We're well underway!

Hello! School started Aug. 25...we've hit the ground running! Here are a few pics of my classroom before the first day...

We've been busy learning classroom routines and procedures. I really love our Superkids reading program and will post a little more on that later....

Here's a quick idea for birthday hats I am doing this year.  You just need die cuts (Dollar Tree)....

...construction paper strips....

....and a printer....

I printed "Happy Birthday ___" on the balloons, stapled strips of paper to each side, and presto! Birthday hat complete!

Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

Intro to Superkids

We are  using the Superkids Reading Series by Rowland Reading for the first time this year.  I organized my focus wall today.

 I have all of the consonants to the right of my smart board.

On the left, I have the vowels, the Superkids poster, and the "Superkid of the Week." Our first unit will focus on Cass and the /c/ sound. 

I am still going to have my word wall, but moved it to a different spot in my room. The letters that came with the series are quite large and I don't have enough space to words with them.

I haven't found a lot of visuals online for the Superkids materials, so I thought I'd share what I'm doing. I've started a Pinterest board also...

Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

Ready to go!

Hello! Here are a few photos of my *finished* room...really, it's always a work in progress, isn't it??

 Housekeeping/dramatic play area for September....

View from the back of the room

iPad/listening center. I have 3 classroom iPads.

Writing center

A few of our reading buddies; magnet center to the left.

Religion center

Circle/large group area, math wall

Thanks for checking in! Have a great day!

A little organization....

One of my goals this summer (which didn't actually happen over the summer) was to organize all of my center materials. I like the idea of having them organized by month, but do not have the storage space to do each month separately. I decided to group the centers into Sept/Oct/Nov, Dec/Jan/Feb, and Mar/Apr/May into a 3 drawer cart.

                                  (I downloaded these cute labels from Miss Kindergarten.)

I sorted through the items and pitched ones that I don't use, had missing pieces, or were outdated. I like these big drawers because I can fit everything in them...like counters or manipulatives.

And then, when I was done, I still had a pile of stuff left...these items I just sorted into reading and math for now, but eventually want to break them down into skill tubs.

The best part was seeing everything I had...now I know what I have to begin the year and what skills I still may need to supplement. Sorting is always a good thing. ; )

Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

Day One!

Not day one of school, but of classroom set up! I went into my classroom and worked for a few hours today. It always feels good to get things a little organized. I feel like I made a lot of progress! Here are a few before and afters:

I was happy to see that my SMART board is now mounted! It used to be a portable board, which was nice, but the cords were always a problem. This will be much nicer.

Here's that same area in the front of my room after I put up my word wall (on the right) and reading focus on the left. The children's cubbies are also in the front of the room.

Here is my math focus/calendar wall. The shelf under it houses math materials....I'm still working on that area!!

This is the 'before' of my writing center. I worked on the writing focus board today. I started to put out a few supplies, but again it's a work in progress.

On the left I hung up ideas for writing, color words, alphabet chart, etc. The section on the right holds pocket charts for our daily schedule and the "Today I will learn..." pocket chart.

Here's a sneak peak at my classroom library....I get so discouraged....frustrated....don't know the exact word for it...at my lack of space!! I guess even though it's a small area, it serves the purpose. I just wish I had room to spread out the books and reading buddies.

That's it for today! Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

Writing Center

Here is my writing center...it has crayons, markers, colored pencils, stencils, letter stamps, beginning sound stamps...and all kinds of fun paper for the children to use. There is a shelf to the right of this table that holds quite a few of the supplies. I also added my scissor stand...an idea I originally found on Pinterest.

This is how I store stamps for the children to use for beginning sound stamping...I found this tool caddy at the thrift store. The drawers have dividers, so I have two letter sounds per drawer. These stamps are just the "picture" stamps. I have all of the letters in another tool caddy on the shelf to the right.

I made a cute label for the top of the container!

To begin the year, I put my ABC bottle and a popcorn bottle with the children's names in it. They color the letter or the name when they find it in the bottle. It's an easy activity for them and it's a good way to introduce them to the center. They can, of course, also do "free" writing there if they want to.

Thanks for looking and have a super day!

Classroom Tour 2011

Hello! Well, school starts Monday...and I think my room is ready. There is always something to work on...we could be there 24/7 doing school work! But, I am pleased with my room and excited to meet my new class. Here are a few more photos:

This is the view as you enter my classroom. To the very left is my writing center (you can just see the chairs and part of the table in this picture.) I have a very small classroom and need to be efficient about using my space. 

                                                This the view from the opposite corner.

This is my computer center. I have 3 MacBooks for student use. I use iTunes for my listening center at this table as well.

This is a picture of my "games" center. I have board games as well as handmade learning games.

Right next to that is my ABC center. Right now it has letter matching activities, alphabet puzzles, letter magnets, and an old computer keyboard to practice letter recognition. I made those "munchers" a few years ago, but they are still in great shape and the kids love using them.

I have my helpers chart hanging on the back of my file cabinet, next to my desk. I change helpers every Monday.

This is the shelf that holds puzzles and to the right of that are the "building" toys like legos, lincoln logs, and Knex.

I have a few more photos to share, but it seems to be taking a long time right now, so I'll be back soon with another post on a couple of writing center activities. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

"Listening" Bulletin Board

Hello! I've been working in my classroom a little bit. Most of my bulletin boards are done. Here's a picture of my "Listening" bulletin board. I originally saw this idea on Pinterest. Here is my version. I think it's a great way to encourage children to use empathy and treat each other with kindness.

I also made some polka dot pillows for my reading area.

This is my Reading Focus Wall. The pocket charts are set up for rhyming words and letter focus. The smaller alphabet will the word wall for class names. I printed the vowel cards from Mrs. Lemon's site.

The last picture is the board where I will display the children's "Masterpieces." I know....it looks a little busy, but I think it will be ok if mat their work with black construction paper. : )

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Classroom Party!

Hi! I thought it'd be fun to link to this party at Kindergarten...Kindergarten! I've had so much fun looking at all of the creative classrooms out there. Teachers are great at sharing! Here a few photos of my room:


This is our "build a word center." I have magnetic letters in the container on the shelf, sorted by letter.


This shelf holds our math manipulatives, math books, and file folder games/activities related to math.



A picture of our birthday graph....


Here are some of my classroom pointers for the children to use for Read the Room. Right now I have the children's names in the pocket chart.

This is our reading area...I also have some pillows and reading buddies for the children to use.
This is a suitcase in our dramatic play area...it holds dress up clothes. I have a very small classroom. Our elementary students moved into the high school building, so I just have an average size classroom...no sink or bathroom, although they are close by. My dramatic play area is kind of small, so the suitcase helps me keep everything in a small area.

Thanks for looking! Hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of my classroom. Feel free to browse around my blog for other classroom ideas! Have a great day!