It's That Time of Year Again

My last post was in June which seems SOoooOooo long ago. To me that's good though. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time off and I'll admit I've only been to school twice this summer (which is SO unlike me). I brought a lot of work home to complete so I've been plugging away.

Now my mind is getting back into the grove. The fliers for school supplies have begun arriving in the mail and I can picture myself behind those kids in the Staple's commercials. Haha. It's always hard to get back into the grove of things. I mean, I've been sleeping in until 6 most days now!

I thought I'd share a couple of finds at Walmart. Yes, I've begun supply shopping. The first find my coworker told me about. This Picture Story Chart Paper will work perfectly during Writer's Workshop. It's set up just like their journals. I plan on laminating the sheets and reusing them when I model writing. No more large chart paper!!

Also, I found these chevron notebooks. I planned on buying composition notebooks and taking them to Lowe's to have them cut in half (I heard they'll do this). They were a bit expensive ($1.97) but I decided to go with them.

I plan on using these during Math Workshop. I want to do a better job this year of having kids write out their explanations on how they solve problems. They'll be added to their Math ToolKit where their other supplies are stored.

 Have you found any great finds?

Mad Dash to the Finish Line

So we're out June 11th.  A-L-M-O-S-T there!!  I've had a few moments of bliss this week.

First up, DQ.  As I sat there eating my M&M Blizzard the world around me seemed to fade out (just for a moment) while I enjoyed my delicious treat.

One boy decided to tip his Blizzard upside down just like the ladies at the counter only it didn't work in his favor!  He was showing his friends how to do it.  Luckily, he managed to save some in his cup.

When I asked him what lesson he learned he grinned and said, "Only let the workers tip the ice cream upside down!" Maybe this is a special skill or there's special training involved!

Here's a pic of us outside.

Next up, Lily's mom came in today and let me say she's SIMPLY amazing.  She told me she was going to paint the kiddos faces so I thought simple images on their cheeks.  

Well, take a look at what she did!!  She is looking into making this a business and I think she's got a great idea. The kids were SO excited and the compliments were endless. 

We had ladybugs, Mario, a dog, tigers, zombies (which seems to be the new rave), a princess, dragon, butterfly, vampires, and the Hulk.

Fierce looking.

She suggested a palm tree for me and I couldn't resist.  The warm ocean breeze, beautiful sunset, and birds in the sky. Oh, the memories of Hawaii...snap back to reality!

Big Ol' Bones

We finished up our Dino Unit.  We ended with this read aloud.

I made a Triceratops and T-Rex and cut them into puzzle pieces.  The kids picked a piece to decorate.  Working as paleontologist they had to piece the dino back together. Look at these bright, beautiful, dinos!

Oh, Look How They've Grown

We're not out until June 11th but we've begun our yearbooks!  Today I took pictures of them holding a "Movin' on to 2nd Grade" sign.

Take a look at how they've changed!

 

These kiddos have grown SO much emotionally, socially, and academically.  They look ready for 2nd grade!!

S'mores on a Rainy Day

I handed this paper out and once the kids saw the title my room seemed to settle right in.  I even heard, "I love this type of writing!" but I'm sure it's because they knew they'd be making an ooey gooey s'more.

We wrote the steps on How to Make a S'More.  It always amazes me that some kids have never made or tried one before.  Today was their lucky day and mine because they're quite yummy!

Here's an example of the writing we did.

Since I couldn't get a campfire going in my classroom, we went to the microwave and heated them for 15 seconds. Here are pictures of the sticky situation!

The plate even tasted good!

Optimum Organizational Linky

I decided to join in on the fun and participate in a linky party.  Fun in Room 4B is hosting this and is giving teachers a chance to share and learn new organizational tips.

I'm an organizational freak so I have to join the party and share what has worked with me!!

I do apologize for how disorganized it looks but it's the end of the year and my room needs some cleaning.

First up, my cart from Target.  I use this for my reading groups.  The larger drawers hold my reading group materials, lessons, books, and journals.  The smaller drawers hold markers, magic tape, letters, etc.  It has worked PERFECTLY and I like that everything is in one spot!!

BINDERS...BINDERS...BINDERS...and more BINDERS.  So I've been teased about my obsession with putting everything in binders but I would have it NO other way.  Its' the easiest way for me.  I have my binders labeled by month so I can quickly grab the binder I need.  Look how nicely they look on my shelf!

Next up, I have book boxes labeled by subject.  I've seen them labeled by days of the week but I found this works better for me.  I try to stay ahead of the game in photocopying (ugh) so I just add my materials to the bin.

I store my listening center books in these cute bins.  I found they were taking up a lot of space or sliding off the shelf.  I like that I can hide them away.

For the kiddos writing materials I bought these plastic storage containers.  The kids go and get what they need.  I store pencils, erasers, publishing stamps, story maps, paper, and editing checklists.

And the last two storage solutions I've been trying out this year are...

My teacher toolbox.  I bought this at Lowe's for about $15.  I'm so glad I made this.  I got rid of my teacher's desk and couldn't be happier!

I've seen SOOO many different ways to store Daily 5 materials from ziplock bags to folders, to manila envelopes.

I found these bins at Walmart and thought they might work for me.  This is still a work in progress but I plan on organizing each bin by month/theme.  Each one will have a label so I can pull it out as needed.

I hope some of these tips help you and I can't wait to see what ideas I can try out.

Camping in Our Room This Week

This week we'll be completing camping activities during Daily 5.  I also uploaded them to my TpT Store.  I added the teepee I made, some pillows, and a mat.

The biggest hit was fishing for addition facts!!  Check back in to see what else we do while camping out in our room.

It's a Hard Knock Life for These Chicks

The chicks are quite busy in our room.  The kids have been watching them intently.

Today the chicks watched the kids worked and checked over their Chick Life Cycle.  This is Lyon checking over some work.

After all that hard work I check in on them and this is what I saw.  Completely wiped out and sound asleep after a day at school.

We'll miss these chicks but they went to a good home today!!  Yes, I'm quite excited.  They're quite cute BUT now that they're growing they get quite messy and that dirty box needed lots of cleaning!

Diary of the Saved Chick

So I thought I should share this heart felt, touching story of the chick I saved.  Yes, I'll take full credit and he has now been named Lyon!  This chick didn't belong to me but instead was Ms. Fogarty's. This was her first year hatching these adorable babes and she really went above and beyond in taking care of them and blogged about them regularly.

Her incubator had too much humidity and a few of her chicks weren't drying out as quickly as they should've. SoooOooo...here's the story from the point of view of Lyon.

DIARY OF A CHICK

-Finally, after hours of work, I pecked a hole in this white egg that was all too small.
-I continued to work and was able to get a crack around the egg.
-After a day of pushing and trying to work my way out I realized I WAS stuck!  Was it because there was too much humidity?
-A gentle hand reached into the incubator and lifted me out. That's right, Mrs. Lyons, my HERO rescued me!
-I was placed in a dry, warm incubator and was able to work my way out.
-I stayed in the incubator for the night and Ms. Fogarty took me out on Saturday.
-My NEW name is Lyon and I'm healthy.

Mrs. Lyons (AKA Chick Whisperer) and Lyon

No Sew Teepee and I Made It in One Try

I'm not sure if any of you have seen this no sew teepee (AKA tepee or tipi) from The Handmade Home but I find it simply A-mazing!!

So what do you think I decided to do?  Of course, I decided to make one this weekend.  I think of myself as a pretty crafty person but I often jump into projects with no pre-planning.  Yup, I sort've just wing it and hope it comes out right.  Along the way there are usually some mishaps...not enough fabric, not the right size, not having all the materials, burning of fingers, put together completely wrong, and torn all apart only to begin again.  You get the picture.

Well, I went and bought some wood for the frame.  I thought wood was just expensive but my grandmother told me I got ripped off.  For 6 poles, which are 6 feet tall, it came to $30.  Not as cheap as I thought but maybe I just bought some REALLY special wood (I"ll just keep telling myself that).

For fabric, I bought colors that would match my room.  I went right to the marked down items and found many great patterns.

I began by putting the frame together.  I drilled holes at the top and tied them together with cord.  Of course I've NEVER made a teepee before so I just placed them until it had the right shape.

I cut fabric pieces and hot glued them to the wooden frame. I used MASS amounts of glue and even had to go back to the store today to buy more.  I just glued around the frame and added pieces as needed.

I'm quite impressed with how it came out (in ONE try) and can't wait to show the kids on Monday.  Oh, and you might be asking why did I decide to make this?  Well I plan on doing a camping theme in my room this week and was looking for a cute tent to add to my room.  They're REALLY expensive online so I thought I'd try to recreate one myself.

Here's how it looks.

As for how long it took...I put the frame together last night in no time at all.  The fabric took a few hours to get it cut and glued on just right.  Plus, I overloaded it with glue so it hopefully stays secure.  I'm hoping to collapse it and take it to school on Monday.  Fingers crossed it will hold up to 6 and 7 year olds.  Maybe I should reconsider...I could see it staying at my place!