Have You grabbed My FREEBIE Song?

It's cute, it includes the days of the week, and it's FREE!

Sing it to the tune of "Friday I'm In Love" by The Cure.
(If you aren't familiar with the tune, you can find it on iTunes.)

Download the lyrics FREE by clicking HERE or on the image:

I wrote these words because Fridays are our minimum day and families are tempted to take off for a long weekend and just skip school on Fridays.  We always do fun things on Fridays to make it the best day of the week.  For the first 11 weeks, we celebrate a color on each Friday.  Last week we celebrated Red Day.  We all wore red, we tasted strawberries, and we made a Clifford puppet.  :)

We are showing you our organic, red strawberries.  :)

Each week, we wear the special color, we taste a food that is the special color, and we make a "craftivity" that is the special color.

You can find my "Color Day" notes for parents here.  They remind parents about which color to wear each Friday.  The set includes all of the colors:  red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, brown, white, gray, black, and pink.  They are written in English and Spanish.

And you can find lots of FREEBIES here:

Enjoy!

:o)

More Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom

I added two new centers to my TK room today to go with my Palm Tree theme:

Magnetic letters and a palm tree.  How simple!  :)

 I found the metal boards @ Michael's over the summer for 90% off of the lowest price.  Marked down to $7.99, they were 79 cents after the 90% discount.  You can also use a cookie sheet.

A place to explore letters.
The capital letters are on a burner cover
 behind the lowercase letters.

 The square trays are metal stove burner covers that I found at the dollar store a while ago.  They usually carry burner covers; square ones and round ones.

I drew coconuts on the clothes pins so the children can clip them to the matching numbers.

You might like:  Our Letter Name Book :

                                    

or get it as part of our Beginning of the Year Bundle:

I'll post more classroom ideas tomorrow.

Let me know if you have a favorite palm tree theme idea.

Palma :)

More Back-to-School-Night & TONS OF FREEBIEs & Our October 1-Day Conference

Here are some more ideas from my Back-to-School-Night this week:

I made homework folders for each child.  They are filled with samples of:

letter formation

number formation

letter sounds

Zoo Phonics animals

The days of the week

Shapes 

Colors

You can see where I smudged out the name for security
reasons, but I print each child's name and class
number correctly as a model at the top.

I found most of these masters on TPT for free.
Inside, I placed the welcome packet.

Here is the 1-Day workshop we are presenting in Costa Mesa, CA.

I can't wait to be part of this event.  Heidi, from Heidi's Songs, will presenting all morning!

Her amazing ideas and songs for ELA will fill the morning with lots of smiles, laughter, and music.

Check out Heidi's web site here and Heidi's blog here.

You will want to follow her blog, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, web site and You tube.

Lunch is included and then....

Sarah and I promise to keep you entertained while we present a "Make-&-Take" session on 

Common Core Math 

You will learn tons of ideas that make the Common Core Math Skills fun & exciting.

You'll be given the materials to make new hands-on tools for teaching math concepts and 

an amazing, new handout!

Imagine having the time to create new tools that you can use in your classroom on Monday morning!

You can follow our Facebook page, Pinterest, and Twitter too.

Click the image above for the link.

You won't want to miss this one-day workshop.

Click here for more info about the day, hotel info, directions, etc. 

and

Click here to register.

Here are the freebies I promised you.  Let's start with this  FREEBIE.
I put this out at Back-to-School-Night and every apple was picked!

My free "Giving Tree" has apples printed on
the tree.  Each apple requests an item.

 You can place square Post-its on the tree and no one will know the difference.  :)

I stick a duplicate apple (Post-it) on each
printed apple.  

Parents take the Post-it apple & sign their
name on the printed apple on the tree so I
know who will be bringing the needed item.

I LoVe, LoVe, LoVe my Giving Tree.  It allows us to have a "tasting party" each Friday.
This last Friday, we tasted red strawberries as we celebrated the color RED.
I'll blog more about our color days later.  Click Here for your copy of The Giving Tree.

And you can find so many more Back To School Freebies Here at Teaching Blog Addict.  Just scroll down after you click on their link to see lots of freebies.

Or click on this image to see the link.

That's it for today!

Let me know if you do something special in your classroom for Back-to-School-Night.

I LoVe hearing from you!

Palma :)

Back-To-School-Night

We had our Back-to-School-Night this week and the year is off and running!  

Some of you call it "Meet The Teacher" night.  

Chairs are all set out and my PowerPoint (actually I used
Keynote on my MacBook) is all set up.

We had a GREAT turn-out too.

I show a PowerPoint presentation that includes info about me and the curriculum and it is filled with photos of my students.

Sign-in sheet and hand outs.

Before I show you any more pix of my classroom, I want to tell you about an idea I thought up.

Unfortunately, I thought it up AFTER Back-to-School-Night, but maybe you can benefit from it.  :)

Click on the
image to grab
this goodie.

Imagine this:  It's "Back-to-School-Night" and your classroom is filled with parents.  They take turns approaching you to ask how their child is doing.  You look deeply at their faces searching for a clue, an attribute, anything that might tell you who this parent's child might be.  You might have met them on pre-testing day or on the first day of school, but so much has happened since then that you just can't recall which parent it is.  

So, I got to thinking.  Wouldn't it be nice if the parents wore name tags that included their child's name and photo.  Tonight, I created two types of badges for parents.  One version is in color and the other is in black & while.  There is a place for the child's name and photo.  These would be great for volunteers to ware in your classroom or for Open House.   Just print the apples on card stock, add the students' names, photos, and a T-pin or corsage pin.  

A few more pix of my class:

Here is our Star of The week board.

It begins with me as the star.  

The info sheet.  Yes, I want to be a
grandma when I finally grow up!  :)

That's my kindergarten photo at the top right.  Such a
small class and the moms could stay.  We even had
benches in our class for the moms!

Students complete the info page and display about 4 photos to a 12" X 12" piece of construction paper.

If you have pretty scrapbook paper it works well for the photos.  

(I cut it down to 11" X 11" so we can glue their photo page to their memory book.

Let me know about the special things you do for your Back-to-School-Night.

Palma :)

Just Another Day in TK

Welcome to T.K.  Also known as The Kingdom!

Here is another view of my Transitional Kindergarten classroom:

Our First Day Photos.

Math with counters.

Second day project.
They traced the first 5 numbers and made 5 watermelon
 seeds with their finger and paint.

 These calendars are all set up for the 2013-14 school year.  You can find them by clicking HERE or on the image above.

The Science Discovery Center.

That's our class graph behind the home center.
I use Velcro and they attach their photo
on the graph.

I write sight words on the tracks.

They love to wear the lab coat.

Rockin' to his own musical arrangement.
Headsets are a must!

Some quiet time. 

We use desk tops, iPads, iPad minis, and old iPhones all
loaded with apps.  

Now I'm working on my Back-To-School-Night Power Point presentation.
I'll take more pix of the room set up for BTSN.  :)
Bye for now.

Palma :)

The Big Sale is Almost Over! Hurry!

Stop by our TPT store for the best deals of the Back-to-School season!

Click the icon to see our store sale.

Are You Teaching T.K. This Year?

Find Out What In The World T.K. Is!

Just to keep this blog post from getting too boring, I have placed a few photos of my classroom here and there.  They have nothing to do with the blog post.  Just thought you would like them.  After all, what is a post without pix?  :oD

Here is your 1st picture:  Slappin' Sight Words!

What is T.K.?

Here in California, we are easing into a new age requirement for starting kindergarten.  Like 48 of the other 50 states, children will have to be 5 years old by Sept. 2 to begin kindergarten.  In the past, students could begin kindergarten at 4 years old if they turned 5 by Dec. 1.

Here is a photo of our home center; just to add a little color to this post.

So...  students who would have started kindergarten under the old regulations may attend Transitional Kindergarten and that is what I'm teaching this year :)

So, What's The Problem?

So, here is the problem...  one you are probably having if you taught kindergarten last year and are teaching transitional kindergarten this year:  EVERYTHING has to be DIFFERENT!!!

Class books.  Each child contributes one page.  I numbereach page with their student number and add a class list inside the front cover as a Table of Contents.  

What's the Solution?

So, I have been busy searching TPT for new and different activities and projects to teach letter names and sounds, number recognition, etc.  And, I have been busy making some new things that can work in pre-K, TK, or K!

Here are two of my newest creations:

Color Books

Our "Color Books" pack includes 11 class books to make with your entire class; each child creating one page for each class book.  It also includes an individual book for each child to make that is completely different from the other books and provides lots of opportunities to practice name writing.

You can find my Color Books by clicking here or on the image.  

Once you get to my TPT store, download the "preview" so you can really see the pages. 

The individual book is based on the story Mary Wore Her Red Dress and I adapted it to work for either gender.  (I took out the dress and made a few other changes.)  It covers all of the colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, brown, white, gray, black, and pink and describes clothing of each color, except for pink.  On that page, the text reads, "_________ drank pink lemonade all day long.  :)

Click the image.

I think you'll like this pack of Color Books. 

My next new product is "I'm Ready For TK" and it is loosely based on Mrs. Bindergarten...

In the directions, you will find an activity to complete on each page.

For example, on the page that says, "I'm ready to cut with scissors" students cut strips of colored construction paper and glue them to the frame on this page.  There are 7 pages to go with 7 activities.  

Click the image.

I like to have my students complete 1 or 2 pages each day.  Then, I place the completed books into their cubbies for Back-To-School-Night for their parents to take home.

I'll be making more products for TK, but if you don't have a TK at your school, most of the products can be used in pre-school or a regular kindergarten classroom, especially with your remedial students.

My TK Classroom, well half of it.  :)

And...  EVERYTHING in my TPT store is on sale for 20% off, plus use code BTS13 to receive and additional 10% off bringing your savings to 28% off.  The sale runs through Monday, Aug. 19, but it's over at midnight Monday night.

So... let me know if you are teaching T.K. this year.

Have FUN shopping and keeping the FUN in the FUNdamentals!  :)

HUGE, 2-Day Back-To-School SALE!!!

Take 20% off of EVERYTHING in my TPT Store 

PLUS and additional 10% off by using the code  BTS13 at checkout 

and you will get a total of 28% off!!!   

Click image to see my sale.

So take a look at your wish list and start shopping!  

Especially look at bundled items since they are already a great discounted value.

Our Beginning of the Year Bundle is a $19 value which usually sells for $15.  

Take 20% off = $12

Take an additional 10% off = $10.80

OK, that's nearly 50% off!!!  

Click image to
get bundle.

And our Common Core Addition Bundle includes 

our popular Kissing Hand Addition Book 

and several other addition downloads!  

A $17.50 value that usually sells for $14.

Take 20% off = $11.20

Take off 10% = $10

That's $10 for $17.50 worth of amazing Common Core Addition activities!

Click image
to get bundle.

This is a 2-Day Sale:  Sunday, August 18 and Monday, August 19.

Have FUN shopping and remember to keep the FUN in the FUNdamentals!

A Few More Ideas ...

... for the beginning of the year:

I place all of the "Beginning of the year forms" in large manilla envelopes with each child's name written on the front.  I put these out the day before school begins (at our PTA Social) so parents can take them home and fill out the forms.  If they don't attend the social, they get the envelope on the first day of school.  You can also put them out on the first day for parents to take as they drop off their kids.

I plan our "Color Days" (one for each of the first 12 Fridays) and place the first few calendar cards in our pocket calendar.  When we celebrate each color, we dress in that color, we do a "craftifity" in that color, and we eat a healthy snack that is that color.  Like on Red Day, we dress in red, make a Clifford puppet, and taste strawberries.  Here are the Color Day Calendar Cards.

Click the image.

I put out a yearly planner for parents to sign up to volunteer in our classroom.

And here are 2 of my oldie ideas:
I picked up these cute sponges at The Dollar Store to keep my paints from drying out.

Wet the sponges and slide them on to
the brushes at the end of the day.

Slide the sponges off when you're ready to paint.

I usually cut out sponges to fit on the top of each paint container, poke a hole in the center, and I place these wet sponges on top of the paints each night.  In the morning, I remove the sponges so the kids can paint.  I don't have to wash out the brushes every day!

And last, is my "Giving Tree" which I place outside my door with a Post-it on each apple.

I write down the items I need for my classroom on each apple and again on the Post-it that sits on each apple.  The parents take the Post-its and donate the items requested.  :)

Click the image.

That's it for today.

Let me know some of your beginning of the year ideas. 

Palma :)