Blog Posts

Computer Programming Posters Freebie!

4/22/2018

We are beyond excited about bringing
computer science/robotics to our students!!!

Meet Dash, our classroom robot. Each robot is run by one Kindle. Our students will learn about teamwork, problem solving, creativity, and much more as they explore mazes, tasks, and all sorts of challenges. The picture above shows how Cessy prepares for this endeavor in her own classroom. All of these Kindles and covers were made available with donations from her parents and PTA! Yay!
Check out Wonder Workshop for upcoming teacher trainings.

Our entire school is hoping to make the shift to more computer science experiences for our students TK-5 in the upcoming school year and we are really excited about it! Did you know that by the year 2020 1.4 million computer science jobs will need to be filled. The US is only prepared to supply .4 million. The majority of the one million jobs will need to come from other countries such as India. Computer science is the future and our classroom lessons must adjust!

Below are some posters we made for our school's technology lab. We are making these available as a free download. Keep up with Kinder League's technology adventures through this blog and/or Instagram. And you better believe we have a few lessons up our sleeve that we'll be sharing on TPT (coming soon).

poster_1.pdf
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poster_2.pdf
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poster_3.pdf
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We made it to ZZ!!! (freebie download)

4/22/2018

Yay!
We made it the end of the alphabet.
The kids are so excited about this.
It's amazing to see just how much they have learned.

We also inadvertently left out these pages from our Benchmark Unit 9. We have already uploaded the revised file on TPT. But if you purchased this pack at a recent teacher conference, please download the missing pages here. And if you didn't purchase these files but just want to get an idea of our work, please feel free to download also!

pages_1-2.pdf
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pages_3-4.pdf
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pages_5-7.pdf
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qq_1-2.pdf
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qq_3-5.pdf
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qq_6-7.pdf
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Leprechaun Traps

2/27/2018

It's time to start thinking about those Leprechaun traps!

This is the project note that goes home on March 1. The trap will be due on Friday, March 16 this year. Those tricky Leprechauns will visit our classrooms over the weekend and we will discover the party aftermath Monday morning.
Oh my! They get us every year.

Valentine's Day Graphing

2/6/2018

We want to use this blog post to point out the importance of graphing lessons in kindergarten. Please don't downplay these lessons simply because your students are five! Graphing activities allow you to get more bang for your buck when it comes to your teaching.

In this first step, students need to sort their candy hearts by color. They need to prepare their sorting mat and handle the hearts. This step is not to be overlooked. Hands-on activities are huge for the 5 year-old child. Remember, experiences like these are a precursor to the abstract lessons of first grade.
(we like to get the smaller candy heart boxes from Target)

Next, the students use the actual candy hearts to complete the graph. Too many times teachers skip to the pencil portion of graphing. Remember, hands-on opportunities are key! Don't cheat your math lesson by skipping this step. In this example Cessy had her students graph by using an X for each candy heart. Yes, graphing this way takes a bit longer, but certainly worth the extra time.

Now that you've spent so much time prepping, sorting, and graphing, why not take it one step further?! Give your students an opportunity to analyze the data. Yes, kinder students can analyze. No, it doesn't happen the first time,...or the second time. Analyzing data is something that students develop with constant practice. Glyphs can do the same thing.

Many of our hands-on sorting & graphing activities can be found in our own Mega Sorting Pack. We used manips that are fun, seasonal, and simple to find. These lessons can be followed with similar homework/center activities, which are included because we are big on immediate reinforcement of our lessons. Have fun!

Reporting Period 2 Assessment

1/24/2018

It's that time of year again,....report card time! And that means we need to get our assessments in order. This is the version we came up with to measure the learning our kindergarten students have made using our new reading program, Wonders. We also begin to dig into number composing & decomposing along with counting so came up with this comprehensive summary sheet (2 pages) for those math lessons.
Feel free to grab yourself a copy if you think it can simplify things for you.

presentation3.pdf
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Reporting #1 Assessment: Kinder

10/17/2017

presentation1.pdf
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We are happy to share the assessment we created ourselves and use for our reporting period. We like this assessments because is takes a sample of various skills which it easy for us to share with our families during parent conferences. Feel free to grab yourself a copy!

New Calendars!!! (2017-2018)

7/18/2017

Yay! Our new school calendars are here!!!

Cessy has created the new school year calendars and she's offering them as a free download. Simply click on the links below. We have two versions available: 1) General Calendar 2) LAUSD Version Calendar

kl_general_long_term_planning_calendar_2017-2018.pdf
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kl_lausd_long_term_planning_calendar_2017-2018.pdf
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***Oopsie, minor correction has been made to original file posted. Thanks!

Be sure to follow Kinder League on IG & FB for future FREEBIE surprises!
"Here we come to save the day...."

What Is TK?

7/17/2017

Transitional Kindergarten, or TK, is a new grade level in the state of California. And actually, a number of other states are choosing to adopt the new grade level as well. So what is all the rage? Why are so many teachers loving the adoption of this new grade level? And why are so many students thriving and entering first grade better prepared? Well, I like to say that TK is the "gift of a year." Transitional Kindergarten allows students two years for the mastery of the kindergarten standards. Interestingly enough, the additional year also helps with emotional/social development which results in stronger leadership skills. So yes, TK is a win-win!

The academic program for TK requires exposure to the kindergarten curriculum without the mandate of mastery. No, TK is NOT preschool. It has academics and rigor. Simply, it just doesn't cover such a massive span of material, which allows for slower paced teaching. And my favorite thing is that it allows for more developmental activities such as play dough, painting, dramatic play, gardening, etc. In my opinion, all of this allows for a more organic development of academic concepts.

Unfortunately, many parents and TK teachers feel that guidance and education about the TK grade level is lacking. Even teachers find it difficult to explain the two year process to parents. I put together a parent-friendly informational brochure for my TK families. All the information is from the CA Department of Education.
Feel free to grab yourself a copy by clicking below.

Happy Teachings in TK!!!!!!

tk_what_is.pdf
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Report Card Assessments K&TK (end-of-year)

5/7/2017

Kindergarten: Language Arts

Kindergarten: Math

This is the assessment we will use to gauge our students' learning at the end of the year. We like it because it's teacher-friendly and easy to share with parents. Feel free to grab yourself a copy by clicking the link below.

endofyearassess_2017.pdf
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TK assessment version is here!

tk_endofyearassess_2017.pdf
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Fluency Passages for Kinder Students

5/4/2017

How do you measure your kindergarten student's fluency? Do you use fluency passages? Kindergarten teachers know that these are hard to come by. Fluency passages are usually not made with the kindergarten student in mind. They are either too hard or way too easy. We have even come across some that only assess letter identification! Well, we know that is not enough. We got tired of searching and decided to make our own.

Our fluency passages measure a combination of cvc blending and sight words. The passage is also the perfect length for this age group. We use the results of the fluency passage as one component of the student reading grade at the end of the school year.

We are making our "All Vowel" passage available to our Kinder League followers as a free download! Our experience has been that kindergarten students should be able to read this passage by the end of the school year with minimal errors. Most of our students are able to read it in less than one minute. Simply click the link below. We'd love to hear your feedback and how you use them with your students.

short_u_fluency.pdf
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