It's here! The FIRST Annual Excellence in Early Childhood Education Award from Maggie's Kinder Corner! And the Winner is...

As an early childhood teacher and musician, I am always in search of innovative ways to meet the educational needs of my kindergarten students through music and movement.  Knowing that my students gain much from all learning styles, I believe that music and movement is a primary foundation of early learning, and research lays claim to that as well!
I have many favorite author-musicians.  However, when determining WHO this first year's winner would be, I wanted to choose someone who:
1.  Knows how to connect with children, engaging them in a meaningful way
2.  Has an obvious zest for life
3.  Can engage every child as though they are the only child in the room
4.  Helps children see the possibilities that are endless in their own lives
5.  Engages even the most timid child in music and movement
6.  Helps children to focus on the importance of education
7.  Is well versed in early childhood and bases her work on proven research
8.  Has many endorsements from other professionals in the early childhood field
9.  Can make every child feel that he or she is valued in the lives of adults who care for them
10. Helps children reach that level of trust so that they feel confident in taking educational risks
11.  And has reached national acclaim as she prepares to give the Keynote Speech at I Teach K in
      Las Vegas this July! Woohoo!

For the above reasons, and many others, I wish to present the

Maggie's Kinder Corner 1st Annual Excellence in Early Childhood Education Award

   to 

Author and Musician Debbie Cement!

  I wholeheartedly endorse this great lady as a top notch early childhood author, musician and presenter.  She has woven the most beautiful stories using her beautiful quilts, and her artistic ability is without question.   The books she has written to accompany her songs make them a hit with all students.
Recently, my students had the honor of test-driving Debbie's new Skype Presentation.   The setup was incredibly easy, and total student engagement from the very start was obvious.  So many things were learned...signing the songs, how to move to rhythm, listening and responding to verbal and visual prompts, thinking, wonder, surprise, delight, and appreciation.  Every child responded to Debbie as though he or she were the only one in the "conversation" with her.  Debbie spoke to the children with a true sense of curiosity, and they responded in kind because they sensed the caring in her voice.  Debbie believes that in order for a child to learn, he or she needs to build trust with those in charge of their learning.  I agree with this philosophy, and adhere to it as many others in my field do.  Our kindergarten and first grade teams were so delighted with Debbie's presentation.  I can state with certainty that we approve her methods of working with our students.  My kiddos are wanting to know when she can come back!
Here is a silhouette video of my students from the back as they interacted with Debbie.  They love her! My sweeties made a Red, White, and Blue cube train on their own while singing Debbie's award winning song, "Red, White, and Blue" (the one she wrote in response to 9-11)--and were so excited to have me send a video short to our guest author.  :) Enjoy, and please consider contacting Debbie at http://RainbowsWithinReach.blogspot.com for information on how you too can have her to visit your school.  You won't regret it!
Now, some logistics about how we went about hosting Debbie Clement at our school.  

1.  First of all, run it by your administrators, making sure to explain that Skype is a one-one
     connection.  In other words, only your students and staff and Debbie will be able to view this
     call.  It is not publicized in any way--it's just like calling a friend on your landline!
2.  Contact Debbie about setting up a time for the call.
3.  Decide on a location.  For us it was easy! We have a multi-purpose room that seats up to 500
     people.  During Debbie's visit, we had approximately 200 K and 1st graders participating.
     Our MPB has a large drop down screen, and we keep a projection screen, network cable (in case
     our wireless was not connecting--which it wasn't), and a speaker system that can connect to the
     microphone input on a laptop in a closet just off the stage.  I was able to hook the projector cable,
     speaker input cable, and  network cable directly to my laptop and make a Skype call for a sound
      test with Debbie in about five-ten minutes time.  It was sooo simple! 
4.  Arrange for your staff to be ready on the day of the concert, and plan for about 40 minutes of
     fun!
I hope your district will give it a try! Our district is in a rural setting, and the cost of hosting a
person as well known as Debbie is cost prohibitive.  So you an imagine how I was chomping at the bit when she announced she would be giving Skype a test drive to help her reach a broader audience.
It was one of the best uses of our technology, and an opportunity that our students otherwise may not have had to "rub shoulders" via Skype with a REAL Author and Singer-Songwriter!

It's the Teacher Appreciation Sale and Fabulous Feedback Linky Party!

Over the years I have been privileged to receive some wonderful kind words from buyers who have purchased my products for their classrooms.  I am joining a linky hosted by Christina Bainbridge, to help highlight why teachers love our products.  Here are some of my favorite feedback comments :)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/K-1-Math-Journals-Designed-for-the-Common-Core-Prompts-On-the-Page-No-CutPaste

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Are-You-Ready-For-Lines-Writing-Transition-Posters-and-Practice

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-Year-Benchmark-Practice-for-Kindergarten

In addition to the Fabulous Feedback Linky, Our Kinderland sellers are participating in a Linky! Here it is.

How cute is this??? "Owl" always love you Mother's Day FREEBIE from Maggie

It is such an incredibly busy week this week, so I wanted to make an editable template to insert student pics into, then let them sign, and finally laminate for giving to moms for Mother's Day! Since we have an owl theme, I loved the phrase "Owl" always love you!
 If you download this, please leave comments!
And Guess WHAT? I am making this super cute template available to my followers because I appreciate each and every one of you! Consider yourself hugged! Since I love to hear from my followers, you know comments make my day! I welcome comments from NEW followers as well!
Stay tuned...I have a BIG SALE to announce soon! Happy Mother's Day! Click on the pic to go to the download site! :)

FREEBIE! Spring, Spring, Here's the Thing...Poetry Reader

If you are like me, you are happy that Spring has finally made an appearance! To celebrate Spring, I wrote an original poem, put it in familiar word reader format, and made it my new freebie on TpT!
The cute graphics are from a wonderful Kinderland artist, Teacher Laura. and are perfect for coloring! Enjoy! For the whole pocket chart set, click on the first pic. 

For the FREE printable reader, click on the pic below!

Are you preparing for a Standardized Test in K? Here are some practice activities you may want to try.

I got in gear early this year and made up two assessment/practice activities for standardized testing.  If you give the IOWA, the CAT, or the Terra Nova, your students can practice answering questions that are worded similarly to the test they will take.  There is also a page for learning how to bubble properly.  My kids were terrific bubblers on our real test which was the first week of April.  Whew!
You can find these resources in my TpT store! They are meant to be a practice, so they are not as lengthy as the real test.  Kids do not need over exposure to taking a test, but they do need experience.  I think these resources do that! Thanks! (click on the pics to view on TpT).

and

Here is the freebie I posted earlier!

Caterpillars, Butterflies, Princes, Princesses...and SPRING! What fun!

My sweeties have had a great April so far! We were very excited last week when we were able to witness NOT ONE, BUT TWO butterfly births!!! What a great opportunity to learn about new life, and all the yucky stuff too, lol.  Did you know that butterflies bleed when their wings unfold and fill with blood? My kids thought it was strawberry koolaid, lol.  Here are some pics of this miraculous event in our room, along with an easy caterpillar hat to celebrate Butterfly Birthdays!
We were also totally engrossed in our butterfly life cycle graphic organizers, complements of Mrs. Hoffer! Here is her super cute mini-unit on not one, but three life cycles! A must have for Spring!
Thank you Mrs. Hoffer!

 

 Stay tuned for princes and princesses :) Uploader is not cooperating tonight. :)

Happy Spring!

Mrs. Wishy-Washy Giveaway!!!

If you haven't met Mrs. Wishy Washy, you are in for a real literary treat! I met Mrs. Wishy Washy several years ago, and have loved having the books as part of my classroom library .  One thing is for certain:  I could never have too many 

books from famed author Joy Cowley! Every story in the series is full of wonder and expression, and include the most critical elements in ELA for young readers.  Your eye is immediately drawn to the beautiful illustrations, then you are pleasantly drawn into the world that is Mrs. Wishy Washy.  
 The characters are few and simple, the text is predictable with a smattering of pertinent vocabulary, and text to illustration connections are obvious. 

My favorite feature of the readers is the information for conduction lessons using the books--just inside the back cover.  Vocabulary, sight words, and suggested questions about the "feel" of the story are extremely helpful! And, perhaps the best feature, the word count on the back cover-perfect for doing a quick inventory of a student's current reading ability. 

My class was pleased to "test drive" one of Joy's new books:

                          Mrs. Wishy Washy and the Big Wash. 

My students were immediately intrigued by the picture on the front cover, and after predicting

 what the story might tell, we were off! They were eager to show me how many words they could read, so we read the entire story first.  After the first reading, we did a picture walk and reflected on what happened in the story.  We determined that our favorite part was the surprise car wash bath for each of the characters in the story! This topic opened up many opportunities for sharing as you might imagine.  When we were finished, we made a list of the special words from the story, and 

the sight words we already knew.  When asked if they would like to read more Mrs. Wishy Washy stories, everyone said YES!

This was a highlight of our day the day we read Mrs. Wishy- Washy and the Big Wash!

 I encourage you to try these books, and hope they will become an important part of your reading instruction.  For more information, please visit the following sites:

http://pinterest.com/Hameray

http://hameraypublishing.com

http://facebook.com/Hameray

*Disclosure:  I received two books for review, and was not paid to review them. 

 I actually wanted to be a reviewer because I believe in these books. 
 I will not endorse a product that I do not find 100% useful, as well as educationally sound. 

If you enjoyed this review, please visit the following website to nominate our class

 for the huge Joy Cowly Classroom Giveaway! The winner will receive over $400.00 

of Joy Cowley's readers, big books, finger puppets, and more! I can tell you, we would 

put this set to good use!

http://bit.ly/joycowleygiveaway

As a special promotion to my blog readers, Hameray has provided a discount code:  ZJCC13.   

This code can be used when purchasing books from their site for 20% OFF until

 June 30, 2013.

Maggie's Mrs. Wishy-Washy book Giveaway!!!

I am happy to offer a Mrs. Wishy-Washy book to one lucky

participant in my rafflecopter giveaway.  Just follow my blog  and leave a

 comment about why you love Mrs. Wishy-Washy!

Good luck! 

Maggie

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SpRInG CLeAnINg...and Test-taking BunNiES??? FREEBIES too!

It's that time again, and I know many of you (like myself) are stressing over giving your kinders a standardized test.  If you are an early childhood teacher, you know that it makes no sense to give students who have limited focus a test that requires them to be still for more than five minutes! With that being true, we are still compelled to give that monster of a test, and have raised the bar to help our kiddos succeed.  I actually feel my students will perform better this year, and here is why:  I made a practice test for Math and ELA, have used it with my students, and we are as ready as we can be for that test when we return to school this coming Tuesday.

 In those practice tests are questions and bubbling that are as similar to a standardized test as I could possibly make them.  Would you put a pinch hitter in a championship game who had never held a bat or swung at a ball? Of course you wouldn't! And you shouldn't throw a test booklet and pencil out there to your kinders without at least practicing bubbling, discussing how to properly handle the test (no coloring or writing on the test EXCEPT to fill in ONLY ONE bubble that is your best choice for the answer).  All year you have worked on areas tested, and you do not want to send them into the test zone without reviewing vocabulary possibilities, letters and sounds, comprehension, and reading to discover the best description for a picture.  In math you will review concepts, and pay close attention to those items that are not common core, but still show up on a standardized test (time, money, calendar).  I amhaving a 10% OFF Sale this weekend at my TpT Store, and you can find these Standardized Test Practice Packets along with many other CCSS-related items.  

 If your little Test-taking Bunnies are nearing test time, you may want to check them out! Until you do, I have a little freebie for you.  This is the bubbling lesson page and two sample pages from both packets.  My kids love to bubble, and actually asked for more pages to bubble last week.  They learned to begin on the outside rim and work in a swirling fashion until the center was covered too.  I am so proud of them! 

2-D Shape Leprechauns and Reading Buddies! Pictures!!!

You know you are busy when you actually count the number of photos you have taken at school for various activities! I have had such a fun two weeks with my kiddos, and couldn't decide what to blog about, so I'm blogging about more than one "happening" in our little kinder community.  

First UP!

We are working on 2-D and 3-D shapes in Math this month! Two of our Common Core goals are:
Identify 2-D and 3-D Shapes
Make an object using 2-D shapes

Our cute shape leprechauns were such fun, and we like that they are the size of a REAL leprechaun!  ;)Each student put his/her own personality into the leprechauns while identifying squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles.  Here are a few of our Shape Leprechauns, and the directions for making them:

Click on the pic below to download the template with instructions.

Now, for the big NEWS!!! Do you want your kids to have total engagement when reading? Are you trying to improve reading stamina? You may want to try this little trick:

Two years ago I was given the opportunity to purchase 25 multi-cultural dolls from a company that was going out of business.  The dolls were 1.00 each, plus the cost of shipping.  This is the best purchase I've made in a long time for helping to manage our Read to Self time.  Each child chooses a doll to keep in his/her reading tub.  When morning work is done, or when it is time for Read to Self, the student sets the doll nearby and reads to it.   We have an arms length rule, meaning, each student must be in his/her own space reading the whole time.  If we reach our minute goal, we are allowed to put our dolls together with another partner for a little EEKK "DD"(doll-doll) time.  You might be surprised at how serious children are when they are reading to a doll or a stuffed animal that does not talk back.  I can roam around and observe--even take pics without kids being disturbed.  My class is totally in the reading zone when we are having Read to Self time.  The rag dolls I have are washable--totally love that feature about them! I would love to be able to refer you to such a deal as the one I got when I found the little dolls, but the company is no longer selling them (as far as I know).  Another option that I have considered is to have each child bring a doll or stuffed animal from home.  The same rules would apply:  Prop the doll in a listening position (so as not to be tempted to play with it), and READ! I would love to know if you currently use something like this in your own room to aid students in reading with confidence and fluency! Here are a few pics of my cuties reading to their "buddies".

I love comments, so let me know how you handle Read to Self time.  What works for you? What doesn't work for you?

A FIX for Keeping up with your FAVORITE Blogs!

With the news of Google Reader being shut down this coming July, several of us bloggers are quite concerned about where to go for on the spot news feed from our favorite bloggy buddies out there! After doing some research, and listening to some advice straight from those who already have the app, I downloaded Feedly and Bloglovin to my Android phone! Extremely easy-peasy to set up, Both show promise! Feedly updates quickly, and it is very easy to archive messages you want to read later, or just a click will delete them from your news feed when you are done! Just go to either of these sites to download the free app for Android, iPhone, iPad, etc.  Just follow this link: http://feedly.com/

http://www.feedly.com/index.html

Or 

www.bloglovin.com/ 
Bloglovin is available for iPhones or Android devices! I am bending toward Bloglovin being my favorite of the two apps!
Here is the app link:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.yo.android.bloglovin&hl=en

Once Upon a Lifetime...Music and Art were personified, and her name is Debbie Clement!

Sometimes, you wonder when in your lifetime, will you meet that kindred spirit who is in some ways your "creative doppelganger"?   I am pleased to say that I have found that very person!  About a year ago I began to get acquainted with some very talented kindergarten teachers via facebook.  Debbie joined our little group around the time I joined, and becoming acquainted with her has been a joy! She is a true artist who creates the most beautiful stories in the quilts she makes, and she knows how to tell those stories through her music.  It is no wonder why Debbie is also...drumroll please!!!... the National Keynote Presenter at the National Kindergarten Conference, "I Teach K",  in Las Vegas this summer!!!

As a group, our Kinderland friends decided to host a product swap, and share with the world why we love our swap partner's products.  I am pleased to review Debbie's products for your consideration! Debbie's unique style coupled with her love of nurturing children along truly makes her products shine, and the end result is a product that fits any early childhood  curriculum.  I hope to share enough here on my blog to make you realize you cannot teach young children without including Debbie Clement's work!

Just today I discovered Debbie's Fine Motor CD...I must have it!!! It goes so perfectly with my handwriting transition packet! Thus, I declare these two products "married" for instruction! :)

 

(Click on the pic above to find Debbie's "The Handwriting Mix")

Click here to find "Are You Ready For Lines"

Here is a youtube vid of her Top to Bottom song! Soooo cute!!!

  

As Spring nears, we are gearing up for our yearly study of plants and animals.  Debbie has the PERFECT unit with amazing reproducible resources for teaching about the life cycle of a frog!

       It's Debbie's "Pollywog" Song with support materials (click on the pic to find it on TpT)

If you are looking for an end of the year celebration song, this is the be all end all song for you!!!

Debbie's "You're Wonderful" really celebrates childhood, and your students are sure to fall in love with it as much as mine did! 

Click on the pic below to grab it! You'll be glad you did!

 

 Debbie Clement impacts thousands of students every day through her unique art work and music! Make her part of your day at school too! You will not regret the decision! 

As an incredible incentive, our TpT Kinderland Bloggers are throwing a March Madness 20% OFF Sale from March 10 through March 12! This is an incredible opportunity to purchase Debbies books, songs, and resources for your classroom at a discount! 

To view items in my store that are also on sale, click on the button below! My popular CCSS Math Journal Packet will be $2.40 OFF starting tomorrow, Sunday! And don't forget to check out my new Pocket Chart Poetry Set, entitled "Caterpillar, Caterpillar" The life cycle of a butterfly is the science skill in this set.

I wish to thank Debbie Clement for being my swap partner for this sale.  She is a daily inspiration to me in how one can persevere, overcome incredible odds, and exhibit a true zest for life, love, compassion, and happiness.  More importantly, she has reaffirmed my belief in the importance of leaving a positive lasting impression on people I meet...especially the little people I teach.  Journey on Debbie Clement...you have just begun to shine! :)

And...don't forget to visit my sweet friends from Kinderland!

I've Found Her! This is B-I-G! And...March Madness is here!!!

This is a big weekend for Maggie's Kinder Corner! I can't wait for you to meet my incredibly talented friend!  Her award winning style and willingness to share her talent with children makes her  one of the most loved children's authors in the world.  Her name is Debbie Clement...and I can't wait to share more about her music, her zest for life, her gift of the vernacular, and her incredible quilts!!! She magically mixes these incredible talents into a "symphony" of PuRE JoY! To read more about her, go to her blog and tromp around! You won't be disappointed!

During the past two years of networking with other phenomenal teacher-bloggers, I am so happy to be part of a great group of people who call ourselves "Kinderland" bloggers.   We are kinder teachers from across the nation who have joined forces to help our nation's students excel in learning and conquering the Common Core! Producing top notch learning resources for our students is our mission! It is with teachers in mind that we have decided to throw a March Madness Sale! We like a good discount, and we know you do too!  More about the sale Sunday!

 
Stay tuned for more about my "Wonderful" friend, Debbie, and for more information about the big SaLE Event!!!
If you are hungry for great teaching tips and collaboration, join our Kinderland Collaborative Community  on Google+ , and visit our 
Kinderland Collaborative Pinterest Board! Both are wonderful resources for early childhood educators!

Spring, Daylight Saving, Reading Week, and a FREEBIE :)

Can you believe it is March already??? I find it hard to believe that we are this close to the end of the school year (Mid-May for us). I always go into panic mode about this time each year because there is so little time to get those skills covered before the standardized tests begin. My students have been busy learning how to write little books, to recognize shapes, and to read with expression and stamina. We are so proud of what we have learned! In the coming week, we will wrap up our study of 2 D Shapes and begin 3-D shapes. I will be featuring units from my TpT friends that will help us reach our goals during the week, and hope you will stop by here, then check out the units for yourself! We will also do a little project to help us understand daylight saving time! I can't wait to show you :) We enjoy labeling so much that I had to make a little leprechaun labeling activity for my kiddos this week! Here is a free copy for you too! Have a great week! Click on this LINK.

How can something so simple work? Color Blocking Geometric Shapes

This is something I came up with a few years ago that really helps kids to focus on the specific shape you are teaching.  I call it color blocking for learning.  We are learning about 2 dimensional shapes this week, and every day we will be color blocking or coloring the shape du joir.  Today's shape was the rectangle.  After discussing the rectangle, making up a gesture for it, and identifying different rectangles on our math practice pages, we did some random color blocking for rectangles!

Below is an example of what I charted for my students.  We discussed how the exact size of our paper is a large rectangle, so every fold we make (as long as they are equal and in half each time) will be rectangles too.  This first day I did the folding for everyone. 

Here is a sample color block effect:

My little sweeties did not want to do solid color blocks, so the pictures I will blog about tomorrow have some interesting, and some very creative color blockings! If you want to have your kids to try folding their own 16 section template, here is a page with dotted lines to use as guides.  This is sooo easy! Try it.  I know your kids will learn something about rectangles! Stay tuned for tomorrow's pics!
And tomorrow, we will do squares! I always get some ooohs and ahhhhs for squares! https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwugBzJawFTadFRPOVFJcTZieG8/edit?usp=sharing

My favorite Pinterest creation? This handy dandy Crayon Organizer!

Source: goretrobaby.tumblr.com via DeeDee on Pinterest

 Do you see that cutesy little organizer in the middle of my tables? That little item has saved me countless transition hours this year, especially during math time! You know how you need a specific set of colors for workbook pages? Kids keep this organizer organized! When we have math, they can easily go for the colors needed, then put them back when finished.

What will you need in the way of supplies so you can have them for your very own?

Buy metal fruit cups in large quantities...IF you can find them! I found mine at Big Lots for 1.00/per 4 pack.  You will need at least 32 cups without lids and labels to make the holder for the crayons. My suggestion if you cannot find the short cans with the pop lids would be vienna sausage cans with pop tops.  They are still low profile so the crayons will stick out above the top.
The board they are screwed down to is approximately 2.5 inches wide by 26" long, but you can line up the cans and get an approximation yourself.  My hubby is a retired shop teacher, so this was not hard to do, but you can as easily have a Home Depot associate to cut boards into the lengths you need.  He used 3/8" sheet metal screws (very little ones) to secure cans to the boards. 

The boards are painted with acrylic paints from Walmart or Hobby Lobby.  You need to do two coats to have a glossy appearance.  Here is my assistant painting my boards and helping papaw with screws. :) (the other assistant liked carrying the entire organizer around)

The cans were easy to "mass" paint by using the bright Krylon spray paints in all primary colors.  These cans were about 4.00 each, so 32.00.  I still have a lot of paint left that will work for other projects in the future.

To begin the year, I ordered the triangular Crayola Crayons.  These are marvelous for establishing grip with beginning kinders! I highly recommend!
Here is a list of everything needed for this project:
32 or 40 cans (vienna sausage cups or fruit cup-size cans)
1 each of red, orange, green, blue, black, purple, and brown paints
4 or 5 long boards (I put the cans very close together)
Acrylic paints in the colors you want to assign to your four tables
3/8" sheet metal screws and drill (husband or boyfriend to put together is totally optional--put your big girl pants on and try it yourself!!!)

That's it! Email me if you have questions.  I love to talk about projects I have done. :)