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Monday, December 29, 2014

New Year's Activity and Craft for Pre-k and Kindergarten! How To and Free Printable.

Hey everyone!

Hope you are enjoying the holidays and getting some well-deserved rest and relaxation.


The Christmas-y atmosphere in the house and all around, got my brain in gear and I created a New Year's craftivity for kiddos in pre-k and kindergarten. It is a way to have fun and practice writing on the first day of the year, or on the first day you are back at school, after the year has changed.

Materials you'll need:
- Markers or crayons
- Scissors
- Pencil or pen
- Black cardstock (A4)
- Colored cardstock
- Tape
- Gold star confetti or glitter
- The writing printable (provided below)

How to:

1. Grab the printable below. Print.
2. Ask the children about their hopes and dreams for next year. Then, give them the printable above. Τhey can write the new year's number, trace the phrase "Happy New Year", cut along the black outlines, write, and color.

3. Give your students some colored cardstock to trace their hand. They can choose whatever color they like. Then, they will need to cut out their handprints.

4. Bend the fingers to create the "fingers crossed" hand gesture. You can use some tape to keep the index and middle finger together.

5. Glue the printable and the handprint on black cardstock (A4). It will look something like this :


6. Add gold star confetti around the printable or glitter! (optional) 

I used gold star confetti and this was the final result :


Now we are one step closer to being (almost) prepared for the first day of school after New Year's Day!

Happy New Year!

                                                                                            Dina



Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Halloween Teaching Resources for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and First Grade - Roundup!

Hey everyone!

We are only days away from..Halloween! I like dressing up, but I haven't decided what I should be yet.. (I think I am enjoying this more than the kids..lol !) Two years ago, I dressed as a witch at school. I thought my students would be scared of me but..nope! They were so excited about the hat, makeup and everything.
Teaching during this time of year is fun! All the scary/spooky/gooey/slimy stuff around, can inspire a number of engaging activities in the classroom or at home. Last year, I prepared some early literacy, math, and social studies - history activities for young learners. Here is a roundup of them :







The Legend of Jack O' Lantern - Social Studies - History



I have also collected many great ideas from fellow educators on my "Halloween Class Ideas and Crafts" Pinterest board. You can check them out by clicking below.

Take your pick!

Hope you have fun in your classroom or at home with these activities! 


Happy Halloween!

Dina


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

5 Things about This Kindergarten Teacher's Summer!

Hey everyone!

I have been refusing to write this end-of-the-summer blog post for...well, too long! Teaching is an amazing job, but who doesn't love the summer..?




Labor Day is behind us and it is back to school time for everyone. However, I won't let go of my summer memories so fast! So...here are 5 things about my summer and I would love to read all about yours in the comments!

1. After 3 years of not being able to travel anywhere but our..balcony during the summer (due to financial difficulties), we finally managed to save enough for a trip to Italy! Italy is my favorite country to travel to and..the only foreign country I have ever been to. A pic I took from a very tall tower we went on:

City of Verona

2. I love pizza so I ate a lot..! I'm a diet coke addict too (..pizza and then diet coke..Lol!)




3. Ice cream was amazing..!


4. My dogs are members of my family and I NEVER go anywhere without them, so of course they were with me. They explored a lot! Italian shops and restaurants are so dog friendly, that they let us inside almost everywhere.


5. I couldn't have left there, without buying one or two picture books..even though I don't speak or read Italian..I could not resist!


                                 What kindergarten teacher could resist a pop-up book? Hehe!

or....

                                                              ...a book about crafts?



Not me for sure..!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer. I will be back with posts with teaching ideas and resources for your classroom or home.

Happy September and I wish us all a happy and safe teaching time this year!




                                                                                                                                                                              Dina

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Summer Thoughts, 4th of July and Summer Craft Ideas!

Hey everyone!

Finally..it's SUMMER!


How are you spending your days?

I just want to lie in bed, take long walks with the doggies, watch t.v shows, films and of course..go to the beach!

My fur babies are surely enjoying the walks and relaxed mood too. Here they are at a lovely seaside coffee shop we went to the other day..

Don't you just love the summer?



Getting to something teaching related..

I am preparing a pirates&mermaids math pack, but the hot weather is making me work slower...! I hope I'll have it ready soon, as I know many homeschoolers enjoy these activities and a number of parents asked me for more..please be patient!

In the meantime, I have revised the text in my 4th of July nonftiction story and I am in the process of adding activities and worksheets. If you are looking for an easy way to explain 4th of July to your kinders...look no further! You can check it out by clicking on the image below:


Everything in my TpT store will be on sale until Friday, including this one!

During the summer, crafts are sometimes the only thing the kiddos can concentrate on doing! You can go to my "Class Crafts" page here for some ideas. Crafts are categorized by season!

For free printables and more summer crafts, have a look at my "Summer Ideas and  Crafts" pinterest board (click below!):




Happy 4th of July!

                                                                                       
                                                                                     Dina - The Constant Kindergartener

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Memorial Day and End of the Year Teaching Resources!

Hey everyone!

The school year is almost over and at this point, I know teachers are like busy bees!



Memorial Day is just around the corner and the end of the year preparations are in progress. Last year, I created some teaching materials for kindergarten - 3rd grade, for both occasions. Here is a roundup of those, which I hope you find both helpful and fun in class or at home!


  • Free vocabulary cards for Memorial Day! (click below to download!)


  • Free Medieval graduation diplomas for kindergarten! (click below to download!)



  • A social studies - history unit for kindergarten - 2nd grade! (Click below to check it out!)

  • A SUPER superheroes end of the year pack full of awards, diplomas, a memory book, a vacation journal and superhero craftivities! Editable to fit any class level (Click below to check it out!)


I know for sure I look a lot like this at the end of the year..


Hang in there and think..summer thoughts!

Thank you for stopping by!

You can follow this blog to keep up with new posts and activities!

                                                                               


                                                                                  Dina - The Constant Kindergartener





Sunday, April 27, 2014

Mother's Day Pinteresting Ideas and Free Graduation Diplomas for Kindergarten!

Hey everyone!

In just 3 days it will be..May!



May 11th  is Mother's Day this year! There are amazing craft ideas out there for the occasion which would make awesome art projects for the classroom or for the home. I collected some of my favorite on pinterest and you can check them out by clicking on the image below :

http://gr.pinterest.com/dinaland/mothers-day-ideascrafts/


For some of you, this school year is coming to an end! If that's the case, then here are some free medieval themed graduation diplomas for you! They are for kindergarten and you can download them by clicking on this image:


Hope you and the kiddos enjoy them!

Happy teaching..with a funny pic!



                                                                     Dina - The Constant Kindergartener


Saturday, April 5, 2014

Easter free worksheets and printables for pre-k and kindergarten, plus my Easter pinterest board!

Hello everyone!

If you are on your spring break..well have a great time and rest! If you are not, here's something funny to cheer you up.. Just a thought!



For those of you teaching all about Easter, here are some ideas and free printables I collected on my pinterest board "Easter Ideas&Crafts".



Also, I created two Easter themed (free!) resources. One is about the Last Supper and it includes worksheets for pre-k to 1st grade kiddos and the other one includes 2 patterns to create an easy Easter card and an Easter basket! You can click on the images below to download them:





Something very important to remember, is that April is Autism Awareness month:  "The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community" . You can find more on autismsociety.org !



Thank you for stopping by and keep your spirits up!



You can keep up with updates on resources and more freebies by following this blog!


                                                                                   Dina - The Constant Kindergartener







Thursday, March 20, 2014

Earth Day is Everyday for Kindergarten and 1st grade - giveaway winners!

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all well and enjoying the first day of SPRING! 




Today, my 500+1 fans giveaway is over so..let's see the winners!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to these teachers! 

I am sending each of you a copy of my Earth Day is Everyday unit right now! Check your e-mails to download it and let me know if for any reason you cannot get your prize.

Thank you for participating!

                                                                            

                                                                                      Dina - The Constant Kindergartener


Thursday, March 13, 2014

A Nutrition Month freebie for pre-k and kindergarten!

Hey everyone!

I have finished creating this freebie for March - Nutrition Month! 

It includes 5 little activities for young learners. You can click on the image below to grab it! 

Hope you have fun with it!


You can keep up with updates on resources and more freebies by following this blog!

Thank you for stopping by!

                                                                                    
                                                                                       Dina - The Constant Kindergartener

Friday, March 7, 2014

The 500+1 fans GIVEAWAY! Plus a St. Patrick's freebie for kindergarten!

Hey everyone!

Today I'm very excited to see this:


500+1 fans! Also  1,158  4/4 votes!

I'm beyond happy to see my work appreciated like that by fellow teachers and parents, so I've decided to do a giveaway to celebrate! I'm giving away a favorite pack of mine called "Earth Day is Everyday!". It's a 50 pages resource which includes an age appropriate non fiction story, plus common core worksheets to help the children remember, practice writing and better comprehend the importance of not littering. The value of the four R's: reducing, reusing, recycling and reclaiming is explained in a simple and comprehensive way.

This is a resource for both World Environment Day and Earth Day. 


The entries start today and end 03/21/2014! I'm going to announce more than one winners, so the chances of winning are good! 

Giveaway Tips:
Try and follow the exact rules of the giveaway to be an eligible winner. (Don't just click "OK" on the choices - it does not automatically perform the requested actions!)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

A preview of the giveaway pack:





Since you are here, you can also grab this St. Patrick's math freebie by clicking on the image below! 

It's a fun math freebie primarily for kindergarten, aligned to the following common core standard:


"CCSS.Math.Content.K.NBT.A.1 Compose and decompose numbers from 11 to 19 into ten ones and some further ones, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each composition or decomposition by a drawing or equation (such as 18 = 10 + 8); understand that these numbers are composed of ten ones and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine ones."



Thank you for stopping by, 

                                                                                        Dina - The Constant Kindergartener