100th Day, Groudhog Day, and Valentine's Day

Although our local weathermen are not predicting March to begin with Lion-like weather, I'm just going to pretend that is what's happening.  That way, March can go out like a Lamb, which is the more important part of this whole process.  How does that sound?  If I just pretend and believe it, maybe it will come true!   So as far as  I'm concerned, March is coming in like a lion and WILL BE GOING OUT LIKE A LAMB!!!  Anyone else on board with me?????

So to make it official I am having an In Like a Lion Sale on TpT and TN.  Check out my store from Friday March 1st - Sunday March 3rd.  

Next up is a new Linky Party!!!!  If you are thinking Spring like I am, then head on over to Second Grade Nest for Jessica's March Link-Up.  You can find products for Dr. Seuss, St. Patrick's Day, Spring, and Easter!  It's like a one-stop shop!!!  

Now for a little recap of what my room looked like in February.  As I explained in my "I'm A Slacker" post, I was a little pooped once February hit because I worked my little tush off all January long.  It was the end of our 2nd marking period so report cards were due, I was creating new units like crazy to get myself all the way up to St. Patrick's Day and then I had to sit back and coast a little.  So long story short, I didn't take a lot of pictures or post much about what we were doing.  So here is a quick (VERY quick) rewind to show you what we've been working on.  I hope you find some new ideas for next year - sorry I'm late :-(

Let's start with Groundhog's Day:

We started off our day by reading the book, Go to Sleep, Groundhog by Judy Cox.  So cute!!!

Then we went into the typical Groundhog Graphing and making predictions about whether the Groundhog will see his shadow.  I used activities from these two items on TpT.  When I got them they were free --- but I'm sorry to say that they are not free anymore.  However, both authors added some adorable activities to them before pricing them and they look super cute!  So click on the picture to check out the updated version!

From Sharing Kindergarten I got this adorable poem that the kids cut up and put in order.  I wanted to make it a little cuter so I drew..... that's right, for those of you who know me, you can pick your jaw up off the floor.....I did draw this little guy!  I've figured out that I am capable of drawing but ONLY when I'm looking at a picture.  Trying to create something from scratch is not my thing.  I give SO much credit to all you wonderful Clip Art Artists out there!!!!!  

I don't have this drawing scanned in, but if I get to it I will upload it on here if anyone wants it :)

(I like the kiddo who added a little COLOR to the groundhog --- brown does get boring :-)

100th Day:

We had a little snack to celebrate 100!  I thought this was my original idea since I was standing in the supermarket wondering what to get and this came to mind.  Now I'm wondering if there may have been some "Pinspiration" that I saw somewhere but I never pinned it.  So I'm not sure if this was mine or not!

Read a couple books...

 Made this cute little gumball machine.  The idea came from Little Miss Glamour Goes to Kindergarten.  We used bingo dobbers and it was SUPER easy.    

Click below to get the label for the gumball machine.  

One more thing we did was this writing activity.  I completely forgot to get pictures of these, and they came out SO cute too!  We made a class book out of them.  Click on the picture to get your FREE copy too.  

Valentine's Day:

I used a lot of activities from Erica Bohrer's Valentine's Day Pack.  She has since added more to this pack, but I won it in a giveaway so I don't have the updated version.  You can click on the picture to go to her store and check it out.  I especially loved her "Some Bunny Loves You" card using a handprint.  They came out so cute - sorry no pics again :(

We also worked with the centers and activities in my Valentine's Day pack.

 At our Valentine's Day party we played Bingo.  You can get your FREE copy of these sheets by clicking on them.  I used a 4x4 so the games went faster and we had more winners.  The kids chose which words and where to put them on the board.  A little cut and paste and you're ready for bingo.  Of course, we used conversation hearts as markers.  

President's Day:

Finally, we ended the month with President's Day.  

After reading and learning about both of these presidents, the kids had the chance to "Show What You Know" in these two projects from my Happy Birthday, Mr. President Pack.  

I'm sorry that was a VERY BRIEF recap of our month.  I'll try to be better in March with taking pictures and sharing more often.  I hope you are able to grab the freebies to use next year!

Don't forget to enter these two amazing giveaways........only a few days left!

Happy ALMOST Friday!!!!

Prepping for President's Day

So I've been preparing for Groundhog Day, 100th Day, and Valentine's Day like crazy lately - not to mention working our way through our Penguin Unit........I had kind of forgotten that President's Day is also right around the corner.  I hope I'm not the only one.  

So I sat down to think about what I wanted to teach my students about Lincoln and Washington.  I knew I needed something to read with the kids that was appropriate for them to read.  I also wanted them to be able to show what they learned.   So as my inspiration hit, I decided I needed to work until all hours of many nights in order to finish this President's Day pack.  I'm so happy with how it came out - especially knowing that my kiddos will be having fun while learning, which is always my ultimate goal :-)   So here it is!!!!!

This is a 4-door foldable that opens to reveal lined paper for the students to write what they learned about George Washington.  I plan on reading the nonfiction readers with them and then allowing them to reread them with a partner and draw pictures to match each page.  After that, we will go over the 4 W's (yes, I know there are 5 W's but I didn't want to get into the why for this project).  I wanted something simple enough for my firsties, but still informative and fits in with common core standards, of course.  

We would then move onto Abraham Lincoln and follow the same format.  For this writing activity I made a shape book in the shape of ----- OBVIOUSLY, a top hat.  This follows the same format as above, but there are 4 top hat shaped pages for the students to write on with the 4 W Questions.

I don't know about other school districts, but our school has a Mid-Winter Break during the week of President's Day, so we will be completing these activities the following week.  Maybe we'll have a little birthday party for our wonderful presidents too.  Hmmmmmm - now more ideas are coming!!!  What could we eat for snacks??????  White House cookies....Presidential punch.....Democrat Donuts and Republican Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.......

Let me know if you have an idea for our Presidential Birthday Party - I'd love to hear it :-)

I'm actually a little excited about President's Day now ---- I'm pretty sure that teachers are the only ones that would ever say this!