So glad I did this over the summer....

I purchased some of the Sterilite organizers from WalMart when I was in the classroom setting up in August. I made a label for themes and seasons and pasted it to cute cardstock (cut in half it fit perfectly!). This has held all of my thematic materials since the school year started. They fit perfectly above my kitchen area cabinets. I have three on one side and four on the other and could use more for some other themes! So I don't have an empty drawer during a theme, I put all of the centers materials (worksheets, laminated items, etc.) into one of two of my Target green handle bins.

It was so worth the effort to get them filled and up there this summer!

Retelling Sticks for Big Books

I use the Journeys Big Book series for my class. They have great color retelling cards with prompts to use for helping kids retell as independently as they can. I have been making color copies at 25% to shrink them, laminating and using Velcro to attach them to a paint stick. Kiddos hold them during the story, following along with some verbal prompts as I read. Sun a great thing to keep all kids engaged! If their hands need to be busy, I am glad they are holding something that relates to what I'm presenting!

Fun for Dental Health!

We had a local dentist office come and run a great centers activity in our cafeteria. They were so good with the kids!
This was a fun activity that we did using laminated teeth, dry erase markers and Dollar Store toothbrushes. One side of the room were the "Cavity Creators" (marking up the tooth with the marker) and then the other side used the toothbrushes to be "Cavity Busters" (erasing with toothbrushes. It was fast paced, fun and active!
(Sorry for the blocks over faces, I need to Google how to cover them with happy faces as I see on other blogs!)

Letter Sorting Trays

Love Dollar Store purchases that make a center easier!
I got veggie trays from the Dollar store and put foam letter stickers on each well. I purchased letter beads from Amazon (I like the shape of them), but you could use any small letter manipulatives that you already have.

This works best for my kiddos on the floor, I spread the letters out on the floor and make sure the letter trays are spaced out well so the kiddos have a lot of room to move. It is a great independent activity!

Great clipart!

Go check out The Digital Bake Shop on Facebook! "Like" them and email them. If it is your first time, they send you a free set of your choice! I'll be getting some more for the upcoming seasons! Adorable stuff!