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Showing posts with label freebie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freebie. Show all posts

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Classroom Tour

Alrighty... I know the year is almost over, but I figured it's better late than never. First off, I have a very oddly shaped room. I have lots of windows (which is great, but...), two sets of white boards, and built in cabinets, etc. that I can use which is great. I realized while writing this post that there aren't any pictures of my kiddos desks, but I'll take some next week.

This is part of my writing wall. I have laminated construction paper stapled to the wall with each kid's picture on a star on the corner. I put two paper clips on the top of each sheet of paper to hold their projects. Each time we have a new published piece of writing, I replace their work. It's quick and easy to switch out, and I fold their papers in half and file them away for the end of the year. At the end of the year, I will bind all of their writing together to make a book and put their star pictures on the front. These are from our Valentine's Day writing activity where I had a variety of different hearts and they could create anything they wanted with them. They're so cute, right?

The other part of our Writing Wall. Check out those monitors... Old School!

Here is one set of our Daily 5 book bins and binder storage. With 29 kids, it's been great having their book bins spread out around the classroom so that when they go to get them, we have fewer traffic jams.

Clipboard storage is a corner with push-pins. Plus our camouflaged butterflies from our "Butterfly Hunt."


This is one set of white boards. It is used strictly for a district-mandated daily test prep strategy called Board Math. You can also see a glimpse of the rest of my math wall and my small group table.

These are my reading group binders. I have so many levels of readers in my class that my groups meet every other day. I use this organizer to keep everything close to our meeting spot.

Here is the view of my back wall. There's a lot goin' on!

This is our classroom storage supply area. It's pretty simple, and I used my Cricut to cut out letters for the boxes.

Workbook and textbook storage in my built-ins. We don't use them much, so I like to keep them out of my kiddos hands. You can also see a small glimpse of my (dreadfully sad) library. I have wonderful books, but my organization is embarrassing. Year two will be much better, I promise.

Another grouping of book bins and binder storage above the textbook storage.

Our word wall. You can download the letters I made here.

This is our Welcome Wall. I have our attendance chart, behavior chart, and class jobs all printed on vinyl (basically, giant stickers). I don't have a lot of kid-accessible wall space, so using the board this way worked out perfectly. Here's how we use it:

Attendance and question of the day. Names are all on magnets and super easy to use. Any leftover names are my kiddos that are absent. No calling names and we get to learn a little about one another.

Behavior chart. Stars are also on magnets and kid-friendly.

I love these schedule cards from Mrs. Carroll over at The First Grade Parade. I have them on magnets so that they're easy to move around and times are easy to change. 

Class Jobs: numbers are on laminated construction paper and on magnets.

Our focus wall with labels from One Extra Degree. Those circle magnets are all from IKEA and they are AWESOME! I also use Mighty Minis from The Container Store that are wonderful and take up very little space.

My front wall. TaDa! It's a little busy, but it seems to work. And behind those boards and in the cabinets is all glorious storage! 

My favorite item on the entire board is that orange on the middle board. It is a Bloom's Taxonomy Helpful Verbs poster. I LOVE IT. It is really helpful when I write my objectives and need a quick Bloom's refresher. 

If you're wondering what my desk is like, you can head over here and check it out. Believe it or not, it stays like this! I am so proud of that fact.

Hope you enjoyed my little tour!





Sunday, February 12, 2012

Valentine's Day

I have lots of fun activities planned for my class on Valentine's Day this year.  I'm not sure why I'm so excited.  Maybe it's because it's my first class Valentine's Day, or maybe it's because my husband hates Valentine's Day and we never do anything big to celebrate.  Whatever my reasoning, I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with the amazingly fun things I have found on Pinterest (love...) and on my fellow teacher-blogger websites.  I love all of the amazing freebies and units that everyone is creating (I'm planning to start creating my own this summer... I've gotta survive year 1 first!)  Here are some of the wonderful things that I will be using on Tuesday.

These beauties are from The Teacher Wife and I love the idea of at least one sugar-free treat! And I spent under $3 for the ENTIRE CLASS!

p.s. I love Instagram... 

The kiddos will be doing this morning work from Made In The Shade In 2nd Grade.

We will also be using this comprehension activity freebie from All-Things-Picture-Books Teacher's Notebook Shop.

We are also going to play Minute to Win It (Valentine's style) from stacy julian.  So fun!
{Click picture to download the PDF)

Here's what they have to do, in 60 seconds or less:
  1. Bite the ends off the Red Vine
  2. Open the Pixy Stix and dump the powder into the circle
  3. Use the Red Vine straw to blow the powder out of the circle
  4. Open the Hershey's Kiss with one hand and eat it
  5. Arrange their M&Ms in the circle
  6. Complete the "M&Ms Math" problem!
This is going to be insanity, I know... but we'll do it outside and the kids are going to love it!

We are also going to be doing a hearts-only art activity and writing project.  I'll be sure to post pictures when they're done!

What are you doing for Valentine's Day?