It's ALL Ending! OH, NO!!!

Enter to Win A FREE Conference AND...

Save Big with the TpT Sale!

The Conference Rafflecopter is HERE.

And my TpT Sale is HERE.

Here is some of the recent feedback about my MOST Popular "Instant Writing" set:

(On sale for $4.80!)

Click the image.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Instant-Sentences-Perfect-for-beginning-writing--1116456

This is probably one of the greatest resources I purchased. My kinder kiddos love when we do Instant Writing!

Thank you so much for such a great resource. It was complete worth the time and money to purchase this. I will get so much use out of it.

This is a great quality product - thank you!

Perfect for my ELD students!!!! Thank you!!!

Laugh out loud fun or serious support to reluctant writers. The pictures and words are a great!! Thank you!!

This is a great purchase. Very easy to use and useful for the kindergarten classroom.

You get the writing template plus....

You get 48 noun cards.
Click the image.

You get 48 verb cards
.Click the image. 

You get 48 additional noun cards for the predicate.Click the image.

YOU Can Win A FUN & ENGAGING Professional Development Workshop!!!

And Get Your "P, H, D" 

from Palma, Heidi, & Drew!

We are giving away a FREE registration for our 

"P, H, D" Workshop in Northern California!

And, if you win, 

and have already registered for the P,H,D Workshop, 

you can BRING A FRIEND for FREE!!!

TO ENTER, scroll down, 
but read about the event first!
The winner is
Shawnessy Payne!
Congratulations!

Click the image above for more information.

 The CA Kindergarten Association 

is excited to gather this talented team of California educators 

for an engaging day 

filled with interactive workshops 

designed for 

Pre-K, TK, & Kindergarten educators! 

Discover strategies and techniques 

that will change the way 

you approach the next school year 

and earn up to 3 graduate-level semester units! 

When:  Saturday, June 2, 2018 from 10 AM to  

           3:30 PM.

Where:  University Village 

            Community Center Gymnasium 

            1123 Jackson Street

            Albany, California 94706 

How:    CLICK HERE to register online.
            CLICK HERE to download a   
         registration form.

To enter our Give-Away for a FREE Registration, 

use this Rafflecopter:

(The rafflecopter will begin on May 3 

and end on May 10. 

The winner will be announced on 

KFUNdamentals' Facebook page on 

May 11.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember: To enter, you must 

"Like" AND "Share 

KFUNdamentals' Facebook Post called 

"YOU Can Win A FUN & ENGAGING Professional Development Workshop!!!"

(You MUST do BOTH, "like" AND "share.")

You may also enter by commenting AND tagging a friend on KFUNdamentals' Facebook Post called:

"YOU Can Win A FUN & ENGAGING Professional Development Workshop!!!"

(You MUST do BOTH, comment AND tag a friend.)

You can find KFUNdamentals' Facebook page here:

KFUNDAMENTALS' FACEBOOK 

All Attendees will receive:

*coffee/morning snacks

*a comprehensive handout from each presenter

*a boxed lunch and soft drink (menu to follow)                                             

*classroom-proven, developmentally   

 appropriate strategies and easy- to-    

 implement ideas to help motivate                   

 student engagement & make learning fun.

Click the image above for more information. 

Our Schedule & Topics:

10:00             Registration/breakfast  

10:15-10:20 Intros & announcements

10:20 - 11:05   Keeping the FUN in ELA & Math

11:05 - 11:50 Learning the Alphabet Through  

                      Music

11:50-12:35       Increasing Language & Literacy   

                      Through Sign Language

12:35 - 1:05       Lunch  (included)

1:05 - 1:50       Hands-On Science

1:50 - 2:35       Numbers & Numeracy Through Music

2:35 - 3:20       Less Stress With Mindfulness &  

                      Yoga

3:20 - 3:30 Closing & Prizes

Did I mention there will be prizes?

From a morning snack to a boxed lunch and soft drink, you will have a fun-filled, inspiring day. (Lunch options will be provided.)

And our sessions include everything from fun, hands-on learning, to teaching through music & movement, all the way to learning with sign language and reducing stress with mindfulness & yoga! 

Meet our CA Team:  P, H, D!

Palma   

Discover fun, engaging, research-based, and Developmentally Appropriate Practices for  Emergent Reading, Writing, Math, and Science with        Palma Lindsay. Palma taught in CA for 37 years. Most of those years were in Kindergarten. Currently, she presents “Make & Take” Professional Development for teachers internationally. 

Heidi

Get up and move as you sing and learn songs that teach the alphabet, numbers, and numeracy  with 

Heidi Butkus. Heidi has taught in CA since 1985. 

She combines brain research with practical 

experience to develop engaging teaching techniques. She is currently teaching TK and  presents workshops for teachers across the country. 

Drew

Bring mindfulness, American Sign Language, &     Yoga  into your classroom with Drew Giles. Drew  has taught ECE and Kindergarten, including low-income, in the U.S. and South Korea. He co-authored a book with Dr. Jean Feldman and is currently the Director of Quality Enhancement and Professional Development for Oakland Unified School District. 

Register soon as seating is limited.

Use #CKA2018PHD

We will see you there!

Making FUN Class Books. (Tips & Tricks)

Spicing Up Your Writing Lessons:

I like to use a variety of writing activities: 
Journals (daily), 
Guided Writing (weekly), and 
Writing Prompts (monthly).

I use these Writing Prompt templates to create class books written by my students. Or use them to create seasonal bulletin boards displaying their writing.

                                       

Click the image above.

I meet with my students in a small group setting to create a class book. Here are just some of the templates included in my "Monthly Writing" set:

Click the template.

A great one to use at the beginning and the end of the year.
Click the template.

I always used this one AFTER Thanksgiving.
Click the template.

We integrated math by creating a class graph with the results.
Click the template.

Perfect for celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Click the template.

Each child gets the same template.  You can do this two ways:

Using the writing prompt on the page, you ask the children to create an illustration that will go with their sentence. 

While they are illustrating, you ask the first child to dictate their  sentence, you write the words they need on lined Post-its, and they copy it.

OR:

You can have them use their inventive spelling to complete the sentence on their own or with guidance from you.

You can grab the entire set of 20 writing prompts, many of them integrate science and social studies, by CLICKING HERE.

Tip:  
-I number the pages with each student's classroom number.  
-I glue a numbered class list inside the front cover of the book.  
-Since that list includes their class number, it becomes an instant Table Of Contents!  Students can quickly find their own page in the book by just looking for their class number.
-At the end of the year, it is easy to take the books apart and organize the pages for each child to take home.  I place all of the pages for each child in a folder and glue a cover to it that says, "If you give a kid a pencil..."

Slap Those Sight Words!

So Easy & It's FREE!

This idea is so simple & FREE! 
Just die cut a variety of colorful hands, write sight words on each hand, laminate, and attach to your door. 

 As your class lines up to leave for anything, call out the sight word they should slap.

 Remind them to slap only once and call out different sight words so they don't just copy the student in front of them.

If a student is having difficulty reading sight words, call out the same word you used for the previous child so he/she can simply slap the same word. This will provide practice recognizing the sight word without embarrassing the struggling child. 

You can also find handprints at the dollar store or you can simply use circles, squares, or any shape for your sight words. Students can still slap them even if they are not handprints. 

Those of you familiar with the Houghton Mifflin kindergarten sight words can see that I have mine grouped by trimester.  :)

And here's a game-changer: You can use ESGI to quickly test sight words and print out a set of flash cards for each student with the sight words they have not mastered. I even have my own tests listed on their website which you can download FREE when you sign up for their FREE trial. 

CLICK HERE.

Get a FREE trial that runs through Aug. 31, a free t-shirt, you'll be entered to win an all-expense paid trip to an amazing conference, & qualify for $40 off your 1st year of ESGI. Now, that's amazing!
ESGI will change the way you assess, plan, and provide RTI. 

CLICK the image above to get started.

Recycle, Re-use, & Remember Mother's Day!

And A GR8 Earth Day Activity Too!

We use recycled colorful magazine pages to create beautiful beads for our Mother's Day necklaces.
Here is a pic-tutorial:  (Is that even a word?)    
 Earth Day & Mother's Day... Together At Last!

This project is almost FREE.

Start by cutting lots of colorful triangles that are about 1 1/4"-1 1/2" wide by 3"-5" long.

Gather some round toothpicks, white glue, and stretchy beading elastic (find it at Michael's).

Begin by rolling the shortest end of the triangle 
tightly on the toothpick.  

(No glue yet.)

Younger students might get better results using a wooden skewer 

instead of a toothpick, but everyone of my kindergarteners were able to do this project using round toothpicks..  

Sometimes it takes a few tries to get the hang of it. 
They need to keep wrapping tightly.

They do eventually get it.  :)

"Keep wrapping, keep it tight!"

Here is where you add a line of white glue.  Keep wrapping and don't worry if the glue oozes out.  

Wrap to the end & add a little glue to the surface of the bead to seal it.  

Quickly slide the bead off of the toothpick and allow it to dry on some wax paper or in a waxed paper cup.

After each student makes 10 beads, have them use elastic beading thread to string the paper beads along with small glass beads to create a necklace or bracelet.  

Use the other little beads to make cool patterns.

Just tie off the end with a few good knots.  

Students like to use color themes, 

like using all blue triangles, or all earth tones.  

Our moms loved these soooo much and actually wear them!

We make these necklaces around Earth Day and save them for Mother's Day.

Guess What is Coming on April 25...

 Administrator Assistant Day is April 25!                     

   This is a beautiful addition to any school office.

Administrator Assistant Day is coming up on 

Wednesday, April 25.

The name of my school:  Peachland 

Just get yourself a picture frame with glass.  It can be sleek and modern, or ornate and elegant.

Remove the back and cut a piece of cardboard or chipboard to fit inside the frame.

Spray the chipboard with chalkboard paint.  (Available at Home Depot or Lowes.)

Allow it to dry for at least two days.

Carefully, write your message with white chalk; the school name, the principal's name, the office manager's name, or make one for a teacher at your school and write his/her name on it.

Re-assemble the frame with the glass to protect the chalk writing.

Wrap it all up with clear cellophane and ribbon for a beautiful presentation.

Perfect for Teaching American National Symbols or...

... Memorial Day, Flag Day, or Veteran's Day! `

These were done by my TK students, so they wrote only one sentence. 

This is the time of year we like to teach about our national symbols.


For a culminating activity for my National Symbols unit (and a way to incorporate opinion writing), I ask the children to tell me their favorite nation symbol and why they like it. This is done in a small group setting with about 5 students at a time. I give each student a flag template page. 

 As they illustrate their favorite national symbol in the small rectangle portion of the flag template (where the stars would go), I help one of the students to  write the sentence: I like the _________.

Click the image.

They write on the the lines that have the dash line down the middle. I continue to help each student and then return to the first student and ask, "Why do you like that symbol." 

Click the image.

Again, I help each child to compose their sentence while the others continue to illustrate their favorite symbol and fill in the background of the small rectangle by using the sides of peeled and broken blue crayons. 

Click the image.

They also color the empty lines between their writing with the side of a broken red crayon. (I have been known to do this part for them after school.) 

This one was done by a kindergarten student.A 2nd sentence was added to explain why they liked this symbol.This was part of our opinion writing experience. 

This helps to make the writing page look like a flag from afar.
  

Click the image. 

I mount the pages on red, white, and blue construction paper for a dynamic bulletin board.

Click the image to grab your flag template which comes with two different sizes of lines. 

You can find the American Flag Template by CLICKING HERE.

Click the image. 

Here are some samples we displayed at a local conference. 

Click the image.

Click the image. 

We also crated the portraits of Abraham Lincoln. The children drew these with Kid Pix on the computer.  Then, they dictated their favorite fact about Lincoln. The most popular fact was that he had big ears!  Can you tell by looking at these drawings?  :oD

Want to try ESGI for FREE through Aug., 2018, get a FREE baseball style shirt, get entered to win an ALL-EXPENSE PAID TRIP to a national convention, and qualify for $40 off of your 1st year of ESGI? Then, use my affiliate code, KFUN, and sign up for a FREE trial here: ESGI

ESGI will change the way to assess, plan, teach, and use RTI. 

It's a game changer!

CLICK the image to grab your FREE extended trial & discount code.