Can you Guess How Old Clifford Is?

The Road Trip to N. CA:

Did you know that Clifford, the big red dog, turned 60 this summer? Well, he did and he got to take a trip through each and every one of the fifty states!

 We stayed near Sacramento and got to hike and enjoy the beautiful trees.

Back to So Ca:

We had so much fun with our friends in Big Bear, CA.

Off to Vegas:

Then, it was time to pack up our bags and head to Las Vegas for the national "I Teach K! conference. I presented four sessions there again this year. Clifford was up on stage with me for each presentation.

Walking through the conference, we saw so many of our friends. Can you recognize any of your favorites?

We made sure that we put aside some time for FUN. So many wonderful companies hosted amazing dinners. Can you spot the founders of Educents?

And then, there was the TpT conference with so many bloggers who met up at the Blogger Meet UP.

Lovin' Santa Barbara...

Back to So Cal where we had an amazing evening eating cheese and fruit while sipping some California wine and listening to Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson and both of their bands.

Time for Texas:

Time to pack up again for Texas where I had the privilege of presenting at the Splash conference. There was a GREAT blogger Pajama Party and one teacher attended wearing her Clifford earrings!

Back to So Cal and the OC:

Back to So CA where we drove down to Orange County for a TpT blogger meet-up. Isn't that the cutest cookie ever?

That was our trip! We had so much fun and we made so many friends. 

Everyone recognized Clifford and loved getting to pose for a selfie with him!

Then, we headed back down to So CA for a 4th of July celebration in Big Bear where we got to see the fireworks display over Big Bear Lake.

We also saw a play & Clifford got to go on stage!

                                                     
Clifford also attended the 2nd annual TpT conference where he met tons of bloggers and had his picture taken with the Paul, the founder of TpT!

Next, we got to see Alison Krauss & Willie Nelson at the Santa Barbara Bowl.

A beautiful place to listen to a concert. That's the Pacific Ocean in the background.

              This teacher wore her Clifford earrings!

We had so much fun traveling throughout CA with Clifford!

We ended our tour at a blogger meet-up in Orange County. 

What has changed names 5 times in the past 124 years?

Scholastic Teacher Magazine! 

Discover new ideas like this pumpkin geoboard and win a  FREE subscription!

Zoom in to read how to create this FUN geoboard pumpkin
& enter the Rafflecopter below to get your own FREE subscription. 

A Little History...

 Instructor magazine launched in October 1891 as Normal Instructor (teacher’s colleges were then called “normal schools”). In its 124-year history, the magazine has changed names five times! 

They have a great article all about the history of this magazine.
Get a sneak peak by zooming in on the image below.

After 5 name changes over the last 124 years, it is now called Scholastic Teacher and it's better than ever! And you can WIN a subscription by entering our Rafflecopter below.

Grab a Sneak Peak...

... at one of the articles in there newest edition and find out how you can easily get funding for projects or supplies for your classroom. This article compares some of the largest crowdfunding sites around, like Donors Choose, and gives you some really practical tips on how to be successful at getting funding for your classroom. So if you've been wishing for a few new laptops, literature titles, or math tools for your classroom, check out this article by clicking HERE or on the image below.

Click the image to read the article.

Now, it's time for the Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apples to Applesauce!

It's Applesauce Time!  

Great to make for your classroom feast!

Making homemade, organic applesauce with children is so easy.
And there are soooo many skills to learn too!

First, we brought in apples:

All kinds of apples!

We made a graph and determined that we had more mixed colored apples than red, green, or yellow apples.  We compared colors, wrote our color words on the chart, and compared amounts.  We counted the sets of apples too.

We washed the apples and washed our hands and the fun began!

Time to peel the apples:

We used our apple peeler which also cores the apples and slices them into thin spirals.  That makes them so much easier to cut up.  We counted the turns as each child peeled their own apple.

Today was this little one's 3rd day in my classroom.
She is new to this country too.
I can't imagine what is going through her head!  :)

Peel, peel, peel!
Turn, turn, turn!

Slice, slice, slice!
Turn, turn, turn!

It was hard work, but they were all smiles!

It's always easier with your tongue out!

Time to chop the apples:

Each child got a paper plate and a plastic knife.
They got to cut up their own apple slices.  

Peeling, slicing, coring, chopping!

We estimated the number of chunks of apples we cut up!
I gave the apples one more final rinse (just in case :o/ ) and placed the pieces into an electric frying pan.

Chop one, taste one!

 We subtracted as we tasted some of the apple pieces!

Chop, chop, chop!
Turn, turn, turn!

Plastic knives are awesome for this activity.

Chop, Chop, Chop!
Don't bite your tongue!

Time to cook the apples:

I added a cup of water and some cinnamon and turned up the heat to about 300 degrees.
We measured the water and cinnamon.  (You might not need a full cup of water.)

After a few minutes, I lowered the heat to 275 degrees and stirred up the apples.
We timed the cooking on our classroom clock.

It smelled sooooo goooooood!

We cooked them for about 30 minutes, but you can cook them for an hour, adding water if needed.

The final result is chunky applesauce.  If you want to get rid of the chunks, just use a potato masher or a food mill to create a puree.

We let the chunky applesauce cool down a bit before we ate it.

We counted the cups and spoons too.  So much math and science.  We used our 5 senses too!

We decided that, just like The Three Bears, this treat needed to cool down before we ate it.  That gave us a literature link!  :)

Time to eat the applesauce: 

Yum!

We used our 5 senses to enjoy this healthy treat.

The kids loved peeling, coring, slicing, cooking, and eating the applesauce.

And let's not forget phonics:  This activity was perfect for "A" week.

And there is a link to the social studies theme of change:   Now they know that applesauce comes from apples!

And, even though we cooked it in our adjoining middle room so the kids would not be near anything hot, the smell traveled into our classroom and made our classroom smell GREAT!

Check us out on:

          Facebook:  KFUNdamentals on Facebook

          Pinterest:  KFUNdamentals on Pinterest

          Teachers Pay Teachers:  KFUNdamentals on TPT

Math FUN At 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.

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! 

Visit our Teachers Pay Teachers Store HERE.
Visit our Facebook Page Right HERE.
Visit our Pinterest Boards over Here.
And visit us again right here at our blog where we "keep the FUN in the FUNdamentals!"
                                                     

Keeping "Play" in Your Kindergarten Day + FREEBIES

Justifying the Importance of Play:

In these times of "Kindergarten Rigor" and test score mania, how do you justify the importance of "play" in your kindergarten classroom?

Kids love to play, so why not play with sight word meatballs?

Well, I was basically able to keep my “play based” kindergarten by providing excellent test scores at each of the trimester reporting periods. Achieving high test scores doesn't mean that you can't provide lots of opportunities for play. I understand the importance of accountability and measurable means to report student grown and drive my instruction and intervention, but I refused to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Where "play" fits in my day:

My kindergarten day consisted of engaging whole group lessons, meaningful independent work (required of all students), and differentiated small group guided reading and math instruction.  CLICK HERE so see a post about my typical day. 

From attendance check-in to just playing with numbers, these centers are just plain FUN!Click the image to see a post on how you can build your own Rekenrek. 

You can grab the FREE NUMBER CARDS by clicking HERE.

During the independent work time, I pulled my homogeneous small groups for specific skill work. If your independent work was done (and quickly checked by an adult, meaning me or a parent volunteer) and you weren’t meeting with me in a small group, you could use your time to choose ANY center and play.

Kids can "play" with letters and learn their names while having fun.

Why this formula is win-win for teachers, admins, & kids:

So basically, admins see kids engaged in powerful small group lessons, meaningful independent work, and educational play activities.  You can see great ways to keep "play" in your day by CLICKING HERE for part 1. Then, CLICK HERE for part 2. 

One more additional benefit: Happy Kids who are excited to learn!

Creating Centers That Foster Play:

So, how did I create play centers that were also educational? I started by looking at the standards I needed students to master. There are some samples of great centers throughout THIS BLOGPOST. CLICK HERE to see it.

The power of print should be everywhere in your classroom. 

I literally wrote the sight words on the train tracks with a Sharpy marker. Students were often heard saying, "Give me the piece that says like," as they were building their train track. 

I also labeled EVERYTHING! From the science center to the home center. This also provided opportunities for sorting as students sorted the forks and spoons or the fruits and vegetables according to the labels.

These "detectives" are exploring at the Science Center. No directions included, just explore & discover! 

I incorporated social studies and science in our centers. I set up outfits representing our community helpers in our home center and lots of science realia in our "Discovery Center" which also included math tools like rulers and balance scales.

And then there were the stores! My students loved my monthly stores were students could pretend to buy items with plastic coins. They were adding, subtracting, and problem solving as they had fun. 

We also created a coffee shop, a candy store, and a burger stand. The kids created the menus. 

They loved wearing the clerk aprons and making the parts for the stores. For our See's Candy Shop, they decided that the cube shaped candies were 1 cent while the cylinders were 2 cents. Then, they filled the empty heart shaped boxes with pretend candies (which our upper grade buddy class made with my free templates) and they added to come up with a total price for the box of candy. See's is happy to give you paper candy cups and little bags too. There is just so much you can learn from shopping!  You can grab the FREE candy template by CLICKING HERE.

Why I Wrote This Post:

I received an email from a teacher asking how I was able to justify "play" and when I put the question out to my FaceBook followers, I was directed to this article. CLICK HERE to see that article too.

I hope that this post helps you to bring "play" back into your day and justify its importance to your administrators. 

I'll be presenting on this topic at: 

Brea, CA:  Click Here  and CLICK HERE to see the brochure. 

Norman, Oklahoma:  Click Here and again Here

Austin Texas: Click Here and 

Pasadena, CA:  Click Here

And you might like:

Sight Word Pocket Lockets:

Click on the image.

My students loved creating these at a craft center and wearing them home: