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Sunday, July 31, 2016

Back To School Time!

This is it. It's what you've been waiting for!!!

Click the image above. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kfundamentals

Time to save 28% by using the code BestYear when shopping at my TpT store! The sale runs from Aug. 1-2.

 CLICK HERE 

to save 28%

Remember to use the code BestYear.

Have fun shopping and don't forget to grab your 20 FREEBIES while you are browsing at my shop!

Click on my logo.

 

And... grab my newest product: Back-to-School Backpack Math. 

Click the backpack to grab this new product! 
     M           
Click the image above to win 818 graphics from DJ Inker!   
Click the laminator above to win a FREE one!


Have FUN! 

Friday, July 29, 2016

Another Birthday Week Giveaway!!!

I Am In Love With This Laminator!

Enter to win one of these laminators at the bottom of this page.
It's my new favorite thing! 
So sleek, so smooth, so cool!


It heated up so quickly and was so easy to use too. 

All you have to do is slip the items you want to laminate into the plastic pouches. 

Click the image.

Then, slip the pouch into the input slot and let your Scotch Laminator do its thing. 

It will slowly pull the pouch into the machine and what comes out on the other side will make you smile!


I also laminated the backpack so it would hold up at my newest center. 

All of the pieces were laminated and I know they will last for years because this lamination is nice and thick. 

Students loved getting to fill their paper bag backpack with the items like liked most. 
If you like this set, click the image. 

I made extra cards for each piece so students may "buy" more than one of each item.

Did I mention that the laminator is super quiet too? Well, it is and I love how all of the colors pop when they are laminated. 

The best part is that they had fun while learning and sharing about their choices.

If you would like to see this Back To School Set,

You can win a Scotch Thermal Laminator for your classroom by entering the Rafflecopter below.  The Rafflecopter won't begin until 12:00 AM (Pacific Time) on Saturday, July 30 and it runs through August 6. The winner will be announced on my blog and on my Facebook page (facebook.com/kfundamentals/) on August 7. 
  
a Rafflecopter giveaway

All of these items were created using DJ Inker graphics from their Kidillywinks set. You can win an set for yourself by entering my other birthday give-away this week: 
CLICK HERE FOR MY OTHER GIVE-AWAY

We have a winner for the Scotch Laminator!
The Rafflecopter picked:
Congratulations to Lauren!!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

A New Back-to-School Craftivity & A Birthday Giveaway!

How would you like to help me celebrate my birthday with some new clipart?

I'm giving away a FREE CD of DJ Inkers' Kidillywinks! 

You get 818 graphics in this amazing set! Win a set FREE by entering below.
It's the same set that I used to create my new... wait for it... 

Click the image to get your copy.
You can enter via the Rafflecopter below, but first, let me tell you about this cute craft that builds mental math while your students are having FUN!

The Craftivity That's Filled With Math Skills:

All of the pieces for this "craftifity" come in black & white as well as in color.

Each student needs:
 one paper lunch bag 
one copy of the backpack
 one copy of the items to "buy" 
one copy of the receipt
crayons, scissors, & glue

I also provide extra copies of the items to buy 
just in case anyone wants to "buy" 
more than one of any of the items. 
I included black & white copies of EVERYTHING, so you don't have to use the color copies.

Students color (if they have the black & white copy), cut out, and glue a backpack to the front of the bag. Leave room at the top of the bag to fold the top down later by lining up the bottom of the backpack with the bottom of the front of the lunch bag. 
Here are the color copies, but the set comes with every image in black and white too. 

They also color (if they have the black & white copy) and cut out the items to buy. 
If you provide more than one copy of the items to buy, students may buy more than one of each item. 

In a small group setting, tell the students that they have only ten cents to purchase items. They will have to pick and choose to spend all of their money without overspending.  Note that ten cents is not enough to buy all of the items, so they will have to use their thinking skills to choose enough items to total ten cents without going over that amount. 
Click the image.

As they choose their items, they may add mentally in their heads or by making lines on a paper. You can also give them each ten plastic (or real) pennies or ten Unifix cubes to help them keep track of how much they have spent and how much money they have left. Then, they can move their counters from one side of their desk to the other as they "spend" their money. They can also subtract as they change their minds and exchange items!
Click the image.

You can help each student fill in their receipt and place their items into their backpacks to take home. 
Click the image.

My Preferred Method:

Another way to do this activity is to call two students up at a time. The 1st child "shops" while the 2nd child watches. The teacher assists with filling in the receipt. As soon as the 1st child is done, she/he gets the next child on the list and that child becomes the "watcher" while student #2 shops. 

Additional Activities:

The pieces included in this set may be used to graph the items chosen by each student.

Students may also use the labeled cards to help them write a sentence. Students may copy the words:
 "I like _______." 
or 
"I have a ________" 
and fill in the blank with one of the words written on the labeled cards. 

You can also laminate the colored version of this set and use it as a classroom center where students choose their favorite item and write a simple sentence about it such as, "I like crayons."

Another great idea is create a "First Day of School" photo sign. Use the laminated picture cards to tape to a plane frame. Each child can be photographed holding the frame that has picture cards on it as well as a sign that says, "First Day of School."

Time For Some FREE Clipart:

Did I mention that I used DJ Inker's Kidillywink set of adorable clipart to create this product? I love how bright and colorful their clipart is and they sent me this set of over 800 graphics for FREE just so I could make a new craftivity just for you!
Click on this set to see many of the individual graphics included in this amazing set.

Take a look at some of the 818 amazing graphics this set includes:
Click on any of the images above to see more cute projects you can create with these graphics. 
And here are the fonts that are included in this set:
Click on the fonts above. 

But that's not all, no that's not all...
YOU can win your own FREE set right here by entering via the Rafflecopter below!

And... EVERYONE IS A WINNER because... 
DJ Inkers has a BRAND NEW WEBSITE 
with LOTS OF FUN SMILES FOR BACK TO SCHOOL!  
You can visit their new website by CLICKING HERE.
You can sign up for their FREE newsletter by CLICKING HERE.


DJ Inkers is putting this set on sale from July 28 - August 3 (just in time for my birthday)! You can visit all of their amazing clipart and sign up for their free newsletter so you never miss one of their sales. 
You can visit their site here:

and grab yourself your own copy of over 800 adorable graphics.
Good luck!
Click the images above to see the sale that begins on July 28.

Here is the Rafflecopter. Enter to win your FREE set of DJ Inkers Kidillywinks: (The Rafflecopter will go live at 12:00 AM on Wednesday, July 27. Look for my next post on Friday, July 29 to win a laminator!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We have a winner:  Congratulations to Kristie Aleqine Garner!!! (I emailed you with the details.)
Thank you ALL for entering!

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Have YOU Ever Been...

... To One of SDE's National Conferences?

Over 6000 teachers came to Las Vegas this week for:
I Teach Pre-K!
I Teach K!
I Teach 1st!
I Teach 2nd! 
Differentiated Instruction!
&
Singapore Math

I was so fortunate to be invited to presents at both "I Teach K!" and "I Teach 1st!" this year!

If you have never been to one of SDE's National Conferences, you need to start planning now for next summer:  July 10-14 at the beautiful Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

These are the Cadillacs of Teaching Conferences! Seriously, you will want to attend at least one of these. And they are held at the beautiful Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada!


If you teach Pre-K, there is an entire conference dedicated just for you! You will have so much FUN learning how to address the Pre-school Foundational Standards while providing meaningful learning AND fun for your Pre-K students.

Kindergarten teachers probably make up the largest group who attends Nationals. There is a "buzz" that resonates through all of the sessions, but it's the loudest at the "I Teach K!" sessions!
The night before my presentations, 
I set up my room with samples!
I felt so blessed to be asked to present a few sessions at "I Teach K!" again this year! My favorite session that I presented was all about Sight Words! We learned lots of new ideas, but my favorite was tracing over sight words, that were written on cute flashcards from Teacher Created Materials, with white glue. Then we sprinkled the glue with powdered Jell-o! When they dry you have "Scratch & Sniff" Sight Words! Not only are they tactile, but you can hear them as you scratch and you can smell them too! You might want to remind your "Littles" not to lick their sight words! Just sayin'...
K Teachers "Turning & Talking" 
about the things they just learned!
When you click HERE, check out the video. Get ready to pause it @ 2min, 5 seconds to see me in my favorite tutu apron from showandtellaprons.com .

I also got to present a few sessions at "I Teach 1st!" That was a 1st for me! I presented one of my favorite sessions called "Phonics, Sight Words, & Writing, OH MY!" Teachers got to "Make & Take" a phonics teaching tool, a sight word "craftivity", and experience my Instant Writing Kit which turns any child into an instant writer! We had tons of FUN! Kindergarten teachers can use these with K sight words too!
My dear friend, Kim, helped me (at 10:30 PM) 
set up my room for the next day.
Imagine my surprise when I showed up the next day to find 
all of the tables gone!!!
Oh well, teachers are flexible. 
We just did our "Make & Take" anyway! 
#Whoneedstables? 


Did I mention that we all got to stay at the beautiful Venetian Hotel? 

Well, we got to eat some amazing meals there too!
I think I gained 5 pounds this week, but it was oh, so worth it!

In between presenting, I got to present a mini-session at ESGI's booth! Oh, how I love the ESGI team! They even served yummy goodies from Carlos' Bakery. They called it "Pastries With Palma". I had so much fun at their booth and then Chris Pombonyo, from Famous in Fourth interviewed me! What FUN!

Attending Nationals is like attending a family reunion. I get to see so many presenter friends that I only get to see one or two times a year! 
So many hugs!
Do you recognize any of these beautiful faces?


And, did I mention the ginormous room filled with vendors? So many GREAT products & freebies for teachers!


My favorite vendors after ESGI, were Show And Tell Aprons, Sit Spots, and Teacher Created Materials. 

The SDE "Red Shirt" Team is the BEST! They make EVERYTHING run smoothly! Seriously, over 6000 teachers and it ran smoothly! Well, their Senior Program Planner, Kymra, is the BEST! I don't even know how she stays so cool and calm during an entire week of conferences all running at the same time! 

And, of course, we looked for Pokemons!
Looking for Pokemons!

And I was so lucky to have two of the BEST roomies. 
I stayed with Kim for a few days. She helped me so much!
Then, I roomed with Heidi from Heidi Songs, she writes the BEST teaching songs EVER! I always learn so much from her!
Kim and I rocking out and Heidi and I out to dinner.
That's a live "statue" behind her!

But in the end, it was time to go home. I don't know if you heard about Southwest's computer glitch, but many flights were cancelled and almost everyone was bumped to another flight. I don't know how all of those great SW flight attendants kept everyone happy, but their sense of humor really helped! 
Why do they stow magazines under the sign that says, "No stowing"?
Just asking! 

So, plan now, my friends. You won't want to miss SDE's National's next year! It will be July 10-14 in Las Vegas. You can register at SDE.com/Nationals and they even have an app for that! 

Visit this blog again next week and check out the thermal laminator I'll be giving away!!!


Tuesday, July 12, 2016

I'm Off To Kansas City!

Well, Actually Blue Springs, MO...

For the SDE Kindergarten Conference!!!


I can't wait to present eight sessions, deliver the Day 2 Keynote, and give away some free years of ESGI.

Click the image above to get a 60 day FREE trial + enter code KFUN to automatically qualify for $40 off!

























And one lucky winner will win a Show & Tell Apron!!!

Click the image to see all of the choices!

Will you be there?