What I've Been Up To.... A Peek into my Classroom

The beginning of the 2012-2013 school year is creeping up on me....I have less than 2 weeks until a brand new set of firsties greet me at my door!  Ahhh!  I am so excited to meet them, but need to finish getting ready.  I still have a family vacation to fit in as well so I have been busy setting up, as well as cleaning my room.  I decided that I am a packrat when it comes to school stuff...you never know when I might need that!

One thing I got done was an overhaul on my classroom library with some new jungle themed book basket labels.  Maybe someday I'll paint all those baskets so they match like so many creative teachers out there!  I put stickers on my books with a matching sticker on the basket label so the kiddos have a better chance at putting their books away correctly.  I decided to go a step further with using clips this year with their number on them to also help.  When they get a book they will put a clip on that basket.  They only get two clips at the beginning of the year so this will also slow down the "hogging" of favorite books!

Another thing I accomplished was to figure out a way to display those core standards without using a whole bunch of velcro.  I found Deanna Jump's file of the first grade standards and decided hers would be alot easier than me making them, but I didn't want to display them the way she suggested-only because I am a cheap skate and am always trying to figure out how to do things/get things for free or fairly cheap.  Anyways, she suggests velcro-well as you all know velcro is expensive.  So this is what I came up with:

As you can see I have an odd space to the left of my projector screen-which worked perfect for this.  I made some subject headers Jungle Themed of course, printed on cardstock and laminated.  I also laminated all of the 1st grade common core standards.  Then I punched a hole on either end of the cards.  (Even the subjects in case they need to changed out.)  I then used small ended thumbtacks to "hang" my standards on.  Here's a closer (a bit blurry) view:

Another project (besides cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning) that I do every year is mere decoration.  I make hanging names to greet all of students on the first day of school.  They usually stay up for 3 weeks before they begin to drive me crazy.  I punch out letters for each child's name from the ellison machine, staple them together, punch a whole on the top and then hang from my ceiling.  The students usually can't wait for them to come down either because they want to hang them up in their own rooms at home!

{Picture of names hanging in my room COMING SOON!}

I also worked on pulling my Jungle Books back together and organizing student math tool kits.  Pictures and info to come soon.....I have a list of things to do as I head in tomorrow to finish up a bunch of little things.

First three people to leave a comment can get a copy of my Jungle Themed Book Box labels for FREE!  (Also available at my TpT store if you aren't one of the first three!) Be sure to leave your email address!

My Jungle Version of a Crate Seat~Bucket Style!

Let me just say that I {LOVE} all the crate seats out there and pinned them to my Summer-To-Do List. I really liked that they were functional seating.  I kept putting them off because the height of them bothered me.  I knew I wanted to use them at my reading table and I thought they were just too short.  After looking and looking for an alternative that was a bit taller....I finally came up with my version....and it turned out to be quite cheap.  (Thanks to my son for sitting on numerous storage containers and such to give a visual of the height I wanted!)  AND it only takes about 30 minutes to make each seat!

Here it is:

First off you're going to need some buckets.  And guess what?  We got ours donated from our friends at Lowe's.  {Thanks to them for absorbing the majority of the cost.}  If you can't get them donated it is about $4 for the bucket and lid.

Now to gather the rest of the supplies.  You will need a hot glue gun, some ribbon, scissors, fabric to cover the project and some stuffing. I bought pillowcases from Wal-Mart which were $5 for two.  They are the perfect size for this project and end up being cheaper than some of the fabric by the yard.  I also used an old pillow that was falling apart to add some cushion to the seat cover.  I got some discounted ribbon and already had the glue/glue gun.  So really the only cost for this project was the pillowcases and the ribbon.  Talk about cheap!

 

Step 1:

Slip the pillowcase over the bucket (opening at the bottom of the bucket).  Hot glue the end of the pillowcase around the bottom rim of the bucket.  It will be bunched in random spots.

Step 2:

Flip the bucket over and pull the pillowcase up tightly and cut off the top right at the top rim of the bucket.  After cutting the top off, hot glue the pillowcase to the top rim of the bucket.  Be sure to pull it up as you glue so it is tight.

Step 3:

Measure how much stuffing you will need for the bucket lid cushion.

Step 4: Take the remaining portion of the pillowcase and cut it in half along the seams.  Use one half and stuff it with the stuffing.  Loosely tie it to keep contained.  Flip it over so the knot is underneath.

Step 5:

 Flip the lid over and push down as you begin gluing the remaining portion of the fabric to the lid.  I apply a 2 inch section of glue to the inside rim of the lid then pull the fabric tightly and press into the rim.  Do this all the way around the rim.  Then trim off the excess fabric.

Step 6:

Time to finish it up!  I put ribbon around the bottom of the bucket to decorate, but also to make sure the fabric stays tight.  I also put a longer piece of ribbon around the top under the rim and tied a bow.  Again, this is for decoration and to keep the fabric in place.  (I applied some hot glue under the ribbon in a few spots to keep it in place.)  But I also attached an o-ring and a laminated card. 

My plan is to put leveled homework books into the buckets.  Each bucket will contain one level.  On the cards I will write student names so they know what bucket to get their books from.  On Monday morning they will choose their books for the week from their bucket.  On Fridays they will return their books to that bucket!  As the students progress in their levels I can switch their names Friday afternoon so it's ready for Monday morning. 

I am so excited to use these new bucket seats this year!

Tired of Buying Desk Name Plates??

Me too!  So I made my own.  The ones I get from the teacher store only get about half used....meaning we use the name line, hundred chart and number line.  That's it.  So I decided to make name plates that only have that and match with our Saxon Phonics alphabet keyword/pictures.  That and they are jungle themed!  (There is a non-themed one that can be mounted onto any color or design).  I have them for sale in my TpT store for only $1.50.  The best part is I have 2 sets on there.  One with handwriting lines for you to write their names and one set that is fillable on the computer.  They are set to be printed on 8.5 x 14" legal paper.  Check them out! And never buy name plates again!!!!

First 3 to comment will get a copy of my nameplates for free!

I'm Baaaack! And I Have Some {FREEBIES}!

So I have been gone quite awhile.... I guess that's what happens when the end of the year sneaks up on you and then summer does too! I made it through the year and am now enjoying summer with my kiddos. I made lots of plans to get done this summer, but only little projects seem to be getting done. Oh well! So here are some things I have been up to. The first few are non-school related...

A bulletin board for my son, made from a ceiling tile and acrylic paint

A pinterest inspired weekly dinner planning board

Softball bracelet for my daughter-who made All Stars!

End of the year gift for an IU obsessed teacher

Now for a few school projects... I found these cool animal print craft sticks at Michaels.  There were 100 of them for I think $6 so I used my 40% coupon and they were mine!  I printed some circle animal numbers out, laminated, and glued to the sticks.  I am going to use these to call on students randomly for sharing time, lining up, picking out quiet reading spots, etc. 

Calling students by random

I then divided up the sticks in pairs to put into a random partner container.  I had to duplicate a couple so they have a star on the back.  The idea is for students to pull out a stick and then find their match-their random partner.  Same thing goes for random groups.  I put 6 sets of four sticks in the containers.  Students will pull out sticks and find their group.  (If you are wondering- the above container was a frosting jar and the containers below are crystal light containers.  I not only LOVE my crystal light raspberry lemonade, but I also love the containers to be reused for many things!)

Grouping students by random, as well as with partners

I made a small group set of whisper phones during the school year and they were a big hit so I made some more-I now have a class set.  I figured I can let each student have their own so we don't run into germ issues.  I used two 1 1/2" 90 degree elbow plastic pipes and simply used my zebra duck tape to put together.  I loved using these during small group reading.  This helped filter out the extra noise, as well as encourage softer reading out loud.  I plan on still using them during small group, but also during independent reading.  I thought they would be great to encourage fluency, not only for reading but for math facts as well.

Phonics Phones

So you made it to the end and you're asking...where are the freebies??  I am giving you the animal print numbers and labels that I used for my random containers, as well as several other freebies.  I finally went through my various zip drives and found some things that I never got around to sharing so here they are.....for FREE!!!  The clipart used for all of them are from Scrappindoodles (which I love, love, love!!) 

Animal print numbers 1-30, plus blank

Labels for containers

Next {FREEBIE} is a set of classroom awards.  I loved Cara Carroll's awards (found HERE) that she made- so it inspired me to make my own, tailored to my classroom-I also included a spot for the date and name.  Hers are free on TpT, so I am doing the same (but on Google Docs since I don't have license to give away free stuff on TpT).

Various classroom awards

I tried to give each student one of these per month.  To keep track I used a small pocket chart by my desk (Target $1 bin).  I put their names on the pockets then put a ticket by each name.  When they got an award I would also give them the ticket-for 2 reasons.  1 was to keep track of who still needed an awarda and the other was for our weekly drawing.  We use PBiS at our school so the tickets were mainly used for whole school awards.  I also started drawing names at the end of the week to earn bonus stamps for their behavior card.  If you've been following me you know that I don't do tangible class prizes.  I use a catalog of privileges that can be earned each time a card is full of stamps.

To be prepared, I printed many copies of each award on colored paper.  I then used 3 large coupon holders (Dollar Store) to divide them up by award and keep seperated.  Now they are easy to find and hand out!

Next {FREEBIE} is a gameboard.   I love making games out of the simplest learning activities.  So I made a jungle themed gameboard that can be used for any set of cards/game.  An example would be to take a cup of coins and pull out 5 coins.  Count them correctly and you get to roll and move along the game board.  If you are incorrect, stay where you were.

Jungle gameboard to be used for any game

Enjoy the {FREEBIES}!  Just in time to celebrate 200 followers!  Woohoo!!

Did you hear that? Me neither! {A Behavior A-ha Moment}

I have been MIA because I was busy enjoying my week-long break for Thanksgiving!  It was great having a week off, but it took forever to get here because we didn't have any kind of Fall Break....so I am already counting down to Christmas Break!  Anyways, I did manage to accomplish something during break.

I remember seeing the behavior clip charts on eveyone's blogs during the summer, but I didn't really look into them because I have been content with the way I was doing things.  Well, I decided to look into them after 10 weeks of dealing with 3 very different behavior problems in my room.  (As well as trying to address those super kiddos that can do no wrong....where was their incentive??)  So, after 3 full days of using a behavior clip chart, I am in heaven!  Today was my a-ha moment.  I have been gradually explaining all the parts of this new system and today it finally made sense to the kids and they were actually striving to do the best they could do....all because of one moment.  It was writing time, I did my mini-lesson, the kids knew what they were to do when they got to their seats, so as they headed back I let them know that anyone on purple or white were allowed to sit anywhere during writing time and write.  What?!?  I wish I would have caught their faces on camera because they were priceless!  So, my 5 or 6 students on purple moved around the room and EvErYoNe got started and not a peep was heard during writing time.  I never even heard a sneeze!  First time EVER that has happened!  Writing is in the morning and let's just say the rest of the day was PERFECT.  They love earning freedoms and privileges.....another no-cost incentive for good behavior!  Love it! 

If you are interested in my Jungle Theme Behavior Clip Chart it is for sale at my TpT store.  Click on the preview pick to go to my store.

(If you purchase my behavior clip chart I couldn't get the parent letter to save right in the pdf file, so here is a link to it, as well as a weekly communication sheet in portrait format. Just click on the picture!)

Usually I dread the chaotic weeks before Christmass Break, but I am actually looking forward to tomorrow....not our Thursday am meeting though....but to see the magic of the clip chart! 

Giveaway Extravaganza!

I believe I need more motivation to get on the blogging roll!  I feel like I am still new to the blogging world and have no real idea what I am doing.  So here is my thinking....more followers = more motivation to blog.  I love finding great ideas so I want to pay it forward.....

Tic Tac Toe and Roll, Say, Keep
(see previous post)

 Sooooo.....if you would like a {free} copy of my 2 jungle themed game boards that are meant to be used with any spelling list, vocabulary list, sight word list, or math facts, then start following my blog.  Leave me a comment that you are a new follower, as well as your email address and I will send it your way.  If you are a follower already leave your email as well and you can get one too! 

And.............If you mention my giveaway on your blog leave me a comment as to where I can find your post, as well as your email address.....I am giving away my new Hands on Sort, Tally and Graph packet (normally $3.50) that I just uploaded to TpT and Teachers Notebook.  This giveaway ends November 18 when my Thanksgiving Break begins!

Wait......it doesn't stop there!  While putting together and finalizing my Sort, Tally and Graph packet I had my 1st grade son help me out.  For the sorting activities we used some of their Halloween candy.  He thought it would be fun to count all of the pieces of candy.....so we did!  Which gave me an idea- I am giving away 3 copies of my Small Group Guided Reading Lesson Plan Templates to whoever (at least the first 3 people) can guess and/or come the closest to how many pieces we counted.  (Hint-there are a lot of tootsie rolls hidden in there!)

So leave me a comment with your guess (and email address so if you win I can let you know)!  Good luck!  You have 1 week!

Hands-on Ways to Practice Essential Skills

I have been working on several projects in my classroom..... so that is one explanation for me being MIA.  First project was getting math stations rolling....it only took me 9 weeks to figure out how to get them going in my room with limited time and resources....I only have 20 min/3 times per week.  Sheeeeesh! 
So I decided to do 6 stations with 3-4 kids/group: 
[1] Overhead Station~review of past units by using familiar materials and transparencies.  Students take turns at playing teacher while using the overhead to "teach" the rest of their group. 
[2] Games~review math skills with the games that were already taught whole group (from the math series + others I have added). 

[3] Time Me~Work on math fluency based on mClass testing.  Students time eachother on reading numbers 1-100, missing number (sets of 3 numbers with 1 number missing), and determining numbers that are greater (box with 2 numbers-chooses the largest number).  Then they try to beat their own time the next round.

[4] Hands-on Fun~use manipulatives that we have used/learned about in a free-time manne making patterns, designing pictures, building, etc.

[5] Math Facts~practice math facts in various ways: flashcards, wrap-ups, puzzles, power towers, tic tac toe, Roll Say Keep, and other games. 

[6] Pocket Chart~matching numbers to number words, matching vocab words to their definition or picture, memory game of double facts and their sums, doubles rap

Of course this will free me up to do some sort of math interventions with the lower kids, but also try to hit the higher kids with some enrichment.  Now that we are rolling I can't wait to see how they work....the kiddos seem excited so I am too!

Another project was coming up with some ways to practice some essential skills in a fun, but easy way.  So I made a jungle themed tic tac toe board to use for vocabulary practice, math fact practice, spelling practice and sight word practice.  I also made a jungle themed Roll, Say, Keep board to practice as well.  I just made 2 sets of the words and facts that I wanted my kiddos to practice, 1 for each game.  These are great for stations and small groups.  (I laminated some of the mats and they are slightly curled up in the picture....I will probably re-laminate after putting them on cardstock so they lay flat.)

Tic Tac Toe math facts

Tic Tac Toe vocab words/definitions

Roll, Say, Keep mat

Tic Tac Toe sight words
I put this one in a clear, plastic 8x10
stand up frame 

Vocabulary sheet

We are responsible for teaching our kiddos 20 "Big Dog" academic vocabulary words per year.  This is not an easy task to keep interesting and fun to learn, as well as to teach.  We use a vocabulary sheet/chart for weekly work.  So I decided to use the cards I made for the above mentioned games and put them on index cards.  I then put them on an o-ring to keep them together.  They can easily be flipped through to review, but also easy to take off the ring to practice matching or play memory.  The thought is for the kiddos to make their own set and add to as we learn more words.

 

So, as you can see.... I have been busy working.