Weekend Warriors: February Favorite Books

My Weekend Warrior Friends and I are here again..... and this time we are having a giveaway, too!



Favorite books is a HARD thing to do just one post about, right? I mean we are all teachers and we all have a MILLION favorites right?


First up, is  One by Kathryn Otoshi. Here you can see my principal reading it to our school last spring. As she read the story I just sat there and fell in love with everything about it.

Have you heard of it?

It is about friendship and bullying and let me just share the final sentence, "Sometimes it just takes one."

Next up...........

Who doesn't love Mo Willems? You may be thinking....um, Christy, haven't you shared this one before. Yes, I did... but I can't help it... LOVE it.

So this book "That is NOT a Good Idea!" is hilarious.
I love how it is set up as a silent movie... and see those cute little goslings? They are the audience watching the interaction between the sneaky, but dapper, fox and the goose.

It seems to be a lesser known title in Mo's repertoire {or is that just me?}... but you know who he is... with his famous pigeon stories!  My favorite of his may be Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs.

This isn't a long story....in fact it is pretty short,  but is very entertaining. I won't give away the ending because, well, That is NOT a Good Idea!

I will say I heard someone say this book seems a little "violent" Um, okay I guess I can see that, but have you read The Gingerbread Man, Hansel and Gretel or a million other children's classics that have a slightly disturbing plot when you think about it?

Mo Willems does a great job of playing off  the typical old fashioned children's story {some of which I just listed above} ..... And what a great chat you can have about prior knowledge.

And it may be a lot of fun to take predictions of what the ending will be just before flipping to that last page!

This is what one of my little ones wrote after reading it... I don't think I would be giving away much, but I covered up some of her words that give away the ending.... although I guess the picture is somewhat telling!

In case you don't read kindergarten it says, "My whole entire class thought that the fox was going to eat the goose." And true that.... they did.

Now moving on to the good stuff!

Would you like to win $10 to TpT? Just enter below and then hop around to the other Weekend Warriors because we are ALL doing a giveaway.........


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh and before you go..... I just want to show you these fabulous and exclusive Jamberry nail wraps my friend Jen at Teaching in the Tongass created..... we are placing the order this weekend.... so if you would like some or want to know more about it just email me or comment below {email: christyann@gmail.com}

Time to see the other WW posts....


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Classroom Loves Linky

I'm linking up with my fellow heroes at Primary Powers today to bring you our classroom loves.

First up....One thing I love.
It's hard to pick just one..... But I'm going with coffee. It may not be something I love... perhaps "need" would be a better word. But when I get to my classroom in the morning, which is arctic because of the huge windows...which I love having and yes I am in Southern California so you may think "arctic" is a bit extreme....

point is...

it's cold in there.

Anyway..... It is my ritual to get that heater going and sip my coffee as I warm up and prepare for the little ones to arrive.

{Other classroom loves are cute fonts, adorable crafts and my Jamberry nails which can hold up in a kinder classroom.... just to name a few.... but I am trying to follow the rules and just tell you one!}

Next up....something WE all love.....
First of all.... "anything alive" can also include each other.... and I think that my kiddos and I all are happy to be together all day.

But more specifically... I love the time of year that creatures of some sort get to join us in our learning... and the only people who like it more than me are the kids.

I've had silkworms, butterflies, ants, ladybugs, chicks and ducklings. I actually even worked at a school that had a full farm on the kindergarten playground. Now that experience may not fit in this love linky.... that was a lot of work and cleaning year round.... we are talking several chickens, a rooster, geese and more.... ALL. YEAR. LONG.

But currently I usually have butterflies, silkworms and chicks each year for about a month - which is about how long each unit will last for.... perfect timing! And those chicks are in their eggs for 21 days of their visit.

The above picture I pulled from my Instagram and was taken the 2013 school year when we got a bunch of eggs from a nearby farm and it wasn't until they hatched that we learned some were ducklings!

I can't tell you how much the kids LOVE having guest animals in class. LOVE!

It shows in their writing and their attention span when we are learning about them. Never mind the sheer joy on their faces.

And last up.....
I know this isn't rocket science.... 5 year olds love recess... imagine that?

I know that recess is a word that some schools can't even use anymore and I know that recess times and even inside play times are getting to be shorter and shorter.

The kids love recess and I think the social development piece is sometimes forgotten. They love it and it is important for them.

That's it my friends! Thank you for stopping by.... Head on over to Primary Powers to see who else has linked up and is sharing some love!
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Abraham's Hat.... in Pattern Blocks

If you follow my blog you may know that creating pattern block activities is something I love to do.

So I decided to add Lincoln's hat to my Abraham Lincoln Mini Unit.

Abraham Lincoln Pattern Blocks Crayons and Whimsy

The hat comes in two versions - both are shown above {and also available in black and white}...... Plus a recording sheet which also comes in 2 versions.... a total of 6 pages of pattern block related items have been added to the product.

So if you already own this then just go re-download it!

Speaking of Abraham's hat.... do you think it is true that he kept notes and reminders in his hat? For some reason I'd like to believe it is.

Here is a preview of the whole unit:
Abraham Lincoln Mini Unit Crayons and Whimsy

And before you go....if you like doing directed drawing...

and I bet you do because the results are amazing and not only is it great for teaching drawing skills....it's good for following directions!

Go to THIS POST from last year to snag a great Lincoln Directed Drawing Activity for FREE.

Abraham Lincoln Directed Draw Crayons and Whimsy
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