Classroom organization

I am participating in ABC and 123's organization party! Here is a picture of how I organize my markers and colored pencils for the art center:

As you can see, I have them sorted by color. This makes it easy for the children to find the color they are looking for. It's also great for rainbow writing (writing a word, letters, names, etc. with the colors of the rainbow). I just used milk cartons, cut off the top, and put 6 of them in a basket to sort the colored pencils. The markers are stored in a container that is usually used for silverware in the dishwasher. It has 6 compartments.

This photo shows how I have my letter stamps organized. I got this idea at a kindergarten conference I attended a few years ago:


The letter stamps are sorted and stored in tool caddy. I labeled each of the drawers with the letter that's inside. I had about 3 sets of letter stamps, so there are a few stamps in each drawer. For example, there are 3 upper and lowercase A's, in different "fonts" or letter styles in the "Aa" drawer. This makes it so easy for children to stamp names, words they know, etc. It is very easy to maintain because the children can help sort them if they get mixed up. Here is another photo:



Thanks for looking and enjoy the organization party!

A few classroom photos

Hello! I've been working in my classroom and took a few pictures.
Here is the world map and landmark cards I posted about here.





This is my reading area. The small baskets on the top of the shelf are sorted by character. The others are sorted by subject/theme: animal books, abc books, etc. I also have other book baskets around the room with math/counting books, social studies/science books, religion, etc. The yellow tub to the right of the shelf holds the big books.




Thanks for looking and have a good day!

I Spy Bags

Hello! I made a couple of I-spy bags for my classroom. There are several good tutorials on making these, like this one...and another one here. I actually made mine, then thought of searching for a tutorial! I really like the way they turned out.


Here is a photo of it empty; I used felt to eliminate having to deal with the rough edges of fabric.
The tutorials online use cute fabric, but later (after I made mine!) I saw really cute printed felt at Hobby Lobby that would be great for these.

Then I added rice and some plastic objects. I am going to use this bag for beginning sound recognition. I printed a sheet with the letters that begin each object. The children have to cross off the letter as they find an object that begins with that sound. I had these red toys in my closet at school for some time...I think they were from an older activity, but I'm not sure where they came from originally.


I also filled one with magnetic letters. This will be used for letter recognition or can be adapted to beginning sound identification, (give the child pictures, have him/her find the beginning letter), finding the letters in one's name, try to find the letters in ABC order....etc. This would also be a great activity to put in a literacy bag with an I Spy book...so many possibilities!



Hope you enjoyed seeing these. I am off to work in my classroom. Three weeks from today is our first day of school!

Classroom items...

Hello! I thought I'd share a couple of "new" items I purchased for my classroom. It's always fun to start the new year with some new stuff, isn't it?? : ) The first picture is a pair of window valences I got for just 75 cents! Can you believe it??? I am going to use these on a shelf. I will post a picture when I put them up in my room.

This second picture is a large fabric map of the world. It was 1.00. I will use it on a bulletin board. I got the "Landmarks" flash cards at the Target Dollar Spot. I am going to post them around the map to enhance my Social Studies curriculum. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Show and Tell!

Hello! I am participating in ABC and 123's July Show and Tell event. What fun! I've been working on a few things and this is a great chance to share ideas and see everyone's creativity. I have another "pocket" idea to share with you today. In my previous post, I shared an idea using The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Today, I made an activity to go along with Dr. Jean's song, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a One...This song is on her Sing and Read Along cd and there is a black line master in the book for the children to color and cut out. They can glue the pieces to a zip lock baggie and put the numbers in the bag as they sing the song. I thought I'd take this a step further and make a fabric pocket for the children to use during center time. I used the black line from the book to make the face, hands, and feet. I colored, cut them out, and laminated them, then glued them to the fabric pocket. I cut the numbers out of colored paper using my cricut. I think it turned out really cute! The arms and legs are made out of felt.


Here is a close up picture of the pocket:




Thanks for looking and have a super day!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Story Props

Hello! It's been quite a while since I've post on this blog! I've got a cute idea to share with you for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Where to begin....I've never actually done a tutorial post,
but I took some pictures while I was making this, so hopefully it will help!

Here's a picture of the finished product. It is a caterpillar, with a pocket on the front so the children can put in the items the caterpillar ate. First, I printed out the sequencing pictures here. You could make each item out of felt, but that takes a lot of time...and this way, if something gets lost, it's easy to print out another one. I laminated the pictures for durability.



I cut 2 pieces; the larger one is for the back. I topstitched along the front to give the impression of the segments of the caterpillar's body. (You wouldn't have to do this, I just thought it looked nice.) Then I put the top and back together and stitched all around the edges. You could use fabric glue for this if you don't sew. I used a shiny, silver metallic thread. It gave my sewing machine a few problems, but I liked the way it looked, so I kept on going! I also topstitched around the face.


I cut some wings out of pink felt and just glued a variety of colored circles on them. I think I'll add a strip of velcro to the wings so the children can attach them to caterpillar's body. I decided to stitch around the edges of the wings, too. I glue the head to the body, added the antennae and face. I like the wiggly eyes; gives it some character!!



Here is a better picture of the finished project, along with the sequencing cards. I think this turned out pretty cute! I want to sew (I just love to sew!) a cute fabric bag to keep everything in, along with a copy of the book. Thanks for looking!

A Couple of Fall Ideas...

Hello! I have a couple of fall ideas to share with you today. I have an "October Fun" bucket of activities for the children to use when they are done with their work. Items include: October tic tac toe, ABC file folder games, and color word matching activities.




The next idea I found here. It is a pocket chart color word matching activity. I took the picture after a couple of the children matched the words, so they are not in perfect order, but you get the idea. : )