Can You Tell 2 Truths from 1 Lie & Win A $50-$500 Amazon Gift Card?

Join The FUN & Win Big:

First, tell me which one of these is a lie.

(There are clues 

included throughout this blogpost.)

How To Get This Sweet Deal:

Continue to read my blogpost for clues!

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3...

1. Above, are 2 truths and 1 lie about me. 

All you have to do is leave a comment 

telling me which one is the lie!

(You can win even if you 

ALREADY HAVE ESGI!

Just make sure your account is active.)

2. Then, sign up for a FREE Trial with ESGI using my promo code: 

KFUN.

(There is no credit card required to do this step and it automatically qualifies you for $40 off of your 1st year if you should choose to purchase it.)

3. Last, share your post with your guess along with #ESGIBTS19 on your own social media account.

Teachers who complete these 3 steps 

will be to win 

one of ten $50 Amazon Gift Cards 

AND the $500 Grand Prize!

Seriously, what are you waiting for??? 

What? You say you must use your district's assessments? 

~No problem. You can still use ESGI and once your administrators see how much USEFUL DATA you get, they will want you to use ESGI with, or maybe even without, your district's assessments.

~And, you can even create your own custom test to match your district's tests or use one of the Built-in Tests like mine! 

CLICK HERE 

to see my ready-made tests.

If you want more info (& clues for the questions), here it is...

This was me:

Click the image above to get started.

ESGI to the rescue!

Click the image above to get started.

I started using ESGI in my kindergarten classroom in 2009 and I immediately gained:

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

2.  User-friendly reports for parents &  
     administrators

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

CLICK HERE 

to get started!

And, if you sign up for a FREE trial now,

 (no credit card required), 

tell me in the comments which one of the questions above is a lie, 

(Find more clues 

by reading the rest of this blogpost.)

and post about it with #ESGIBTS19,

you will be entered to win one of 

eleven $50-$500 Amazon gift cards!

And, did I mention that if you 

use the code KFUN 

when signing up for your FREE trial 

you will automatically qualify for 

$40 off of your 1st year?

This is win-win-win!

So, let's get started:

CLICK HERE

and sign up for your FREE trial.

Remember to enter the code KFUN.

The summer is the PERFECT TIME 
to explore ESGI & get started with it.
When you get your class list, 
just enter the 
names of your students, 

their gender, 
& home language. 

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 ALSO 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.

How it Works:

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! That grey list is perfect for creating your RTI re-teaching groups!

ESGI also tracks each individual student's progress. The grey circles turn green as each student masters the skills on each test. Your students will 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 travel all across North America presenting professional development workshops for teachers and using flashcards as "skill cards" is one of my favorite ideas to share.

I called them "skill cards" because I stored each child's cards in a sandwich-sized ziplock bag to use as a reference as they include only the skills each child needed to work on. 
These cards become RTI kits to re-teach skills to students in class or to send home for parents to review. You can also use the cards as brag tags as students master the skills!

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. 

And there is so much more!

Sign up by Sept. 30 and get in on the FUN!
You will get:

ESGI saved me so much time, I was able to actually go home and plan fly fishing trips around the word!
Here I am fly fishing in Chile:

We fish barbless & always catch & release. 

And here we are fly fishing in Alaska.

My husband fly fished in Ireland, but I didn't. 

Flip Your Small Group Table With Today's Tip:

Find Out How I Use This To Teach Writing:

Click the image above to grab these.

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

1st: Laminate a blank sheet of construction paper.*
2nd: Attach a sheet of lined dry-erase contact paper to the laminated construction paper.

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

 (Leave room at the top for sample letters &/or numbers.)

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

3rd: Attach letters and/or numbers to the top with clear tape. 
*Or... you can attach them with a glue stick before you laminate the construction paper. 

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

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

 If you want the 8.5" X 11" size,  Click HERE for the link from another source.  

The best part about using 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 and you won't have any more glue drying on your tables!

So, How Do I Use These To Teach Writing?

1. When using a writing prompt, the teacher writes what the student dictates on the dry-erase paper for the student to copy.

Here is an example of one of my writing prompts. 

While students are illustrating & tracing the prompt, the teachers asks them what they are drawing and writes it on their dry-erase paper for them to copy.

Click on the image above to grab the set of prompts.

2. When a student needs help spelling a word, the teacher can help the student to sound-blend the word on the dry-erase paper and then copy it from there.

I created writing cards to help students build sentences that are a lot cuter than these.Find them by clicking on the image above. 

3. When a student needs to practice letter formation, they can practice on dry-erase paper.

And...

For Whole Group Time:

Cover an old easel with the poster size lined dry-erase contact paper for your morning message or that teachable moment!

Spaghetti & Meatballs:
Leave enough room between the letters in a word for a piece of spaghetti
and enough room between words for a meatball.
I made this from a bamboo skewer & a wooden bead from a craft store. 

Click the image to grab these.

ALL of these ideas allow you to erase and the dry-erase paper may be used again and again! Now, that's sustainable! 

I will post Part 2 of 3 Next week.

Palma :)

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

The Royal King of Ing

Number Formation & Chants

See you all next week!

Palma :)

My Crayon Confession: (+24 FREEBIES)

My name is Palma and I'm obsessed with organizing crayons!

It's true, what can I say.  
~I would often spend hours after school checking crayon boxes to make sure everyone had ALL of the colors.  
~I've been known to stop everything and have every child hold up each crayon as I called out the color names to make sure every student had ALL of their crayons.  
~I obsessed about this until I came up with not 1, but 2 solutions.

This FREE template fits inside the jumbo crayon boxes.  
The ones with the separate lids and the ones with the flap.
But you also get the one that fits in the 
regular-size 8-count crayon box!
Click the image above to grab your FREE copy.

My 1st Solution:

For crayon boxes, 

I came up with two templates 

that fit perfectly inside the jumbo 8-count box 

and the small 8-count box.  

(Click the image below or scroll down 

for the FREE templates.)

Just cut them out and glue them into the crayon boxes.

Students match the colors of their crayons to the colors on the template and they instantly know which crayons they are missing so they can replace them from my "Extra Crayons" box. 
(Just a box filled with lost crayons.)

A well-used small box of 8 crayons.
The template fits inside.  Just glue it in.

My 2nd Solution:

You might have seen my idea 

for table crayon storage in 

Scholastic Magazine. 

They featured my idea in their 

Back-to-School issue 

a couple of years ago.

~I use the popsicle molds to hold crayons on the tables.  

~It promotes sorting and there are always lots of crayons available at each table. 

~This is a great time of year to pick up these popsicle molds. 

Look for them at your local Dollar Store or Walmart. 

This pop tray can hold 6-7 small crayons 
or 3-4 jumbo crayons in each section.

BONUS:

 Don't throw away the little popsicle holders 

that come with the molds.  

They make great great counters, 

AND they can be used in your estimation jar, 

or you can tape numbers to half of them 

and sets of dots to the other half for 

a matching activity at a center.  

A great idea is to include a "reference jar"
 at your estimation center.
This one has 4 pop holders and 
says, "This is what 4 looks like."

So if you're as obsessed as I am 

about keeping your classroom crayons organized, 

you can pick up my templates 

FREE by clicking HERE.  Enjoy! 

And while you're there, 

grab the other 23 FREEBIES in my TPT Store!

 :)

Check out my:

FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. 
(Tons of FREE ideas.)

PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  
(Oh, the ideas on these boards!)
  

TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store 

(Did you say, "24 freebies?!")

Check out more organization ideas by clicking HERE.

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Buttons, Bows, Eric Carle, & Van Gogh!

Art Really Teaches!

Join us for some hands-on fun this summer, 

earn up to 3 graduate-level semester units, 

& receive a free gift:

Discover how you can link math 

to almost ANY of your 

favorite art activities!

Here is one example, from Art Masterpiece Corner, of the hat you will create.

Come and create an adorable hat 

using unique art materials from 

Discount School Supply 

and learn how your students can 

"buy" everything they need 

to embellish their creation.

This workshop is Presented by

the CKA Art Team with special guest 

Palma Lindsay!

For Pre-K/TK/Kindergarten 

and Grade One Educators

Tuesday, July 30th

8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Click the image above for more info.

Contra Costa County Office of Education

77 Santa Barbara Road

Pleasant Hill, California

A Gift from the Art Team:

Each attendee will receive a copy of CKA’s publication, 

ART Really Teaches!

This book is filled with amazing art ideas.
$40 value!

Your day will include: 

~both CA Visual Art Standards 

& Pre-School Learning Foundation Standards

~the style of 7 master artists

~techniques on how to integrate 

oral language, literature, and math with art

~a rich portfolio of project ideas

~a hands-on session where you will 

get to express your own creative talents

This sample is from Creative Connections for Kids. 

To Register:  CLICK HERE

Which Is Your Favorite American Symbol?

That's What I Asked My Students...

After we finished our unit on American symbols I asked my kindergarten and transitional kindergarten students that question. Then, we wrote about it on flag paper!
You can easily create your own flag writing template (see below) or you can 
  CLICK HERE or on any image to grab this flag writing template.

Everyone expressed their opinion about which national symbol was their favorite. 

Opinion Writing:

We reviewed photographs of American symbols.

Illustrating where the stars would normally go.

Kindergarten students had to tell me which symbol was their favorite and why. This was one of the opinion pieces we wrote. They wrote the words "I like" and they copied the name of their favorite national symbol from a sample I printed on lined paper. (My TK kids got to copy the entire sentence.)

Copying from their dictation and my printing.

The bald eagle was a favorite for many of the boys.

This is how it works:

In a small group setting, I asked each student to draw their favorite national symbol with a pencil in the rectangle. While they completed their illustration with crayons, I asked each child to tell me which symbol they chose and why.  

I wrote their dictation on lined paper, and they copied it on our special flag writing template.
We were sure to add blue background to the illustrations and red stripes between the lines on writing so the pages look like American flags. We used peeled and broken blue and red crayons for this. They got to draw and use crayons in a different way!

These are the T.K. papers before we mounted them on construction paper.
Kindergarten students added an additional sentence telling why they liked that symbol.

Opinion Discussion:

My Transitional Kindergarten kids also told me which American symbol was their favorite, they also wrote "I like" and copied the name of their favorite symbol.  Then, we discussed why each student liked the symbol they chose, but we didn't write why.  

The Statue of Liberty

The Liberty Bell

Mount Rushmore

The White House

The bald eagle

The Lincoln Memorial

The Statue of Liberty

Here are some of the kindergarten samples:

The Washington Monument

The Capitol

Time to Display Our Work:

After we mounted each flag template to a piece of 9"X12" red, white, and blue construction paper, we put them up on our magnetic board with magnets.  They look so cute!  My favorite illustration is Mount Rushmore (above).

We have to use magnets to hold the work up on the magnetic white board.

Click the image to get this template.

Perfect For 4th of July, Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, or a unit on National Symbols:

I usually do my National Symbol unit during February, but this is also a great project to do for any of the holidays listed above.

You can easily create your own flag template by creating a rectangle and then add a lined font to the rest of the page. 
Or you can find my American Flag Writing Template (which includes two sizes, one for TK or K and one for 1st grade) by clicking Here. 

Let me know how your kids liked it.  :)

See you all tomorrow.

Palma :)