Are YOU Ready for 12 Days of Holiday FUN + a Give-away?

12 "Holly Daze" of the Cutest Clipart + More:

The Give-away for 
The FREE Set of DJ Inkers 
is below.

Get ready for DJ Inker’s annual 12 Holly Daze SALE!!!  

That’s 12 delightful days full of fabulous flash SALES, 

daily FREEBIES, 

new products,

 and holiday smiles
from DJ Inkers.  :)

The fun begins at 12:00am EST 

on Saturday December 1, 2018.  

But remember… each holly day lasts for just 24 hours!  

Join DJ Inkers' email newsletter list 

for daily reminders, and you won’t miss a thing…  

http://goo.gl/8OS0D4 

I Love to Create with DJ Inkers...

That is why I use their clipart and fonts so often.

And, I LOVE to make learning FUN, so I created a fun math activity using their newest set:

Fala Lala Llama Clipart.

CLICK HERE 

to see the entire set and grab one for yourself. 

Click the image above.

 It's called "The Llama Pajama Shop" and students get to "buy" the parts to help their llama get dressed for bed. 

Click the image above to see the set.

Now, we all know that llamas don't wear pajamas, but they can wear warm blankets, cuddly scarves, and soft nightcaps. 

And they might also like toys like a stuffed cactus, an aloe plant, or just some surprise presents. I also included some decorations like flowers and tassels! Just follow the easy directions and your students will be "shopping" and using their mental math, problem solving, and decision making skills! 

It's easy! 

So much FUN! 

And No Prob-llama!

Do you want to start creating with 

DJ Inkers Clipart?

Enter below to win this huge 

Jolly Holidays Set!

(a $39.99 value 
that includes 698 graphics & 2 fonts!)

Click the image above for more info about this set from DJ Inkers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winner will be announced here and on 

KFUNdamentals' Facebook Page

on Dec. 8. 
And the winner is...
Karen
misskarenroom15

Congratulations, Karen!
I have emailed you.

Grab Over 22 FREEBIES Perfect For Your Pre-K, TK, Kindergarten, or 1st Grade Classroom

I'm So Thankful for YOU!

That's why I have so many FREEBIES!

Head on over to my TpT store and grab over 22 FREEBIES for your classroom.

You will find some awesome products like...

Scientific Method Signs:

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE

Colorful Scientific Method signs. Use them to teach the scientific method and to enhance your classroom walls. Get the entire set FREE by CLICKING HERE.

My Days of the Week Song:

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE.

Have you heard my days-of-the-week song? Well, it's to the tune of the Cure's "Fridays, I'm in Love" and you kids will LOVE it. Grab a free copy by CLICKING HERE.

Friendship School Bus:

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE.

Are you looking for a cute craft that integrates social studies topics like friendship and transportation with fine motor skills and following directions? This cute school bus can be made out of egg cartons. Use copies of your students' school photos to create a "friendship bus" to brighten your classroom. Find the FREE templates by CLICKING HERE. 

Kwanza Numeracy Craft:

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE. 

Do you need a Kwanza craft that integrates numeracy? Well, here you go: CLICK HERE to grab this FREEBIE.

Parent Letter:

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE.

Do your students bring you presents during the holidays? After teaching for over 30 years I had a cupboard filled with teacher mugs! I came up with this idea that makes things easier & way less costly for parents and gives you what you REALLY need: Wouldn't you LOVE to get a gift certificate for Teachers Pay Teachers? That's a gift that will directly impact your students and will actually get used! Here is a FREE letter outlining this idea. Grab your copy by CLICKING HERE. 

There are so many more FREEBIES at my TpT Store, from sight words to number lines, the list goes on! So, what are you waiting for? Visit my TpT store and scroll through the 4 pages. You will find FREEBIES on EVERY PAGE!

Oh, and here is a bonus:  

Give yourself the gift of time by trying out ESGI, a website that will actually have your students begging you to test them! 

Get a FREE trial of ESGI by CLICKING HERE and...

If you choose to purchase it after your free trial, you will qualify for $40 off of your 1st year with my code, KFUN. Use the code while signing up for your FREE trial so you are sure to qualify. 

CLICK HERE 

to get that started

and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Be an Angel... Help A Child

It's FREE, It's EASY & It's a Game Changer!

I'm so excited to announce that ESGI is supporting a very special organization during this holiday season. 

Click the image above.

All you have to do is give ESGI a try! 

It's FREE!

It's Amazing!

And it will Change Your Life!

(+ the FREE trial lasts until March 31!

That could be almost 5 months of freeness!

(Is that a word?)

And ESGI will make a $5.00 donation!

Just be sure to use their promo code:

ESGIHELPACHILD

between Nov. 5 and Dec. 31, 2018.

I made it easy for you.

All you have to do is 

click on the promo code above and

sign up for your FREE trial.

(Did I mention that 

NO CREDIT CARD is required?)

What you get:

An EXTENDED FREE TRIAL

(that lasts until March 31, 2019!!!)

A $40 discount off of your 1st year 

if you choose to purchase it.

A savings of nearly 400 hours 

of your precious time as 

ESGI organizes your data

and 

generates everything from graphs

to 

parent reporting letters 

(in English & Spanish), 

and 

flashcards customized for each child 

with the specific skills they need to practice. 

So, what are you waiting for? 

      Make a difference in the life of a child and...

            get amazing data to drive your instruction.

Generate your own tests to match your district's tests or use the built-in tests created by ESGI or any of the "Friends" (educational consultants) on their website.  

See for yourself how ESGI will change your life!

It's Easy, Breazy, Lemon-Squeezy!

You won't know how you survived without it!!!

Hey Indiana Teachers...

Do You Teach Near Indianapolis?

Then, you will want to read this!

SDE is coming to your town on Dec. 3 & 4 and you won't want to miss us!

Click the image above. 

Join Kim, Palma, and Matt!

Click the image above.

Get inspired, excited, and amazed!

Learn new techniques to bring back to your classroom!

Enjoy a fun-filled day or 2 of learning!

Re-discover the joy of teaching!

I'm So Excited To Be Part of This Conference...

Join me at my sessions:

How would you like to teach math skills through shopping? Seriously, why not have students pretend to "buy" the parts for their next project? I will show you so many ways to make math FUN & how to manage these fun technique that will motivate your students to develop their math skills. Top it off with a wide variety of "shopping centers" for your classroom and you have...

"Take An Imaginary 'Shopping Trip' Through the Math Standards!"

Tap into my 37 years of experience and learn new ways to organize & manage everything from student data to student behavior. Keep students engaged, eliminate behavior problems, and teach more efficiently with the tips and tricks you'll discover in my session...                                                    

"The Amazing Classroom"

Are you wondering how to get your kindergarten students to develop their descriptive, informative, opinion, and narrative writing skills? Let me show you an easy approach that is both developmentally appropriate and crucial to your students' success in writing. Check out my session...

"They Can Do It! Creating Successful Writers in Kindergarten"

And what ever happened to nursery rhymes? Discover how to teach so many foundational ELA skills at this engaging "Make & Take" session! You will leave with so many samples to use in your classroom. All materials and tools are provided, so stop by and have fun in...

"Mother Goose on the Loose!"

And that's just day 1. On day 2, have fun at my keynote presentation:

Start your day with a big spoonful of motivation, a pinch of inspiration, and a handful or two of laughs and giggles. Leave this keynote with a smile on your face and empowered to make a difference in this changing world, one child at a time. Join me for...

"Ingredients For Success!"

Collect tricks and tips on how to create inexpensive or free ways to design centers that meet a wide range of abilities. Turn your classroom into a plethora of playful learning. Stop by and find out how at...

"Learning Centers: Keeping 'Play' in Your Kindergarten Day"

Are you drowning in assessments, data, and making sense of all of the testing you have to do? Well, fear not! I'll show you efficient ways to test, record, and analyze your data. Find out how at... 

"Fall In Love With Formative Assessments!"

Do you want to trigger curiosity, ignite excitement, and create life-long learners? Come and learn the 4 basic steps to inquiry-based learning. Discover how at...

"Inquiry-Based Learning: Let Your Students Drive Your Instruction!"

If you read this post and come to this amazing conference, find me and tell me that you saw this post. I always carry prizes for my followers and I love to give away FREEBIES at all of my presentations!  :)

CLICK HERE

for more info about this conference. 

You Can Teach Addition Through Shopping!

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! 

Visit our Teachers Pay Teachers Store HERE.
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And visit us again right here at our blog where we "keep the FUN in the FUNdamentals!"
                                                     

Did You Know I Taught TK?

In Fact, I taught a TK/K Combo for 3 Years and I LOVED it!

What is TK?  It's Transitional Kindergarten: Students start school at four years old and attend kindergarten after a year in TK.

Having so much FUN teaching a combo class!

I had 24 students. The last three years I had 

12 TKs and 12 Ks 

16 TKs and 8 Ks 

20 TKs and 4 Ks

And I LOVED it! Really!

Did you just say, "Why?" right out loud? 

I LOVED it because I got to differentiate all day long, provide individual children with exactly what they needed, and loved watching all of my students learn and grow so much during the year.

So, how did I keep my sanity?

3 Easy Ways...  

1.) Differentiate independent work.

2.) Track progress and drive small group instruction & individualized RTI that targets specific skills.

3.) Create fun, skill-based centers that allow students to apply their knowledge, practice academic skills, and enjoy learning.

That sounds like an overwhelming amount of work, right? Well it wasn't. Here is how...

1.) Differentiate independent work: They were all working on the same letter, word, number, etc., but my Ks were doing more challenging work with those skills. 

For example:

My TKs located all of the uppercase Bs and lowercase letter bs on my Alphabet Chant page. They traced them with a marker and constructed a cat with the pattern pieces provided. 

My chants match the Zoo Phonics animals.
Click the chant to see the set. 

I'm working on making these alphabet masks
available on TpT. I used them on my word wall.

My Ks practiced tracing upper case Bs and lowercase Bs and then wrote their own Bs and bs  on laminated tracing cards. Then, 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.

2.) Small group instruction and individualized RTI targeting specific skills: It didn't matter if you were a TK or a K, if you were ready to read, you met with me in a small group setting along with any other students who were at that same level. 

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. 

My K students' tests were organized by trimester
using bold primary colors. 

My TK students' tests were organized by trimester using pastel colors. 

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.

3.) Create fun, skill-based centers that allow students to apply their knowledge, practice academic skills, and enjoy learning. 

Centers like a candy store where students can use their mental math skills to add up candies they pretend to purchase. 

We "sold" sphere and cylinder shaped
candy for 1 cent or 2 cents each,
depending on the shape.
I placed 20 cents inside 2 wallets.

These templates are FREE!
Click the candy above for grab a set. 
Save those empty heart-shaped candy boxes!

Or a science exploration center where students discover the "magic" of magnets. 

Students can freely explore.
The writing was done in a small group setting.
The writing is part of a set of templates.
Click the image above to see the set. 

My students were allowed to visit any center once their independent work was done. I pulled small groups for instruction while they were independently working or while they were at a center. 

Exploring, discovering, communicating!

One more thing:

With ESGI, I was able to create 2 classes, TK and K. The tests I used for each students depended on their grade level, so all I had to do what click on one student's name and all of the items I needed to test were right there on my laptop screen. 

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! 

Click the code above. 

If you are interested in trying ESGI, you can sign up for a FREE 60 day trial (no credit card required) and, if you use my affiliate code: KFUN, you will automatically qualify for $40 off of your 1st year. Bonus: sign up for your free trial by Sept. 30 and you will be entered to win one of 11 Amazon Gift Cards! (1 is worth $500!!!)

For more info about ESGI

CLICK HERE.

So, that is how and why I LOVED teaching a combo TK/K class!