Olympics Art Activity

Olympics fever has hit my classroom this week! We have been on the countdown all term and the kiddos are very excited that Rio is not too far away.

We read about the Rio Olympic torch and then created this easy art activity (inspired by this post and idea from Art with Mr Giannetto).

I made the above as a sample but then realised I didn't have enough glitter glue so we created the version below using this template I whipped up (download it for free here).

The kiddos followed the following steps (you can get the pdf of the instructions here and the rings printable here):

If you haven't heard of or used Supertac it is kid friendly 'super' glue from Zart Art. It is a bit expensive at $20 a tub but it is worth the investment as it lasts for ages and really sticks.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bec
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Classroom Set-Up for 2016: Part 1 & a Freebie

How did it get to be that time again?! I have to admit this is my favourite part of the start of the school year, searching for cute stuff & ideas for my room. The actual setting up, not so much. I'm not so much a theme person more a anything cute person, so my room is always a mishmash of stuff. This year I'm going towards a pencil theme with a fair bit of Minions (click here for my Minion post & freebie from last year) & some other random stuff thrown in. Plus, be prepared for this shocker...... I'm a teacher who does not like laminating *Gasp* Yeah, I hate it. 

After that revelation, here is a list of random things that I will be including in my 2016 classroom:

I have already purchased these gorgeous pencil containers. Ok, yes I do already own about 20 different containers but none that are PENCIL shaped, so there (said to my 2015 class who were always on my case about how much stuff I kept buying. The cuties).

I already have these crayon's ready for my door display to kind of match my pencil containers but I haven't laminated the wonderful things yet (sigh). I think we'll read the Day the Crayons Quit in the first week, even though I'm teaching Grade 3/4 a refresher of colouring never hurts. I'm you'd like a free copy of the door display click here to download.

Read & the Force Will be With You Bunting for my reading corner. It's a great freebie from Mrs O Reads Books (I completely stole this idea from a friend who is having a Star Wars theme, too cute not to include).

I want to buy coloured bracelets for group sorting like these ones Christi has used from Mrs Fultz's Corner.

I love this tree for our reading area from A Batty Life but not sure if we'll have space for it.

I've been meaning to add the vertical & horizontal labels for a while as I get it confused myself (yeah, I just admitted to that) like this one from The Applicious Teacher.  

I love this "Be" display. It might be a good idea for a first week of school activity.

I'm sure there will be more added to this list soon. Stay tune for another post & more freebies.

Editing freebie

I'm finally getting around to updating my very first TpT products {cringe}. Download this cute CUPS freebie here, updated with Mel's very cute scrappy cup clipart.

We use CUPS to help us to remember to edit for capitals, understanding, spelling and punctuation. Perfect for any grade level.

National Gummi Worm Day & a Freebie

My random googling for our first week back from Winter break paid off when I found out that this Wednesday the 15th of July is National Gummi Worm Day. Who knew?! 

We may be cheating a bit by 'celebrating' this in Australia as I'm guessing the National part means America but shhh I won't tell anyone that.  Plus, we are starting a new Inquiry unit with the focus on Life & Living so at least worms will tie in nicely.

Download this free Worm mini-reader here. This is great for Kindergarten as it includes high frequency words and would be an easy to make take home reader. Simply print, cut & have students read and colour the worms to match. There are 8 half-pages in total.

If you want to join in with the fun here are some other activities you might include:

Measure with Gummi Worms.
Idea 1- Use Gummi Worms as an informal measurement tool, for example, how many Gummi worms long is the table? Nancy over at First Grade Wow has a fantastic free worm measuring unit (cover pictured) that includes a worm craft. Definitely check it out!

Visit Nancy's blog or click on the image to go to her blog to download this unit.

Idea 2- Use a ruler to measure the length of a bag of Gummi Worms like Rachel did with her kids at Kids Activity Blog.

Image credit

Idea 3- Stretch & measure your Gummi worm like K-5 Math Resources did! And they have a great freebie to record the information too. Click on the image to download.

Image credit

Experiment with Gummi Worms like this fantastic science fair project on Candy Experiments. 

Image credit.

Watch the Discovery Channel video on how Gummi lollies (candy) are made here.

Make your own Gummi Worms. Recipe here.

Read the Diary of a Worm By Doreen Cronin or watch the book being read here.

Happy Gummi Worm Day! Any excuse to eat lollies will do, right?!

Reward Coupon Freebies

I'm always on the hunt for different behaviour reward systems and have struck gold using Reward Coupons this year. They are so simple and my kiddos LOVE them.

This system is really easy to implement, just print and laminate. My kiddos choose one of these from the "Token Box" when they have filled their reward chart.

There are lots of great versions of these around. I have a really simple version available as a freebie. Just click on any of the pics to download or follow this link.

This freebie includes 9 different cards, with 4 to a page. I've kept them at this size as I have printed them but they would also work well as a smaller card. Just print 2 to a page.

Enjoy! And while you're here, please go like my new Facebook page for more updates & freebies.

Halloween Freebie!

In preparation for Halloween I have added this cute "My little monster" mini-reader to my store. 

The mini-book is 8 pages each with a different colour word instruction for your students on each page.

To download, click on either image or this link. Please leave some comment love if you download :) 

Goal Setting- Worksheet Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! I have a cute little worksheet to share with you that I use with my poppets for Goal Setting each term.

To download just click on any of the pics above or go here.

Planning our future learning is really important and I love hearing what the kidlets write. We do LOTS of prior brainstorming and modelling of 'good' goals.  As you can see all my hinting at "reading, writing, numbers" doesn't always pay off and that's why I added the bottom box this year so I can add in an extra 'teacher goal'.

Their goals fit in with things that are important to them and that's what makes them valid and important. 

My favourite part about goal setting with Prep {kindergarten} is that sometimes I get goals like this...

Incase you can't read it-

"I am a super star at gluing venom with superman glue. I would like to get better at making straight arms". This kid thinks he's Spiderman. Weirdest goal ever. Love him!

So really, the best bit is that they are SUPER hilarious! And I love my kidlets to bits.

Hope you find this activity useful,

Swap, Share, Give: A blog linky from Down Under!

I am so excited to share this with you today! I have been super fortunate to be part of a Product Swap, Share & a Giveaway with some very talented Australian bloggers & TpT sellers, so we bring you.....

This has been organised by Lauren over at Love, Laughter & Learning in Prep, go there to see the other great peeps, products & links.

~ SWAP ~

I was paired up with the very talented Brooke from Teachable Moments to try out one of her amazing products. I choose her Find it & Clip it: Initial & Final Sounds Pack.

This was perfect for my Preps who recognise most letters & are exploring sounds. We worked on initial sounds only & this was a great product to be used in a focus group.

The kidlets LOVED pegging & had great discussions with others in the group to work out the sound. Also their stretching out and use of cued articulation to figure out the beginning sound made my heart soar. We have only been at school for 9 weeks & they are just superstars.

We worked on the cards for two sessions before we used the worksheet to record the sound/letter. They loved copying the letter & were concentrating so hard to get it right.

This little dude was so thrilled to work out that moon started with "m". The smile was huge!

I am planning to pick this up again after the holidays as a review and then focus more on final sounds. This is a great pack for Kindergarten & the clipart is perfect- colourful, clear & had the kidlets hooked. Thanks to Brooke for sharing this with me, we will definitely be using it again.

~ SHARE ~

This is one of my favourite attention getters. This poster is perfect when first introducing it to your class or as a reminder throughout the year. Click on the pic or go here to download it.

~ GIVE ~

Enter our Giveaway to win one copy of each of the products swapped! Simply follow each of our stores :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To check out the other posts visit Lauren over at Love, Laughter & Learning in Prep.

100th post, a giveaway & some freebies

*Sigh* My last week of holidays is quickly coming to an end but it's probably a good thing because there is only so much cricket & Aussie Open tennis that I can handle!

I'm really excited to be starting this year. I have a really positive outlook and I'm determined to stick with it!

For anyone else starting back to school in the next few weeks or for anyone looking for some new resources here's a quick update/reminder of a few of the freebies I have in my store. Just click on the pics to go the freebie! 

Welcome Back to School Bookmarks

Beginning of the year counting assessment for Kindergarten/Prep

Make 18 Math Game

And this is officially my 100th post {it's only taken a year to get here}! Just follow my Facebook page to win your choice of $10 worth of products from my store.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back to school- A freebie, Letters Home & Collecting Information

Our school year is scarily getting closer to beginning. I'm a bit excited and a fair bit nervous/stressed about starting over at a new place but I think we are going to have a great year. I have really struck gold with my teaching buddy, so far we are thinking exactly the same way & have gotten a lot done in the last 2 weeks.

We mailed our Prep Letters yesterday, which are just a little welcome pack for our new preppies. They get a thrill having a big envelope sent home!

This year we included-

Welcome Letter
Just without the love hearts {the big one is covering up the school logo}.

We included the link at the end for our parents to fill out our google form. 

We asked them to let us know about any special interests/other information, how their poppet would be getting home each day & if/when they may be available to be helpers in our rooms.I'm very excited that we have already had two parents fill it out!

About Me/Meet the Teacher sheet

A bookmark
With cute Scrappy Kids graphics from Mel at From the Pond. If you would like your own copy of the bookmark go here for the freebie.

Ready Confetti

 That's our fat cat Axel keeping watch a.k.a. trying to play with the sequins.

Isn't this the sweetest idea?! I found this very cute, free poem from O"Fish"ally First Grade. We are really hoping the kidlets get a kick out of this. I filled the bags with paper confetti, assorted sequins, coloured stars and plastic jewels. I made up all 50 bags while watching 4 episodes of Buffy {season 3 incase you wondered}. Totally worth it!

We also put in the Literacy testing timetable and would have normally included a class photo but we decided we'll send this home instead on the first day (shh, we forgot to print it!).

How are your back to school plans or 100th Day of School plans going?