Black Friday SALE!!!!!

This is my 2nd Black Friday and I'm SUPER excited!!!!  I am putting EVERY item in my store on sale.  Yeppers, everything is now 20% off the normal price!

 

 

 

Don't miss out on this great sale!  Here are some of my newest products.......

 

This is the cutest, editable lesson plan book!  You won't need anything else to plan your activities & lesson plans, keep track of student birthdays, meetings and all of your important events. Included are Week At A Glance and Year At A Glance plus Emergency Information for your substitute teachers.  The best part.....It's completely editable to fit your needs!

 

 

 



 

 

This HUGE Interactive Math Journal for Kindergarten is truly one-of-a-kind!  There is 171 pages of fun, engaging activities for your Kinders based on Common Core Standards.  Self-checking activities help students gain independence.  This product is dramatically marked down for this sale only!  Don't miss out!

 

 



 

This adorable CVC Super Pack is all you will need to review and practice CVC words with your emergent readers!  There are 116 pages full of fun, colorful review activities to help students master beginning, medial and ending sounds.  The activities in this product are great for independent work at the Literacy Center or for small group work at the Guided Reading center.

 

 

 



 

Choose any 3 products costing $3.00 and get them for only $6.00 $4.80!!!!  You truly cannot beat this deal!  E-mail me the name of the products you've chosen and I e-mail you back the files.  It's that easy!

 

 

You do not need to enter any codes to receive 20% off of any of my products through Sunday.  On Cyber Monday and Tuesday, you can enter the TpT Promo code "CYBER" and get an additional 8% off.  That's an amazing 28% off all products!!!!!  Just click HERE or any of the pictures above to visit my store and check out some other amazing products.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 



BIG News You Won't Want To Miss!!!!

Okay, I'm so excited I can barely contain myself!  I have BIG news!

Did I mention it's big?  

It's bigger than just BIG!

It's bigger than when we found out Milli Vinilli really were lip synching!

It's bigger than the Beatles breaking up.....okay, well maybe not that big but you get the idea!

I recently reached 100 followers on my lil ole blog!

Yes, 100!  As in one more than 99!  So what's a girl to do to celebrate such a life-changing event?

Yup, you guessed it.......A GIVEAWAY!!!!!

You can enter this giveaway from Wed, Nov. 27th through Sun., Dec 1st.

Just Follow each of the bloggers below, including mine, then enter at the bottom of this post.

Now I know what you're thinking......big whoop!  Lots of people have thousands of followers.  What's the big deal????

Well, the only thing I can say about that is those people aren't as lucky as I AM to have YOU awesome followers!  And not many people have the most AMAZING bloggers out there to help me celebrate.  I am truly honored that they would support me in celebrating this milestone with me!  I am so grateful to each one of them so give them some love!

So without further ado, let's begin........In no particular order.


  Our first amazing contributor to this giveaway is Carrie from Buzz Into Kinder.  She is graciously donating her Christmas Elves product with Common Core Standards included!  This HUGE product is a whopping 170 pages of simply adorable activities for your little ones.  Your students will be engaged in over 25 different Literacy and Math activities!

Click on the picture to check out this adorable product!

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  Our next amazing contributor is Hadar from Miss Kindergarten! Hadar has so kindly donated her Winter Buddies Craft and Writing Templates.  This activity is just adorable!  In this product, you'll get step-by-step directions with templates to create these cutie-patooti buddies.  There are several writing prompts included as well!  Click on the picture below to check out this cool product.

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 The awesome Michelle from Apples & ABC's has contributed her Gingerbread Math and Language Arts Unit.  This product is 67 pages chock-full of Literacy & Math activities as well as a Gingerbread craft activity!  Click on the picture below to check out this awesome product. 

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Next up is Michelle from Fabulous in First.  Michelle is donating her hugely popular Common Core Reader's Response product for Grade 1.  This product includes 23 reader's response sheets for both reading literature and informational text.  Click on the picture below to check out this amazing product!

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Jennifer from First Grade Blue Skies is the next outstanding contributor.  She is donating her adorable "Let's Make An Elf" product.

This activity will walk you through step-by-step to help your students create one-of-a-kind Christmas Elves.  There are great writing samples to go with this activity.  Check out the product by clicking on the picture above.



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Kathleen from Growing Kinders is the next contributor.  She is graciously donating her "Get Your Jolly On!" product full of Math & Literacy activities!  This activity is loaded with skills for your Kinders including rhyming words, CVC practice, and 6 Math Centers!  Click on the picture below to check it out.

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And rounding out this amazing giveaway is Nicole from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten.  Nicole is giving away her Christmas Math & Literacy Centers product!  This amazing product features 117 pages of over 20 different Math & Literacy skills.  This product will surely bring the holiday spirit to your kiddies while they are learning invaluable skills!  Click on the picture below to check out this product. 

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I am also giving a product away to one lucky winner to show my sincere appreciation!  I decided to give away my brand new Interactive Math Journal for Kindergarten.

This HUGE product contains 171 page product offers an amazing interactive introduction into Kindergarten Math. Your students will be introduced to LOADS of Common Core aligned activities to strengthen their number sense and mathematical founation. Click on the picture to check out this product.

To win all of these AMAZING prizes, you must "Follow" the blogs above, including mine, then enter below.  The winner will be generated on December 2nd.  GOOD LUCK!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BIG NEWS.....and a few Tips

Happy Monday!

Well, not really.  This was anything except a Happy Monday.

Come to think of it, is there such a thing as a Happy Monday?  If there is, please let me know what it looks like!

So anywho, crazzzzyyy day!  Full day with the kiddies then FIVE parent-conferences after.  Didn't leave work until 7......again!

I have another day and a half of conferences.  C'mon Thanksgiving break!

So which should I do first, the BIG news or the Tips?  Mmmmmhhhh....tapping my toes thinking.....

Well, since I'm NOT good at keeping secrets I can let you know this much.

1.  I have a secret.

2.  I'm DYING to tell you all!

3.  It has to do with me recently reaching 100 followers.

4.  It is going to happen on Wednesday and you DON'T WANT TO MISS IT!!!!  Trust me on this people!

So make sure you check back on Wednesday for the BIG SUPRISE!!!



Okay, so I just wanted to share a few tips here that make my days a little more sane....if that's possible!

I don't know about your kiddies but each year my entire group seems to have an annoying habit a strange focus.  It's one of those things where the whole class shares this goofy focus.  Well this year is tissues!  My kids are obsessed with blowing their nose (or picking it.)  I even have kids bringing in full-sized tissue boxes to leave on their table. 

Seriously, I never knew it was so exciting to blow your nose.  They L.O.V.E. it!  Have they never had their nose blown in five years?  Are they forbidden to blow their nose at home so it's a special treat to do it at school?

And it's not even just during work.  I would totally get that they're trying to get out of doing their work.  I can rationalize that.  But these kids do it during the elusive FREE PLAY time too.  A LOT!

Well, I make my kids use hand sanitizer after blowing their noses.  Since this is an every-minute occurence in my classroom, I have been going through LOTS of sanitizer!  This is a little trick I use to keep it to an absolute minimum.  Trust me, I'm not reinventing the wheel here.  I saw it somewhere along my life and somehow it staying in my memory.

This may not be a new concept to most of you but for those who have not seen this......it's a penny saver!  Most five-year-olds love to have oodles of sanitizer dripping through their little fingers.  It's like magic goo!  Well one simple, plain little rubber band zaps that problem.  By placing the rubber band on the pump it limits the amount of sanitzier my little jumbles of joy can use. 

Try it.  It's magical!

Next up, we use a lot of Math Bins in my room.  I have shelves full of them....seriously!  Well, it used to be so hard to keep track of who was allowed to pick the bin last.  So I came up with this high-tech monitoring device.......

I have four students at each rectangular table.  Each seat gets assigned a number 1 through 4.  I simply rotate the dial to the next number and everyone gets a turn.  The kids pick this up almost immediately.  I mean seriously, this is important to know in Kindergarten!

I know you are probably wondering where I found such a high-tech device.  I am not permitted to divulge such secrets at this time.  Patent Pending.



This next tip also goes along with the one above, although this is not Patent Pending.

My main goal when the kiddies walk in the door in September is to help them gain independence.  They spent the last five-years having most things done for them so this is a very difficult concept for most of them.  One thing I do to help in the process is to label things.  And by "things" I mean everything.  If it stands still and the kids will use it at some point in the year.....BAM, I slap a label on it.

No more...."Mrs. D, we're out of glue sticks!"  "Mrs. D. I can't find my scissors!"  Notice those two statements end with an exclamation mark......I did that on purpose.  These statements are emergencies in Kindergarten.  No joke!

My next tip is to create a Math Word Wall.  I know we typically only think of a "word wall" for sight words.  But I have one for Math words as well.  I refer to this often especially when we are learning new math vocabulary and concepts.

Now for this next tip there is a disclaimer.  After a full day with kids and five parent conferences I did not feel like hunting down the eraser to clean up this chart before taking the picture.

I have to say I LOVE this next tip.  This is part of my Daily Math Routines.  It's called the "Question of the Day."  My kids say that <- with spirit fingers.  Take a moment to picture that.  Okay, proceed.

Now the real reason I love it is because I can teach a variety of skills with one activity. 

See, I told you it was a mess!  But anyway, I typically ask a Math question but we had a weird schedule today so I was feeling silly.  It was also our only day of school this week.

With this one activity, I can teach tally marks, number formation (the kids count the tallys and tell me which digits to write,) and then we add the two numbers together.  Yes, Kindergarten students.....MY students are adding these numbers.  They don't realize they are adding so please don't tell them! 

Want to know my secret of how they are this brilliant?  Well, right before we do the Question of the Day, we take a count of how many students are present in class.  They know (because your's truly taught them) that the total number of votes is equal to the total number of kids in class that day. 

Brilliant, huh? I know!  We look at our number chart to check our answer.  All of those skills in a five-minute Daily Routine.  YES please!

Well that's it for me tonight.  I'm fried.  I'm cooked.  My bed is calling......do you hear it?

Don't forget to come back on Wednesday ~ you don't want to miss out on this!

Thanks for reading!

We Are Thankful!

Happy Friday!

Disclaimer:  I just got home from Happy Hour with my co-workers.  I cannot be held responsible for any grammatical errors in this posting.  You may now proceed.


Boy, was this the lll ooooo nnnnnn gggggg eeeee sssss ttttttt week ever?  I don't know about you but I feel like I won the lottery just because I made it to Friday!

Seriously, this was by far the roughest week of my year so far......that is until parent-teacher conferences next week!


So we wrapped up our Thanksgiving theme this week with one of my favorite activities.  Throughout the week, we discuss what it means to be thankful, and what we are thankful for.  Today we made our "We Are Thankful" quilt.  I always love how this turns out.

This little guy is thankful for his cat and his bike.

She is thankful for her family and her new baby sister.

 

 



We assemble all of their quilt squares to make one big quilt.

 

 

And because I LOVE giving out freebies, I made the quilt squares available in my TpT Store.  Just click on any of the pictures to download this activity.

 

I have recently been on a mission to rid my hallways of every form of tape imaginable.  You see, we have cinderblock walls throughout our building.

 

Cinderblock does NOT hold tape well.  Cinderblock does not hold duct tape, masking tape, painters tape.   ANY tape.  I've even tried rubber cement.  Nope, nada, nothing!

 

Plus our district turns off the heat / ac every weekend.

 

So every darn Monday morning, I walk down my hallway retaping / rehanging everything back on the walls.

 

It drives me NUTS!  Bonkers!  Completely insane.

 

I'm not the type of person who enjoys doing something more than once.  I mean, c'mon, who has that kind of time?!?!? 

 

So, here is my solution.

 

 

 

I hung Command Strips and strung string between them.  Hang the kiddies pictures with clothespins and voila.....no more tape!

 

No more tape makes me happy!

 

One last thing before I go.  Last week we worked on our Bear Theme.  Each year we make these adorable bears.

 

 

The kiddies make a bear collage and we cut the bears in half and use it as a writing piece.  Because of the new program we are using this year, I'm not allowed to have the kids write more than one word at this point so I gave them all this prompt.  I love how they turned out!

 

Well, I'm off to bed now.  Barely keeping my eyes open.  Must sleep!

 

Have a good weekend!

 

P.S. Leave me a comment or follow my blog to get more great freebies and products!

 



3 For 6

Hey there!  Just going to post a short one tonight because I am EX-HAUS-TED!

We had our annual Turkey Feast for the little ones today.  Feeding a full turkey dinner to 100 littles is draining but they really seemed to enjoy it.  One of my little girls told me first thing this morning that she did NOT like turkey dinners.  After many times of assuring her she didn't have to eat anything she didn't want to, she devoured the whole meal!  Afterwards, she was so excited to tell me how much she LOVED Turkey Feast Day!  They're so darn cute sometimes!

I wanted to share with you a new feature available in my TpT Store.  I'm offering a 3 for $6.00 feature which is pretty self-explanatory.

 

 

The way it works is simple.....

 

1.  You purchase THIS product for $6.00

2.  You choose any 3 products from my store with a value of $3.00 or less

3.  You e-mail me your choices and I send you the PDF files.

 

Boom!  You're done!  And you saved $3.00!  Can't beat that, can ya!

 

 

So click on the picture above to head on over to my TpT Store to start shopping!

 

TGIF!

 



ZAP!

Morning!  Well, afternoon really.  I don't know how it is I can wake up early on a Sunday so I can get computer work done and STILL be sitting here at 1 o'clock!

Please tell me this happens to you too!

Okay, so last night I decided to make a cutesy version of a game my kids L.O.V.E.! 

Every year!

Different Kids!

They ALL love it!

It's a game called ZAP!  It helps students practice number sequence.....but don't tell them that!  It's really simple to play.  You can play with 2-4 players.  I try to group them by ability level.  You'll see why in a minute.

You place the pile of cards in the middle of the table face down.  The first player chooses a card and tells the missing number.  If they are correct, they keep the card.  If not they return the card to the pile.  The next player goes.  Play continues until someone flips a ZAP! card.  That player must return all of their cards to the pile.

Did I mention they LOVE this game?

It's so simple and yet educational.

Now, onto the ability level thing.  The cards are printed in groups of 10......0-10, 10-20, 20-30, etc. all the way to 100.  For my kiddies still getting their footing on numbers, I give them the 0-10 set.  For those smarty pants I go much higher and mix the cards.  I generally put 2 ZAP! cards in for each group of 10 cards.

Here are a few pics for those visual learners such as myself!

Each level of 10 is color coded.

I saved the best for last........I'm offering it FREE!  Yep, you heard that right!  Just click on the picture above to download this baby.

Have a great Sunday!!!

P.S. If you like my products and freebies, please follow my page and my TpT Stores to get my latest offers!



Interactive Math Journal

Happy Saturday! 

I wish I could say I slept in today...... but no.  I had this horrible (ridiculous) dream All.....Night.....Long!  Don't you just hate when that happens?!?!

So anywho, it was a rough week for me so I am SUPER happy the weekend is here!  Can I get an AMEN!

I was up really late last night.  I'm talking teenager late.  I'm talking 3AM late.  My body does not normally see that hour of the night anymore so it was something special.

I was working really late to finish up my latest product that I am SOOOOOO proud of (if I do say so myself!)  I've been working the last few weeks on this puppy so I feel like it's my baby.

I wanted to use Interactive Journals in my class this year.  I've seen them all over TpT and Pinterest but couldn't really find what I wanted for Kindergarten.  What's a girl to do?  Yup, make one!

So I started by looking at those dredded lovely Common Core Standards and off I went.  There is such a huge push for CC these days that I wanted to make sure this product was chock-full of them.....and boy oh boy is it!  In fact, once I got started it was hard to stop!  This puppy turned out to be 171 PAGES!

Since it's Kinder, I also wanted to make it F.U.N.!  So I added lots of cute graphics for coloring and extending lessons.  Here is the result......

Sooooo many skills are in this product. Skills included are:

  * Reference pages (Hundreds Chart, Daily Weather Log,

    Days of the Year, Date Writing, etc.)

  * Exploration of the Numbers 1 - 20 (3 lessons per number)

  * 2-Part Patterns

  * 3-Part Patterns

  * Size Comparison lessons (length)

  * Quantity Comparison

  * Estimation

  * Addition & Subtraction

  * Decomposing Numbers through 10

  * Adding through 10

  * Number Stories

  * ........and SO much more!



Decorative Journal Cover for students to personalize

Learning Objectives in kid-friendly language

and Big Idea's provided for each lesson,

along with Common Core Standard

Extenion activities provided at the

bottom of lessons.

Interactive flap pages for self-checking.  Scissors graphic

shows where to cut and Stop Sign shows where to stop.

Multiple samples and strategies are provided.

As you can see from the images, lessons and activities are 2 per page for less use of paper.  Using half the page allows for additional practice for students.

Students will use number lines, ten-frames, tally marks, counting strategies and more!  An index at the beginning of this product allows you to print what you need in the order you need it.

I hope you enjoy this product!  If you have any questions about it, please leave me a comment below or e-mail me at thekindergartenpod@yahoo.com.  Thanks so much!

P.S. Just click any of the pictures to download this product today!





YAY!!!!!!!

Well I jumped back on here to post about a project I made and.......BAM, 100 followers!  Geeze Louise that was fast.  So if you're my 100th follower, please leave me a comment below....and your e-mail.....and your grade level.  Let me see what I have.  And thanks!!!!

Now I have to do something.  I'll think about it tonight and get back to ya!

Here is what I originally came here to post.  I just finished a cute activity for my kiddies to work independently.....what is that you ask? 

I know, right?

Well this activity definitely keeps them engaged AND learning AND quiet.  It's called, "Say It, Trace It, Build It."  It is a great addition to your Literacy Center.  This product features ALL of the words from the Dolch Sight Word List for both Primer and Pre-Primer. 

Here is a sample from Pre-Primer.

 

 

This is Primer.

 

 

 

Head on over to check it out by clicking on the picture above.  It's on sale until I go to bed tonight, or when I remember to remove the sale......haha, my memory is a bit overwhelmed these days!

 

Thanks for stopping by!