Can You Believe It?

Tpt is busy helping teachers get ready to go Back2School and one of  my Chalkie friends created this darling sale button to rock your teaching world. My entire store is on sale and guess who has a few new products? Yup, do not fall on your face.
Check these out girlfriend:
Click on a picture to "shop till you drop."

I hope you find some packets that will help to make your year easier. I work really hard to make these packets worth your money and filled with content that is useful for young learners. Please click right here for my Teachers Pay Teachers Store and remember all of this has been carefully aligned to the CCSS.

Have a wonderful start,

Fran Kramer 

Where Did The Year Go?

I cannot believe how the year is flying by right under my nose. Here we are in May and I am slamming past Mother's Day and moving right along trying to plan for closing out the year. This has been one crazy, demanding year for me with Common Core and a new teaching partner. Whew, it makes me reflect on how lucky I am to be a teacher but how little down time there is.
This is Teacher Appreciation Week across the country and it forces me to stop for a minute and acknowledge all the amazing teachers that have influenced my life in so many important ways. Teachers who have encouraged me, stretched my thinking, tried to organize me, enlighten me, and just plain love me for the mess that I am.
Kindergarten teachers are the mostly loving, generous people on the planet. There, I said that out loud and I mean it.  When I attend conferences I am flabbergasted by the kindness of my peers. Everyone loves "their kids" and spends endless hours prepping and planning to give our youngest learners the best and most engaging activities to make learning powerful. We have a huge influence on our littles and their attitude towards school. If you are reading this I am sending you a huge cyber hug and I want to thank you for being there for our students each and every day.  You know who you are. You are loving, kind, generous, fast on your feet super heroes. Your students could not do without you. I appreciate all that you do.
Teachers Pay Teachers (they rock in my world) has decided to participate in Teacher Appreciation Week by throwing a sale so you can grab some of those amazing products you have had on your wish list forever. Oh I see you jumping up and down at your computer! The year is coming to an end and you better keep your eye on the prize and grab a few winners to wind down with. What? You are teaching summer school? Holey Moley you are one dedicated educator. That's all the more reason to grab a few goodies that will make the last few weeks easy, breezy and some that will make your classroom so much fun in the sun. What about a camping theme? I don't know about you but I need easy at this point. So here are a few of my favorite little printables that are minimal work if you want to pay attention: My friends love this little number. Click on the picture to grab this kindergarten memory book. Your parents will love it and bet yet so will your administrator!

This is one of my favorite pack and go summer goodies. It is a simple review of both Language Arts and Mathematics. It is learning "on the go" and the campy theme keeps it fun. It has been carefully aligned to the Common Core and is a perfect addition to a summer program with kinder kiddos. You can even send it home for the summer with your little ones to keep their skills sharp as they enter first grade. The next group of teachers will love you! Click on this little picture to zip line over to my little shop for this hot number.

Do you own my Sparkle Readers? If you have enjoyed them you might want to grab this additional one that is beachy. Yes, it has the dots under the text to help young children with tracking. Click on the picture to swim on over to my store.

 You loved the first Camp Common Core Pack and Go Set so much you asked for more so I split up the Language Arts and Math and gave you two more packets for your summer journeys! No summer slide on my watch:

Remember to use the promo code Thank You to save an additional 10%. Grab my stuff for even less than imaginable!
Check these out by just clicking on the picture and sailing over to my store! Have fun shopping and I hope we meet each other in Vegas in our flip flops! Woohoo! Have a great rest of the year and stay connected.
Much love,

What's Your Opinion Minion?

What? What are you talking about? Is it really true? Is it really happening? Where did you hear that?

Yup, TpT is honoring teachers by having a special sale in recognition of  their super powers both in and out of the classroom. Are you feeling the love? This puts a lump in my throat and brings tears to my eyes. This this a wonderful way of acknowledging the important work we do each day with children. I am sending a huge, global thank you to each teacher out there for loving and caring for our students. You make such a difference and I feel gratitude everyday for the hard work and long hours you put in. You all rate as super heroes with super powers. Remember that and carry it in your heart. Many of us do not hear that enough!

10 Reasons Why You Should Love A Teacher:

1. Teachers manage to love all of their students, even the challenging ones who drive you crazy. 

2. Teachers can get their point across to any parent, on any painful topic and put a positive spin on it. They are communication rock stars. They learn to be experts by practicing on report cards when leaving comments. We speak in our own code!  

3. Teachers are generous to a fault. They create beautiful classrooms for their students that are often nicer than their homes. They offer their peers support, ideas, and curriculum at a moment's notice.

4. Teachers are organizers: They can take all kinds of junk and organize it in a purposeful way. The can create order from total chaos. They have systems for everything imaginable and can find  anything in their files! Warning: Do not mess with a teacher's files or paperwork.

5. Teachers are flexible and never let unexpected announcements, fire drills, lock- downs or vomit impact on their ability to roll out a lesson. They never let you see them sweat!

6. Teachers wear a million hats all day long. They are mom to an entire classroom, therapist, nurse,  drama queen, and decision maker. 

7. Teachers are feisty! They will scream and yell to protect the students in their room. They will challenge administrators and beg, borrow, and steal to help students to be successful.

8. Teachers are so sentimental. They love to hug their students, give a high five for a successful moment, and have been known to cry over a child's homemade card or gift.

9.  Teachers are loyal and never stop talking about their profession with their fellow teaching friends.This is tough on spouses and a teacher's own children but they learn to endure. My husband can verify this. He warns those that are meeting me for the first time.

10. Teachers are the best friends to have. I know this to be true. I am a teacher and proud to be one.

WHAT WOULD YOU ADD TO THIS LIST?

Fill your cart with amazing materials. I have a few things that I have worked hard on but my favorite is my opinion writing. I hope you will take a look at it. It is some of my best work.

I am using this in my own classroom.  Have you tried doing opinion writing in your classroom with 5 year olds?  They love it because they ALL HAVE OPINIONS ON EVERY TOPIC IMAGINABLE. My students love taking surveys, graphing the results, and writing their opinion on a variety of kid friendly topics. You can see it right here.

Happy Shopping.

Clap, Tap, Stomp, and Snap!

I don't know about you people but I pound on syllables throughout the year. Some kids get it right away and don't need a lot of practice and other kids have no clue what they are listening for. They just plain don't hear it. It drives me nuts so I realize I need to do this many ways, throughout the day. Here are some of the ways I practice this skill.

1. We clap it but some kids think we are applauding so keep a watchful eye on that little doodle.

2. We touch our head, tummy, and toes depending on the number of parts.

3. We shake a canister that is filled with rice ( yes the top is hot glued down- I am not that dumb!)

4. We stretch it with mini slinkies. (Party City has them in packs)

5. We stomp it with our feet and yes the boys get into this a bit too much but lay down some rules.

6. We lay down teddy bears for the right number of parts.

What do my students like the best?

When we do their names. This means something to them and then I might physically sort them in groups by how many parts are in their name. This gets them up and moving. 

Can you feel my pain? 

I just created this packet so students can practice this during workshop time and you can pull them into small groups and do it as a part of their work work. I created 2 mini books for each month of the year which is nice for reinforcing material you are addressing anyway. Here is the kicker. Once you have introduced them with the teacher posters, guided them through the foldable, let them do another one (same month) using a bingo dauber. They will love this. What is it about a dauber that thrills them so much? These are cheap at the Dollar Tree so grab a bunch.

If you don't want to use a dauber students can color in or highlight the correct answer. These can also be part of your homework pack for the week.

 Are you on board? I am definitely giving this a try. Buy them while TpT is having their sale and my entire store is 20% off. Don't forget to type in BOOST before you purchase for a bigger savings! DON'T FORGET! Click on this picture to get to this packet.

What... Another Back to School Sale?

Can you believe this? TpT is having another sale because so many of us were not ready to buy yet. We were still soaking up sunshine, sipping on delicious drinks, and eating amazing food. Reality has hit home. I can't put it off for another day. I AM GOING BACK TO SCHOOL. Yup, time to take out the cleaning tools and hit my little space and make it special. My car is packed with everything Pete and I have all my cleaning products in the back seat. I will be working all week hanging paper, border, and anything else to make it look welcoming. How about you?

Now that I have dragged my head out of the clouds I can start thinking about those first few days and how to keep the tears to a minimum. More about that later...

Teachers often ask me what I start the year out with and the truth is I have a few simple products that I like to use and I read lots of Pete the Cat stories. We play the music and sings Eric Litwin's songs. I try to keep it light and simple the first few days so that I don't overwhelm them with my BIG personality.Products that I love can be found in my Tpt store so click here and make life easy. They are all on sale (hug me later) for 20% off because you have already spent a million dollars decorating the room (don't lie to me I know you).

Here is what I am opening up with:

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS:

1. Classroom Jobs to Build Community: has a little book that is adorable

2. A Cut and Paste Alphabet Book: love this and easy to use

3. I Can Cut, Paste, Sort, and Write the Alphabet : cheap and easy to use

4. Sparkle Readers: My kids adore these books and the work is done for you

5. Tag You're It! Best product ever (buy both and you will want to hug me) editable name tag system

6. Sight Words to Rock Your Room 1/2 : You will use this all year long

7. All the mini books (alphabet, numbers, and syllables) kids love all things mini

Okay now that I have spent all your money DO NOT FORGET TO USE THE CODE BOOST at the end right before making your purchase or you will want to jump off a cliff. Happy shopping my friends and thank you for all the support you provide me with!

Dear New Kindergarten Teachers... I have a message for you

Dear New Kindergarten Teachers,
This is my annual letter that I like to write as school approaches. It is now August and soon you will be decorating a classroom for the first time or returning to a room full of boxes and dust. It all feels overwhelming but take a deep breath because I am going to guide you through some first steps in this process. Why me? I have taught this grade for over 25 years. I guess you would call me a veteran teacher. Sit back, grab a cup of Joe and read on.

1. Create a room environment that you love: Do not try to do everything at once. Clean up the room and be sure all boxes are put away. Put up fadeless paper or use fabric on your bulletin boards. This will save you so much effort in the long run. Stick to colors that are calm and pleasing to the eye. I am a big fan of black with colorful borders. 
2. Do not fill up your bulletin boards with "stuff." You can put up titles if you can't bear the empty walls but keep in mind that you want to fill the room with beautiful student work! Does that make sense?

You are going to want to set aside one bulletin board in your room just for writing. I use fancy clothespins and keep all their writing stacked together with the current one on top. You can dye these clothespins to make them colorful. I use medium size clothespins (smaller than standard ones) from Walmart. Check out this simple process and wear rubber gloves to do this.

Here is the perfect packet for that: This will provide you with a systematic monthly writing form for each month of the year. Click on the picture to take you there. My teachers love this product. At the end of the year you can collect all the pages, take a picture of each student for the cover and use this for Open House. 

Click on the picture to grab each item in my store! 

                                                                                                                   

You will need to focus on letters and sounds this year and these are known as Foundational Skills when looking at the Common Core. Students will need opportunities to do lots of word work to build their skills. This is the work of teaching them how to read. You will need pocket charts (at least 5-6), a carpet with colorful squares that accommodates your whole class and places for small group instruction and independent work. Stay with me. What kind of word work should you do: Here are some possibilities:

                      

Hot off the press:

Here is my latest alphabet packet that I love. It is simple and engaging since kids are using dot markers to identify letters of the alphabet. You can make a simple alphabet book from this and parents can review the letters with their student. I cannot wait to use this.

  I also created a bundle of beginning of the year materials that I think make life much easier

These are just simple little foldables that are a single page and require little prep. I send them home with parents to fold and many of them appreciate being able to help.

Throughout the year students need practice with letters and their sounds, as well as numbers. I use these in my classroom and love them. Why? I am a fan of cut and paste practice that students can do independently once it has been modeled. These are Common Core aligned and require some critical thinking since it has examples and non example.They are very simple and will support any reading program.

I am required to use the Open Court Reading program in my classroom but I found that the readers did not build enough fluency and did not give my ELL's enough support so I designed Sparkle Readers to help fill in the gaps. I have carefully aligned them to the Common Core and have both fiction and non fiction text. My kids adore these! I have 7 different sets. 

What makes these unique? I am so glad you asked me. I have dots under the text to help your young learners with tracking and I have also provided strips with the same text to use in a pocket chart so that you can practice the text with your students before you even hand them a book. You will love these and I keep promising to make more. I will make that happen.

What about those sight words. Principals want you to collect data and want students to be able to recognize these with great ease. These are words that appear in most emergent readers. This is my top seller because it works:

                           

                           
        

As the year progresses our students need to learn how to blend sounds to make words. How in the world do you teach that? These packets spell out the process and work well with young students. You will see a variety of them.

Some frosting on the cake:

Kindergarten students love to help in the classroom so I finally decided to make a job chart  to build community in my classroom. It changed the climate entirely. I spent time explaining the importance of each job and students looked forward to being assigned important responsibilities. It is the best behavior management tool on the planet! Mine is flexible and I show you how to "build" it for your specific classroom needs. How did I survive without this? Included in this packet is a book to run off for your students a

bout building community with jobs . It 's a "must have."

In kindergarten is is important to label everything in sight or kids use whatever is close by. Trust me I have learned the hard way. Backpacks need labels, cubbies, tables, and and journals. These are editable so that makes them well worth having! You just type in your student names. WOOHOO. I gained a lot of popularity with this little item... I am not even kidding.

                                                

       

Are you exhausted from this post? Stay with me just a little longer. Common Core is all about using a collaborative model and I created a few things to build this at the kindergarten level. I have tried this products and had so much success. If you give children a bingo dauber they will engage in learning. This is a trade secret that few teachers know about. Here are my collaborative packets that you can whip out when you are being observed:

Check out the rest but I have tried to hit some of the hot spots for learning. Remind yourself to take one day at a time. Forgive yourself when things go south. It happens to all of us. Don't forget to go outside and play. Love your students. Remember to hug them and listen to their stories. 

I am having a huge sale in my TpT store so join the shopping frenzy Monday and Tuesday. Now is the time to buy these products that will get you organized and on your way to a successful year.

My entire store will be 20% off and you will get an additional 10% off from TpT using the code BTS14. Wowza. Now you can afford more! Have a wonderful year in the best grade there is. I love kindergarten.

Click on this picture to get to my store and happy shopping friends.

                     

                 

Grab Your Shopping Carts and Head for TpT

I love and appreciate all the teachers I have as friends,colleagues, and mentors. You have changed who I am and greatly influenced my teaching skills. I am so grateful for those that educated me and most of all, those that gave my daughters their passion for learning. I deeply love and respect teachers and want to show my appreciation for you. Please check out my TpT store for sales on many of my products. Be sure to enter the code at checkout TPTXO to get an even better discount! 

OMG my daughter came to town as a surprise and I forgot to put my products up for sale in my TpT store. I almost flipped out when I realized this but I went over to my store and took care of business. I hope you find a few things that will help you finish out the year. Here are a few ideas to get you started. They are perfect for sliding into the summer.

1. Dots of Fun...collaboration on the run! (Review of all the sight words for the year)
2.Making Sense of Numbers...Student Book and Collaborative Model
3. Camp Common Core: Literacy and Math Printables
4. My Common Core KindergartenYear: An Emergent Memory Journal
5. Sparkle Readers (#1-7)
6. What Can I Do At The Beach? (emergent reader for the summer)
7. Growing A Word Garden (CVCWords) :Part 1 
8. Growing A Word Garden (CVCWords): Part 2

My Common Core Kindergarten Year is ideal for kindergarten teachers who have implemented the CCSS to show the growth and progress of their students. It is wonderful for Open House or as a memory to send home that reflects your year together and shows samples of each student's work instead of using a portfolio. Check it out here. It is on sale so grab it today!

If you are interested in teaching your kinder students how to work collaboratively with a partner or group be sure to purchase Dots of Fun or Making Sense of Numbers. I promise your class will love these. They use bingo daubers as part of their collaborative work and both products provide a review of sight words and number sense.

What Can I Do At the Beach? is a great little, emergent reader that students love to read since it is interactive and allows them to sponge paint for additional learning fun. Check it out!

Do your students need additional practice with CVC words. I think Growing A Word Garden Part 1 and 2 are ideal for this. They have been carefully designed for young children and are sequential in design.

Camp Common Core is a collection of activities for the end of the year or during the summer. It is a review of a student's kindergarten year and requires no prep at all. You can print it and head for that vacation or use it as part of your summer school program.

Thank you for all that you do every day in the classroom. Your job is demanding and requires long hours of work. I appreciate you so much. I hope you find something in my store to get you through the next few weeks. Go shopping!