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Back to School

New Back to School Product and Last Day of the TPT Sale!

Back to School, TPT August 5, 2014
I got my newest product done just in time for the last day of the TPT Blast Off Back to School sale.  And, this product is perfect for back to school.  Here’s a sneak peek….

Getting to Know You – Back to School Packet

 
Here are a few of the pages… (any page with 1st or 2nd grade on it has one for the other grade too)

 
Student Interviews 
 
Making New Goals for the New School Year

 Here’s an example I filled out for the All About Me Project (circle map and writing paper). Please don’t judge my stick figure. Art is not my strong suit lol.

 
 
Thanks for checking out my new product. Be sure to head over to my TPT Store and get it now while it’s on sale.  The Blast Off Sale only lasts through today so head over there and be sure to enter the code “BTS2014” to get 28% off my entire store.
 
 
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Monday Made-It- August 4

Back to School, Classroom Set-Up August 4, 2014
I’m linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made-It.
This week I made my new bday student gift. My kids loved the crazy straws last year so I decided to do those again.  Here’s how I made it…
 
1. Buy Crazy Straw from the Dollar Store – 6 came in a pack…

2. Make a little tag so people know what it’s for. 

3. Cut out circles. I saw this done before and liked that they looked like little balloons once they were finished. I used cardstock paper from Michaels and also my Martha Stewart Circle Cutter (love this tool!)

4. Then, I glued on the note and then taped the straw to the back. I tried hole punching and tried to put the straw through the circle, but it just looked bad and squished the paper, which I didn’t like. So….tape it is!

5. Then, I made the little container to hold them. I love the plastic paint containers/buckets (not sure what these are really called) from Michaels. I cut scrapbook paper and taped it inside. I love the colors on this paper and love the polka dots.

And voila – here it is!

Since these containers only hold so much without falling over I decided to have 2 – 12 straws in each…. I thought about getting the big container but also didn’t want them falling all over if it was too big. So, I decided to stick with the smaller size and have two.

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

Also, be sure to check out the TPT Blast Off Back to School Sale – my whole store is 20% off and technically 28% off with the TPT code “BTS2014”

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Blast Off – TPT Back to School Sale!

Back to School August 3, 2014
Tomorrow starts the TPT Blast Off Back to School Sale! My whole TPT store will be on sale for 20% off! My store has many products that work well for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade teachers.
 
 
Now’s the time to stock up on all the essentials for the new school year! Be sure to enter “BTS14” at checkout to receive your discount!  My store is 20% off and with the promo code you’ll get 28% off! Yay for Back to School Sales!
 
 
 
 
Here are a few products to check out….
 
Reading/ELA
 
 
Opinion Writing Prompt Cards
 
 
 
Short and Long Vowel Tree Maps
 
 
Contraction Action
 
 
 
Book Study for Cam Jansen - The Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones
 
 
Math
 
 
What's the Time? - Beginning - 1.MD.3
 
 
 
Learning About Line Plots - 2.MD.9
 
 
 
Mental Math Practice - 2.NBT.8
 
 
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New Bucket Filling Bulletin

Back to School, Bucket Filling, Classroom Set-Up August 3, 2014

As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I’m now using bright colors as my classroom color scheme. Since I’m ditching the purple/orange Suns colors, I also needed to update my Bucket Filling Display.  I’m not in my classroom yet, but I’ve put everything together so all I need to do is hang it up.  See my plan below.
 
Also, to see how I use Bucket Filling in the classroom check out this post from a few years ago here.
 
 
Ribbon to hang the Ziploc bags (buckets) on with the clothespins.
 
Clothespins to put on the ribbon that will hold the Ziploc bag (bucket). Love, love, love these stripes!

And, the new Bucket Filling sign.

I’ll post again once I actually have it up in the room.  Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!

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New Bright Decor

Back to School, Classroom Set-Up August 1, 2014


Since I’m at a new school and no longer in Phoenix, I’ve decided to do away with the Phoenix Suns theme. I’m a fan and used to be a huge fan of the Suns and living in Phoenix the theme worked wonderfully. I could use it for lessons too, however, living in Vegas the Suns theme just isn’t working anymore. So, I’ve decided since I’m in 2nd grade again to just go with bright colors. 

I haven’t been able to get into my new classroom yet, but below you can see some projects I’ve worked on that will go with the bright décor once I can get in there.

My new borders – love the bright colors!

 
 
Love this quote – found it here at Clipzine.  I had leftover frames from my Essential Questions project so I decided to use them as some decorations in the classroom.
 

I also love all of the various our classroom posters.  I found this one on at the Teacher Garden’s Classroom.

And, here’s my new sign for either in front of my room or by my desk. I love this striped scrapbook paper! I found it at JoAnn Fabrics and have used it on a few different projects.

Now, I can’t wait to get in my classroom and actually put everything up!

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Lesson Plan Binder

Back to School, Organization July 31, 2014

Each year I always get excited to make my new lesson plan binder. It’s kinda like being a kid and getting a new backpack for the school year. Although, who am I kidding – I love getting a new teacher bag for the school year.  These issues all stem from my obsession with anything school supply related. 

Anyways, I like to use a 1.5 inch binder so that I have room to fit all of the necessary things in it.  This year I’m going with a fun, hot pink color. I love the cover – I got it from one of Teaching and Tidbits with Jamie on TPT. It was her spring collection of digital paper.  Love it!

 
 
Then, I always update the dividers. I’m not 100% sure what the school’s focusing on since I’m new, but I’m pretty sure these will work.  My 5 dividers are – Student Info (roster, personal info), Class Info (schedule, etc), School Info (this is the big folder – anything school related – maps, meeting info, behavior policies, etc), Essential Questions (big focus at my new school so I want to have the info handy), and of course a lesson plans section.  My lesson plans are typically done on Excel in a template that I can just type and print each week.

 
 
Thanks for coming by! How do you organize your important school info?
 
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Monday Made-It – July 21

Back to School, Classroom Set-Up July 21, 2014

I’m linking up with Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics for another Monday Made-It! 

 
This week I made a new classroom job chart.  Since I’m going with the bright colors theme I needed a new one to match.  Here are the jobs I included: Star Student, Door Holder, Pencil Pick Up, Clean Up Helper, Lights Helper, Lunch Helper, iPad Helper, Library Helper, Paper Passers, and Next Up (people without a job this week, but will have one the next week).  To make this project I picked up a foam board from JoAnn Fabrics, the blue border from Michael’s, and I already had the pockets from Lakeshore a few years ago (these ones even had sticky stuff on the back which made it super easy to put together).  I then made my labels and my sign and voila – new classroom job chart!

 
Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to link up with Tara!
 
 
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Throwback Thursday – July 17

Back to School, Organization, TEAMS Binders July 17, 2014
I’m joining in with Throwback Thursday this week especially since I’m out of town.  It’s also good to review and look back on some of the old blog posts….
 
 
 
This post is from May 2012 and is a great refresher for anyone looking to do take-home binders instead of take-home folders. I didn’t use them for the first time last year and missed them so I’ll be bringing them back.

******* May 2012

My first year teaching when I was in 3rd grade, I used the typical, plain old take-home folder that was made out of paper.  I quickly discovered these folders weren’t the best way for kids to take things home in.  Not only did it just have 2 pockets – one for stays at home and one for return to school (which limited organization skills), but it was made of paper and most folders didn’t last long at all. 

After my first year teaching, I moved to first grade and started doing some research of take-home options. While looking on one of my favorite sites – Proteacher –  I found the perfect idea for me.  I’m a little bit of a control freak and love to organize so when I found the idea of MOOSE binders it felt like I hit the jackpot!  MOOSE binders are pretty much a way for kids to learn how to organize while helping the teacher stay organized using a take-home binder instead of folder.  I’m a huge sports fan and Phoenix Suns fan so instead of calling my binder the MOOSE binder, my binder is the TEAMS binder.  TEAMS stands for Teaching Everyone About Managment Skills.  If you do a search online, there are tons of names that have already been discovered and you are guranteed to find a organizational binder name that fits your classroom theme.

In my TEAMS Binder, I have two inner pockets in the binder, a pencil pouch, two folders, and a plastic sheet protector.  In the front inner pocket, the kids keep their “Player Stat Sheet,” which is where they color in the color they were on the Clip Chart for that day.  The pencil pouch is used for lunch money or important notes.  The two folders have different sides that are organized for different purposes.  One folder side is for “Important Notes for School,” where important notes go (as I’m sure you could figure out :-)).  There is also a folder for homework, a folder for items that need to be returned to school, and a folder called “Super Duper Work to Keep.”  In the plastic sheet protector, I put our special’s schedule so that it is always accessible to the parents.  The back inner pocket of the binder holds a page that explains the different sections of the binder.

I absolutely love, love, love these binders! I have made these binders each year and couldn’t go back to the traditional old take-home folder.  It does take some explanation time at first with the kids, especially in first grade.  However, I find by this point in the year they have the organization aspect down and it really pays off. Parents also love it as it teaches their kids organizational skills at an early age and helps the parents keep track of things.  Gone are those days of a folder with random papers everywhere and important papers getting buried or lost.

Below you will find pictures of the binder pages and two attachments.  The first attachment is the letter I send home with parents at the beginning of the year explaining how the binder works. The second attachment is the page that goes in the back of the binder to explain what goes where. 

Hope you enjoy and happy organizing!

Click here for the parent letter.

Click here for the explanation page.

***********************************

 
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Monday Made-It – July 14

Back to School, Classroom Set-Up July 14, 2014
I’m linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made It!
 
For this Monday Made It, I made a new calendar set for myself. I actually had the same calendar numbers that went with my Phoenix Suns theme (purple/orange) for 7 years and they lasted. Since it’s a new classroom, new school, and new décor (bright colors), I decided it was time for updated calendar numbers. 
 
I used The 3AM’s awesome backgrounds and frames to make this.  Check out here website here. 
 
Here are my new months for the calendar…

 
 
Here are my new numbers….
 
 
And, here they are on the calendar…

 
 
 
I use the sticky Velcro stuff to change them in and out. It’s worked well over the years and I kept the same blank white calendar so I didn’t want to change it out.
 
 
Thanks for stopping by! Excited to see everyone’s projects this week so be sure to link up!
 
 
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Organizing Standards

Back to School, Organization July 10, 2014
Since I’m moving to a private school this year, I’ll have new standards. They don’t use Common Core, but use ERBs and CPAAs, which after looking at are very similar to Common Core.
 
I’m one of these weird people (like most teachers) and need it to look cute. The boring Times New Roman font that it prints out in from online wasn’t doing it for me.  Now, in addition to wanting to cute it up a bit, I also wanted to learn the standards.  And, I’m someone who if I type it…it helps me learn it.  So, I set forward and typed up ALL the standards. 
 
A copy of the standards will go in my Reading and Math Binders that I use for planning, but I also printed a second copy. This copy I put in sheet protectors and then used a binder ring to clip together so that it can hang by my desk. This way the standards are always right at my fingertips.  See below…
 
 
 My cover – Love The 3AM Teacher’s Binder Covers..

 
One page of Math Standards (see…much cuter font than Times New Roman)

In sheet protectors and binder ring used to keep each set of standards together. Now, it can hang by my desk and be easy to grab and use.

 
 
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