100th Day of School Resources and Some Fab Freebies

Our 100th day of school is coming up this week!  I've hyped it up quite a bit to my students so they have been eagerly awaiting for this day to come.  I have a ton of things planned.  I just wanted to quickly post up some of my 100th day resources I created this weekend.  I will definitely post pictures of the activities that we do after we celebrate this week.  

100th Day Journal

Grab it here: 

 on TpT

or

Teacher's Notebook

100th Day Book 

(Book of 100 things)

 This book is meant to be used at different stations around the classroom. I set up 10 different stations where kids have to go to so that they can complete their book. In the end 

students will end up with 100 items in their book. 

Grab it here:

On TpT

or 

Teachers Notebook

Get this FREE 100's chart here.  There are so many uses for this chart. I use it for my 100th day activities, race to 100 game, reference, finding patterns, counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's, etc.  Students use this when they make their 100th day necklaces.  

I use this hat topper for our 100th day hats.  Click here to get it for FREE.

I just linked up with:

Click the picture to get more wonderful freebies!

Martin Luther King Jr. in Kindergarten

Last week I taught my class about Martin Luther King Jr and the importance of diversity and fairness.  I started off by telling my class that my favorite color was blue (I had on a bright blue shirt) and that everyone that had the same color t-shirt as me was in for a special treat.  I explained to them that since they wore my favorite color they get to have free time to play with toys and the rest of the students (without blue shirts) had to do seat work since they didn't wear my favorite color.  Their faces turned to sadness and disappointment, but without much complaint they headed to do their work.  Can you tell I have a very compliant class this year?  I really thought there would be more complaining.

As they watched the children playing they looked more and more disappointed.  After about 5 minutes, I told the children to clean up and to meet back on the floor. I couldn't handle more than 5 minutes of this torture because I felt terrible doing this to them.  I had to keep in mind that this scenario would help to really drive my "main idea" home.  I could tell that their emotions were high.  I asked the children how they were feeling about what just happened.  Many of my students that played said they had a great time and was glad they wore blue.  Those that didn't play complained that it wasn't fair and that they felt very sad.  From here, I was able to springboard into the topic of inequality, fairness, and why we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day.

I read they book Martin's Big Words written by Doreen Rappaport.  This book has beautiful illustrations and has a good summary of who Martin Luther King Jr. is.  Because my students emotions were high (especially students that were treated unfairly) I actually had a few of my girls cry when they heard how people were treated badly because the color of their skin.  They really started to tear up when they learned that someone had shot Martin Luther King Jr.

After reading the story, we had a discussion about how the color of our skin doesn't define us.  Martin Luther King Jr. believed that the content of our character is more important.  I showed them two different color eggs (brown and white).  I asked them what was different about the two.  They all said the colors were different.  So I proceeded to crack open the eggs and they found that contents of the eggs were completely alike.  This was a great illustration to show that just because we don't look the same, it doesn't mean one is better than the other.

Different on the outside

But similar on the inside.

We also created a poster about Martin Luther King Jr.  I got this anchor chart from Eberhart's Explorers  teachers pay teacher's store here.  She has a wonderful MLK Jr. mini unit and it's FREE!

Lastly, we created a class book about our individual dream's to change the world.  I got this great print out for free from Teaching First's blog.  

My dream is to give food to others and give tomatoes. (This student loves tomatoes!)

My dream is for people to be nice.

My dream is that everyone will be friends.

My dream is to share our food. 

My kids absolutely loved this video by Harry's Kindergarten on YouTube.  It has a very catchy beat.  They requested me to play this video at least 5 times.  Click here to watch it on YouTube.

Check out my pinterest to find other great ideas to incorporate into your MLK Jr. Lessons.  

Burnt Out and Need Some Inspiration to Keep on Teaching? Plus a Bonus: Digital Paper Freebie

Have you ever fallen asleep early in the evening or afternoon after a hard day of work and then wake up in the middle of the night totally refreshed.  I hate when this happens.  Well, this happened to me the other night and I couldn't go back to sleep for hours.  So what did I do?  Nothing productive!  While laying in bed I got out my phone and watched videos on youtube.  I probably spent an hour watching nonsense videos, but then I did come across a gem that really inspired me...it even made me tear up.  Have you seen this video?  If not, you've gotta check it out.

Mr. Wright is a high school science teacher that not only hooks his students into learning, but integrates life lessons to inspire students to become better people.  The way the students described their teacher was inspiring and I hope that I can do the same with my kiddos.  My desire is that my students know that I genuinely care about them.  Sometimes I feel like I push them too hard academically that I forget about building their character.  Yes, even kindergarten teachers get a lot of pressure from administration so that the kids can pass tests once they reach the 3rd grade, yet we get no extra support or aides because our grade level isn't mandatory (at least in my state).  Sorry, I had to throw in this little rant, haha!  Anyway, please watch the video below.






On another note...For the past few weeks I've been dabbling in photoshop and created some fun polka dot and striped digital papers.  I have an 8 digital paper sampler for you to grab up for free.

 CLICK HERE or the photo above to download this freebie!

Here's what my entire digital packs look like:

CLICK HERE of on the pictures above to get my polka dot pack on TpT.

CLICK HERE  or the picture above to get this entire striped paper pack on my TpT store.

I just linked up with Classroom Freebies.  There are so many awesome freebies that you will need to buy another hard drive...hehe!

85 Digraphs, Blends, and Alphabet Flash Cards With Bonus Charts Included

It's 2013....Happy New Year!!!!  Goodbye 2012, hello to new beginnings and hopeful changes!  I knew I was finally rejuvenated from this past semester when I started to lose track of the days.  School starts back up again this week...bring it on!  I always get motivated to teach after  long vacations.

So, now that my students know most of their letter and sounds it's time to teach them digraphs and blends! Check out my pins on pinterest for ideas on how to teach digraphs and blends.  I also created my own set of flash cards that include digraphs, blends, and letters.  It looks like this:

Click Here to get it on Teachers Pay Teachers

Click Here to get it on Teachers Notebook

Also if you haven't already downloaded my free Number Flash Cards with 10's Frames,

Click Here to get them.

I also joined up with Freebielicious for their Fabulicious Freebies on the 1st

Click Here to get more freebies

Linky Party!  Get more freebies here on Teaching Blog Addict.  It's an awesome site!

I just linked up with Classroom Freebies.  There are so many awesome freebies that you will need to buy another hard drive...hehe!