winner will be chosen to receive both games on Sunday Sept. 29th. :) Good luck!

  • Comment on this post with your contact email included (no spam I promise; I just need to reach the winner)...1 entry.
  • Share this blog post on Facebook...1 entry
  • follow me on Pinterest under http://www.pinterest.com/iteachpreschool
  • Tweet this post....1 entry.
  • Pin this post on Pinterest...1 entry
  • Grab my blog button for your blog...1 entry
  • Follow me on Google...1 entry
  • Add Time to Teach Kidz Etsy store to your favorite Etsy stores (URL listed above)...1 entry.






Friday, September 20, 2013

Egg carton painting: fall trees

   Today my "littles" painted fall art using recycled egg cartons. So much fun and minimal mess. The egg cartons make perfect stampers.

  I started off by cutting some brown paper tree trunk shapes for the class to glue on their papers. Then I cut an egg carton into sections. I cut mine into fours because I wanted really full trees. I poured some washable paint into pie pans and let the kiddos dip the newly-made stampers into the paint and onto the paper. Easy peasy. I set out the fall paint colors and let them have at it. The egg carton's dividers naturally stick up and make a great little handle for gripping.

  These photos are of me testing the idea before presenting it to a class full of wiggly preschoolers. I will add their photos when I get them uploaded.





That's all for now folks!



Saturday, September 14, 2013

Spectacular September Blog Give Away

   I am so excited! I have had around 8 GREAT ETSY SELLERS who have been kind enough to agree to send me items to give away on my blog! Each of these seller's shops have wonderful things for educators of all ages.

 The first two packages have rolled in this weekend. I couldn't wait to open them. It's like Christmas at my house when I get a package. ;) I squeal like a 5 year-old. 

 Inside my package I found not one, BUT TWO fantastic Hip Notions Tool Belts from Betty of www.BettyOttesen.com (or on Etsy.com under http://www.etsy.com/shop/BettyOttesenSewing) Thank you Betty; that was very generous of you. :)

  

 First of all, you need to pay Betty a visit at her store because she has tool belts for everyone. No matter the occupation, she likely has a cool tool belt that will help you at work, from gardening to sewing to teaching, to even belts for veterinarians. Even just around the house, this would be handy. I got to thinking about my late grandmother who had to rely on a walker to walk. One of these belts would have been good for her to wear with a phone inside, some tissues, a water bottle, medication, a snack for blood sugar fluctuation, a whistle in case she fell while outside, etc.   There are just so many uses for these nifty belts.

 The teacher tool belts are just the right size to carry essentials around with you: tissues, hand-sanitizer, whistle, pens/pencils, treats, even change for the lounge cola machine when you need a caffeine jolt. 

  Betty sent me two colors: kelly green and a brown belt with a measuring tape patterned-ribbon trim. Both are very sturdy and light-weight. The belts for give away will vary somewhat from the ones pictured. I know you will enjoy using your Hip Notions Tool Belt in the home or classroom or on a field trip. Please stop by and tell Betty "Thanks!" if you are one of the two lucky winners.

I want to win this tool belt...tell me how!
Ok, it's pretty simple: for each thing you do, you can get one entry.


  • Comment on this post with your contact email included (no spam I promise; I just need to reach the winner)...1 entry.
  • Share this blog post on Facebook...1 entry


  • Tweet this post....1 entry.
  • Pin this post on Pinterest...1 entry
  • Grab my blog button for your blog...1 entry
  • Follow me on Google...1 entry
  • Add Betty's Etsy store to your favorite Etsy stores (URL listed above)...1 entry.


Just come back here and in the comments box, tell me which of the things you did and I will put your name in the hat for each entry (really, I am old-fashioned and this is my first contest, so literally, your name will be drawn out of a hat by my 8-year old daughter. There is a more efficient way to do this, I am sure).

The winner will be notified for shipping purposes and then posted on my blog. Deadline to enter is Sept. 21, 2013. The winner will be drawn on Sunday, Sept. 22.

Blessings, and have fun!
Lynn



Sunday, September 8, 2013

Book Buddy Bag

   Starting tomorrow I will be back in my old classroom at work as a lead teacher. After spending the last year as an aide in another room, I admit I am both nervous and excited about this. Crowd control and classroom management are the hardest parts of being the lone ranger teacher in a group of 4's and 5's, but I love this age and how eager they are to learn. Everything is exciting to them it seems, and I really enjoy getting them kindergarten-ready.

   As I prepare for my new/old room,  I will be using ideas that I tried when I first got the position a few years ago. I plan to post those ideas that worked here for you. They are simple but helped me and I hope they will be a help to you as well.

   One of the easiest ideas is the Book Buddy Bag. The goal of this tool is to get families to read together and to get preschoolers to value literacy and get comfortable with books and print. I have used this in many classrooms over the years. It can be as simple as you want it to be. How much you put in the bag and what you load it with is up to you (and what you think your parents and students would enjoy of course). The bag can be themed if you like.

   The idea is to purchase or recycle a canvas tote bag. Now dig through your stash of books and find a few that you don't care to part with. Add these to the bag, along with a stuffed "buddy" to read with your student.



 That's the bare bones version of the Book Buddy Bag. And the kids are usually eager to take turns bringing the bag home with them. I send it home with a different child every weekend with instructions to return it on the child's next day back (make sure all your items are labeled---even then you may lose a few things here and there. I like to recycle older books and buy my bookworm and tote bag at the Dollar Tree so I am not breaking the bank if an item should fail to be returned).

    While this minimal approach works great and accomplishes my goal, I like to go more in-depth with it. I like to put 4-5 books of different interests and reading levels in the bag so the children have lots of choices from which to read. I also like to make themed bags with activities that tie in with the book. A good example of this is to pack in a book such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and then add in a pouch of cookie mix and baggie of cookie cutters/sprinkles/pouch of icing. Or an ABC puzzle to go with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Or a book bag on insects could feature insect manipulatives to explore. Craft sheets or simple craft kits are always fun in your book bag and usually match a variety of themes (make sure to include everything needed to complete the craft, even a small pair of scissors and a glue stick). The holidays lend themselves to all sorts of great themed bags. And don't forget multicultural bags and bags that tie in with your lesson plans.

  One of the most important parts of the bag is the folder. The folder will contain your instructions for borrowing and using the bag, and when to return it. Mine also contains pre-cut construction paper circles that have room for a student's name and the name of the book(s) he or she read. I hang these filled-in circles on the wall to make a class book worm during the year. And the folder contains a template for a book report form for the family to fill in if they want to.  I got mine FREE from the Time 4 Kindergarten store on the  Teachers Notebook site (http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/Tiffani/kindergaten-book-report). Thanks to the seller who posted this! I keep the reports to go into each child's end-of-the-year portfolio.

  Here are my instructions for using the bag (this is laminated and inserted into the front pocket of the folder).
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3y7orz1hTTGUlh0TW5wWjZ4bkU/edit?usp=sharing

 I hope this inspires you to make your own class Book Buddy bag. I would love to see what you include in yours! All comments welcome. :)

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Spectacular September give-away!

 To celebrate back-to-school and all the great teachers out there who work hard every day to change lives, I have rounded up a host of fantastic Etsy sellers who are generously donating some fabulous items from their shops to give away here on my blog.

 I am so excited! I will soon be receiving the products and setting up the give away so please check back each week.


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Free 5-week trial of Reading Eggs




As I was sitting in the doctor's office this morning reading Parenting magazine, I saw an ad for a new web site called Reading Eggs. It was colorful, very graphic-intense, and immediately caught my eye. You see, I have a child who is encountering some trouble reading this year, and the appeal of flashy game sites lures her in, whereas I want her to learn something from the games she's playing. So I am always willing to test a web site and see if she likes it and if she grows from it.

   Well, Reading Eggs tossed me the bait and reeled me right in! They are offering a free 5- week (yes, you read it right...5-WEEK) trial.  You can try this amazing offer at http://readingeggs.com/try . Let me also quote a bit from their website so you can get an idea of what they claim to provide:

A Breakthrough In Learning To Read!

Reading Eggs Will Teach Your Child To Read In Just Weeks! Register For Your FREE 5 Week Trial Now.
Reading Eggs provides a comprehensive range of online reading lessons, activities and ebooks that teach kids aged 3-13 the core literacy skills needed for reading success.


Featuring colorful animations, catchy music, sing-a-longs and heaps of exciting rewards, Reading Eggs makes learning to read fun and motivational for children. 


Take advantage of our FREE 5 week trial and see how your child’s reading improves with Reading Eggs!


Proven Reading Results

  • Over 90% of parents have noticed an improvementin their child’s reading ability since using Reading Eggs
  • Based on solid scientific research
  • Used by over 2 million children (and counting!)
  • Developed by expert educators with 20+ years’ experience
  • Money-back guarantee

Why Children Love Reading Eggs

  • Over 512 interactive games, motivating rewards and songs
  • Makes reading fun – kids want to learn
  • One–on–one lessons match your child’s ability
  • Detailed assessment reports show and recognize progress
  • Suitable for children aged 3 – 13
  •                                       
  •  -from  www.readingeggs.com, Blake Elearning, 2013
I plan to give this site a try. If any of you test it in your home or classroom, please come back here to blog about your experiences.

Blessings,