Working in my Classroom

I finally went back to school this week to start getting my classroom put together. Here is what it looked like before:

 And here is what I got done:

I got all of my library books and workbooks unboxed.

It will be a full house with 20 kiddos!

I sorted my library books into my new crates. I still need to add labels.

Organizing materials into bins.

I will be going back next week to get  more work done. There is still sooooo much to do! I can't wait to post picture of what it look like when it is finally complete!

More Giveaways

Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas! is giving away a $25 Walgreens gift card to celelbrate reaching 200+ followers! Hurry - this ends today at 6pm!

Kleinspiration is giving away a $25 Target gift card for reaching 500 followers!

Fancy in First is giving away a $10 Target gift card. Help her out with some cute Penguin ideas. :) (Ends Wed. Aug. 10th at 8pm.)

First Grade Fever

Check out this awesome blog: First Grade Fever. She is celebrating 100 followers with a giveaway. ( Hurry though, it ends today!) She also has cute freebie labels, jungle themed-ideas, and a tutorial for a super-cute doorway canopy (with detailed directions.) Check it out!

More Jungle Freebies

I'm back with more jungle themed freebies! First, I have nametags that I will put in our cubbies. There are four different tags for four different groups. Last year, I had a red, green, yellow, and blue group. Since I have color-coded baskets already made, I plan on sticking with the same color groups, but with a jungle twist. So...I made a blue elephant tag, a red zebra tag, a green monkey tag, and a yellow lion tag. Click on any of the pictures below for your free copy!

       Also, I have been thinking about how I will manage my reading logs this year. In the past, I have sent home a weekly form that I collected every week. (Resulting in lots of loose paper!) Then, I switched to a monthly calendar, but those seemed to get lost in the shuffle and weren't always returned. Therefore, I am going to try using a three-pronged folder this year. I will add the cover that you see below, and laminate the folders. Inside, I will add a letter to the parents explaining the reading log procedures. Then, I will add the reading log papers inside the folder. I will collect the folder every Friday, add a sticker if the child meets thier weekly reading goal, and then send the same folder home again.

Click on the picture to download.

Any thoughts on reading logs, friends? How do you manage them? What types of rewards (if any) do you use?

Rules

     Most of the teachers in my school (including myself) have been trained in the Responsive Classroom approach. If you are not familiar with it, the Responsive Classroom approach is a research-backed approach that increases academic achievement, decreases problem behaviors, improves social skills, and leads to more high-quality instruction. If you want to read more about it, you can click here.

     One of the most helpful books that I refer to is called "The First Six Weeks of School", by Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete. This phenomenal book has detailed guidelines for structuring the first six weeks of school. This book has allowed me to develop the rule-creation process that I use at the beginning of the year.

     The "brief" version of my rule creation process is: 1. discuss our hopes and dreams for the school year 2. brainstorm a list of rules we think we need to have in order to accomplish our hopes and dreams 3. revisit and condense our list of rules to 3-4 rules 4. post and illustrate our rules and revisit them often. As we condense our list of rules, I try to guide students and point out that most of our rules fit into these three categories: take of yourself, take care of others, and take care of our school.

    I have created these posters to hang in my jungle-themed room. After I post the rules, I give each student a blank index card, have them choose one rule, and draw a picture of what someone would like following that rule. Then I hang their illustrations around the rules. If you'd like a copy of my rule posters, click here or on any of the pictures below.

Enjoy!

Scrappin Doodles Sale

With just a few days left in July, time is running out to get 15% off a $5 order from Scrappin Doodles (my favorite clip art site). Click on the link below and enter JULY2011 at checkout.

Back to School Shopping and Other Fun Stuff

I have to admit that I LOVE back to school shopping. I love new pencils, crayons, glue sticks and other supplies. I also can't help going into the Goodwill and leaving with a whole bag of books to add to my classroom libaray. In fact, I think that the Goodwill is my favorite place to find unique items for my classroom. Recently, I found some items that have inspired me to try a jungle theme this year. (Like this light-up palm tree for only $3.99!)

And these cute palm-tree lights, which I have turned into chicka chicka boom boom lights by adding some foam letter stickers. (They were only $1.50 for two strands and the stickers were 50 cents!) Maybe I can hang these around my word wall.

And this little guy...

I also picked up this lamp for only $3.50 and I am going to cover-up with giraffe printed fabric. (After picture to come...)

I also have to say that I love the penny sales at Staples and how they allow the teacher-limit of 25 items, as opposed to 2. I was able to get: 25 packs of index cards, 25 packs of pencils, 25 packs of highlighters, 2 packs of markers, and 3 plastic shoe storage boxes for only $7.14! Thank you Staples!



Even Snickers is mesmorized by the amount of items I got from Staples.



I also owe a huge thank-you to Lyssa from "My Mommy Reads". (Check out her blog for lots of great book suggestions!) I won her giveaway and was SUPER excited to get this wonderful pack of Think-Math cards in the mail from her.

These are really neat... I think I will hole punch each card and hang them in my calendar area for a "problem of the day". 

Last, but not least, I made these cute "magic reading wands" last night. All you need are some sparkly pom-poms, some wooden rods, and hot glue.

Glue them together, put them in a cute cup...

and have your students use them to track the print as they read!