Rainforest Theme and Classroom Jobs

Hello!

It has been a long time since I have last posted.  I have been busy getting my classroom together.  Being a new teaching and taking over for someone who retired, I inherited alot of stuff!  So once I sorted through the hundreds of books, pieces of construction paper and pom poms, I was able to start the fun stuff - decorating!  I went with a rainforst theme for my classroom.  I love the colors - bright greens, dark reds and earthy browns.  Here is my "job wall".  I bought the frogs and wrote the kiddos name on them. I then did not feel like buying little pockets, so I sealed envelopes and cut them in half. I them typed the classroom jobs onto "lily pads" (I created in paint) and glued them onto the envelopes.

Each week I will move the frogs over to the next "lily pad"/job.

Organization

I cannot believe it is almost August!  I am starting to feel a little stressed looking at my room and all of my stuff. I have been on a mission of organization. Being a new teacher I am getting a lot of hand me downs, especially borders. So I discovered a way to organize all of my random boarders - empty frosting cups!

Empty a frosting cup...(yum!)

Take your messy borders

Roll them up and put it in!



I wrote on the outside of the cup a description of the border.

Summer Deals

Hello, I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! Being a teacher – especially a new teacher – I am always looking for deals for the classroom. So, you can imagine my happiness when I walked into my local Target and found amazing classroom materials in their dollar bins! As you can see from the picture I scooped up pocket charts, dry erase boards with lines, reusable writing pockets, books for the kiddos and adorable Dr. Suess things. Has any else found great materials for the classroom at great prices?

Move Up Day - Summer Book Bags

Hello! A few weeks ago I was able to meet my future first grade class during move up day. I had one hour with the students and I was stuck with what I should do with my 20 soon to be first graders! I knew the hour was going to fly by so I did not want to do something that involved a lot of time and thought for the students’. I finally decided to do an activity that would motivate the students to read over the summer!

Move up day activity - Summer Book Bags!

During the school year the first grade students get “book bags”. They are plastic bags that get filled with books on each individual students reading level and taken home each week to read. The bag is then brought back at the end of the week with the books. I wanted to get the students use to using a “book bag” - so we made Summer Book Bags!
 I purchased a bunch of plain brown paper bags (with handles), along with decorating materials (stickers, paper, markers, crayons, coloring pictures, etc.). I also added a library card pocket on the inside of the bag for the students to keep their card in. I made the pocket out of just plain envelopes. I licked the envelope shut and then cut them in half and glued them on the inside of the bag. I explained to the students that whoever comes back the first week of school with a library card gets a special treat!

The students loved decorating their bags however they wanted. The only thing I said needed to be on each bag was the words “Summer Book Bag”. When the students were done decorating their bag I put a packet about the library and summer reading program, a letter from myself explaining the idea of the bag and a book mark in the bag. I also told the students. We had just enough time to finish making the bags – I couldn’t even read If You Take A Mouse To School By: Laura Numeroff!

*Before I started the book bag activity we played a “get to know game”. I also explained a little bit about myself and our future classroom that we will share together.
My example of a "Summer Book Bag".

The library card pocket made out of a half of an envelope.

The packet I included in each bag.

First Post!

Hello! This is my first post..very exciting :) About a month ago I graduated college - before that I was interning full time in a second grade classroom! I loved my 19 second graders and co-operating teacher! I was able to try so many different idea's in the classroom and I thought I would share a few of them with you!

This is a picture of a Literature Circle Group "Envelope Book" that I created. I took a big manila envelope and folded it in half. I then created my Lit Circle Job sheets and stuck them in the book wih a rubber band. The kids loved these! They thought is was great that they could keep the book right inside the envelope...

This is the Writing Process Pencil that I created...of course the original idea came from Pinterest! I made if out of poster paper, then laminated it at the school. The students each have a clip and move up and down the pencil based on where they are in the writing process. At the end of each writing lesson I would keep track of where the students were based on the pencil.

I hope you enjoyed my first post! I am excited to share my summer projects that I am doing to gear up for the next school year :)