I Had So Much FUN at The CA Kindergarten Conference!

 It Happens EVERY January...

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The The CA Kindergarten Conference transforms the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, CA into a magical place where Early Childhood Educators come together to learn, laugh, and get inspired!

LeAnna from https://www.instagram.com/wolkiswonderland/?hl=en and                
Palma from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/kfundamentals 

The conference is held over the Martin Luther King weekend every year which allows educators to have one extra day off after the conference and before returning to their classrooms.

We LOVE ESGI.
Discount code at end of post. 

Every year we turn the Hyatt walls into a magical environment based on a theme. This year's theme was BEES and all of our busy bee board and committee members worked so hard to make this the best conference ever!

LeAnna!

Kathleen!

The amazing Art Exhibit!

Our BEE theme was so cute!

                           Before and...          After!

  

And every year we bring international experts to share their knowledge, brain research, and techniques to this amazing conference and this year we were thrilled to hear from these outstanding Featured Speakers:

Our Featured Speakers!

The Incredible Dan St. Romain

Some of our international speakers!

The Keynote with Dr. Kenneth Wesson

The Pre-Conference was a full day of techniques and inspiration with Mr. Greg from Kindergarten Smorgasboard! And the keynote was filled with brain research and so many ahh-hah moments from Dr. Kenneth Wesson.

Mr. Greg was our Pre-Conference Speaker.

The Art Party is always a favorite hands-on experience with teachers where they create projects they can teach to their students.

Teachers making art!

Art techniques + classroom application!

And the Evening Event is the best time to have fun, win prizes, and be showered with lots of FREEBIES!

Videos from the Evening Event:

I was honored to present a hands-on math session "Meeting Rigorous Standards with Kid-Friendly, FUN, & Engaging Strategies." We had so much fun creating math tools that students will love to make, use, and even play with! I was able to give away a FREE YEAR of ESGI to two teachers and I have QR code for YOU for a FREE 60 day trial & $60 off of your first year! This code does not expire, so sign up, give it a try, print off the flashcards for each student, the reports, and parent letter. Show them to your administrator and they will love getting a discount when they buy it for your team! The QR code is below!

 
Be sure to come to the CA Kindergarten Conference in Santa Clara, CA next JanuaryIt's the conference 

BY TEACHERS FOR TEACHERS

CLICK HERE for more info. 

Introduce Addition With The MONSTER MALL!

This is the perfect time for your students to shop at the 

Monster Mall!  

We met Common Core State Standards in the most un-common way!

Here are some of our monsters and one of our menus.

I started by cutting squares of green construction paper to 7" X 7".

I created some monster pieces (like eyes, noses, scars, hair, necks with bolts, and mouths) and made a menu:

I gathered or made hair, eyes,
noses, mouths, necks, and scars.

I got my craft supplies from Oriental Trading Company. They have wiggle eyes, pom-poms for the noses, yarn for the mouths, and foam sheets for the head, neck, and hair.

Each item on this menu cost one cube.

Then, I called up 4 students at a time and I gave them each 5 cubes, counters, or plastic coins to use as money.

Each of the 4 children I met with used a different
colored set of five cubes so I could keep track of
how many cubes each child gave me.

Each item cost 1 counter, so they did not have enough cubes to buy every item, but they did have enough to buy 5 items.

You can also use any counting blocks or play coins.

You can use stacking counters for money.

Plastic coins are always fun for children to use as they shop for pieces for their monsters.

This menu used 1 cent
 instead of 1 cube for each item.  

Some students bought hair, some did not.  The ones who bought hair got to decide if they wanted the hair to point down like bangs or up like spiked hair.

Some bought a scar to use on the side of their monster's face.  Some used the scar as a mouth.

If they bought a yarn mouth, they got to decide if they wanted the mouth to smile or frown.

Each monster looked different from the others, but they all cost 5 cubes.

We put them up in the school showcase.

Our monsters look great in the showcase
along with our stories.

We displayed our menu in the showcase too.
I love how each monster looks different.  

You can add more parts or increase the prices of the items to make it work for your own class. 

I have shopping receipt templates for 3 other stores:  

Meow Mall:  Students shop for parts to decorate their black cats.

Snowman Shop:  Students shop for parts to decorate their snowmen.

Leprechaun Store:  Students shop for parts to decorate their leprechauns.

You can find these receipts and directions here.

And, I created all of the parts you will need for a Meow Mall, Snowman Shop, & Leprechaun Store.
You can find that set by clicking HERE.

Click the image above. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lets-Go-Shopping-Addition-Subtraction-Halloween-Cats-Snowmen-Leprechauns-2786201

Click the image.

The Common Core State Standards call for real world math.  Shopping is as real as it gets, even at the Monster Mall!  Here are the CCSS covered in this lesson:

• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4 Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4a When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object.
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4b Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the order in which they were counted.
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4c Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.

Leave a comment & share a FUN Halloween activity that you do! 

And... You can track your students' learning and 

Get a FREE TRIAL from ESGI (with NO credit card required and a $60 discount (if you choose to continue with ESGI) with the code: KFUN right here:                  CLICK HERE:  

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And visit us again right here at our blog where we "keep the FUN in the FUNdamentals!"
                                                     

Halloween FUN for Your Pre-K, TK, Kindergarten, or 1st Grade Classroom!

There is a chill in the air!

  (You won't want to miss a thing,

so ZOOM IN on these cute framed images.)

Click the image!

Click the image to see the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image to grab the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image to see the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image above. 

Click the image above. 

After completing 8 character pages (we did 1 or 2 each day), they color all of the characters on the last page and they get to take the book home to "read" to their families.  

Click the image to see the take-home book: What Do You See?

Click the image to see all of the fonts & graphics from DJ Inkers.

Click the image to see all of the fonts and graphics from DJ Inkers!

And, you might also like...

Click the image to see this cute character book.

AND, AS ALWAYS...

     Grab you FREE TRIAL of ESGI with no credit card required and start saving time testing and tracking your students' progress. Use my code:

    KFUN

FOR a FREE Trial & Discount for future purchases!

Click the code above or the photo below. :)

NOW is the BEST TIME to Set It & Forget It:

I'm Talking About Next Year's TK or Kindergarten Classroom: & Grab 2 FREEBIES!

 If you set it up now, you can simply forget about it and enjoy your summer!

Grab those popsicle molds while they are still in the stores and set up your table crayons. Most trays will hold about 7 regular size crayons and 4 jumbo crayons. It not only keeps your tables organized, it promotes sorting skills. :) 

Get Ready for Next Year...

... with these FUN products:

Let's start with a FREE set of colorful Center Signs:

Colorful signs justify the need for your hands-on centers. Laminate them to last for years. Click the image to grab the entire set of 10 signs for FREE!

I'm Ready For TK: Perfect for the first week. Do one page a day and send them home at Back-to-School Night or the end of the 1st week of T.K.

Click the image.

Easy, Interactive Homework: Prepare 34 weeks of homework that uses only 1 page per week! Interactive activities that your students will love to do with their family members. Best of all, it's easy to prepare, simple to grade, and meaningful for the students. 

Click the image.

How about another FREEBIE? Put this Giving Tree page outside of your classroom door or post it online for parents to donate supplies to your classroom: 

Click the image to grab this FREEBIE. 

Beginning of the Year Bundle: 

Includes so many products for 1 low price!

Click the image.

How about a note to help parents cope with the first day of school? Just attach a cotton ball to each note and set them out by your classroom door, or send them home, on the first day of school: 

Click the image to see the set. 

Use a paper bag for this fun small group activity for the 1st week of school. Students choose icon cards to "buy" with the pennies you give them & they fill their backpack bag with images of school supplies to take home and share with their family. Perfect for your English Language Learners and all TK students!

Click the image to grab this activity. 

The Letter-Name book is an interactive whole-group activity that you can do daily with your students to help them learn the names of each students and identify individual letters. There is a page for each letter where the teacher records the names of the students that have that page's letter in their name. The students look at the large name cards, one at a time, to tell the teacher if the letter they are looking for is in each child's name. This book becomes a treasured part of your classroom library once it has been completed. 

Click the image to grab this set.