Introduce Addition With The MONSTER MALL!

This is the perfect time for your students to shop at the 

Monster Mall!  

We met Common Core State Standards in the most un-common way!

Here are some of our monsters and one of our menus.

I started by cutting squares of green construction paper to 7" X 7".

I created some monster pieces (like eyes, noses, scars, hair, necks with bolts, and mouths) and made a menu:

I gathered or made hair, eyes,
noses, mouths, necks, and scars.

I got my craft supplies from Oriental Trading Company. They have wiggle eyes, pom-poms for the noses, yarn for the mouths, and foam sheets for the head, neck, and hair.

Each item on this menu cost one cube.

Then, I called up 4 students at a time and I gave them each 5 cubes, counters, or plastic coins to use as money.

Each of the 4 children I met with used a different
colored set of five cubes so I could keep track of
how many cubes each child gave me.

Each item cost 1 counter, so they did not have enough cubes to buy every item, but they did have enough to buy 5 items.

You can also use any counting blocks or play coins.

You can use stacking counters for money.

Plastic coins are always fun for children to use as they shop for pieces for their monsters.

This menu used 1 cent
 instead of 1 cube for each item.  

Some students bought hair, some did not.  The ones who bought hair got to decide if they wanted the hair to point down like bangs or up like spiked hair.

Some bought a scar to use on the side of their monster's face.  Some used the scar as a mouth.

If they bought a yarn mouth, they got to decide if they wanted the mouth to smile or frown.

Each monster looked different from the others, but they all cost 5 cubes.

We put them up in the school showcase.

Our monsters look great in the showcase
along with our stories.

We displayed our menu in the showcase too.
I love how each monster looks different.  

You can add more parts or increase the prices of the items to make it work for your own class. 

I have shopping receipt templates for 3 other stores:  

Meow Mall:  Students shop for parts to decorate their black cats.

Snowman Shop:  Students shop for parts to decorate their snowmen.

Leprechaun Store:  Students shop for parts to decorate their leprechauns.

You can find these receipts and directions here.

And, I created all of the parts you will need for a Meow Mall, Snowman Shop, & Leprechaun Store.
You can find that set by clicking HERE.

Click the image above. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lets-Go-Shopping-Addition-Subtraction-Halloween-Cats-Snowmen-Leprechauns-2786201

Click the image.

The Common Core State Standards call for real world math.  Shopping is as real as it gets, even at the Monster Mall!  Here are the CCSS covered in this lesson:

• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4 Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4a When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object.
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4b Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the order in which they were counted.
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4c Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.

Leave a comment & share a FUN Halloween activity that you do! 

And... You can track your students' learning and 

Get a FREE TRIAL from ESGI (with NO credit card required and a $60 discount (if you choose to continue with ESGI) with the code: KFUN right here:                  CLICK HERE:  

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Halloween FUN for Your Pre-K, TK, Kindergarten, or 1st Grade Classroom!

There is a chill in the air!

  (You won't want to miss a thing,

so ZOOM IN on these cute framed images.)

Click the image!

Click the image to see the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image to grab the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image to see the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image above. 

Click the image above. 

After completing 8 character pages (we did 1 or 2 each day), they color all of the characters on the last page and they get to take the book home to "read" to their families.  

Click the image to see the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image to see all of the fonts & graphics from DJ Inkers.

Click the image to see all of the fonts and graphics from DJ Inkers!

And, you might also like...

Click the image to see this cute character book.

AND, AS ALWAYS...

     Grab you FREE TRIAL of ESGI with no credit card required and start saving time testing and tracking your students' progress. Use my code:

    KFUN

FOR a FREE Trial & Discount for future purchases!

Click the code above or the photo below. :)

NOW is the BEST TIME to Set It & Forget It:

I'm Talking About Next Year's TK or Kindergarten Classroom: & Grab 2 FREEBIES!

 If you set it up now, you can simply forget about it and enjoy your summer!

Grab those popsicle molds while they are still in the stores and set up your table crayons. Most trays will hold about 7 regular size crayons and 4 jumbo crayons. It not only keeps your tables organized, it promotes sorting skills. :) 

Get Ready for Next Year...

... with these FUN products:

Let's start with a FREE set of colorful Center Signs:

Colorful signs justify the need for your hands-on centers. Laminate them to last for years. Click the image to grab the entire set of 10 signs for FREE!

I'm Ready For TK: Perfect for the first week. Do one page a day and send them home at Back-to-School Night or the end of the 1st week of T.K.

Click the image.

Easy, Interactive Homework: Prepare 34 weeks of homework that uses only 1 page per week! Interactive activities that your students will love to do with their family members. Best of all, it's easy to prepare, simple to grade, and meaningful for the students. 

Click the image.

How about another FREEBIE? Put this Giving Tree page outside of your classroom door or post it online for parents to donate supplies to your classroom: 

Click the image to grab this FREEBIE. 

Beginning of the Year Bundle: 

Includes so many products for 1 low price!

Click the image.

How about a note to help parents cope with the first day of school? Just attach a cotton ball to each note and set them out by your classroom door, or send them home, on the first day of school: 

Click the image to see the set. 

Use a paper bag for this fun small group activity for the 1st week of school. Students choose icon cards to "buy" with the pennies you give them & they fill their backpack bag with images of school supplies to take home and share with their family. Perfect for your English Language Learners and all TK students!

Click the image to grab this activity. 

The Letter-Name book is an interactive whole-group activity that you can do daily with your students to help them learn the names of each students and identify individual letters. There is a page for each letter where the teacher records the names of the students that have that page's letter in their name. The students look at the large name cards, one at a time, to tell the teacher if the letter they are looking for is in each child's name. This book becomes a treasured part of your classroom library once it has been completed. 

Click the image to grab this set. 

Join me at the Early Literacy Institute...

 And Discover How to Develop Oral Language to Create Successful Writers!

Yes, your TK and kindergarten students can become instant writers with their very first small group lesson!

Click the image above for more info.

Attend my session at 

The Early Literacy Institute 

at the 

Teachers College of San Joaquin in Stockton, CA 

on Saturday, September 6, 2025. 

The workshop runs from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

You may attend 3 workshops and 

lunch is included!

At my "Emergent Writing" session,  you will be given all of the supplies to dive right into creating fun sentences that will have your students laughing and learning quickly and easily. They will be so excited to write their new sentences and they will be so proud of their accomplishments. 

I have used these techniques in my own TK and K classrooms and my students have had instant success! In fact, they often begged to write! I will cover a variety of lesson activities from large group to small group settings and I will introduce various ways to motivate interest in writing throughout the year.

Click the image above for more info. 

The Early Literacy Institute offers a variety of speakers and topics to choose from. I hope to see you there!  CLICK HERE for more information. 

Now that Valentine's Day is Over, you can...

Bring "Post Valentine" FUN Into Your Classroom For FREE!

 Just because Valentine's Day has passed, that doesn't mean you can't still have fun with that theme. Here are a few FUN activities that teach skills while students are having so much FUN:

Set Up A Math Activity or Two: 

Here is a FUN subtraction book where the students fill in the names of their friends, trace the numbers, and discover the fun of subtraction! (Click any of the images to grab your FREEBIES!)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Here is ONE MORE FREE math activity:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Set Up A Writing Activity:

Teach descriptive adjectives with this cute pocket book:

1.  Make a pocket out of 12"X18" construction paper by folding it to a 12"X12" square. 

2.  Staple the pocket at the sides with 2 staples on each side.

3.  Students glue the half-page poem to the front of the pocket and they cut a heart that represents the adjective (big, little, thin, wide, etc.) ending with the last one which is PERFECT! 

Here is the cover and the half-page poem pieces:

This one isn't free, but it's only $2.99! Grab it by CLICKING HERE.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   Set Up A Candy Shop:

Grab your FREE candy cube & cylinder templates by CLICKING HERE. 

Ask your local candy shop to give you small paper candy cups. I went to See's Candy store and they gave me lots of small paper candy cups& small candy bags. 

To create the store, I glued small white paper doilies to the construction paper lining the shelves of the puppet stage and I glued the small paper candy cups to the doilies. 

I had some upper-grade students make the cubes and cylinders form us using light and dark brown construction paper. They also glued the images of the tops of candies to the tops of the cubes and cylinders. 

My students decided that the cubes were 1¢ and the cylinders were 2¢.

I saved the small heart-shaped candy boxes so they could fill them with the paper candies of their choice. You can also just let them use the small candy bags to put their candies in. 

After paying with the coins that I placed in two play wallets, they got to work in the store. They had to stock the shelves with the candies they just pretended to buy. 

Have FUN with these ideas!

Do You Wonder About This Too?

What's the least known letter, least known sound, or least known high frequency word in my class?

I gave my students Fun Foam Letter Stickers to make these cute trees, but each child was given only the letters they did not know.
How did I quickly find the letters
each one of my students did not know?

I used ESGI's "Student Detail" report to quickly see which letters each child knew and didn't know. 

Now Is The Time To Try ESGI For FREE:

Sign up for a free trial 

with the Promo Code KFUN 

at 

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And Here is a Bonus:

If you sign up for a FREE 60 day trial, you also get over 20 classroom FREEBIES from National Educators, like me! 

And... an entry to win prizes like:

Click the image to get the link
for over 20 freebies and prizes!

And... ESGI will donate to Dolly's Imagination Library!

Click the image to get your FREEBIES,
prize entry, and your FREE 30 day trial!

But, best of all, you will get to use ESGI for FREE for 60 days & if you choose to sign up after your trial, you will receive $60 off of your 1st year! 

Enjoy Playing With ESGI:

So, You Know The Letters Your Students Don't Know. Now What?

Try these resources:

Students who needed to identify the letters B and b, located all of the uppercase Bs and lowercase letter bs on this Alphabet Chant page. They traced them with a marker and then they counted how many there were! Thanks to ESGI, I was able to target the specific letters they needed to practice.

My chants can be found by clicking HERE.

After they traced their letters on the Bb page, if they needed to practice the sound of /b/, they illustrated and labeled 3 items that began with the sound of /b/ on their Phonics Dictionary Page.

Students illustrate and label to create an alphabet book.
Click the image to see the set.
They come in color and in B&W.

This set includes 3 labeled images for each letter.I added more images by using graphics from old workbooks or old reading kits. Click the image to see the set of
Dictionary Pages and graphics.

During Small group instruction time, I used individualized RTI targeting specific skills for small groups based on the data I got from ESGI.

I am meeting with TK and K students on the skills
this group is ready for. I got my data from ESGI.

I used ESGI to track my students' skill progress so I was able to create small groups and target the specific skills that group needed. And groups changed according to the needs of individual students. 

And, the individualized data that ESGI created helped me to make quick RTI kits for each student that targeted the specific skills each child needed to practice. (I just used the flashcards generated by ESGI to make little RTI kits.) 

Just place each child's flash cards in a plastic bag.
Volunteers, cross age tutors, & paraprofessionals
can all practice skills with each student by using
their individualized RTI kit.

I wrote TK tests for ESGI and you can find them by clicking HERE.

And did I mention that ESGI is so much fun that my students actually begged me to test them! 

YOU can get a FREE TRIAL of ESGI (with NO credit card required) and you will receive over 20 digital FREEBIES & be entered to win one of these prizes!!!

Click the image to get the link. 

For more info about ESGI

CLICK HERE.