It's A TpT Cyber Sale Gift Card Giveaway!

It's that time again!  That's right - it is time for the Teachers Pay Teachers Cyber Sale!  The sale begins tomorrow, and runs for 2 days, Monday 11/28 and Tuesday 11/29!  And I am giving away a $10 TpT gift card to one lucky winner!!!

But I'm not the only one!  If you continue through the blog hop, you have a chance to win over $250 in TpT gift cards!!!

Simply enter the Rafflecopter entry below and then continue through the blog hop to enter each of the giveaways!

My giveaway ends on Monday 11/28 at midnight and the winner will be announced on Tuesday morning 11/29.

Here are a few of my top Holiday / Winter resources that get lots of use in my classroom!  And they are all on SALE during the TPT Cyber Sale!

CVC Words Match (Snowflake)

 Students match the cvc word with the correct picture and then write the word on the recording sheet.

I like to put this in a sensory bin, but you can also just use in your regular center container.

Kindergarten Math Centers (Christmas themed)

This product includes tons of math center activities for December.  I have included counting numbers 1-10 and 11-20 (scattered configuration and ten frames), skip counting (2's, 5's, and 10's), comparing numbers, addition (make 5, make 10, and a cover up dice game).  Includes color and b/w options for most centers.

Count the Ice Cubes (numbers 1-10)

Count the Presents (numbers 11-20)

  Seashell Ten Frames (numbers 1-10 and 11-20)

Skip Counting by 5's

I would love for you to visit my store to see all of my products - and remember they are all on SALE!

**The giveaway has ended.  Thanks to everyone who entered!**

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Good luck!

For your next chance to win a gift card, click below to head to Theresa's Teaching Tidbits!

Halloween Zombie Tags

It's Halloween!!!  What did the zombies say to the teachers???

The zombies encouraged the teachers to "Keep Growing Brains!"   HAHAHA!

While shopping in the Halloween section at Target, I found a huge bag of Sour Patch Zombie Kids!  It got my creative juices flowing and I came up with these cute zombie tags to attach to the candy.

I made a version for my teaching colleagues and a version for my students.

For teaching colleagues

For my students

They are available in color and b/w and in 2 different sizes.

Click below to grab your FREE tags!

Here I am in my Little Red Riding Hood costume!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Pasta Graphing

During my latest trip to Cost Plus World Market, I found this fun Halloween pasta and immediately knew that it would be perfect for a graphing activity!

I gave each student a small Dixie cup with some pasta.  The students sorted the pasta and then counted how many they had of each shape.

Then they colored in their graphing sheets to match the amounts they had.

The kids also figured out which shape they had the most of and which shape they had the least of and drew a picture of those shapes on their recording sheet.

Click on the picture below to pick up the recording sheet for FREE!

Happy Halloween!

Jack-o'-lantern Counting Mathtivity

The fall weather is slow to come to Southern California, but I am still having a great time completing fall projects with my kindergarten students!

Last week we made these fun jack-o'-lanterns and they look fantastic on my math bulletin board!

I copied the jack-o'-lantern onto orange construction paper.  Then the students colored the stem brown and the leaf green.

They decided how many teeth they wanted for their jack-o'-lantern.  I used dry white beans for the teeth!

They counted out the beans that they wanted to use and then glued them onto the mouth area.

Then they wrote the correct number to complete the sentence.

After drying overnight, I cut around the pumpkin and the sentence, and put them up on the bulletin board.  My room is really starting to look like fall!

You can find this activity in my TpT store.

Thinking Map Roundup

We just finished up our 22nd day of school and for many of those 22 days I have used Thinking Maps to help the students share their thinking.

I was trained in Thinking Maps years ago and I truly enjoy creating them with my kindergarten students! 

I tend to start TM instruction in kindergarten with circle maps.  They are great to use with any topic.  Students are encouraged to tell me what they know about the topic.  Here are some of the maps we have made.

We brainstormed the things we do in Kindergarten.

Another brainstorming session, this one is about signs we see.

This circle map was about musical instruments.

We use circle map cut and paste printables when learning our letter sounds.  You can find this in my Letter Sound packet.

Bridge maps help students see relationships and analogies.  

We made this map when reading the book Whose Baby Am I?  (I had to photograph it in three sections since it was so long.)

I made this map interactive, enlisting my students to help with the initial sounds/letters.  The goal is that students will create these maps on their own as they get older.

Give Thinking Maps a try in your classroom.

Ready for School Year 2016-2017

Another school year has begun and I have spent nearly a week getting my room ready.  Cleaning (75+ Clorox wipes and 5 Swiffer dusters later), unpacking, and covering bulletin boards.  Printing, laminating, and taping. Leveling, stapling, and organizing.  All to create a welcome and inviting room for my little Kindergarteners!

Here is the result.

Area just above my desk.  I posted the pics of POTUS and VPOTUS near the flag.

Writing area.  Each table has a box with writing folders and pens for writer's workshop.  I created the drawing years ago when teaching a unit on Imagination in 2nd grade.

This fun READ display hangs above my library.  I painted cardboard letters from Joann's and cut and stapled Dr. Seuss bags from Target Dollar Spot on top of canvases.

Here is the library area.  Stuffed animals (reading buddies) are in the large bin.  I purchased some scoop rockers and made the sit-upon cushions. Looking to add a small rug to this area.

Calendar area includes school day count ten frames, months of the year, and calendar.  On the wall below are student buckets for bucket filling.  I will be taking a picture of each student and taping them on the front of the buckets.

Small group table with crate seats and fancy magnetic white boards.

Here's to a FANTASTIC year!

Classic Picture Books for Kindergarten

Classic picture books are the ones we never seem to get tired of, even if we read them everyday!  They are timeless favorites.  They are delightful and comforting.  They feed our imaginations.  They are powerful and memorable.

And so for the final week of the Summer Stash blog hop, we are bringing you our favorite classic books!

And be sure to keep reading for our GIVEAWAY!

Hosted by:

Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

This is one of my top stories, because I have fond memories of making stone soup when I was in elementary school!
This book tells the French tale of soldiers who cleverly trick some peasants into making a delicious soup made of stones!

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

This is a favorite in my class!  Of course I am super animated when I read this story, and the kids can't get enough.  We love acting out the story, shaking our fists and stomping our feet at the monkeys!
Day in and day out the peddler walks the streets selling his caps, which he keeps on top of his head.  One day he sits under a tree to rest, and when he wakes up, he sees that monkeys have taken each one of his hats up in the tree.  He eventually gets the caps back after tricking the monkeys.

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw

You students will enjoy identifying the shapes in this book as you read.
The repetitive text follows a simple pattern and kids love retelling this story.

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

While Max is in a time-out in his room, he imagines a land where wild things live.  He becomes the king, but soon realizes he wants to be back home.

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

A great book for the first day of school!
Chester Raccoon doesn't want to go to school. His mother shares a special secret with him, the Kissing Hand.  It comforts him while he is at school, away from his mom.

Here is a fun project I have my students complete on the first day of school.

You can pick up my FREEBIE {HERE}.

Now head over to Minute Mommy to see her classic book choices.

And don't forget to enter our giveaway.  You could win a $25 TpT gift card.  Be sure to enter before midnight EST on Friday.  We will be announcing the winner on Sunday!

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