Summer Updates

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I am working on some new things and some updates. Here is what I have been working on:

Book Bin Labels

This was one of my most popular pins on pinterest! So I decided to work on them and put them up for sale in my shop. I love the way they came out. I got these great bins from the dollar tree and the labels look great and make it easy for kids to return the books to the correct spot.

Check them out here: Book Bin Labels

Calendar Cards

These fun calendar cards have different pictures for each month. There are now two versions for each month so you can choose which you like best. Great for patterning and number practice. I have included 31 of each month in case you would like to swap out different months. There are also holiday cards and banners for each month! 

Grab them here: Calendar Cards

Back To School

This is a great collaboration of items that just seems to keep growing. Its filled with fun activities for the first days of school as well as useful classroom items. Schedule cards, job charts, classroom rules and much more. I am working on this update, but get it now at the cheaper price:

Back To School

Thanks for following!

Thanksgiving Freebie

Happy Thanksgiving!

Click the link below to download this FREEBIE as a thank you for your support!

Thanksgiving FREEBIE

Be sure to check out my full Thanksgiving unit with lots of great activities to make these next few weeks a little easier!

Thanksgiving Unit TPT

Start preparing for the holiday season with one of my best sellers!

NEW update with even more holidays and adorable clipart from melonheadz.

Christmas Around the World

Autumn Fun

I hope everyone has been enjoying Autumn! 

Here are some fun projects we have been doing in our classroom:

Apple Activities

We started our Autumn Unit learning about apples. We read some great nonfiction stories and practiced labeling. Then we did an apple taste test and created a graph of our favorite apples. 

One of my favorite activities that I have done every year are these fall trees. Children decorate their page and then use Q-tips to paint the leaves.

These activities along with other fun ones can be found in my autumn unit plan:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Autumn-Unit-Plan-208108

Each month we make different sun catchers to hang on our windows. For the month of October we made Jack O'Lanterns:

We will be starting our leaf sun catchers this week! Pictures to follow soon!

One of my favorite Halloween projects goes along with the story "Go Away Big Green monster". I had the kids draw the monster from the story to recall details. Then they cut and rearranged the sentence to spell the story title. So fun and they all came out so unique!

One of our favorite stories this year was Spookely the Square Pumpkin. Since we were learning about shapes in math, I came up with this fun idea. Children created their own shape pumpkin, then cut and built the sentence about their pumpkin. 

The week before Halloween we read the story "Room On The Broom" and then did a draw and write about our favorite part of the story. At the end of the week we watched the movie to go along with the story. It's available on Netflix!

This was a child led lesson that happened at recess last week. After a story, our playground was covered with beautiful leaves. A few kids got the idea to collect and sort them by color. Before long most of the class was helping. It was a lot of fun and they were so proud they wanted a photo!

Happy Fall!

Please share any fun ideas you do in your classroom. 

If you use any of these activities or any activities from my units please tag @kindergartenlife123 on instagram or facebook!

I am working on new ways to give special freebies to my followers! So stay tuned and thank you for your support!

Classroom Supply Organization - FREEBIE!

I've been back in the classroom for two days organizing and getting things ready! Definitely overwhelming at first, but once you get started it gets easier. I wanted to share how I organize the classroom supplies for the children.

We have tables instead of desks, so it is hard to have each child have their own supplies. What I started last year was giving each table a color and bins with the supplies they need. I have upgraded this year and changed some things based on what worked and what did not last year. Here are some photos:

I have five tables. Each group has a bin for pencils, markers, crayons and scissors & glue. Before we begin a project the "Table Leaders" are told what their group will need. They are responsible for getting the buckets and bring them back to the table. I found that making this one of the weekly class jobs avoided arguing and children racing to the supply shelf. 

Last year I filled those caddies with pencils and the big slot with crayons. I found it was difficult for the kids to share the crayons when they were kept in one bin. It often led to arguing or someone 'hogging' the bucket. So I searched pinterest for some ideas and here is what I found:

I got these great little bins at the dollar tree. They came in packs of 2 or 3 for a dollar! They fit crayons PERFECTLY! It's like thats what they were made for. So I bought enough for each child to have their own and a bin to keep them in for each table. Each child will have a labeled crayon box of their own!

I'm still trying to think of some other things I can keep in the caddies besides pencils and colored pencils. Any ideas? Feel free to share!

I am so happy with the way this turned out and can't wait to start using them with my new class! I hope you will find them helpful as well. I posted the labels in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE! Click on the link below to get your own labels!

School Supply Labels - FREEBIE!

World Traveler Unit - NEW!

I've been spending the last few weeks updating one of my most popular units, World Travelers. The unit plan explores 22 countries! Each country has a fact page and a journal page. There are also literacy, writing and math activities included! Here is a preview of what is included:

Each country has a cute character that teaches about each culture. Then there is a journal page to go along with it. 

There is a journal page for each continent as well. 

There are three class book ideas that come with color cover and journal pages. This is one of my favorites. It is by the author Karen Katz and it is based on a story called "The Color of Us". It is a great story that teaches children about different skin colors.  

   

Click on the books above to see the books on Amazon.

Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store to purchase this unit. Over 100 pages of activities!

All About ME!

I've spent the past few days updating this unit. I am in LOVE with the way it came out and I can't wait to use it this year. There is a great book for the kids to create all about themselves. The pages are so cute and fun! It makes a great keepsake!

All About ME!

There are also a bunch of great graphing activities included. There is a fun Eye Color Graph and Pie Chart to make with your class. It was tricky to make, but it hung in our room all year!

Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and download the preview for a FREE birthday graphing activity!

TPT Sale

Be sure to check out Teachers Pay Teachers on Monday 8/3 and Tuesday 8/4 for the sale! Everything in my store will be an additional 20% off. Use the code: BTS15 at checkout!