Ready for the weekend?

Hello everyone! I don't know about you, but I am ready for the weekend! It's been a busy week in my classroom, and I have to say I'm happy with my progress so far. I still have not touched my desk area and I have one table with that pile of stuff you have left over....at least I hope you have stuff left over, too, and it's not just me....Anyway, here are a few photos of my progress:

My math wall...I labeled the things that are not obvious. : )

My word wall, modeled after this one on Chalk Talk :

I downloaded the letters here.

I worked on sorting books in my classroom library. I have a few new baskets and put the reading buddies with the basket. 

Here's my version of the going home chart that's all over Pinterest! I am going to attach the children's names with the paper clips.

I also hung the Give Me Five Freebie found here...gotta love teachers who share their work!!

Before I left today, I put up the word "Welcome" using my crayon clothes pins. I found the letters here and printed them on scrapbook paper.

I plan on using these clothes pins to hang student work above their lockers. It will be so quick and easy compared to stapling or using pins!!! Ahh...simple pleasures, huh??

That covers my work this week...Monday my to-do list includes the dramatic play area, my desk, name tags, cubby and locker tags, conference prep, and oh yeah...lesson plans!! Have a great weekend and thanks for checking in!

Printing on those cute die cut papers!

Hi! I've been working in my classroom this week...not a whole lot of photos to share yet, but I thought I'd share how I use my ink jet printer to print on die cuts.

I am using these cute cupcakes I found at the Dollar Tree for my birthday board. They are pretty light weight paper, but this method also works on card stock die cuts.  First, I print whatever I want to put on the die cut onto a white sheet of paper.

Then I center the die cut on top of the paper...so the word is lined up where I'd like to be...and put a little piece of tape on the back of the die cut, so it's stuck to the paper. I run it through my printer again, with the die cut taped on, and the word prints right where it should. Once you have your template done, you can change the word (like I typed February), tape on the die cut and print again.

It's pretty quick and easy and you probably already know how to do it...but every once and a while a co worker will ask me, "How did you print on those???"  Here's a sneak peak at my birthday board:

Eventually, it's going to look similar to this:

(source)

I still have to make the candles and add a title....

Also...on a sidenote...you may have seen this on pinterest: using dollar store table cloths to as bulletin board backgrounds.

I thought I'd try using a table cloth or two to see how they work. I used a red one on my birthday board and I have to say, I like it. I thought it might be too thin or tear easily, but since I won't be changing this bulletin board all year, it should last. If you're going to pull staples or pins in and out a lot, I'd say go with fabric or paper. I also tried using a yellow table cloth for another board, but the color was too light and the cork showed through, so I took it down. I'm going to try a blue one instead.  I would suggest using bright or dark colors vs. pale. Just my opinion...

thanks for checking in and have a great day!

Space Bag!

It's been a little while since I've shared a homework/literacy bag idea with you...since I am getting my bags ready to go for the new school year, I thought you might like to see my "Space Bag."

This bag has several books about space and a few fun space themed activities.  (I'm pretty sure I originally downloaded the "Race in Space" and tic tac toe game from Musings of Me, but I don't know if her printable units are still available.) I made the memory game using planet stickers. I printed pictures of the planets and made stars to match the planet names. And, of course, I have a cute bag to keep it all together!

This is one of the few bags that does not have a writing or pencil-paper activity in it...but that makes it easy when it's returned to do a quick check and make sure all of the items are there. No paper work to replace, so it's ready to go for the next person. Have a great day and thanks for checking in!

Random Update....

Hello! I don't know about you, but I've been savoring these last few weeks of summer freedom! I've read quite a few blog posts from other teachers who are already back working in their classroom. Their photos are inspiring and I'm sure in two weeks when I go back to my room, I'll be ready. For now....

We had the pleasure of spending last weekend in Northern MN listening to the loons and enjoying the lake.

I had time to finish crocheting the edging on this pillowcase.

I found these great play dough alphabet stamps for .25 at a local garage sale! And all 26 letters were there!! Can't wait to use them for my play dough center this year.

I'll be back with more school related posts soon....in the meantime,  enjoy the rest of your summer, too!

Small Pocket Chart Freebie

I love the ideas I've seen using the alphabet activity for sorting letters that are tall, small, and fall. This one is my favorite. I decided to print the poem and use it in one of my small (Target dollar spot) pocket charts on my reading focus board for the beginning of the year.

Later, I can move it to a center and have children sort letters by their characteristics.  I cut the poem into strips and matted them on black, blue, red, and green paper.

Click here to get your free copy of this chart. : )  Have a great day!

Counting Money Sticks

Ready for another pinterest inspiration??? I made these money sticks to help my students learn to count money.

In our text book, money is introduced in one lesson...then coins are combined in the second lesson. I  want to give my students more practice and time to feel confident in counting coins of one kind, before mixing coins. I made quite a few sticks that use one coin only so they can get used to counting by ones, fives, or tens.

Then....I made a few sticks combining coins for those who are ready.

I left space on the bottom so I can number the sticks. The students can fill in a response sheet, writing the money amount for each stick. They can also work in small groups to practice counting the money amounts.  (I still have to find a cute container to hold them...I am thinking I will use a "Crystal Light" container....)  I love this money sorting mat and plan on using one like this when we start working with money this year. Thanks for checking in and have a super day!

Paint Chip Word Families

I'm sure you've seen them all over Pinterest...paint chip ideas galore! Last week I went to Lowe's to look at paint samples (for a home improvement project) and was thrilled to find paint chips with squares already punched in them!  I thought it would be cute to make something like this, but punching the squares would be kind of time consuming...good news for us, Valspar paint has made it easy! I grabbed a few extra paint samples and headed home to make these:

I fired up my Cricut and cut several letters to create the word families. (The black letters are cut at 1" using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge.) After they are laminated, I am going to cut them apart on the white line. I made strips of letters for the children to slide behind the square to make words. I haven't created a recording sheet yet, but there are several ways to differentiate this activity. For now, I put the word family on the bottom of the strip, but they could choose any letter strip and see how many real vs. nonsense words they make, practice reading CVC words,  or keep a record the words they read. We all know what an important part onset rime word families play in developing reading and writing skills.

 Thanks for checking in and have a great day!