Penguins! (Freebie!)

 I have to say, I love to teach my Penguin unit! There's just something about penguins that makes me smile! It is so easy to incorporate science and geography into this unit too (and talk about a non-fiction bonanza - this is the perfect topic to expand your nonfiction library)! I'm starting off the New Year with my Penguin unit and then incorporating a Snowman unit in there too. So January will be pretty much all chilly dudes all month long! Today I'm going to share my favorite Penguin Unit read alouds (click here to see my Snowman list!) and some freebies:

So many great books - and only so many days in January to read them!

Have you ever done the Blubber Glove science experiment? It is so much fun and so easy to do! I am really looking forward to the writing my firsties will be able to do about it!

I'm trying my hand at a penguin glyph - I love glyphs because they're the perfect way to justify something "cutesie" (is it just me or do you feel the need to justify doing a craft project with your students?) Here is a finished picture of the ones my own children completed (they are my guinea pigs :) .

  I have 3 boys (5,7 and 10) and 1 daughter (she's 12) plus I made one too!

I think they came out adorable, don't you?

Here are some close ups:

I have to tell you, making the templates for these penguins was hard! I had my daughter come up with the basic concept (cause she's way more artistic than I am!) and then my husband helped me to draw everything to scale. So I am super proud of these and would love it if you left me a note if you're going to use them in your classroom! Almost forgot to tell you, I left the age blank on the graph and recording sheet so that you could change it for whatever grade you're using it with - make sure to fill the age part in before you make your copies! 

I plan on hanging blue butcher paper on my bulletin board, adding white snow mounds and arranging the penguins so some are on top of the mountains, some are sliding down the sides and some are standing in front. Then  I will spray it all with glitter and we'll have a great bulletin board for January! Which title do you like better? "Slip Sliding Into a New Year!" or "Sliding Back to School!" ? For those of you who don't have a Scribd account, you can also grab this penguin glyph for free in my TPT store, just click here :)

Penguin Glyph

11 in 11 Linky Party!

Woohoo I got invited to a party! (I'm going to assume I'm one of the Jennifers that Kristin mentioned - makes me feel happy :) Kristin over at A Teeny Tiny Teacher and Hadar from Miss Kindergarten are having a linky party about all things 2011, make sure to join up!




11. Favorite movie you watched - Oh wow, looks like this linky party is designed to show how lame I am. I don't watch many adult movies I'm afraid! I'm going to have to go with the final Harry Potter movie - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. It was great - but bittersweet too knowing that it was the last one! I am really hoping that J.K. Rowling comes out with another book based on the wizarding world!

10. Favorite TV series - I am a total GLEEK! I love watching Glee, listening to the cds in my car (singing along at the top of my lungs much to my children's chagrin!) and talking about it to my teaching buddies. I knew I was going to love my btb (best teaching bud) when she pulled up Glee's version of "Hey Soul Sister" on her Smartboard after school so we could have a dance party! And, the reality show "The Glee Project" really made my summer - what could be better than getting to vote on new characters for your favorite show?!

9. Favorite restaurant: Hmmm, this is a tough one! I think I'm going to have to go with Atlanta Bread Company simply because of their Kid's Nights on Tuesdays! You  can't beat 99 cent kids meals plus I love their soups - perfect on a chilly night! Not to mention it's on my way home so when we have extra-curricular events after school we can stop for a healthyish meal without me having to cook!

8. Favorite new thing you tried: Blogging! I love it! So glad I spent my summer wisely pouring over teaching blogs and developing my own. It is my outlet and my inspiration all rolled into one! I know some of you are going to say that I copied Kristin's answer on this one - well, yeah, I did. The only other new thing I tried in 2011 was teaching 1st grade and let me tell you - I love my firsties, but I can't wait to get back to kindergarten!

7. Favorite gift you received: My fleece electric blanket. Yep, that's right,I am now the proud owner of an electric blanket and let me tell you, it is heaven! I have chronically cold feet, and I like our household temperature to be at least 4 degrees warmer than the hottest everyone else in my house can stand. So my darling husband got me an electric blanket to keep me toasty. It is soft and warm and so snugglable that I fall asleep in minutes. I'd post a picture but you really don't want to see me with all the drool and bedhead.

6. Favorite thing you pinned: My crate seats! So easy and fun and I get compliments on them all the time!

5. Favorite blog post: I'm going to have to skip this one. I know my posts aren't all that, they're just fun for me :)

4. Favorite accomplishment: I won 1st place in the Playmobil Teacher grant contest and my lesson plan is displayed on the website! I got a $500 prize and a ton of Playmobil sets for my classroom! Click here to see it - I was so psyched to win this!

3. Favorite picture: Oh my - I hope I'm not supposed to be in it, because that's just not happening! I'm going to have to go with this one I made on picnik.com, I love this quote and the picture is awesome!

2. Favorite memory: On April 23rd our house burned. We had been out at an Easter egg hunt with the kids and had ignored all our cell phone calls, so when we pulled up to the house to see fire trucks outside and firemen coming out the door it was a total shock. My first thought was for our pets and I cannot tell you how relieved and blessed I felt when I was told that all of them made it out alright - even the bunny was saved by a fireman who hauled his whole cage outside! I will never forget running up to a fireman and asking him if my dog was okay. She was my baby and I nearly cried just hearing that she was safe in the backyard.  Unfortunately Panzer was diagnosed with bone cancer during the summer but I am grateful that her last moments were with me in the vet's office rather than alone in a smoke-filled house.

 

1. Goal for 2012:  Hmm, how about just getting through to May? Too vague? Okay, I am desperately hoping that all of my kiddos leave my class able to read - I don't know how 1st and 2nd grade teachers do it - you guys all act so blase and inside I'm freaking out because I have to teach these kiddos to read! If I screw this up there's a lifetime of consequences for these kids! Talk about pressure! That's why I need to go back to kindergarten - I can give them a solid foundation without all the stress of 1st grade standards! So I'm really stepping up my game for the New Year - dipthongs and digraphs here I come! Man, it would be so much easier if I had a reading series or something!

Whew! Finished! I had to stop to run to the bank and Staples and have lunch with my hubby, seems like I've been writing this post all day! Don't forget to head over to the party to link up!

Linkys Galore!

Oh my! Christmas was wonderful! Everyone loved their presents and my 4 kiddos spent the whole day in imaginative play, which I love! There have been articles about the disappearance of imaginative play from our culture and ways we can jump start creative play but I have to tell you - my kids are proof that play is alive and well - at least in our little corner of the world. Between the Lego, Playmobiland action figures, my children have a whole slew of toys that activate their imaginations. Whether they're buiding houses for their Lego figures, mounting an offensive against an enemy encampment (yes, thanks to their father's profession they really use terms like that!), or making up story lines for Playmobil animals, my kids are unplugged and having a blast. We have a closet full of blankets that are often draped over their bunk beds to make forts, lots of open ended art supplies (the other day while babysitting her brothers my oldest organized a snowflake making factory at our kitchen table) and we give our kids the freedom to make their rooms messy. But, so many kids don't have this play-encouraging atmosphere at home - so we have to bring it into the classroom as well! This leads me to my New Year's Resolutions!

Tammy @ Live, Love, Laugh is hosting a linky party for New Year's Resolutions! Here are mine for 2012:

Personal:
1. Start eating at home more often - between our busy schedules, and forgetting to thaw meat for dinner, my family eats out WAY too much.  My husband and I are resolving to save the eating out for only special occasions.
2. Spend more time with my boys individualoly. I already have a "Girls Day Out" with my daughter, now I need to figure out something that each of the boys and I can do together!
3. Stay on top of the laundry - with a 6 person household this is critical for happy mornings!

Teaching:
1. Incorporate more "play" into every day! My classroom is still set up like a kindergarten classroom for the most part - tables rather than desks and lots of "centers", but I've been afraid to use my centers because for some reason I thought 1st grade was supposed to be more "serious". But, play is a great way of reinforcing concepts and motivating students, so I need to use all my goodies!
2. Stay on top of my printing/laminating/cutting so that I can USE all the great ideas I find! So many times I can't get my materials organized in time to use it all in class!
3. Stay on top of my paperwork so my desk doesn't always look like a recycling bin threw up on it!


Blogging:
1. Build my network of blogging friends by hosting more linky parties and giveaways and participating on other's blogs.
2. Keep offering freebies as much as possible (although I have some items for sale on TPT due to clip art Terms of Use, I want to offer lots of freebies to my followers!)

Be sure to head over to the party to contribute your own resolutions - I  can't wait to read them and be inspired!

My next linky party is for the Holly Bloggy Christmas I participated in over from Sarah at Kindergarten Korner and Caitlin at Ms. Preppy!
I had a blast with this gift exchange - I made my first rag wreath for my bloggy buddy and received some really neat goodies too!
My Holly Bloggy partner was Leea from Set this Circus Down. She hasn't posted in a while, but I'm hopeful that the New Year will see more blogging from her! Here's what I made for Leea, based on her favorite color being Sage green:

 This was my first attempt at a rag wreath and I hope she likes it!

 And, to add a practical touch, I got her this notepad set with pads for each month of the year!

Here's what I got to open on Christmas morning from Terri at The Creative Apple!

 Isn't it darling?!

Now I can indulge my Pepsi Max passion in style!

Go check out the linky parties at Ms. Preppy's and Kindergarten Korner to see what everyone else received! If you missed out on this gift exchange or had so much fun that you'd like to participate in another, what would you think about having a Secret Cupid gift exchange for Valentine's Day? I say let's keep this ball rolling all year long!