Only 6 1/2 more days and a fun linky!

The final countdown has begun! Only 6 1/2 more days with kids and a professional development day! I can't wait till summer! Yesterday was the first taste of summer and I loved it! My hubby and I went to the lake with family and friends. It was a great way to kick off the summer! 

This week I am linking up with Finding Joy in 6th Grade to reflect and look toward next year! If anyone has any suggestions on my goals for next year, I would love to hear them!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Kindergarten Fun!

This has been such a busy week, I am so glad tomorrow is Friday! Our school did something really cool this week. We all mixed up for one day. Every teacher on our campus got put in a different grade level and classroom for the day. This is our way of building relationships with students in other grades and classes! I was so excited because I got to be in Kindergarten! The last time I was in kinder was student teaching and I LOVED it! I could not wait to be in kinder and I got to teach one of my sweet friends class, which made it even better! After spending the day with these kinders I can't wait to see them next year in 1st grade! I had so much fun that I thought I would share it with you.

First thing Wednesday morning I picked up her sweet class from the cafeteria! I just have to tell you it warmed my heart how stinkin' excited they were that I was their teacher for the day. They immediately started talking to me about how excited they are about next year and what they have been learning in kinder. It had to have been the funniest and warm walk down the hallway ever. It was great to hear and see how much they have learned this year!

When we got in the room the first thing they did was unpack and write in their journals. The prompt was "I was walking through the jungle and I saw..." They were all writing about the animals that they have learned about while studying the rain forest it was so fun to read and hear them read their writing.

After writing we watched morning announcements and did the morning message. This is something that I haven't done with my kids but I definitely think I might try it next year. It was fun and they were very excited about it.

Then we got to learn about SLOTHS! Yes, you heard me correctly we learned about the Two-Toed Sloth that lives in the Rain forest. First we went to the Smithsonian's website and read the fact sheet and highlighted some of the important and interesting facts. Then we read Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth by: Eric Carle. This was such a cute book that would also be great to teach synonyms and vocabulary.

Then they completed the can, have, are chart with me. After that we wrote 2 facts about the sloth and drew a picture in our rain forest flip books. She has some awesome writers in their room and used some of the synonyms in the book!

After that we moved into centers! It was awesome to see these cuties being so independent!

Then it was off the recess! Two of the other teachers on our campus that got put in kindergarten had a blast at recess with out kinders. Does anyone remember Kindergarten Cop?

Then it was time for Picnic lunch, in the classroom because of the rain. It was P day on the ABC countdown till the end of the year in kindergarten. They loved eating in the room. After lunch it was time for Istation in the computer lab, absolutely love how engaged the kids are during that program.

When we returned back to class it was time for math tubs! They were such great mathematicians!

Then they went to PE and it was time for my conference time. After dismissal and duty I returned to my class to

Overall it was great day and I loved being in Kinder. Maybe I could be a kinder teacher? Hmmm something to think about, lol!

After dismissal and duty I returned to my class to find this sweet gift from one of my kiddos. They are so sweet and thoughtful and I am so thankful for my class!

Have a great night!

Featured on New Teacher Blog Tuesday

Good Morning!

First off I just want to say that my heart goes out to the people of Moore, OK. Today is going to be a difficult day and I hope that everyone keeps them in their thoughts and prayers today. As a teacher I am especially thinking of those from the elementary school, that is my worst nightmare! Please keep this community in your prayers in the days ahead.

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him." ~ Matthew 11:25-30

 On a happy note, I am so honored to be featured on Dana's blog Fun in 1st Grade! She is such and inspiration and I love that she features new blogs each Tuesday! Thank you Dana for the opportunity!

Go check out the post and my fellow New Teacher Blog peeps!

Monday, Monday

Good Morning!

Wow! The weekend went sooo fast! I had such a great weekend though! Friday night when Mr. Prater got off work we had a quiet dinner at home then went and met a friend for adult fun! On Saturday, I got to spend some much needed time with my mom, isn't amazing how when you become an adult your mom becomes one of your best friends. Then Saturday night Mr. Prater and I went with good friends to play BINGO, yes, you heard me correctly BINGO! Guess what? It was a lot of fun and I WON! I think this will definitely become a monthly activity for us, I know kinda dorky but very fun! The best day by far though was Sunday! Sunday morning I went to church with family and got to spend the afternoon with my sister and my awesome 2 nephews. I just love those to little boys! I also love the way my nephew Jax greets me with "AUNT JACQUE!" and runs to me and hugs and kisses me like I am a long lost friend. It warms my heart every time! (He also greets his Uncle that way too! Makes me melt even more.) The best part of my weekend though was meeting my hubby at the movies to see The Great Gatsby. It was so fun to relive those days of meeting a date at the movies and getting all dolled up. It was such a good night! If you liked the book you will like the movie! 

Friday we finished up our unit on Area! They loved doing and I was so proud of how they did on their Check What You Know, my way of saying test. I just don't like the work test so for math I call them check what you know's and in reading I call them did ya get it's. The kids seem a little less stressed with that language. For this week's check what you know they had to find the area of shapes using color tiles and then create 2 shapes using centimeter square paper. Then write a sentence comparing them. They did awesome! Get a copy of the Check What You Know here!

This week we are working on capacity! This is one of my favorite things to teach in math because they love it! Today we started off with Kindergarten-Kindergarten's powerpoint and activities! She has such great ideas on how to teach measurement.

First they had to decide the best container for giving an elephant a bath and explain why.

Next we lined up various containers from Lest to Greatest capacity. This was interesting to hear and see their thinking when putting them in line.

The last thing we did was write in our math journal. They had to draw and label something that had a greater capacity than their water bottle. It was fun to see their creativeness when they did this.

Hope everyone has a blessed and wonderful day! Continue to pray for the families affected by the tornadoes in Cleburne and Granbury, TX as well as those in the Midwest! What a hard thing to live through and have to clean up. Prayers with you all!

Area and Food Chain Fun!

Good Morning!

It has been a long week and it's only Wednesday! Oh well, it has been long but it has been fun!

This week we are working on Area in math. I shared one of the activities here. Yesterday we created pictures and figured the area of our pictures. Today we created stained glass windows. First I started calling out areas and they created shapes that had that area. After doing that for half the page I told them to finish the page with their own shapes and write the area of that shape. Here are some pictures of our area fun!

 We are also studying Food Chains in Science this week! Here are some the great technology resources that we are using this week to investigate food chains! The kids absolutely love the videos, but the game is their favorite!

This one is free right now!

Have a great day!!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone! Is anyone else overwhelmed with all the things you have to do for the end of the year? I know I am! 

This week we are working on Area in math! Today I borrowed a great idea from one of my sweet teacher friends, Mrs. Elmore! We created a foldable where I gave the students the area of a shape and they had  to create a shape that was that area! They loved it and it was so simple. I used my basic foldable template! You can get it here, and it's free! Then I gave each student a page of graph paper. They colored the area in and cut it out and glued! Here is a couple of examples!

For homework this week they will be creating stained glass windows in power point and figuring the area! They have loved doing the measurement power points the last couple weeks! Click on the link below to download a copy!

Area of a Stained Glass Window

Hope everyone has a great day!

Writing

Good Morning!

I hope everyone is having a GREAT Wednesday! 

Today we are working on our end of the year writing sample. Does anyone else get frustrated when their kids just rush through it when you can't help them? I do! Most of the time they are such good writers, but whenever we do an independent writing sample it's like all the good writing habits disappear! Well anyways, I stopped them and we are going to try writing again this afternoon. I am pulling out the draft mat we used at the beginning of the year to organize their thinking! I think it will help. I HOPE IT WILL HELP!

Click on the picture to get a copy of our draft mat!

On a personal note, Mr. Prater got a NEW job this week! He is working at Sam's Club now and absolutely loves it! So thankful for God's blessings in our lives!

Today is my Daddy's birthday! I am so thankful that I have such a loving and caring dad that is always there for me NO MATTER WHAT! When I was a little girl my dad used to sing "Waltz Across Texas" to put me to sleep, on my wedding day that is the song we 2-stepped to! Dad, thank you for always being there and bringing our family to Texas where we have been so blessed and where I met my husband! I will forever be your baby girl and will love you forever!

Have a great day!