Pages

Thursday, January 30, 2014

I Can't Wait. Common Core At Its Best!

And The Theme Is Common Core!

Feb. 28-Mar 1:
So many wonderful sessions and amazing speakers!  It will be a chance to see Common Core in action presented by teachers and educators who have already experienced Common Core in their schools.  From the pre-conference to the 2-day conference, to the Bloggers' Bash,  and the vendors, it's sure to be an amazing event.

And did I mention that there is a pre-conference with Deanna Jump?
And a Bloggers' Bash with 16 bloggers, dinner, prizes, and freebies!?
And so many wonderful vendors that you can shop 'til you drop?!
They have nearly sold out!
For more info and to register, click {HERE}

See you all tomorrow!
Palma 

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

It's Spring In Room 1 Plus The Final Days of Our Give-Away!

It Might Be Winter, But It's Spring In Room 1:


Observing the buds on almond branches.


I cut a few branches from some local almond trees about 2 weeks ago and placed them in a vase of water in our classroom.  
Tiny buds filled these winter branches.  We placed them in the window to get some sun.

The warmer temperature inside tricked the buds on the branches into thinking it is Spring!

The students loved looking at the tiny buds up close with a magnifying glass.
My students were so excited to see that the buds have popped open!
On Monday morning the children were so excited to see the buds blooming!

We now have beautiful pink flowers in our classroom.
Discovering the seasons!
We "Forced Spring" to arrive in room 1.  :)
Our Discovery Center 

Here is the Info On A Chance To Win Our Give-Away:

Remember to enter our Give-Away for a FREE registration to The Southern California Kindergarten Conference on Feb. 28- March 1.  

And Sign Up To Attend Our very first BLOGGER BASH!!! (Conference attendance is not required to attend the Bloggers' Bash, but if you do attend the conference, you'll get to see presentations from your favorite bloggers!)

Dinner, Freebies,  Prizes, & FUN!

Come meet your favorite bloggers and enjoy an evening of food, prizes and fun! 
Each attendee will receive a fabulous dinner, a goodie bag {full of freebies!!!}, 
and a raffle ticket to enter for some amazing prizes! 

We will have a short little blogger presentation 
and then the rest of the time will be for chatting and asking questions! 
You can purchase your Blogger Bash ticket for only $25 {here} 
or call (661)297-6900 to reserve your seat!

Are you excited yet??! 
How about a chance to WIN a FREE registration to the two-day conference?! 
Well, it's your lucky day! 
SCKC has generously allowed us to giveaway one free registration to the conference! 
Enter using the rafflecopter below! 
The giveaway will end on February 1st and the winner will be announced shortly after!

Spread The Word Before It Sells Out!

Print this flyer and hand it out to your fellow early childhood education teachers
A very special thanks to our sponsors!

See you all tomorrow!
Palma :)





Saturday, January 25, 2014

This Is It!!! The News Is Out!!!

Your Chance to Meet 15 Amazing Bloggers (including Deanna Jump) In Person!

Plus A Chance for a GREAT Give-Away!  Enter to win below.

Have you heard about the Southern California Kindergarten Conference?!
It's a two-day conference in Pasadena, California geared toward early childhood educators.
If you live in Southern California {or want to come out to visit!} and you teach
Pre-School, Pre-K, Transitional K, Kindergarten, or First Grade,
this conference is for you!

Learn all about teaching Common Core Standards,
organizing your classroom, reading and writing tips, classroom management and more!

Want to know the most exciting part?!?
Some of your favorite Southern California bloggers
{and a very special guest!}
will be presenting at this conference on
February 28th and March 1st!!
Look at all these fabulous bloggers you can meet!

Want to know what we're the most excited about?! 

Our very first BLOGGER BASH!!!  A party?!  Yes, thank you!

Dinner, Freebies,  Prizes, & FUN!

Come meet your favorite bloggers and enjoy an evening of food, prizes and fun! 
Each attendee will receive a fabulous dinner, a goodie bag {full of freebies!!!}, 
and a raffle ticket to enter for some amazing prizes! 

We will have a short little blogger presentation 
and then the rest of the time will be for chatting and asking questions! 
You can purchase your Blogger Bash ticket for only $25 {here} 
or call (661)297-6900 to reserve your seat!

Are you excited yet??! 
How about a chance to WIN a FREE registration to the two-day conference?! 
Well, it's your lucky day! 
SCKC has generously allowed us to giveaway one free registration to the conference! 
Enter using the rafflecopter below! 
The giveaway will end on February 1st and the winner will be announced shortly after!

Spread The Word Before It Sells Out!

Print this flyer and hand it out to your fellow early childhood education teachers
A very special thanks to our sponsors!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Were You There??? Do Tell! :)

Were You In Santa Clara, CA This Weekend?

Who Attended The P-K-1 (California Kindergarten Conference) in Santa Clara?
KFUNdamentals was there!
We presented a session called "Addition Magician, Subtraction Reaction!"

Did You See The art?

They used photos of the kids for these!

Handprint Flowers

Leaf Art

It's Pete, The Cat!

Did You See The Presenters?

Palma, Heidi, and Sarah!
Check out Heidi's web site by clicking {here}.
This is what 350 people at Heidi's session looked like!!!  

Did You See The Booths?

Sarah explaining how our templates work.  

Palma explaining how we keep the FUN in the fundamentals!

So Much Excitement!


Wasn't the entire conference great?  

Please comment below and tell us your favorite part of the conference.


If you bought our entire KFUN program, contact us.  We have a bonus treat for you!

Now, It's Time For The Southern CA Kindergarten Conference and...

Feb. 28-March 1 in Pasadena, CA.  Find out more info by clicking {here}.

Friday, Feb. 28 at 7:15 PM
Meet Deanna Jump 
and 15 other bloggers!
Dinner, goodie bag filled with the bloggers' best products, and prizes are 
included!
Find more info by clicking {here}.


See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)

Thursday, January 16, 2014

I just had to share this. It is perfect for teaching about MLK.

We celebrated the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We decided to see how many different colors of skin we have in our class.  
Several students helped by placing their hands around a heart that I drew on a piece of construction paper.

They loved doing this and seeing how different we all look, but we are all still so much alike.

See you all tomorrow!
Palma :)

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

100th Day of School Cape

Here is the picture I promised:

The collar is reinforces with masking tape on the inside.  This helps to keep it from tearing.

We make these capes for the 100th day of school.  We attach a big, yellow zero so the kids go home looking like Zero, the Hero!

You can see more about our 100th day centers and activities by clicking {here}.

See you all tomorrow.
Until then, check out our boards on Pinterest by clicking {here}.
Palma :)

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

A FREEBIE For "THE 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL" & The California Kindergarten Conference (P-K-1)!

We Are Ready For The 100th Day of School!

To Celebrate, we updated our 100 Day Center Activities.  

10 Amazing Ways to 100:

The FREEBIE is in the preview.  It's a cute snack for Day 100 and it's pretty healthy too!  :)
Click the image to get the download and the FREEBIE!

This activity can be done independently by 1st-6th grade students and is a wonderful buddy activity for kindergarten students to do with their upper-grade buddy class.  

It consist of 10 centers.  Each will take 2-4 students 10 min to complete so plan on at least 1 hour 40 minutes plus time to explain everything.  I would schedule 2 hours which will probably get you all the way to recess!  
Click image.

All you have to do is copy the center signs and post them around the room with the supplies.  Supplies include items like crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue, 100 pennies, 100 paperclips, a balance scale (or a kitchen scale), snack packs of M&Ms, mini carrots, Ritz crackers, whipped cream cheese, and construction paper.  

Students circle the number of the center they completed:
Click image.
A place to record the M&Ms, pennies with their birth year, and pennies they weighed. A page to stamp 100 stamps:
Click image.
Click image.
You students will have so much fun on the 100th day of school!

And don't forget to make a cape for Day 100!
Just cut a red butcher paper rectangle 24"X30".  Trim down to create a trapezoid.  
Attach yarn at the top and big, yellow zero on the back and there you have it!
I'll post pictures of our ASAP.  

We Hope To See You At P-K-1 (The California Kindergarten Conference).  

We are so excited to be presenting "Addition Magician, Subtraction Reaction" at the P-K-1 Conference in Santa Clara, CA this coming weekend!
Will you be there?  Leave us a comment.  
See you all tomorrow!
Palma :)


Saturday, January 11, 2014

Finally!!! Easy, Peasy, Lemon Squeezy, Interactive Homework!

It's Super Simple:

I kept this homework pack simple.  Homework should NOT cause tension in the house!
It should be enjoyable and it should involve interaction with an adult.  

Homework Should Be Easy:


This homework will not cause tears or frustration.  It is straightforward and easy peasy!  
If you want to add additional pages to it, feel free to do so.  Make it work for you.  :)

Homework Should Be Meaningful:

If it's meaningful, the child is more likely to learn from it.  No one wants to just do busy work!  Looking for objects in your house or letters in a magazine makes the learning real and relevant.  

Homework Should Be A Reflection Of The Classroom:

This pack comes with a Homework Folder Cover Page that includes a sample of each letter, number, 2D shapes, and lines where the teacher can write the student's name as a sample of correct letter formation:

The skills included in this pack are letter names and formation, number names and formation, 2D shapes (including the new Common Core hexagon), colors, and more.

Homework Should Be Interactive:

At this age, homework should involve a parent who can interact and engage in conversations with the child.  For example, when looking for objects in the home that are blue, parents are encouraged to help their child find many blue objects and then decide which one to illustrate.

Homework Should Help Parents Work With Their Child:


Many parents ask me how to help their child.  They are often looking for iPad apps, workbooks, or flashcards.  My response is always to talk to their child, take them for a walk, discuss the world around you!  

Things To Discuss When Reading To Your Child:

One of the suggestions found in the parent letter refers to reading with their child.  It suggests discussing the characters in the story, the setting, the problem (or the wish), and the resolution or how the problem or wish was solved.  

We Invited Parents To School To Learn How To Work With Their Child:


We set up tables with interactive projects and we taught parents questions to ask while working with their child.  It was a huge success!  

Homework Should Be Easy To Correct:

Wouldn't you LOVE to be able to quickly assess your students' homework each week?  These pages can be quickly scanned or accuracy and to check if they are complete.  1, 2, 3 and you are done!  

I staple a class list inside a file folder.  I label the columns with the date each homework assignment is due.  I record a +, check, or a - based on whether or not the homework is complete and neat.  

Homework Should Be Used As Reinforcement:

I never use homework as an assessment tool to assess skills,  Rather, I encourage parents to assist their child to erase and correct their homework before they turn it in as an attempt to establish a level of quality for their homework before they feel it is complete and ready to turn in.  Therefore, the skills on the page are all skills I have introduced in class, even the lace tying skill.  

Homework Should Be FUN!

As with everything we do here at KFUNdamentals, we want to keep the FUN in the fundamentals so we keep homework fun too.  Searching for things in your home or letters in a magazine is way more fun than writing sight words 5 times each!  

How To Get All 34 Homework Pages:

Click {Here} for the download and to download the preview where you can read the directions and the parent letter and see a full size sample of 2 of the Easy Interactive Homework pages.

Thank you for visiting our blog today.
Check out KFUNdamentals on Facebook and Pinterest!

See you all tomorrow!
Palma :)