Saturday, July 14, 2012

Hay, Hay, Hay Frog Street Friends . . .

What a great weekend we had at Frog Street Splash!Thanks to the Frogs for throwing such a fantastic celebration! I loved reacquainting with old friends and making new ones! Thank you again to everyone who came to my session! As promised here is the literacy sight word workstation "Words in the Hay" adapted from an old Mailbox magazine activity:

Materials Needed for "Words in the Hay" activity:  Bushel Basket (the one in the picture is small - I use a large bushel basket in my classroom), raffia grass/straw, craft sticks with sight words written on them and the "Words in the Hay" response sheet located at the link below.

Station Directions: Students will search through the hay and find a sight word written on a craft stick. The student will then record the sight word on the response sheet.



https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4OT0II8z1LBLVA1Ymg5WURZcHM

Don't forget to follow my blog! I'll be posting much more in the future and adding to my TpT account!

Oodles of Blessings,
Shannon

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

If the crown fits . . . then you must be a KInder Queen!

I work with an amazing group of ladies that challenge me, support me and enjoy teaching Kindergarten as much as I do! They make going to school each day a "royal" treat! We lovingly refer to ourselves as the "Kinder Queens". As a back-to-school gift, I made everyone a new sign to hang outside the door of their classroom. Are they not adorable? I couldn't help but share!



It is such a pleasure working with such an amazing group of ladies! They are all jewels! Our motto for this year is . . . "If the crown fits, then you must be a Kinder Queen!" So to my fellow Kinder Queens out there, "Reign on!" May your school year be simply royal!

Blessings,
    Shannon

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Can you spell - E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D!!!

Just wrapped up the first 2 weeks of the new school year. I am thoroughly exhausted not to mention I have lost my voice! I do believe that in all of my years of teaching, this had to be the most difficult start to the school year. Not really sure if it was adding a new teacher to our team (to accommodate the unbelievable amount of kindergartners we have) the day before Parent Orientation, working at school every night until 9 p.m., the new 7:30 a.m. start (with students in our classroom), Curriculum Night on the 2nd week of school, 21 adorable students that are social butterflies or that I'm just old. The 3 day weekend couldn't have come at a better time! I'm so thrilled to have a long weekend to rest up and refocus!  I look forward to sharing some cool posts with you next week! Until then, enjoy your weekend!

Blessings,

Shannon

Friday, August 5, 2011

To - School, To - School, It's Back to School We Go!

Is summer really coming to an end? Where did it go? As much as I dread saying good-bye to summer, I must say that I do get a little giddy and excited at setting up my classroom! You would think that after 19 years of dusting off books, wiping down shelves, hanging bulletin boards and putting away games and manipulatives that getting ready for school would be my least favorite thing to do. It's not! Preparing my classroom for those precious wide-eyed kindergartners is truly intoxicating - just like walking down the school supply aisle at Target! Who doesn't love "Back to School" time!
I spent time setting up my room yesterday and had to share one of my favorite areas in my classroom. My Writing Bar! After moving to a new campus last year, I spent all summer designing the layout for my classroom in my head. I had planned to move my teacher desk out of my room (it did not fit into my design)  only to learn that my principal wouldn't let us remove our desks. So after fretting and a lot of thinking, I came up with my writing bar idea. Students can now ignite their writing creativity at the writing bar. Bar stools, a container of fun writing tools, and a desk drawer filled with writing paper and  construction paper books greet the students with anticipation of becoming an amazing piece of writing! Thematic interactive writing cards are hole-punched and placed on rings to hang on magnets on the side of the bar. Not only can students at the writing bar use them, but they can be transported anywhere in my room to become a valuable resource for all my writers! I am so thrilled about setting this area up for my students and can't wait to read the fascinating masterpieces that will be created here! Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite area is in your classroom. Wonder what our students favorite area will be? Back to School time is almost as fun as Christmas! Here's wishing all of you a school year filled with oodles of blessings and amazing learning!


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

"Hoppening" Classroom Management

Just wanted to share a new management tool that I created for my classroom. It is a Froggy Volume Level Anchor Chart (love this idea that I found on the Miss Kindergarten blog - thanks for the inspiration Hadar!)
My other management tool is called "Feed your Frog". My student's love to feed their frog and I have found it very successful in managing particular behaviors in my classroom. Here's to a "hoppening" year of learning!
Oodles of Blessings,
Shannon

Monday, July 25, 2011

Welcome to my New Blog

I am so thrilled about my blog! Thanks to Deanna Jump and Donna Glynn for their encouragement in starting one! It was a pleasure meeting you both at Splash! In the weeks, months and years to come I hope this blog will be a true blessing to all who read it and visit it!

Oodles of Blessings,
Shannon Keller