Welcome 2012-2013

Welcome to the new school year!  Yesterday was amazing---what a great group of kinders!

Happy Summer!

I hope you are having a wonderful summer--so much has happened in the last month!

We spent a week and a half at our cabin in Oklahoma and we decided to see Tyler's new house went we came back.  I stepped of his porch and sprained my ankle and tore the ligaments (June 3).  I am in a walking boot.  I was unable to walk very well for about a week, but I am getting around pretty good.

Devin began golf lessons on Tuesdays and he is loving it!  My computer through a fit about a week and a half ago and I was unable to publish the last of the books and download more pictures.  I had to send it off to be mended and it came back yesterday--almost perfect.  I will be working on those books and picture downloads and will leave a note when I do.  Right now I need to go shopping and begin making a cake for Megan and Tyler's bridal shower.  I'll post that too--she is wanting two tiers.  I'll have to see how that works out.  I am desperately missing my flip flops and my pool time--maybe in a few weeks.  I hope you are well and having a wonderful summer!

Love,
Mrs. Gaither :0)

Our Turtle

After cleaning the classroom on Monday, I took our turtle to the pet store to find out exactly what kind he is. 

So, we still are not completely positive but it has been narrowed to to a box turtle or a Missouri Mud turtle.  I won't know if it is a boy or a girl until it gets bigger, so we decided on a girl for right now so we could name her.

Mertle the Turtle

She loves her knew habitat and large meal worms!

Stop by and see her next year, she will be in our classroom.  

I think I might need to take pictures next to an object so you will be able to see her growth!  it's a little hard to see how small she really is.  Right now she is burrowing in her dirt...

It's not goodbye yet...

...I know my sweetie pies are gone from the room and I finished packing on Monday, but I will keep this blog dedicated to you until July.  I still have books I am publishing and pictures that will be posted so keep checking back or join by email and you will get an update every time I post.

Right now I am packing and getting ready to go on vacation.  I will try to post a few pictures and publish a few books, but it depends on the internet signal--it's not really fast down there.

If you stop by our blog, leave me a quick comment and let me know you were here!

Have fun this summer!

More Published Books

I published more books tonight and I am still working on more.  If you would like to see a few pages of the book, click on the picture.  They did a wonderful job!  These books are from March/April---so much to do at the end of the year!

Alligators by:  

Jimmy Jenkins

I Love Me by:

Amber Harbert

The Little Tiger by:

Katie Holtzer

Science Fair

...and Grandma's Pie Auction---was huge!  I had one person in my class donate a pie for the auction.  Her 'Ma' made a butterfly cake and it was a huge it--selling for $275.00!  Can you believe it?  I was going to put a bid in, but it was WAY over my price range.  Way to go Katie--you worked the crowd tonight!

Katie and her 'Ma'

Katie and the butterfly cake

Down by the Bay

This book was one of my kinder's favorites to read, 

so....

We made our version with our own pages.  

You can purchase your own copy by clicking on the book below.

Here are the pages that are in the book...

Did you ever see a king eating a wing?

Did you ever see a whale brushing his tail?

Did you ever see a bunny that makes jokes funny?

Did you ever see a fish in a dish?

Did you ever see a dog chasing a frog?

Did you ever see a fish making a wish?

The fish is saying, "I wish I had a DS"   (LOVE IT!)

Did you ever see a bunny eating some honey?

Did you ever see a lamb eating grape jam?

Did you ever see a cat wearing a purple hat?

Did you ever see a frog jumping on a log?

Did you ever see a dog chasing a hog?

Did you ever see a bat flying with a cat?

Did you ever see a bunny tickling his tummy?

Did you ever see a dog walking on a log?

Did you ever see a cat with a silly bat?

I think they did amazing---some needed to use their sentence strip, while others where able to listen to the sounds and write their words on their own!

Read to me...

Look what I found today when I was on the computer....

Click on the picture and you will be able to listen to celebrities read books to you! 

It is amazing!

Go check it out!

Book Published...

I was able to publish another book tonight--I think I am getting the hang of this!  Here is a peek at Emma's book--it is about a little girl who is looking for different things that are the colors of the rainbow.  She did a wonderful job with the predictable text on each page.  Click on the image to view/purchase a copy of her book.

The Eggs...

...have hatched!

We had two right off the bat!  The first one came at 8:45 am and the second at 9:15!

When will this one hatch??

The first one out coming to take a peek to see what is happening!

PUSH!

Almost there...

Finally...

This one arrived at 11:30...

...and so tired!

We had one more hatch during bus duty and that made 4!

Last night we had 3 hatch!  

I don't have a picture of our math journal entry for today--sorry!  Maybe tomorrow.

We drew a picture of the chicks in the incubator and the chicks in the box and wrote an incredible equation.  

3 + 4 = 7

That's right--we have 7 chicks ready to go to a farm...

any takers???

Book Publishing

I had three students finish their books so they could be published during Spring break.  Hailey was the first to finish her book and have it published.  I have searched many sites on the internet and Lulu.com is the most affordable site that I could find.  They do take a small profit from publishing, so I have kept the price as low as I could.  I have learned a lot while trying to publish this book and hopefully the others will go a lot smoother!  Not too bad for the first time I don't think.  As books are loaded, you can click on the icon to the right and view and purchase (if you would like).  I think this will also encourage others to get their books print ready.  It will be easy for a student to get their work published the first time because I do not have many guidelines.  As time goes on, more expectations will be set.  This will also encourage growth in their writing!  I am so proud of their writing!

Dr. Seuss Day 2012

We have had so much fun over the past two day!  

I thought you might enjoy seeing the pictures...

click here to download the pictures from google docs.  I will also post on our website soon.

Thing Shirts

Here they are...

We will change into them in the morning.

Thing shirts

I am still working on the thing shirts.  They have been dyed and look amazing.  I will be ironing on the decals tonight and I will post a pic tonight when the first one is complete.  I am tutoring until 5:30, so I will post a picture around 8 or 9.  Your child can wear it over a shirt tomorrow or change in the bathroom.  The shirts will go home with them.

Newsletter

Crazy busy day today!  Newsletters will go home tomorrow.  Here are some writing samples from yesterday and today...

 Gatlin--My dog is doing back flips.  First one he does, he stops.

 Katelyn--I love my mom.

 Breanna--Mrs. Gaither's giraffe ran away.  Mrs. Gaither said come here.

 Brooklyn--Me and Aaliyah, we are going to shop.

 Elizabeth--I found a bunny egg.

 Aaliyah--Monster hive.  I love you mom.  I see you.

Taylor--Me and Aaliyah are playing with monster hive dolls.

Six Flags Reading Forms

Six Flags Reading forms are due tomorrow.  

Please send them in so your child can get credit for reading!

Snow Day!

I am guessing that everyone in the class did the snow day cheer--maybe even 2 times because we had a

today

and we will have another 

 tomorrow!  

So what did you do on your snow day?  Leave me a comment and share with everyone in the class.  Enjoy your Valentine's Day with your family--we will have our party 

when we come back to school.