Linking Up: Freebie Friday, Write Around the Room

I’m linking up today with TBA’s Freebie Friday with my product Write Around the Room with Capital Letters. Here’s what you’ll find inside of this freebie.

First, you will find these nice little cards. Each card has a capital letter on it. At the bottom right of each card, you will see a number. This number corresponds with the recording sheet below.

The other thing that is included is a recording sheet. This is what the students will use as the they navigate the classroom. I’ve also included an answer key for quick checking.

 

So…how does this work? To begin, you will print the cards and place them around the classroom. Next, you will give each student a recording sheet. Your students will search the classroom for the letters. When they find a card, they will write down the letter on the card next to the number on the card. For example, John finds the card with the letter “E.” On the right-hand corner of that card is the number 5. John will write the letter “E” next to the number 5 on his recording sheet.

 

Of course you will have to give good instructions and model it for your students, but they will definitely enjoy doing this activity. It addresses CCSS RF.K.1d, but this would be a fun activity for first grade teachers during the beginning of the year. They can use this activity to refresh their students’ memory about their letters.

 

Grab this freebie at my store HERE and leave me a nice comment! If you love the freebie and wish to have more practice with the alphabet, you can get the full version which includes this freebie HERE.

 

 

Pin-Up Thursdays: Walls, Words, Displays & Info

 

Pin-Up Thursday this week features some of my favorite Pinterest finds from the past week. Here are the things that caught my eye.

 

I pinned this “I’m Done” wall that would be perfect for those students who are early finishers. I love this because it’s simple and easy to put on a board or wall of your classroom. I’ve seen the I’m Done folders and project boards, but this seems so much easier. I definitely plan to implement a similar thing for my classroom.

 

I pinned this word wall done with ribbon. When words are ready to be added to the word wall, you just clip it to the ribbon. I’m all for cool ways to display word walls! Last year, I used a floating word wall. This year, my word wall is a bit more traditional, but I definitely appreciate the look and ease that this word wall has.

 

I pinned this tool to help students with their nonsense words. Students place their finger on each dot and say each sound. Then, they blend those sounds together to say the nonsense word. Our district really focuses on DIBELS and one of the things that first graders are tested on is nonsense word fluency. Students are expected to put the sounds of words together to say words even if they do not necessarily make sense, hence the name nonsense words. I love this because it helps students break down the sounds in the word. Some of my students can say the word without sounding it out which is the ultimate goal. However, some students really need to make each sound in order to say the word.

 

I pinned a neat way to display daily objectives. This is just a picture frame with scrapbook paper and labels. By using a dry erase marker, your objectives can easily be written and erased each day. This is great idea, but I would imagine that you would need a good deal of board or wall space to do all of your subject areas. Still, it’s such a creative idea. I can see this being used in the home too (perhaps as a grocery list board or something like that!)

 

Finally, I pinned this awesome parent handbook flipbook. I really wish that I would have found this pin before I started school, because I think it is such an organized way of giving parents all of the essential information about your classroom. This would be a great tool for your meet and greet or open house with parents before school starts.

 

To find the source of each pin, visit my Pin-Up Thursdays Pinterest page here. Which pin from Pin-Up Thursdays was your favorite? How would you use it in your classroom? Leave your wonderful comments below!

 

Product Promotion: EEKK Posters, IPICK Posters, Classroom Computer Signs

Just a quick post this Sunday! I wanted to share a few items that I’ve been busy creating for my classroom. All of these items are new additions to my TPT store. The best thing is that everything in this post is absolutely FREE!

The first set of free items are my EEEK and IPICK Posters. This year is my first year doing the Daily 5 and I need a set of these posters to get me going. In this set I’ve included posters in a variety of polka dot colors. I’ve also included an IPICK poster which also goes along with the Daily 5. Click on the picture above to get this freebie or click here. Make sure to leave a comment after you download! I’d love to hear your feedback on this product.

The other freebie that I just added to my store is my Classroom Computer Rules Posters. I just created these today. I am going to print these out today and laminate them so that they can go in my computer area. This product has the rules already on them, but I’ve included a blank sheet so that you can add your own rules. There is also a separate sheet to list websites that the kids are allowed to visit. Grab this freebie by clicking on the picture above or by clicking here. Again, please leave me a nice comment if you download!

Before leaving, I’d like to tell all of my teacher friends who are starting their first week back to have a blessed school year! And for all of my spiritual friends out there…I borrowed this quote and made a graphic for it.

(If you know who came up with this, please let me know so that I can provide proper credit.)

Re-purposed Teacher/Student Toolbox

Happy Tuesday folks! I’m dedicating this post to my re-purposed/refurbished teacher-student toolbox. I wanted to create one of the nice teacher toolboxes that are floating around the internet. The only difference is that I already had something in mind to use and I wanted it to be something that my students could use too.

This year, I decided to switch classrooms to be closer to the other first grade teacher. While cleaning up in my new classroom, I found this shelf. As you can see, it held a few manipulatives and other items. It was rather old, but still in decent shape. A few of the bins were missing and if you look closely you will see that one of the dividers is broken. So…it wasn’t perfect but I decided that I could re-purpose it and make it look amazing!

 

First, I painted the entire shelf white. It required several coats to get it to this state. It could have withstood another coat of paint but it turned out pretty well.

 

Next, I cleaned out the old bins (they were yucky). I made these nifty labels; email me if you’d like them. I wanted to be able to use the items, but I mostly wanted my students to use them. I kept that in mind when deciding which labels to create.

 

Finally, I taped the labels to the inside of the bins and filled the bins with the corresponding items. My teacher-student toolbox is easily accessible by my students. They know that if they need a particular item, they can borrow it from the toolbox.

 

Here are the before and after pictures of my toolbox. I am so not the most crafty person in the world, so I must give credit to my mother who helped me create this toolbox. My mom is seriously my unofficial room mother. Do they still have those? lol

 

Have you created a teacher or student toolbox? What does yours look like? Feel free to share in the comments section!

 

Back to School Sale!

Don’t you just love a good sale? I know I do! Teachers Pay Teachers is throwing a huge back to school sale, and I just had to join in.

Visit my TpT store here to get 28% off every single item in my store. The sale runs today and tomorrow!

In other news, I’ve created so many new products as I have been preparing my own classroom. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the items I’m currently creating.

There’s lots more that I’ve created. I hope to start adding some of these items this week. My beloved jump drive where I stored some of my new products decided to die on me, so I’m having to re-create a lot of things unfortunately.

Tomorrow starts my first Monday with my firsties. Our first day was Wednesday last week. I have 24 kiddies in my room and we are busting at the seams! There’s talk of us getting a new teacher in first grade, but we’ll see about that! I’m off to make more things for my classroom!

Today, In My Classroom: Semi-Classroom Reveal

If you follow me on Instagram you have seen that I am busy working in my classroom. The above picture is the disaster that I’ve been working with for the past few weeks. Last night, I finally finished my classroom and I have a few pictures to share.

 

Here’s my desk and in the back you can see the library with the crate seats that I adore. My mother is so much more crafty that I am. She made the seats and the curtains. She rocks!

   

Here’s where my students will put their booksacks. On top, I have the bins that will be their book bins for the Daily 5. I still need to make labels for the cubbies and the book bins.

Finally, I have my math and ELA word walls on the left and right. The middle will be where I display my students’ work.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures. I plan on doing a full preview of my classroom when everything is done. My kiddies start on Wednesday so I have a few more things to make, print, cut out, and laminate! Tomorrow I plan on posting a Monday Made It on my teacher tool box.

Linking Up: Currently

Oh yes, I’m doing two posts in a day! I finally went back to my classroom today. I haven’t been all summer (oops)! To add to that, I’m moving down the hall. So, I have plenty to do. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that I have nothing done yet. I’m getting to it slowly but surely, y’all.

Today, I’m linking up with Farley for her monthly Currently.

Listening: I love the show Chopped on the Food Network! It’s so intense! My little toes is out talking it though. He has learned how to scream…much to my dismay lol

Loving: Walking into my classroom today gave me lots of inspiration. I’m ready to tackle some no-sew curtains and a teacher toolbox. Additionally, I have some ideas for new products to create.

Thinking: So I ate breakfast this morning, but got caught up working in my classroom and missed lunch. What am I gonna eat?

Wanting: Yea so SaintsMan works too late for my taste but…hey!

Needing: I always feel like I have to do this! One pile of clothes goes down and another one builds. I think there are little gremlins or something finding clothes for me to constantly wash.

Must Haves: I always have some kind of welcome treat for my kids (I won’t insert my shameless product plug here, *cough cough*). The first week of school always exhausts me because summer is so laid back and lazy. I’m making myself go to bed earlier so that I can get into the groove. A smile is a must and comfy shoes…c’mon now! My Sperry’s are my go-to casual meets professional meets comfy shoe!

That’s all folks!

Giveaway Winner!

I want to thank everyone for entering my Unlock the Prize Giveaway this past weekend. So many of you participated and had fun unlocking the prize packs each day. This was my first time running this kind of giveaway, and I am so happy that so many people were a part of it.

A special thank you to all of the great people who donated their items.

The winner of the giveaway is Stephanie Baker! Congrats Stephanie!