TPT Sale and a TON of Freebies!

It's Back to School time and I've been a shopping mama... taking my kiddos to buy school supplies, new shoes, clothes and all those things they "think" they need.  I found some AWESOME sales today and my kids are all revved up for school! Now that I got my kids all ready for school ~ I'm so HAPPY I get to "back to school" shop tomorrow at TPT!  {I have lots of items on my wishlist and tomorrow is my chance to get some goodies!} They are having a super duper sale.  Not only do you get 20% off but use the TPT promo code BTS12 and you get another 10% off! Most stores are participating... including me - but you can always check out all the fabulous teachers who are participating over at Blog Hoppin'.

Thanks to Amy Lemons for creating this CUTE image! 

Even though we don't start school for another week ~ I've been working in my classroom so that I can have several days to rest before my students show up and prepare lesson plans and all those last little things that just HAVE to get done {like pinterest inspired projects I really really want to do - SHHH}! 

[WARNING:  The following post is LONG ~ I got a little carried away but there are many freebies throughout.]

One of the first things I'd like to share with you is how I turned an UGLY green chalkboard into a whiteboard for only $13!  I was going to try and use the white board paint but it was $30 and you still had to prime the chalkboard first!  UGH!  Too expensive and too messy!  So I found some shower board (I've heard many bloggers talk about how they have cut it to make small white boards for their class).  It comes in sheets of 4 ft by 8 ft - so I took my measurement and had them cut it to fit!  YAY!  Instant whiteboard.  How to attach it???? I thought about using liquid nails - but worried if it ever had to be taken down it would absolutely ruin the chalkboard.  So - I put magnets on the back (since the chalkboard is magnetic and slid it underneath the metal track by lifting the screws and then tightening them.)  I have to give credit to my dad for doing this for me.  He's such a handy dandy guy!

 But wait... this is the before picture.  

Here is the after picture!

I love how the border filled in those tiny gaps where you could still see the green chalkboard - PLUS I put up my scoreboard in preparation of using some Whole Brain Teaching strategies!  If you want my Happy/Frowney Face - You can download them HERE. 

I've done ALOT {like a TON} of labeling this year.  I've had these baskets for years full of read aloud books that I use during my mini-lessons for Reader's and Writer's Workshop but just never took the time to label them.  Well friends ~ I FINALLY made some labels!

I also keep a basket of my favorite read alouds and science read alouds nearby.  Here is a close up of one of these labels:

I tied these labels on my baskets with some cute ribbon... I think they turned out a wee bit cutey patootey!  If you would like them ~ you can download them HERE! 

Even though I plan to implement whole brain teaching this year, I am still using my clip chart as I get more familiar with whole brain teaching practices.  I started out with a HUGE owl but decided real quick I just didn't dig him.  He was too big and made it difficult for the clothespins to attach to the chart.  I ended up with this idea and I am completely in LOVE with it!

I hot glued a "branch" I made out of construction paper to the top of the bulletin board, then used ribbon between each piece of the chart and finally hot glued the ribbon at the top to make it look like it is hanging from the branch.  Here is a close-up view:

I am so excited about implementing a new behavior reward system. {NO MORE TREASURE BOX... NO MORE CANDY!!}  Not that I am against those things - I just about go broke trying to keep the box and the jar stocked!  Plus, last year I had a kiddo with diabetes - so I did away with my candy jar last year and I realized that the kids didn't miss it at all!  Then on those special days when they did get a treat it was REALLY extra special! 

This year I am going to use "Warm Fuzzies" as my rewards.  This by no means is my idea... I've adapted this from Mel D. over at Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations! 

She has an awesome presentation that explains her behavior management plan in depth as well as freebies for all the behavior coupons that go along with this system. 

I have decided that depending on the color that a student ends on for the day they will earn "Warm Fuzzies". What is a "Warm Fuzzy" you ask?  They are just regular {or fancy} pom poms.

Here's what my bucket looks like on the inside.

So if a student ends up on green for the day - they have earned 1 warm fuzzy.  If they got to move their clip up to blue... 2 warm fuzzies.  If they were Outstanding... then they've earned 3 warm fuzzies.  However, if they end up on yellow {warning} for the day - they do not get a fuzzy.  If they end up on orange {consequence} for the day - then they OWE me a warm fuzzy.  If they end up on red for the day {parent contact} they will owe me 2 warm fuzzies!  Heaven forbid!

But if they get OFF THE CHART - when they are better than outstanding... which is a RARE occasion  - they get a GLITTER FUZZY!  {WHOA - Stop the world!}
These are worth 5 {YES I SAID FIVE} warm fuzzies!

Just take a look at these beauties!

They will put their warm fuzzies in a paint cup labeled with their student number... I didn't take a picture of the cups but I think you might be able to see them inside their book baskets in their cubbies in this picture.

But what is all the fuss about fuzzies?  Every 2 weeks my students will get to shop for reward coupons.  Each coupon is worth 5 warm fuzzies.  {Hopefully an incentive to earn a fuzzy a day by at least staying on green}.  These coupons I printed on cardstock {I got them from Mel D} laminated them and put them in a craft box to keep them organized.  These coupons are things like - sit by a friend, 15 minutes computer time,  kick your shoes off in the classroom, bring a stuffed animal to school, read a book to the class, etc.  There are so many more and they cost me NOTHING!  But the kids go crazy over these kind of rewards!  I'm so excited about this idea and will keep you posted how this new system works out.  OH and if you liked those cute Warm Fuzzy and Glitter Fuzzy Labels - you can download them HERE!

Do you do the Daily 5 and Cafe?  We changed CAFE to FACE so that our first graders would relate a little better to the concept "the face of a reader".  I redid my board this year {Yep - you guessed it - OWLS}!

What I am super excited about this year is that all of my strategy cards have been redone, match the color owl on my FACE posters AND {wait for it} have the CCSS on the card! Give me a 10 finger WOO everybody! LOL

Take a look at what I mean:

The purple owl is on all of the fluency cards, outlined in purple and if you look very carefully the CCSS {and there are sometimes more than one} listed on the strategy card by the owl.

Here is how I have mine organized:

I said there was gonna be a TON of freebies... so if you've made it this far in this post - Here you go!

You can find my FACE posters AND all of my strategy cards with the CCSS {FOR FIRST GRADE} HERE!

Do you do a "Star of the Week"?  This year since I have kinda drifted away from camping but still have that outdoorsy forest feel... I decided to go with "Ranger of the Week".  I ran out of room on my walls so put our display on the inside of our classroom door.

I found the cutest little polka dot rug and some owl pillows - I will probably regret it but they were impulse buys - you know - just too cute too pass up!  

I know there are not many Saxon users out there - but we use Saxon Math - and I just HAD to get rid of all that YELLOW for our calendar wall.  So I cut around each piece and made labels to put above each concept area on our wall.  I don't mind it as much anymore. :)

If anyone does Saxon and would like my labels - just email me and I will send them to you.
WHEW!  I told you it would be a long post... I hope I didn't bore you.

Don't forget about the "Back to School Sale" at TPT tomorrow and Monday.  I know I will be shopping!  Oh and don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter my giveaway for Deedee Wills Writing Work Stations The Complete Set and my Everything OWLS Classroom Bundle!  There will be 4 winners that will receive both items.  I will announce the winners on Monday, August 13th!  

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"OWL" See ya later!

Saxon Math FREEBIE!

It's still H.O.T. in Missouri ~ 107 degrees today!  I was going through all my math stuff today and thought I would share my printable math calendar pages I created to go along with our Saxon Math Meeting.  I know many of you do not teach Saxon but if you use any of these same components, these pages might work for you.  If you teach Saxon (1st Grade) then this should be perfect!

Last year, I found that my kiddos needed something more to keep them engaged during our math meeting.  We started using white boards - but some aspects were hard for them to do on a blank white board and then I saw lots of doodling... SO - I came up with these pages to help keep them engaged, on track, and as a nice reference for many of my kiddos - especially my intervention students.  I used these two pages copied front to back for the first 40 lessons:

After the first 40 lessons - I began using one page with all the calendar components.  To save paper, I placed these pages in plastic sleeves and students used (skinny) dry erase markers to interact with their calendar page.  It definitely helped keep my kiddos on track, focused and my intervention students loved having the resources at their fingertips to answer questions and follow along.  Click on any of the pictures to download for FREE!

I'm not sure how many Saxon Math users are out there ~ but I hope you find this to be a good resource.  I would love to hear your thoughts!  My TPT 20% off sale ends tonight, Friday, July 6th at midnight.  Have a wonderful weekend and stay COOL! 

First Full Week in First Grade - Randomness.

I just finished my first full week of first grade and I am T-I-R-E-D.  I don't have a whole lot to share (I have some things I'd like to share but FORGOT to take pictures ~ I'll have to save those until next week).  So, I thought I would share a few pictures from our first week.  We started our word study this week and began learning our first word family (-an).  Here is a picture of how our tree looks after we thought of all those -an words.  Take a look:

My students were so excited to see our first Word FAMILY up on our tree. 

On Friday, we added our words this week to our word wall.  We only had three words, so I can't wait until next week to add three more.

Remember my Good Work Spotted Here wall?  Well, my first graders couldn't wait to get something hangin' up there on an owl - so we wrote about something fun we did over the summer.  Here is how our wall looks now. 

I had some really good writing and illustrations for our first week of school. 

Did I mention we have a class pet?  We have a guinea pig named Lenny (Yes - Lenny the Guinea).  He has been staying with one of my first graders from last year over the summer.  His mom said he took really good care of Lenny and they are going to miss him terribly.  Lenny has been adjusting quite nicely to our classroom environment.

We read Sammy the Classroom Guinea Pig which is a great story about a classroom guinea pig that was making strange noises and the class couldn't figure out what was wrong.  It turns out, Sammy was just wanting some attention so the kids love hearing Lenny "Wheep, wheep, wheep" when we enter our room.   We also read I Love Guinea Pigs to learn about where guinea pigs come from, what they like to eat, how to take care of them and that they don't like LOUD noises.  (Maybe it will help on our noise level??)  On Friday afternoon, we sat on the carpet in a circle and let Lenny walk around and "get to know everyone".  She did a lot of sniffing and loved being out of her cage.  We have lots of class pets at our school (mostly guinea pigs, fish, and hermit crabs).  Do you have a class pet?  We will do some writing pieces about Lenny later in the year.  I would love to hear about your class pet experiences.

OH!  And we started Saxon Math and I'm really liking it so far.  It is starting out slow but the kids are really engaged in the morning meeting and lessons.  If anyone has anything to share regarding Saxon - I would love to hear it!

Have a great weekend!



New Math Curriculum ~ SAXON.

So yesterday I decide to go by school to pick up my new teacher guides and check out the new math series our district just purchased for K-3.  Here is what was waiting for me:

There were 7 boxes of stuff... plus crates to put things in.  I started with OPEN THIS BOX FIRST.  So I found out there are 135 lessons and crates to put all the lessons into ~ GREAT... because my file cabinets are pretty full.  The 3 boxes you see on the right are ALL worksheets.  I started putting the worksheets into the folders and filled each crate... here is what it looked like after about an hour and a half:

Each crate has a lid and you stack them on a base that has wheels.  There is a small crate that goes on top to hold learning wrapups and other small manipulatives.  After I put it all together, I rolled it down to my classroom. 

I am very nervous about the meeting board.  The dimensions are outrageous and I have very LIMITED space in my classroom.  I don't have any large bulleting boards and my smartboard is right in the middle of my front wall.  Where am I going to put this?  I wish I had the space like Ms. Van Orman of First Grade Fun:

 

Her board looks AMAZING!  However, I just DO NOT have the room.  Just to prove it to you I will post some pictures of my classroom last year.

Here is a picture of my classroom from the door.  I will be changing LOTS of things this next year...PLUS my room has been painted including a new accent wall. (YAY)!!  But this will give you the general idea of the room in my classroom.  The window wall has shelves built in so I could not put it on that wall due to the kids cannot reach it or be interactive. 

I know what you are thinking... what about the back wall where the moose and bookshelf are now?  Well another addition to my classroom ~ a new whiteboard takes up that wall that is 4ft by 8 ft.  Here is another view of my classroom looking back the other direction.

NO room here!  You can see at the left corner I put my word wall on my cabinet doors last year.  I REALLY didn't like this and have now decided to put my word wall on my new magnetic white board at the back of the room... to allow for a more interactive WW.  But, I may have to use the new whiteboard for my SAXON meeting area.

My question is... teachers who are using Saxon... Could the meeting board be made for the smartboard and be interactive so that it does not take up so much space?  Does that go against the whole SAXON philosophy?  I just think if we have this technology available, the students could do the whole meeting process on the smartboard.  I have searched thinking that someone might have had the same idea and made a Saxon Meeting Board into a notebook file.  No such luck {sob}.  If anyone has ideas, I would LOVE to hear them.  Thanks ~ in advance!