Blow-Out Blog Brouhaha... Never Miss This Event

How do I talk about this event without gushing? If you live anywhere within 100 miles of these meet-ups, it is well worth the effort to attend. I am not even kidding. First of all, you get to meet me. Why is that such a big thrill? I am the oldest of all of you and started teaching before many of you were born. Don't even think about arguing with me about that.  Remember that I am super bossy! 
The event was held at Red Robin ( okay Fran might have taken that up a notch but you know how old people like to complain) by two of the cutest women I have ever met. Kate from Second Grade Sparkle and Katie from Teacher to the Core. I loved both of them within seconds of meeting them. They did an amazing job of organizing this blow out party and a ton of bloggers came. There were no random, creepy people that showed up which was a real relief! Stop laughing. They have been known to just join the group. Okay I digress. The party planners, who clearly understand that we are all like first graders, had precious name tags for us and goodie bags (big shout out to Wendy for all the books). Christy and Tammy from Fluttering Through First Grade brought the cutest pads in the world and we loved them so much. Heidi, yes our Heidi is from Southern Cal. dropped a billion of our DVD's on the table for teachers to have. I knew that would make you jealous. Anyway, we talked and talked and resented when the waitress interrupted  us to take our order. The nerve of her! What did we talk about... everything you can imagine! Traci from Dragonflies in First sat next to me and needs to be my friend forever. She is so talented and smart  and I just love her personality. We chatted like old friends. She has created an amazing planner that you need to purchase if you haven't done so already. You have one? Check hers out cause it is brilliantly designed. Yours can't be as good... just sayin'  Do you know Christy and Tammy? Christy sat next to me and she is hilarious and I got to hear all about her partnership with Tammy. These two ladies are just the smartest and best out there. They have the best of both worlds as part time teachers, bloggers, and moms. Check out their packets because you will be so impressed. My Annie ( I love her so much) was across from me (Annie Moffatt) and it is always so much fun to be with her. Annie is a mom who is home schooling her children and is always working to stay ahead of the curve in education. She has new ice cream scoop packets that are adorable so you need to look at these. Your students will find them a real treat! She is truly talented. Hadar (Miss Kindergarten)  was at the other end of the table but we finally got to chat for a bit and I also spent a little time with Michelle from Apples and ABC's. It was so much fun to catch up with these gorgeous ladies and Layla, from Fancy Free in Fourth is expecting her second child. We took the cutest picture together with her "bump". Layla was the only upper grade teacher in the bunch but if you know teachers who need Common Core packets that are well designed, she is your person. 
Heidi (our celebrity) also came to this gala event and generously brought a ton of her stuff for teachers to have. We loved her for doing this. Okay I hear you yawning so I will bring this to a close. It was one of the best days ever! 
These events are so important to me. Why? They make me realize the power of the internet and how blogging has changed my life. I have met warm, wonderful teachers who have changed my world, one kid at a time. I love you guys and I am counting the days until we meet again. 
I know I left out a ton of people but others will have done a better job. Back to my Common Core assignment... I swear I need to stop jabbering about this day!
Fran

Do Not Get Jealous But We Are Meeting Up Again!

I cannot believe how lucky I am to be included in the Southern California meet-up that is happening this weekend. I cannot wait to see some BFF's from other occasions and meet some new faces. These events are always a crazy amount of fun and I am always so amazed by all the teacher talent at the table.Usually I think I will be gone for just a few hours but this ends up being an all day event where we hate saying good-bye to each other. How is it that we all feel so connected to each other? We just do! When we met in Irvine we stayed in the restaurant most of the day and you could hear us all over the mall shrieking with laughter. I am counting the hours until the next party and I hope all of you So. Cal bloggers have this on your calendar. 

A big shout-out goes to the party planners who set this up,Kate at Second Grade Sparkle and Katie at Teacher to the Core. I will have pictures and lots to talk about after this event so please check back with me... OMG you must be so jealous. I wish this included all of you.

Love, Fran 

I "Sort Of" Love Jelly Beans So Have This Freebie

Who loves jelly beans? Do I hear "me, me, and me"? I did a training on the Common Core and filled plastic eggs with jelly beans. I used the Sweet Tart version and the teachers loved them! We played a game reviewing text complexity which was a blast but I ended up with a ton of jelly beans and did not want to eat one more. What's a teacher to do? I decided to make this little sort for my kindergarten friends to use. 
How this works:
Fill up small plastic eggs with a bunch of jelly beans (all different colors)
Do one for each student in your room.
Run off this sorting mat and graph for them to use.
Each student opens up his egg and sorts the jelly beans provided.
Once the sort has been completed the number is recorded on the right side of the frame.
Now you can model for them how to record the answers on the right side of the graph and color in each section, with the appropriate color.
Common Core wants our kids to be able to collect and record data but did anyone say it couldn't be fun?
Have a belly full of jelly beans! Click on the picture if you want this activity!
Fran

No More Simple Readers... Meet the Challenge!

I hope you have been adding some sparkle to your reading program and now is the time to step it up and bit.

March is here and the year is sliding by. Is it just me or did this happen quick as a snap? Here are some readers that can be used with any program to enhance your small and large group instruction. 

So as I move around my district as a Common Core teacher I have been in many kindergarten classrooms asking them what emergent readers they would like to have. These are four new Sparkle Readers I have created just for them. I have a balance of fiction and non fiction so that our children are building crucial academic vocabulary and knowledge which is age appropriate. These can be found in my TpT store and have sentence builders to go in the pocket chart. Each book has a sentence with a focus on "I like" and then a second one with a repetitive piece. There are a variety of activities provided to keep your students engaged such as word writing, counting by 10's, cut and paste, and working with transition words. Why do I have two lines? Common Core tells us that our children need to build stamina and be challenged! I am taking it up a notch and with repetitive text my ELL's will work on wrapping around which is crucial for first grade. It is March and I need to get them on the path to becoming first graders! No more little foldables... on to the real work of learning to read. Dots are provided to help children track these words as they sweep around the text. Are you up for the challenge? Check them out here!

Get Your Read On...

Are you gearing up for "Read Across America"? I love this day because I love books so much. It is the perfect excuse to spend the entire day in jammies and carve out time to just celebrate reading to your class. I love to invite district "big shots" to my classroom. My principal comes in (silk PJ's) and parents. We usually serve oatmeal with toppings to the kids and they are on board for this special day.  In case you are not aware of this, Kohl's is offering a fantastic deal on everything Seuss and you can purchase a variety of books or matching stuffed animals for just $5.00 What a deal and all the money is donated to helping kids with cancer. I am sure many of you already support this but check it out if you have never heard of this fantastic deal. I needed a new cat since mine has been loved to death! What are you reading during this celebration?

Build Foundational Skills Or It All Falls Down

In kindergarten an important aspect of Common Core is Foundational Skills. As we move away from scripted reading programs teachers are going to need materials that reflect the CCSS but provide our children with systematic learning. I have created a huge cvc packet but have only used twenty five blends. All the activities use the same words so that students can build capacity and understand the crucial concept of blending. In our district if they can't blend this becomes a deal breaker when moving to first grade. I am always looking for ways to enhance their learning, make it interactive, yet keep it systematic. Here is the packet I have created and many of these activities have been huge favorites in my room and with other kinder teachers. I am printing off and laminating the activities now to take into my kindergarten teachers as a surprise! I even created cvc headbands for students as they complete each set of vowels which they can wear home proudly. I will try to grab some pictures and tell you about my differentiation sticks later...

This packet is full of differentiated activities to allow the teacher the flexibility to meet the needs of students with a wide range of skills. It has lots of cut and paste work which our kids must do to build up those fine motor skills! Some children still need practice with beginning sounds, others ending, and some are ready for blending. How many of you have children who still don't hear the difference between sounds and still cannot identify them. Yup! Transitional Kindergarten students and primary special needs kids should profit from a simple packet of this type too.This will not conflict with any reading program. So grab the tools you need to give our kids a strong foundation for learning... Click here to go to my TpT store if this is what you need. What do you like to use for cvc word activities?

Have a happy day of teaching today.

February Is Emerging and Bursting With Love

Here is a sample of some of the goodies I have created for the month of February. The valentine packet makes setting up math and literacy stations a breeze and is well aligned to the Common Core. At this time of the year I am looking ahead and doing whatever it takes to teach those letters, sounds, and sight words. I want my students to read with some fluency so these emergent readers have really helped to get them there. From all I have read about Common Core the focus is on reading both literature and non fiction. Students need plenty of opportunities for practice and these readers can go home in a literacy bag. Some of our kiddos do not have books at home so we need to provide them. 

We all know that we need to be reading more informational text to our young learners (Common Core protocol)  and these two readers provide you with that opportunity. There are plenty of books on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln but I love giving students books they can practice at school with a partner, and take home to proudly read to their family. I love these graphics because they are so simple. Take this opportunity to do guided drawings with these cute images from Scrappin Doodles.  Last year I got adorable results.

Guess Who I Met At The California Kindergarten Conference?

No blogging this weekend. This Orange County teacher ripped out of work on Friday night to catch a plane for San Francisco to fill her brain with important TK information at the California Kindergarten Conference. It is held every year in Santa Clara California.

I did this all last minute since I told myself I wasn't going this year since I had left the classroom. Baloney! I could not resist being around a billion TK, Kindergarten and First Grade teachers who might give me one more idea that I could nail in someone's classroom. 

I finally get to the hotel, check in on my iphone (loving that convenience) and grab some sleep before the weekend begins. 

I get up early and head for some coffee and fruit, ready to fill my brain with information and hoping I see a familiar face. I do what any teacher worth her salt would do... head for the vendors! I cruise around and say hello to lots of familiar faces, including Kaye Espinoza and the ladies at Kinderlit. There is nothing to buy cause I own all of their stuff. However, I forced it down the throats of innocent, young teachers standing by

( poor things). I need to learn to contain my enthusiasm! 

I grab my registration packet and put all my tickets inside my badge and head for the keynote speaker who I adore. Her name is Peggy Campbell Rush and I laughed until I cried. She is smart, hilarious, and very familiar with the world of kindergarten. I have lots of her books but I bought 2 more to take back to my teachers.

As I am racing to the next class I run into a blogger friend that I love, Camille. It feels so good to see a familiar face and she has her whole team with her! If you do not not know this teacher check out her blog right here. Camille is a real love and I adore spending time with her. She is teaching a K-1 combination this year and she should be receiving an award for this.What a challenge! We forgot to take a picture but please go over and say hello because she is that teacher who knows how to listen and build your confidence. It was a joy to spend time with her and catch up on our crazy lives.Thanks Camille for hanging with me!

I go back to the vendors the next day and stop to give Heidi a quick hug because she is so darn busy that she has no time to talk to me. I force her too... I swear. We chat for a few seconds and she tells me that she has a new blending CD that teachers are loving. OMG. I would grab this if it is anything like her other stuff! She is awesome and the answer to a kindergarten teacher's prayers.Her blog is Heidi Songs. Look around at her products and see what she has to offer. 

From there I walk over to Ron and Nancy Brown who I have seen many times throughout the years when this cutie jumps out from behind the table and introduces herself to me as Kelley Dolling. Once she tells me her name I slowly realize ( keep quiet- you will be old one day too) that she is the blogger who owns one of my favorite sites, Teacher Idea Factory. I know I stared at her like I was insane but I could not get past the fact that her parents were Ron and Nancy Brown. I stuttered, I mumbled, and I had to clarify it 100 times. Seriously? So this young teacher is like the daughter of James Taylor and Carly Simon? Seriously? Is this a joke? Nope. I love her parents to pieces and this is their daughter! OMG. We became instant friends and I fell in love with this energetic, fun-loving, smart first grade teacher. We got in everyone's way as we talked about blogging, teaching and all the California bloggers we hung out with. It was the best part of my day! Here is a picture of Kelley with her parents. How cute is this family!

Now you know who I am talking about.Yup, I am the only stupid person in the room. Ron has a song for absolutely everything you can imagine.Check out his work right here.Okay I know I am babbling on this post but stick with me for a little longer. So... I go to some classes and it is the end of the day and I know I signed up for Kelley's class but did I check to see if I got it? That would be a big, fat no. I realize I am assigned to a TK class and I freak out. I go over to the "change your ticket lady" and tell her I will die without this class and give her this long, irrational reason why I am going in no matter what. She looks at me with her kind, friendly smile and tells me to calm down and here is the right ticket. Whew... I stopped babbling, ripped it out of her hands and head for my blogger friend's room.  Here is a sample of what went on:

She was amazing. Honestly peeps, she has parents that are very present in her life but at the end of this session I felt like a proud Mama to see another talented blogger knock it out of the park. She had a fantastic presentation, full of useful content, and lots of freebies from her blogging friends. She gave away  tons of CDs from her dad and created packets filled with ideas. FANTASTIC. I love you Kelley! 

Who is going with me next year? Who wants to present?

Come Over To My Blog For A MLK Freebie

Do you need something to help you celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday? How about making a special necklace that is quick and easy. The directions are in this little packet and will add some fun to this important national holiday. It's a freebie and we all love free- right? Click here for this. Don't forget to grab the emergent reader I created entitled, What Is Your Dream? The link is on the post just below this one. If you like the freebie please leave a comment and I hope your students like the bling!
These graphics are from Melonheadz Illustrations and she did the most incredible job. The other graphics belong to www.DJInkers.com There is so much talent out there... Now go teach about this great leader.

Another Look At Martin Luther King

Check out these readers I have created to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday. After reading some of the books that are readily available this makes a nice follow up for students to read. The focus is on the goals students can set for the new year. I have not used these in my classroom but I am definitely going to try it out in the coming week. This is such a nice way to encourage students to set goals for themselves and work hard just like Dr. King. One page has an empty frame which allows students to draw something they hope to accomplish by the end of the year. This is in Teachers Notebook for now because I am having trouble with TpT. I will keep trying and hopefully it will show me some love and upload later. So what is your dream?
Click on Dr. King to purchase these for just $4.00.