Are YOU Teaching TK This Year?

Classroom Set Up Post 2 of 3:

Here is a little poem I wrote to give you a smile before your 1st day teaching T.K.

'Twas the night before TK...
When all through the school,
The work's on the table,
These hats look so cool...

Work is on the tables... 1st day star hats.

 The centers are ready...

Keyboard with headset & listening center.

Bunny's in his seat...

Library chairs

 The Discovery Center looks kinda neat,

Discovery Center

 The light on the desk of this cute TK room,
Will light up the faces around the classroom,

My desk

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?

But Clifford the dog...

Clifford will stay in our pet shop until we need it for our chickens.

 And a cute, cuddly bear!

A soft bear and tissues just in case we have criers.

Home center labeled.

With a little, old playhouse so charming and sweet,
I knew in a moment we could cook up a treat...

With the dress-up outfits,

the children all played...

Bookcase on its side makes a closet.

 And later they stopped,
To make lemonade...

The message was written,

Our lemonade stand

On the board with care...

Lined dry erase contact paper on an easel and
a magnetic cork board.

 And the rules at the front,
Told us all to beware....

Front table

 The new ten frame numbers look like Common Core,
And the new Splash letters left us begging for more....

The money pig helps us to count each school day,

And the abacus shows counting in a different way...

And my ESGI testing is all ready to go,
It tells me which skills each child knows & doesn't know!

Another dish rack for testing files.

Then the last thing I did was to make this cute sign,

I'm exhausted, wiped out, now please bring me some wine!

Look through the frame and say, "Cheese!"

And here is a discount code for you:  
Use the code KFUN for $40 off of your 1st year when you sign up for your FREE 60 day trial of ESGI, the only assessment software that will make your students BEG to be tested! 
CLICK HERE to see more info and start your FREE trial.

Visit my TPT store and have fun setting up your classroom!
  :o)

Kindergarten Classroom Set Up Part 1 of 3

My friend, who is also teaching TK this year, picked up a package of lined dry erase contact paper posters for me.

Thank you, Lauren!!!  :)

(If you click the image above, it will take you to a set of 30 sheets of 8 1/2" X 11" lined sheets.)

The ones I originally bought were about 18" X 22" and they came in a package of 3 for about $15.

I cut them into quarters and placed them on construction paper that had already been laminated.
(Eventually, and not pictured here, I added a set of letters to the construction paper before I laminated it.)

It looks like there is a bubble of air under the dry erase
paper, but it's only the glare.

I left room at the top to attach a row of sticky tape with the alphabet and one with numbers.
I'll post more pix once I get the letters and numbers attached.

Now, each child has their own lined dry erase placemat to use during small group time.

The red mat has a red cup of dry erase markers and
an eraser.  The orange mat has an orange cup, etc.

The little dry erase markers and erasers from Target's Dollar Spot finish this off!

And we have to have our Easy Buttons.
One in English and one in Spanish!

While you are at Staples picking up your Easy Buttons, you can pick up some 8" X 10" lined dry erase contact paper.  Click RIGHT HERE for the link.  If you want the 8.5" X 11" size,  Click HERE for the link from another source.  

Update: You can find lined adhesive dry erase sheets here:  http://www.amazon.com/GoWrite-Erase-Handwriting-Sheets-Adhesive/dp/B00377TVUS and http://www.zerbee.com/Products/GoWrite-Dry-Erase-Handwriting-Sheets--8-14-x-11--Lined--30Pack__PACASB8511LN.aspx?zbp=1&gclid=CjwKEAjw3uWuBRD_s-3a8-_h6j0SJAC-qgtHm1UvXiIikfQTB2JpwKJLIJiF_EXFZhv7YkjFEdc4FxoC27vw_wcB

And if you live in Southern California, Education Station (in the San Fernando Valley) is where my friend got the 3-pack of poster size lined dry erase contact paper.

I have a yellow mat for me so I can use it as a sample mat.

What is great about these is that you can flip them over if you are doing a cut and paste lesson and the laminated mats keep the glue from getting on the tables.  The mats wash up easily.


I'm planning to post each day as I set up my room, so stop by tomorrow.

What are you doing differently in your room this year?

You might also like:
Our First Day of Kindergarten Note for Parents

The Royal King of Ing

Number Formation & Chants

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Sight Word FUN! & It's on SALE Today!

Pocket-Lockets:

  

They are the newest rage in my class.  My kids can't wait to learn a new sight word so they can make a locket or a pocket watch!  And they include all 18 of the Houghton Mifflin Kindergarten sight words AND they come with blank Pocket-Lockets so you can add as many new words as you like! 

Want to know the best part?

The best part is that both boys and girls like to make and wear BOTH lockets AND pocket watches. 

Your students will LOVE making these sight word locket necklaces and pocket watches too!

Both are made the same way, just one is worn as a necklace and the other gets slipped into a pocket like a pocket watch!

How To Make Them:

All you have to do is run these Sight Word Pocket-Lockets on colored construction paper and give each child a piece of yarn that is about 26" long.  Give them marking pens for tracing the letters, words, and numbers; scissors, and glue and you are good to go!

Students trace the sight words and, as an added bonus, they also trace the numbers on the watch.  

If you make one of these watches each week, that will give your students an extra experience tracing the numbers 1-12 AND they will conceptualize where the numbers go on an analog clock or watch.  

Students need to cut out* the rectangles containing the letters of the sight word and they need to glue them to one of the blank sides of the Pocket-locket.  When glueing on the letters they need to glue them in the correct order and they must make sure they are oriented in the correct direction and are not upside down.  They may use the sample of the sight word already printed on the Pocket-Locket as a guide.  Note:  When gluing on the sight words with 4 letters, they will need to overlap the rectangles so all 4 letters fit.

   

Then, they tie the ends of the yarn together and position the center of the yarn inside the fold of the Pocket-Locket.  It is best to use white glue when attaching the yarn.  They let it dry before wearing their Pocket-Locket.  

  

 

My students actually beg to make these Pocket-Lockets.  

This Is What is Included In This Pack:

Included are the following words:  I, see, my like, a, to, and, is, go, for, here, the, have, she, said, are, play, he.  And then you get 2 blank Pocket-Lockets and blank letter rectangles so you can add your own special words.  

  

A Fun Twist:

Have your students glue on the individual letters to the front of the Pocket-Locket in a random order so their friends may guess the word that is inside!

How To Get This Pack and The FREEBIE:

Click Here for the Pocket-Lockets download.

What fun! 

Click Here for the FREEBIE.

It includes the sight words see and my.

*  See a special post all about using higher level thinking skills while cutting out these Pocket-Lockets and take the "One Scrap Challenge" by clicking right HERE.  You will use this special tip EVERY DAY in your classroom forever!  Really!  :)

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(My ENTIRE TpT Store is on SALE today!)

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Start Your New School Year Right: 

Well, I have just the thing that can change your life! 

This was me:

I needed a Super Hero!

I started using ESGI in my kindergarten classroom in 2008 and I immediately gained:

1.  Instant data on EVERY student's skill level.

2.  User-friendly reports for parents & admins.

3.  Students who begged to be tested! Really! :)

CLICK HERE 

to get started!

And, if you sign up for a FREE 60-day trial (no credit card required), you also automatically qualify for $40 off of your 1st year, but you must enter the code:  KFUN 

AND:
Start your FREE trial 
and you will be automatically entered to win 
one of 10 Amazon Gift Cards!

So, let's get started:

CLICK HERE

and sign up for your FREE trial.

Remember to enter the code KFUN.

Then, enter the names of your students, 

their gender, & home language. 
(YES, ESGI will generate a letter for your parents in English or Spanish!)

What, You Aren't Using ESGI Yet?

You will love all of the built-in tests available on ESGI's website...

...but if you need to use specific assessments, just reproduce them using ESGI's built-in test builder. You can create your own unique tests! They even have built-in fonts and graphics to help you. Visit their site and check out their video tutorials and see how easy it is!

Let's Get To Testing:

Your students will beg you to test them so they can watch their data circles fill up and turn green! 

You can test on a desktop, a laptop, or even an iPad. 

My in-coming students LOVED testing with ESGI.

The teacher asks the question seen on the screen and then clicks "yes" or "no" based on the student's answer. Easy, breezy, lemon squeezy!

And Then There Is The Data:

Incredible data on each and every skill tested.

This is why I LOVE the bar graphs:
If you click on the grey part you see the names of the students who did not get that question correct! Can you spell RTI??? There it is for you!

ESGI also tracks each individual student's progress. The grey circles turn green as each student masters the skills on each test. Your students LOVE to see their circles turn green, so they will often beg you to test them! 

Click the chart for more info. 

Then, There Are The Flashcards:

Individualized flashcards for each student!

I called them "skill cards" because I stored each child's cards in a sandwich-sized ziplock bag to use as a reference as to which skills each child needed to work on. 

And Then, There Are The Parent Letters:

These are so much better than any report card, so I just stapled the parent letter to the front of the report card because it was easier to understand. 
They come in English or Spanish!

And there is so much more!
If your school or district decides to provide this for multiple teachers, there are even more discounts. Get started with the code KFUN, and contact ESGI for further multi-teacher discounts. 

CLICK HERE to get started!

ESGI saved me so much time, I was able to actually go home and take a break!
Start your FREE trial and you will be automatically entered to win one of 10 Amazon Gift Cards!