I’ve been a little MIA lately. In all honesty, I’ve had the blogging “blahs”. Not a whole lot of motivation to sit down and post anything. I’ve just been lovin’ on my boys and spending an insane amount of my “free” time just having fun with my little family of four {and some out of town visitors, too!!}. Since my last post, things at school have been, ummm…CRAZY. Since Friday, I have… …sanitzed my hands…and the hands of 17 littles…NO LESS than 2,347 times. …successfully cleaned up a few cases of the pukies {talk about gag reflex} …counted 6 kids absent on Friday & Monday…and sent two pukies home today. …cloroxed {yes, it’s a verb ;)} the desks NO LESS than 100,000 times. …immediately came home from school 4 days in a row, stripped off my clothes, threw them in the washer, and hightailed it to take the HOTTEST showers before picking up my boys from the sitter. Did I mention that our sweet little school is experiencing the CRAZIEST bout of sickness EVER?!?! Last Thursday, there were 17 kids throwing up…simultaneously…in the office right before dismissal. On Friday, a little over 300 kids were counted absent…or had gone home due to spilling tummies…before 10 am. Nurses from other schools had to come in and help. Crazy to say the least!! Our sweet little school was even on the news! HA! I’ve never been a germaphobe, but ohmylawd. I think the worst is definitely behind us, but I’m still mentally recovering 🙂 Anyway, we’ve been *trying* to keep busy learning and here’s a little activity I introduced at the beginning of the week. Our focus vowel digraph this week is /oo/ {as in “cookies”}. Of course, I also thought it was important to reinforce the long /oo/ sound this week too, so we played a little “Stomp the Yard” game that my kids just adored.
I cut out lots of different feet programmed with /oo/ words. I divided the kids into 2 groups…left & right :)…and then each firstie that paired off against each other had to “stomp” the foot that had a word with the same /oo/ sound as in “foot”. If they stomped the correct foot, they got to keep it and their team got a point. After the game, I passed out all the long /oo/ feet that were left over and the kids had to read their feet and then sort the words accordingly. Nothing too cute, but definitely effective!! 
This was a great little game for reinforcing the “flip the sound” reading strategy we love so much…and the kids had a blast!! They said we need more, “stomp our feet!!!!” games like this one 🙂 LOVE! Click HERE to download the game & recording sheet. Hoping to get my blogging motivation back again soon 🙂 I have lots of fun things to share!! We’ve been learning about reptiles, amphibians, and life cycles. And this teacher…who’s oh so terrified of frogs…definitely has one in my classroom! GASP! I also must mention that I’ve successfully managed to kill two tadpoles :/ Happy {almost} end of the week!!
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Thanks for sharing a part of your teaching! I hope the illness outbreak subsides soon. Makes teaching really hard when hardly anyone is there.
Happy (almost) the end of the week!
Wow!! I have never encountered an epidemic like that before. Did they attribute it to a flu virus or food? Crazy!! Hope it goes away soon. Keep kitty litter on hand for sure. It absorbs puke well. Thanks for the cute little feet. Can't wait to play Stomp the Yard. Thanks, Cara.
First Grade Factory
I also killed both my tadpoles. Then I ordered one more {with legs} and killed that one too! I have NO idea how to keep those silly little things alive… I called the company to ask why they keep dying. They suggested cleaning the tank more often {I was already doing it 2 – 3 times a week} and using bottled water. Yea right. I guess we were never meant to have a frog. 🙁
Oh Cara! B.L.E.S.S. Even after teaching all these years and being a mommy of 5 y.o.twins, the pukies and I just don't mesh! Gag reflex? Uh, if I see it, I do it. I am a first class germ.o.phob. Gurl, I'd be runnin' for cover. Lol…Love the Stomp the Yard. We are State Testing this week , but will be stompin' next week. Thanks for sharing and stay well. 😉
Glad you had some time with your family. Love your post!
Wow, the amount of students getting sick is unbelievable! Hope it ends soon! Thanks for sharing the word sort and I look forward to hearing more about your reptiles and amphibians! 🙂
http://thesilverlininginteaching.blogspot.com/
Poor thing~teachers should buy stock in Clorox! Thanks for sharing the /oo/ activity. I just finished posting a little activity with the /oo/ also…check it out! 🙂
http://mrsmfirstgrade.blogspot.com/2011/04/going-bananas-for-dollar-deals.html
Omg! I've never heard of anything like this before…I hope that it's all behind you now…take care! ♥
Just too darn cute. Thanks! I hope your students get better. 🙂
Ms. M
Ms.M's Blog
A Teacher's Plan
Such a fun idea!
By the way, I tried your Blast Off! game that you posted awhile back with my kinder kiddos and they could not even get OVER it. They LOVE the blast off game and get so excited when their group goes to play it in centers! Thanks again for all your wonderfully fabulous ideas you share!
–Caitlin
thekindergarden.blogspot.com
Glad you are back. Thanks for sharing your great ideas.
Thanks for sharing this activity. My students will love it.
You are one amazing woman! I can't wait to play Stomp the Yard.
http://www.loryevanspage.blogspot.com
I had to laugh at the visual you created of 17 kiddos puking in chorus. Hope all are feeling well very soon.
Thanks for the great game. Although my kids can't use this one, it gave me some great ideas to use with my kinders- Thanks.
Tiffani
http://time4kindergarten.blogspot.com/