The Things You See On Pinterest!

Saw this on Pinterest and I just LoVe it!

I made both labels for Thing 1 and Thing 2.  I'll let the kids pick who they want to be.

We are going to make this on Mon. in my TK class.  They get 6 strips and we have 6 sight words to learn, so they will write one on each strip.  Can't wait.

I am at the So CA Kindergarten Conference and we are gearing up for our Pre-conference tomorrow with Deanna Jump.  

I will be presenting on ELA in the afternoon.  My session is called "Phonics, and Sight Words, and Writing, OH MY!" and I have a suitcase filled with things to share along with my Power Point presentation.

Then, we will celebrate over dinner at the 1st Ever So CA Bloggers' Bash were each blogger is giving away a gift basket.  

I'll also have a booth at the conference.  My dear hubby, dear daughter, and dear friend are coming to help me at my booth.  

On Saturday, the fun continues with tons of great presentations.  I'll be presenting on math.  My session is called "Addition Magician, Subtraction Reaction" and I have another suitcase filled with goodies to share.

Don't Forget:  We are having a huge sale on TPT.

20% off of our entire store through March 1.

And... an additional 10% off from TPT when you use the code TPT3 at checkout.  That will give you a total of 28% when you stack the 10% off after you take the 20% off.  The TPT extra 10% off is only through Feb. 28.

Here is the link to out store.

Wish me luck at the conference!  I'll need it!

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Announcing... 28% Off Of Our Entire TPT Store!

Two Sales At Once:

We are throwing a huge sale on our ENTIRE TPT STORE!

Everything will be 20% off beginning Thursday, Feb. 27, but that's not all...

Traci, from Dragonflies in First, made this cute graphic.  Isn't she amazing!

Click HERE to see Traci's adorable blog.

TPT is adding an additional 10%

Just enter the code TPT3 and you will get an additional 10% off of your entire order!

When you stack that with the 20% we are giving you, that's 28% off of your purchase!

And We Added An EXTRA Bonus:

Although TPT's extra 10% will end on March 1, we have extended our 20% sale through March 1 to celebrate the amazing So CA Kindergarten Conference and 1st Ever So CA Bloggers' Bash!

We will be celebrating all weekend with over 1000 attendees to the So CA Kindergarten Conference. 

The entire conference, pre-conference with Deanna Jump, and the Bloggers' Bash have ALL SOLD OUT!!!  Be on the look out for pictures!  

I'll be presenting two sessions at the conference, one on ELA and one on math, and I'll have an exhibitor's booth there too!  If you weren't able to register for the conference before it sold out you can still drop by and shop.  So if you're in Pasadena on Feb. 28 or March 1 come in and shop 'til you drop!  

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Making A McBlogger's Treat

Getting Ready For The Bloggers' Bash!

This Friday night, Feb. 28, is the 1st Ever So CA Bloggers' Bash!  It will be held in Pasadena, CA and it's part of the So CA Kindergarten Conference.  I decided to make some treats for my fellow bloggers.

When my kids were in elementary school, I would make these as a birthday treat for each of them to share with their classmates.  

They are super cute and easy to make.  Not so healthy, but they are small.  :)

Here is how to make them:

You will need a box of Nilla Vanilla Wafers, 1-2 bags of York's Peppermint Patties (24 in a bag), shredded coconut, green food coloring, & sesame seeds.

Tint the coconut green.  Place 1/2 C of coconut in a jar with a few drops of green food coloring, put the lid on & shake.

Place Nilla Vanilla Wafers upside down on a toaster over pan.

Place a York's peppermint patty on each cookie and bake at 200 degrees for 2 min.

Sprinkle with coconut and place another wafer on top.

Push gently to allow the softened patty to spread and flatten a bit.  

Rub a few drops of water on the top cookie and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  (The sugar in the cookie helps the seeds to stick.)

Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens again.

I had fun making little tags and placing the McBlogger's Treats into little cups glued to mini doilies and popping them into cello bags.  

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

American Symbols Opinion Writing...

... On A Flag Template:

After introducing several national symbols, my students illustrate their favorite one with a pencil in the square (where the stars usually go) and they fill in the background by using the side of a broken blue crayon.

Students illustrate & write about their favorite national symbol.  

They dictate to me which national symbol they like and why they like it.  This is great for opinion writing.  I write it for them on a blank flag template and they copy it.  I do this in a small group setting so I can take dictation while the students are illustrating and I can monitor that they are copying correctly, leaving spaces between their words, and including the correct capital letters and a period at the end of each sentence.  

When they are done, they use the side of a broken red crayon to shade in the blank lines.  The smaller the crayons, the better.  For some children, I make a small red mark in the space where they should color red.  

When this is done, it makes an amazing bulletin board because the blue background of the star box and the red stripes on the blank lines make each page look like an American flag, but when you get closer to it, you see the writing and the illustrations.  This also makes a great addition to their memory books.

Here are some of our flag writing pages displayed at the So CA Kindergarten Conference.  Those are our Lincoln's too. 

Here is the link to the download.  Just click HERE .

You might also like our Month-to-Month Writing.  

This set integrates writing with science, social studies, and a variety of other curricular areas.  

It includes a cute page that asked their opinion:

Would you rather have a beard like Lincoln or a wig like Washington.  

The link for the writing templates is HERE.

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

It's Our 1 Year Blogaversary! FREEBIE Time!

I can't believe I've been blogging for one year!

February 18 is our 1 year blogaversary!

Just want to share some of our greatest milestones:

Our Most Popular Blog Post:

Check out our Kindergarten Memory Books by clicking HERE or on the image.

Click the image to see the blog post.

My Favorite Ideas To Share:

Using a dish rack for files & pens for parent conferences.

Using a 3-ring binder as a writing easel.
Discourages writing letters from the bottom up!

Vocabulary hop scotch.
You can use sight words too.

Adding a row of staples before adding the beans keeps the
beans from getting moldy in too much water.

Wet sponges keep paints from drying out and I don't
have to wash brushes every night!

Glue this template into the crayon box and you will know
which crayon is missing.   I also make one for the
smaller 8-count boxes of crayons.

Sight words on wooden beads mixed in with rubber bands
for a sight word center and fine-motor practice.
Make 2 meatballs for each sight word for matching

Our Greatest Success:  

We got over 1900 "likes" on our Facebook this year!

Our Make-Over:

Going from our old look:

To our new look:

New Friends:

I got to "link up" with so many amazing bloggers this year!  

We had a wonderful Facebook hop where we each posted a freebie and a chance to win a free registration to the So CA Kindergarten Conference on Feb. 28-March 1.  

You can still register for the conference and see all of these fine ladies present sessions.

Click the image to see more info about the So CA K Conference.

Heidi, from Heidi's Songs, has helped us so much along the way.  :)

Heid, from Heidi's Songs has been an awesome support!
Click the image to see her website and blog.

What's Ahead For KFUNdamentals:

The So CA Bloggers' Bash:

I am so excited to be part of the 1st Ever So CA Bloggers' Bash!  

It will be in Pasadena, CA on Feb. 28.  

The So CA Kindergarten Conference:

I'll be presenting on ELA: "Phonics & Sight Words & Writing, Oh My!"

 and on math:"Addition Magician, Subtraction Reaction!"
Click HERE for more info.

They are currently sold out, but you can get on the waiting list!  Click the image for more info.

I Teach K!

I'll be presenting four presentations at I Teach K!  On July 9 in Las Vegas. 

My presentations will be on: 

English Lang. Arts (phonics, sight words, & writing)

Math & Art (together at last!)

Science (5 senses, matter, weather, plants, animals, & more)

Math (addition & subtraction FUN)

Click the image to get more info about I Teach K!

Now, Just For Fun:

Thank You ALL for making this an amazing year!
Here are my last 2 pics (favorites from my blog)!

Thrill of my life:  Getting to see Sir Paul McCartney at his sound check before the interview
on Jimmy Kimmel, Live, and then getting to be at the interview and concert on
Hollywood Blvd afterwards.  OMG, I was over the top!  :)

And this is Seba, the cat, who is now a fat house cat.
Every blog needs a photo of a kitty, so here is mine.

Here is your blogaversay FREEBIE:

Directions are on pg. 2.  Copy the graphics of the labeled nouns, verbs, and prepositions on the colors indicated.Students choose 1 of each color to compose a sentence using the extra "fill in" words. Comes with a writing template and 18 graphics. 

The entire set of 144 graphics can be found by clicking HERE or click the image above for the
free sample.

Thank you for ALL of the LOVE and SUPPORT over the last year.

It was the best blogging year ever for me and I'm loving that I got to share it all with you!

Happy blogaversary to KFUNdamentals!

The Best Is Yet To Come!

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Going, going, it's almost gone!

You will want to get all of these freebies!

All you have to do is click right HERE.  

Then, "like" that Facebook page.

Click the image to start the hop!

Then, find the icon that looks just like the one in the center of this image and click on it.

When you click the word "freebie" it will take you to the 1st freebie.

When you click the pink shell it will take you to the next Facebook page (which is mine) and you do the same thing:  

~Click the icon like the one in the center of this image.

~Click "freebie" for my freebie

~Click the pink shell to go to the next Facebook page.  

You must "like" the Facebook page to get the freebie.  

Best of all:  If you complete the hop, you get a chance to get a FREE registration for a GREAT conference!  Good luck & happy hopping!  :)

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Winter Fun With Numbers, Tons of FREEBIES & A Great Give-Away!

Super Easy Common Core Math:

Compose and decompose numbers easily and get the conversation going about "how you knew" how many bears there were in the cave.

Use Teddy Bear Counters and styrofoam bowls.

This is how:

Make caves by cutting a hole in the side of a styrofoam bowl.  Make enough for a small group.

Teacher:  I show a number card (I print the song lyrics from Heidi's Songs on the back of each number card.  Laminate the card, add a tongue depressed, and then even a sub can use these cards to teach the lesson!).  

I used my Cricket machine to die cut the numbers and scrapbook paper for the background.

I tell the students to take out X number of bears (the number on the card).  

And put X number on top of the cave.  

Put the rest of the bears inside the cave.  

Then ask:  How many bears do you think are in the cave.

Students:  Tell you how many they think are inside the cave.

Teacher:  Let's look (direct students to place their hand on top of the bears that are on the cave and lift the bowl and see how many are inside the cave.  

Ask:  How did you know there were _____ inside the cave?

Students:  Possible responses:  "I counted them",  "I subtitized"  (Yes, my kids use this word :oD),  "I just knew".  It is important to have this discussion.

Try another amount of bears on top of the cave and have them "guess and then check" how many bears are inside the cave.  

And To Promote Subitizing...

I made these cards out of black tag board and water bottle caps.

I arranged them to look like the dots on a die so students can learn how to subtilize (instantly recognize the number of items in a set) using familiar patterns.

Our Addition & Subtraction Bundle:

You will find tons of resources in our discounted math bundle:

Click the image to go to the download.

One More Thing:

If you haven't been to our So CA Facebook Hop and Give-away, you are going to want to Surf On Over there right now to grab a FREEBIE from 14 different blogs and a huge GIVE-AWAY too.

All you have to do is click on the image below to get started.

Click this image to start hopping!

This will take you to the 1st Facebook page.

Then, "like that Facebook page.

Next, look for the same little image and click on it.

Then click on "freebie" to get your free download.

Last, click on the shell (at the bottom of the graphic that said "freebie")

 and you will surf on over to the next Facebook page.  

Repeat on each Facebook page to get a freebie and to find the huge give-away!

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Here is one more post for you.
I post on this blog on the 4th of each month:

click the image to see the link.

I linked up the DIY FREEBIE ideas at the top of this page here:

It's Live! Come And Get Your FREEBIES!

Some of my fabulous friends and I have been working our tails off to prepare for the Southern California Kindergarten Conference! We are so excited to present, celebrate and have an all around wonderful time with some fantastic teacher friends in Pasadena, California at the end February.

We want to share all that fun with ALL of you! Soooo....

We are having a little hop over on our FACEBOOK pages. Start on Dragonflies in First's FB page and hop your way through some fabulous freebies from some amazing teachers. 

It's a short hop and you won't want to skip a step because it ends in a chance to win an AMAZING GIVEWAY!

It all begins Saturday! What a fabulous way to start the weekend!

Happy hopping!!

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

So Excited About 14 FREEBIES And...

the chance to be part of the So CA Kindergarten Conference:

Feb. 28-March 1

Look for this:

Just watch for our Blog Hop Freebie Give-away. Come back each day to see when the blog hop goes live and scoop up 14 FREEBIES.

You can find more info on the So CA Kindergarten Conference by clicking HERE.

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

It Won't Be Long Now...

It's Coming Soon!

A FREEBIE Blog Hop and...

You will have one more chance to WIN a FREE registration to the Southern California Kindergarten Conference.  Click on the link to see all of the great presenters and bloggers who will be presenting this year.  You can find a lot more info about the bloggers by clicking HERE.

So come back and see if this blog hop has gone live!

You will get a FREEBIE from each blog and

a 2nd chance to get to go to the So CA Kindergarten Conference for FREE.

So, I guess I'll see you all tomorrow, right?

Palma :)

You Asked, I Will Answer... How We Made Those Cute Valentine Mailboxes

Did You See Our New Valentine Mailboxes?

We made them by using cereal boxes.  This is what we did:

-Collect cereal boxes and cut off the entire box top and top side tabs.

-Wrap the box in red butcher paper just like you would wrap a gift box, but instead of taping the top end of the box, just push the butcher paper into the cereal box and add a little tape to keep it flat inside the box.

-Cut out a circle for the head (that is about 6" in diameter) out of buff card stock or light tan construction paper glued to white card stock. 

-Die cut light tan construction paper hands.

-Cut red arms out of red construction paper that is about 3" wide X 24"-30" long.

Use white glue to tape the head inside the box and the hands on the arms with the thumbs up.

Glue the arms to the back of the box.  Add a name to the front of the box.  

Now you have a Valentine Mailbox that is big enough to hold all of those Valentines!  :)

Check out our boards on pinterest at

pinterest.com/kfundamentals2

(don't forget to add the 2 at the end)

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

-

Quick & Easy Valentine Mailbox & Some Slick Valentine's Day Tips

 It's Almost Valentine's Day!  (Scroll down for the tips.)

Here is a last minute Valentine's Day Mailbox:

If you don't have time to gather enough cereal boxes for your entire class AND wrap them up with red paper, try making these quick valentine mailboxes out of construction paper and yarn:

They hold lots of Valentine's Day cards too!

We started out collecting cereal boxes, but we didn't get enough, so we made some mailboxes out of construction paper and I think these will hold even more Valentine's Day cards than the boxes!

Tan circles for the face and die-cut hands.

A red strip of construction paper for the arms.

And for a Healthier Treat for your Valentine's Day Party:

Go wild and add a little light whipped cream to the treat in the shape of a heart.  

Try serving strawberries cut in half.

They look like red hearts!

And the kids can cut their own with a plastic knife.  

You can do math:

Count the halves, how many wholes?

You can do science:

Strawberries are the only fruit with their seeds on the outside.

Five Senses:  See the red, smell the scent, taste the fruit, 

feel the texture, hear the sound when you take a bite.

You can do English Language Arts:

Read the story:  

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

and discuss the characters, setting, problem, solution, and the descriptive language.  

There is still time for my favorite tip:

Send home a letter on Monday with the names of the kids in your class divided into 3 groups.

Ask students to bring valentine's for: 

only group 1 on Tuesday, Feb. 11

only group 2 on Wednesday, Feb. 12,

only group 3 on Thursday, Feb. 13.  

Now you won't have to deal with hundreds of Valentine's Day cards 

all on one day!

After all, we are not the U.S. Post Office, right?

You Might Like:

Our Valentine Descriptive Book.  It's full of juicy adjectives!  And it's on sale!

Click image for link.

Subtraction Book.

Here is a sneak peek the pages of this subtraction book.

Just click any of the images to grab the download.  

Enjoy!

And I'll see you all tomorrow!

Palma :)