Too much Chevron.... Really???

Ok... so I'm in LOVE with Chevron.  I began making all sorts of chevron items... I tend to gravitate toward chevron pillows, rugs, fabric, clothing. {I admit I may be addicted}  So when I began putting up things in my classroom I had to STOP and look at things again.  I decided my Chevron alphabet was just TOO much!  AND I didn't like all the owls along the bottom.  I mean ~ WHAT!  Too much chevron, too many owls??? I just didn't think it was possible.  So I kept some chevron, added some different patterns with the same colors and I liked it SO much better.  I also took off all the owls but kept them ONLY on the vowels.  I'm thinking what a cute way to distinguish the vowels... they can be our Owl Vowels.  Or maybe Vowel Owl Pals.  Hmmm. Don't know yet but here is what the new version looks like:

It makes me wonder if I feel this way - will others also?  Should I change all my items to this?  If you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it!

I have changed my color scheme this year to the blues, greens and browns because first grade is getting new desks and chairs.  I am super excited but I knew I had to change from my colorful scheme because of our new chairs.  They are really bright but very nice.  Here is a pic:

So I started incorporating this color and took out all the pink and purple.  I am surprised at how well the aqua blue, navy blue and royal blue go together.  Here is a picture of my word wall and the banner I created to go above it:  

Don't mind the mess on the shelves.  I'm still sorting and organizing so I have piles everywhere :)

I had already laminated and cut out my word wall headers so they are gonna have to stay the same this year.  There's only so much time before school starts. 

I also found a new rug for my reading area.  I have to say that I love the factory seconds from Sensory Edge.  I know they are a bit more expensive but I have always purchased a $20 rug from Wal-Mart in the past and at the end of the year have to throw it away.  They just don't hold up.  But I splurged a little this year and hopefully it will last forever ;)

I wanted to give my reading area a little something so I added poms in my colors but instead of spreading them out... I hung them in a group over this area.  I've seen so many pictures on Pinterest and loved this idea!  How do you think it looks?

Again, please mind the mess on the back shelf.  My room isn't finished yet. 

I love these fabric boxes (I get them at Target).  They hold all my seasonal books.  I am thrilled I found some in different blues and added another brown and it really brings the color scheme together. I had to get rid of my purple, pink and orange from last year. 

I also came up with an idea for a title above my Literacy board.  I think it turned out very cute although the picture is not great.  I used blue chevron border and then decided too much... so I decided to layer it with the brown border and I think it looks much better.  However ~ I ran out! :( So have to run out and get another package!

Here's another picture that might be better but has an awful glare (I should invest in a digital camera):

I love using the animal strategies for reading.  My kiddos just seem to make connections as we learn each one and I leave put them on a bulletin board by my guided reading group area.  Last year the borders were all bright colors so this year I had to change them up a bit.  I like how they turned out and am in love with the mini poms on the corners. :)

I also use small caddies for my tables that hold crayons, glue, and markers for students to share.  I always match my caddies to the table color.  I had a bright blue and green already, I found a royal blue one (at Dollar General) but no such luck finding a brown. :( But I was able to find a gray and decided to use it at my brown table.  Hopefully, this will work out ok.  The label matches the table color so it should be. 

I love grouping my students into tables or pods.  Last year I used the paper circle fan decorations for my table signs.  This year I decided to go with lanterns and hang my table sign from the lantern.  Here is a picture which also gives you an overall feel of my room.  I am making new curtains for my windows so they are not hung yet and still have lots more organizing to do.  Our desks haven't arrived yet so still using our old ones until they get here (hopefully before school starts).

I have lots more to do but I can see it coming together.  I could spend hours looking at pictures of other teachers classrooms.  I believe it is important to walk in and feel at home since we spend so much time there during the school year.  I see so many awesome pictures and get inspired each time I see such beautiful, homey classrooms! Hope you have a fabulous week!

P.S. If you didn't notice - I also got a BLOG DESIGN MAKEOVER!  I love this color scheme so much I decided to make over my blog with these colors too.  I have to say thank you to The Cutest Blog on the Block for making such a great design!  

TREE-Mendous Behavior

Last year I began using the clip chart system that allowed students to be recognized for positive behavior (not just negative).  Wow!  I LOVED the new system and negative behaviors could be modified just by noticing a student doing a great job and then that child was recognized for the positive behavior they were displaying. It was a win-win! Last year I made my chart out of construction paper and it wasn't anything fancy but it worked.  This year I wanted to create something to go along with my classroom theme and I began looking at all the little forest animals I could use for my chart.  It took me a while to think of exactly what I wanted it to say to go along with each animal.  Here is how it turned out:

I haven't written the names of my students on the clothespins yet, but it is hanging up and ready.  In addition to the top level of Outstanding - I decided that students will be working toward TREE-Mendous behavior so if they get to "clip up" on outstanding I will move their clothespin to the top of the tree.  Here is a close up of the chart.

I love the fact I can use the OWL in the middle for Ready to Learn.... he is ready for some knOWLedge.  And haven't we all had some squirrels in our classroom?  Check out the squirrel - he needs a reminder of the rules.  If the behavior leads to a consequence - which I feel should be determined by the teacher.  The student may lose part of recess, removed from a group activity, receive a time out... I feel like many times it depends on the circumstances.  So the consequence is a skunk - We don't want any stinkers in our classroom. HA!  Finally if a behavior warrants parental contact or a discipline referral I used the bear laying down and I believe sometimes we need to talk about the behavior, what we can do to change it - so that students can get "back on track".  The fox is displaying PAWSitive behavior for great job and the moose is "The head of the herd" for demonstrating outstanding behavior.  Here is the Chart Sign I placed on my tree.

If any of you out there would like this chart, I added it to my TpT store along with a couple of behavior logs that correlate with the chart.  I've included directions on how to make the chart into a tree also. I love using the textured backgrounds and I've found that in a pdf file they do not always print correctly.  They will print sort of scrambled.  After searching the internet for an answer, I found that if you go into print, then click on advanced and check the box for "Print as Image" it will print fine.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Is there another fix to this?  Please help if you know, because I am lacking in some technical skills.  Thanks in advance and I hope you like it!

WORD Family Tree

Last year our team of first grade teachers sat down and developed our reading curriculum.  Part of our curriculum includes teaching word families.  There are about 25 word families we teach throughout the year and last year I used those posters that are in the shape of the family - like a picture of a cat for the -at family.  I liked being able to post them around the room so that my students can refer back to the words we create using that family in their writing or during word work.  However, they are HUGE and take up so much space.  I just didn't like how they looked.  So this year I was trying to think of a way to display my word family words in a way that fit my classroom theme.  That's when I thought of our WORD Family Tree.  Take a look:

I thought about making a trunk, painting a trunk... then I remembered I had an old oak tree bulletin board trunk I could use and it turned out to be just the right size.  I hot glued it to my wall.  To create my groups of leaves, I  created clouds using autoshapes in word and made it the color I wanted.  I used text boxes to add all my word families.  BUT, I quickly found out that the 8X11 1/2 sheet of paper was not going to be big enough!  It was too small and I wouldn't be able to write all the words my firsties come up with on the cloud.  So, I took the file to my local Office Max and they blew them up to just under 11 X 17 - I think they were more like 10 X 15. They turned out PERFECT! Then of course I laminated and cut them out and WAHLAH!  Here is another close up picture:

Now I bet you are wondering - HOW am I going to write words on those groups of leaves?  Well I'm NOT going to write on them while they are attached to the wall.  I used velcro strips cut into sections about 3 inches long. I did this on both sides of the cloud. I hot glued the hook side to the wall and the other (loop side) stuck perfectly to the laminated paper.  When it is time to teach for example -ad words, I just walk up to our Word Family Tree, take down the family group of leaves - (our class will brainstorm a list of -ad words) and I will write our words on the leaves and then reattach to our tree.  I think it will be very exciting to see all the words added to our tree as the year progresses.  Here is a picture of how I attached them to the wall:

I am very excited how it turned out and hope my students will use our Word Family Tree to make connections with word families and use these words in their writing.  Our school district does not use a reading series so we have developed our own curriculum guide as well as use the common core standards.  Do you focus on word families in your reading curriculum? Looking forward to lots of comments!  Have a great weekend. Smiles ~

Displaying Student Work

I worked in my classroom a bit more yesterday and finished my new "good work" board.  I am really excited how it turned out.  I love having an area in my room to quickly display student work.  My students always love it when they come in the classroom and a new paper is displayed.  Here is what it looks like:

Well of COURSE I had to use owls.  Aren't they just the cutest?  I had ladybugs last year and loved the title "Good Work SPOTTED Here".  SO, I took all my owls and made little white spots using a white paint pen.  My owls are now ~ spotted owls so I could keep my title.  You may be wondering HOW do I display my work on that concret block wall?  Well, if you look a little closer, I hot glued a little clip right below the owl cutout.  Take a look:

I used these last year and they WORK GREAT!!!  They hold a piece of paper nicely (I never had a paper fall once I placed it under the clip) AND the paper EASILY slides under the clip.  I can usually place it in the clip with one hand. (I'm not joking!)  Don't you just love those little spots on the owls?  Here is another picture of how I slide a paper under the clip.

When I put up 24 papers, it will look a lot different, but here is another picture of how it looks with a whole sheet of paper hanging from the owl.  After the first week of school, I will take another picture with all my student work displayed and you can let me know what you think. 

How do you display student work?  Even though I place student work out in the hallway, I believe displaying student work in the clasroom, makes them realize this is THEIR classroom too.  Have a great weekend!



Classroom Cleanup

So - I decided to go into school today since our floors have been waxed and I got the A-OK to enter the building.  I walked into utter mess and wondered where in the world would I start?

Although, I was happy to see I'm still LOVIN' my new paint on the wall ~ including the stripe that I painted all the way around the room.  I love the color and it is so calming. (Hope it has the same effect on the kiddos.)  Anyway, I moved desks around, tried to organize and PURGE as much as I could and couldn't help but work on ONE bulletin board.  My theme is camping (and I'm adding owls this year) but I'm also in LOVE with polka dots - especially dots on chocolate.  I couldn't help using the big dots and border to create my reading strategies (word attack) board.  What do you think?

I also decided to splurge this year on a classroom rug.  (Mind you it is a factory second, but I still paid quite a bit of money for it - PLUS free shipping.)  It had arrived at school and I just couldn't wait to open it.  I am so in love with it... I FORGOT to take a picture but I'm going into school tomorrow and will take more pictures. Last year I put masking tape on my rug to make "spots" for my kiddos to sit... I bought a rug that has 30 squares (I have 24 first graders this year) so they will all have a square to sit in.  What I also adore is that is has the alphabet in the shape of animals on it - so I've already been thinking of ways to incorporate letters/sounds/relationships into our meeting times.  I have to giggle as I tell you this, but because it was such a major purchase and I love it so much, I had to try it out for myself.  N for Nicole and I sat in my square on the carpet.  Silly! I promise to take pictures tomorrow and I'd love to hear what you think about it. I also will post tomorrow about my new word wall letter headers and share those with you all.