Fun With Penguins

One of my favorite topics to teach about each year is penguins.

Graphics above from Ashley Hughes.

I always read a lot of fun books on penguins both fiction and nonfiction.  The Tacky The Penguin series of books was a huge favorite among my past 2nd graders. For nonfiction Penguins by Gail Gibbons has always been a huge favorite among both my 2nd graders and Kindergarten students  Her books are also excellent to teach labeling and nonfiction text features.

I also am a big fan of using music in the classroom.  The Learning Station just released two versions of Penguin song.  One is animated and the other one is a live version.  Both have the motions to go with the songs making them excellent brain breaks! Let us know in the comments, which penguin video is your favorite!




For some reason the 2nd video won't show up so click HERE to see the animation video for The Penguin Song.

I also love taking them on a virtual field trip to Sea World to see the penguins live!  Check it out by clicking HERE.  Your students will love it as well so I hope you take the time to watch both of them!

I also have some fun new Penguin products that can be placed at a centers.  Check out my Penguin Multiplication Blast game that has a fun addition twist to it by clicking on any of the pictures and my fun Penguin Missing Number Equations Task Cards!  The cute graphics are from Mel at Graphics From The Pond.

Also, if you look to the left of the page you'll see new Social Media buttons that my friend Carly made for me.  You can visit her incredible blog by clicking HERE. 

Thanks for hoppin' by!  Keep on smiling!

Mrs. Wishy-Washy

I was so excited to be contacted by the people at Hameray Publishing to review 2 of their Mrs. Wishy-Washy books!  The two books are from their new book collections of leveled readers for Kindergarten to 2nd grade classrooms.  They are from The Joy Cowley Collection and The Joy Cowley Early Birds Collection from author Joy Cowley!  The books can be purchased as a set or individually.  Read the review and then check out a huge contest, and a mini-giveaway!

The first book I had the opportunity to review was "Wishy-Washy Clothes" by Joy Cowley.

This book comes from The Joy Cowley Early Birds Collection.  The book has the repetitive phrase "The ____ put on the _______.  Children can easily figure out what goes in the blanks by using the pictures.  It's a silly book as it has animals putting on the clothes.  The back of the book includes great questions for Before, During, and After reading.  It also tells you the comprehension skill that the questions focus on, features of text in the story, and the high frequency (sight) words.  Excellent book for guided reading groups or independent readers for middle of the year first graders.  The guided reading level is F or intervention level 9.

The 2nd book, I had the opportuity to review comes from The Joy Cowley Collection and is called "Mrs. Wishy-Washy and the Big Wash" by Joy Cowley.

This book tells the story of Mrs. Wishy-Washy not having any water to do the wash so she gathers the animals in the back of her truck and heads to town to find water.  They go to different places in town.  Will they find the water for the wash?  You will have to read this great book to find out!  This book is excellent for guided reading or independent reader toward the end of 1st grade or beginning of 2nd grade.  It is a guided reading level I or intervention level 15.  It would also make a great read aloud.  It also has the features of text (onomatopoeia is one), before, during, and after questions and activities, and the comprehension skills.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review.  All opinions are my own and this is not a compensated post.

How would you like to win or help a teacher win 90 new titles from The Joy Cowley Collection and The Joy Cowley Early Birds Collection by Joy Cowley?  You will also get finger puppets and 3 audio CDs valued at over $400!  Click the picture to check out the contest!

I am also thrilled to host a mini giveaway for a Mrs. Wishy-Washy Big Book!  The big book will be for Mrs. Wishy-Washy and The Big Wash.  See the review of the smaller version that I reviewed above.  Fill out the Rafflecopter Form to enter the giveaway!  The giveaway will go live at midnight eastern on the 9th and it will end at 11:59pm Eastern on the 14th of April 2013.  Be sure to also visit Hameray Publishing on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/hameray/ and facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Hameray  Remember you get entries on Rafflecopter for the giveaway by following them on Pinterest and liking them on facebook!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Share with us in the comments what Mrs. Wishy-Washy activities you do with your students.

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

100th Day of School Books

The 100th day of school has already passed for some of you and for others it's coming soon.  If it hasn't passed yet, share with us in the comments when your 100th day of school is and what your favorite activity or book relating to the 100th day of school is.

I thought I would share today some of my favorite 100th of school books that I used when I taught Kindergarten and 2nd grade.

This first one is called "100th Day Worries."  It is probably my favorite as I am a worry wart myself at times!  Jessica worries about what to bring to school that she has 100 of that is good enough to share.  Will she come up with something in time?

Next up is "Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day."  In this book each student whose names begin with A all the way to Z bring in a project with 100 of something!  This one was a favorite of my Kindergarten students.

In this book "100 Days of School", it shows children the many ways to count to 100 by 1's 5's, 10's 20's, etc.

"100 School Days" is another fun book that I have read to my previous students.  The students are working on counting pennies.  They get a penny every day of school.  It helps them keep track of how many days they have been in school.  What will happen when they get to 100?  How are they going to celebrate?  Read this great book to find out!

Do you celebrate the 100th day of school?  What grade do you teach?  Is there a book that I missed that you read to your class?  Let us know!

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!

I've been Boo-ed!

You heard me right, I've been boo-ed!  My good wonderful superstar proofreading friend Sara over at Miss V's Busy Bees boo-ed me!  She makes incredible resources and has such a great blog filled with ideas that you just must check out her blog.

Here's the linky party!

1. If you've been booed, copy and paste the above pic and these "rules" into your post.

2. Give a shout out to the blogger who booed you and link back to their site!

3. Share 3-5 October activities, books, products (yours or someone else's), or freebie(s) that you love!

4. Share the boo love with 5 bloggers - make sure you check this link to make sure you don't boo someone again - I've Been Booed!


Now it is time for me to share!


1.  First off I must say I absolutely LOVE these graphic organizers from Sara.  I gave her the idea to make a wonderful packet of unique graphic organizers and she came up with some really cool ones!  They are great for beginning, middle, and end, cause and effect, etc.  I love her cute my favorite things one!  Children could list their favorite Halloween things in the heart!  These work great with any book including books with Fall (Autumn) and Halloween themes.  Click the picture to check out the blog post with more details on it and then you can head to her store and pick it up!

2. My favorite book to read around this time of year is Halloween is . . . by Gail Gibbons.  It's such a great nonfiction book and really explains everything behind Halloween and how many of us celebrate. Click the picture to check it out!

Last, but not least I have had so much fun creating Halloween products.  My favorites are two that my facebook fans had a hand in.  Halloween Synonyms geared toward the upper grades where they helped me come up with Halloween words and my 2nd Grade Halloween Centers and Worksheets, which all the skills were suggested by a 2nd grade teacher.  My wonderful fans helped come up with a list of compound words that were Halloween and Fall related!

Click the pictures to check them out:

So now the bloggers I'm going to BOO are:

Nancy from Joy of Kindergarten
Bern from Mom to Posh Lil Divas
Janaye at Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes 
Barb at It's About Time
Jodi at Clutter Free Classroom

Thanks for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings.  Keep on smiling!