Assessments and the Common Core

I don't know if we're the last school district on the planet to be fully integrating the Common Core next year but it certainly feels like it.  We found out at the beginning of this school year that it was mandatory next year.......which was a double-edged sword. 

I enjoy creating fun games & stuff for my kinders to use for learning.  This year, I had to make a lot of products knowing I couldn't use them again next year.  You see, I feel like our district has toooooo many programs running concurrently.  I made a lot of my products to suit the needs of my students under our current programs.  As we move to Common Core, I will have to change a lot of those activities.

On the positive side, the news gave me a year to figure out how to best handle the change.  I've been combing through the new standards figuring out how to best implement everything.  I do have several things that will carry through the change.  The biggest thing I decided I needed to work on was the devil word....assessments!

I have a hate-hate relationship with assessments.  I feel that there is way to much testing at the elementary level but I feel there is way, wayyy, wayyyyyy too much testing at the kindergarten level.  I have a 4-inch binder PACKED with assessments and we are just finishing our 3rd marking period!  C'mon people!  Their little brains should not be used in this way.  They should be learning how to share, how to build blocks, how to learn phonics and basic math concepts.  I could not have, in my wildest dreams, figured I'd be assessing kids on symmetry and probability in kindergarten!

So anywho, I started to design simple, effective assessments that I could use with my kiddies next year.  I decided to break each Math down then create a few different assessments to meet each one.  I currently have two products done for Math and many more on the way for Math & Language Arts.


I.  CC Math Assessments - Counting & Cardinality for Kindergarten

This first product addresses knowing the number names and the count sequence. The standards addressed are:

CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.1 Count to 100 by ones and by tens.

CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.2 Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1).

CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

There are several different assessment options for each strand.  You can download the complete product by clicking here or on the picture.

II.  CC Math Assessments - Operations & Algebraic Thinking for Kindergarten

The standards addressed in this product are:

CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.1 Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings1, sounds (e.g., claps), acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations.

CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.2 Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.

CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.3 Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).

CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.4 For any number from 1 to 9, find the number that makes 10 when added to the given number, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record the answer with a drawing or equation.

CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.5 Fluently add and subtract within 5.

Again, this product has several assessment options for each strand.  Both products also include a Common Core poster listing each standard.  You can click on the picture or here to download this product.

What type of assessments do you use to meet CC standards?  Do you prefer whole-group assessments, small-group or one-on-one?  And is your district implementing Webb's DOK as well?  Mine is......UGH!  That's a whole other post :)

Product Swap

Hey there!  I am fortunate enough to be taking part in a product swap in which a lot of bloggers are participating in.  The swap is hosted by Jessica Stanford of Mrs. Stanford's Class.

I was paired up with Dinah from The Traveling Classroom and couldn't be happier.  I love her products and her story is so fascinating!  Definitely go check out & follow her blog!

The basic premise is simple.....we swap a product, use it and blog about it!  Super cool, right?  I decided to use her Fun Word Families Set since my kiddos can always use practice building and identifying words in various word families.  This is the third set of Fun Word Families. You can check out Set #1 here and Set #2 here. Set #3 comes with 13 pages with a total of 19 word families! Five pages are black & white and the rest are colored.

The product was super easy to set up.  I just printed out the cards on cardstock, cut and laminated them and I was ready to go.  I placed them at the ABC Center.  The kids loved how interactive they were.  They each had their own word family and recording sheet.

Each card comes with two different word families & two different slider cards.  You make a slit in the main card so you can slide the "slider cards" through to build different words.  I had my students write down any real words on the recording sheet so this activity also provided some practice with real vs. nonsense words......BONUS!  And best yet,  this set is Common Core Aligned!

My kiddies really enjoyed "making" new words!  To find more of Dinah's great products, visit the The Traveling Classroom or visit her TpT Store.  Soooo many cute activities on there.  I have some wishlisted for my students!

Dinah and I decided to extend the fun a little further by having a Giveaway of our products!!!  Just leave a comment below to enter to win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck and thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to follow the Product Swap by heading on over to Mrs. Stanford's Classroom!

I'm Back!

I'm sorry I've been away for a bit.  LIFE happened!  I am dealing with a senior graduating H.S. (read DRAMA!), a wedding to plan, state testing in our schools, changed schedules.....UGH!  I think I've had a migrane for two straight weeks!!!!

So anyways, I finally finished up a new Spring Center pack and wanted to show all of my lovely followers FIRST!  And of course I need to give you a FREEBIE for my absence :)  I'm really excited about this product.  I've already started prepping it to put in place this week.  My kiddies are going to LOVE these activities.  I hope your's do too!!!!

 Click HERE or the picture to download this product.

Here's the whole kit-and-caboodle!  There are 5 Math Centers and 5 Literacy Centers in this product.  We are working on addition fluency right now.  I tiered the activities since we all have kiddos at many different levels.  I wanted to make the math activities flexible so you could implement them in a multitude of ways.

The Addition Fluency cards can be used several ways.  First, I printed a set to use with my whole group.  My kiddies love the fast-paced challenge of old-fashioned "drilling."  GASP you say?!?!  Well I definitely make it fun.  I tell them I'm going to try to trick them up.  So I try to go really fast to make it hard for them, I get them giggling, then I slow it down.  At that point they are all glued to my every flip.  It works like a charm.  Second, I print a set to put in the math center. I write the answer on the back so it's self checking.  Third, I use them in small group with manipulatives so they can show how to complete the addition problem.  They really love these cards.  They're tiered between single-digit addition, teen numbers and twenty's.

Also included are making number sentences from ladybug dots, Race to 50 game, a Spring graphing activity and a great way to explore numbers using a number grid.

The Literacy activities include a compound word matching game, Boggling Words Game, Find a Word Game, a Short Vowel Sort and a Spring beginning blends printable.  Here is a preview of these activities:

And I DID mention a FREEBIE so I am giving you one of the Boggling Words pages from this product.  Just click HERE to download your freebie.  Click HERE to download this product. I hope you enjoy :)



Farm Unit

Hi All!

Well I go back to school tomorrow......wahhhhhhhhh!  I only had 5 days off for Spring Break (Thurs-Mon) so it didn't quite feel like a break....more like a loooong weekend!  Regardless, I am happy to say I didn't do too much work.  I really needed some down time with the fam.  My future hubby and I set a wedding date....July 20th!  Better hit Pinterest for some really cute ideas!

I did manage to finish up my Farm Unit.  We are having our class trip to the farm this Friday so I really wanted to have some cute activities to do with my kiddies this week.

Taaa-daaaa!  I LOVE this product!  I tried to incorporate a lot of the skills we are working on but in a fun way.  Who wants to sit and not have fun all day, right?!?!  This unit includes a little bit of everything. 

     * Word Wall cards
     * I Spy A Number Sentence
         ~ I have 3 tiers included with recording sheets and answer keys
     * "On the Farm" original story, Emergent Reader
     * Farm Graphing: 2 different graphing activities
     * On the Farm Writing: 3 Writing printables
     * Color-by-Numbers (teens through thirtys)
     * "Find the Barn" sight word game

This is everything you will need for a week or more of your Farm Theme.  My kiddies are going to love these activities!  Check it out by clicking on the picture or here.  Hope you love it too!

What theme's do you have coming up?