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!

Homework

Two of my Assistive Tech Specialists came recently and gave me some good ideas to incorporate into how I present my lessons. One app that I want to get more use out of is Show Me!

It is something that you just need to play with to learn and will provide my families with easy access to activities that the kids are doing at school.
Here is a link to reading Edmark words in a way that they kids can access:
http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=1q83S9w

Liebster Blog Nomination

I was surprised to find an email that I had been nominated for the Liebster Award!

I was nominated by Michelle at The Heart of Reading, who used the same blog designer, Honey Bunch, that I did!

The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. It was created to show new bloggers that they are appreciated and to help spread the word about new blogs. Thanks for the opportunity Michelle! I will answer the questions below! And then below that are the questions for the people I nominated to answer.

The rules:

• You must post 11 random things about yourself.
• Answer the questions the nominator set for you.
• Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
• Choose 11 blogs you love (with less than 200 followers) and link them in your post.
• No tag back (but please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to your Liebster post so I can learn more about you)!  

·       Questions asked by Michelle:

·        

·       1. What has been your best teaching experience? I have so many small successes that are really huge successes to list: I get to see kids say their first words, become more independent with self help skills and have even seen kids learn to walk. It’s pretty amazing.

·       2. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why? I went to Ireland last summer, Scotland is a close 2^nd wish. My dad and I had a mutual love for the movie Brigadoon, and it is sentimental for me.

·       3. What is your favorite day of the week? Thursdays…it is the “I can make it to the weekend” point.

·       4. What is your favorite grade to teach? Difficult for me to answer as my kids are K-1 but have varying needs. I like the little kids for Special education.

·       5. What is the word you frequently misspell? receive

·       6. What is the funniest movie you have ever seen? The Jerk

·       7. Do you have any pets? What types? Dog, goldendoodle

·       8. What is your favorite childhood memory? Christmas Eve trips downtown to Philly and trying to fit a huge family in for a picture with Santa.

·       9. If you were on an island and could only have 1 food and drink what would they be? Snapple iced tea and salmon

·       10. Did you every play a team or individual sport? What? Ha-cheerleading…In 3^rd grade I played pee wee basketball and the coach said.. “You’re tall, why aren’t you any good?” Needless to say, I didn’t keep up with that!

·       11. Do you watch any reality shows? Which is your favorite? I know it is disturbing but I can’t turn off Hoarders.

11 Random Things about myself:

1. I am the youngest of eight kids.
2. I am a techie geek.
3. I have 9000 songs on my iTunes.

4. I didn’t get my driving license until I was 20.

5. I have been using the same (self purchased) digital projector since 2006! It has been reading “replace bulb” for 2 years, I really don’t know how it is running!
6. I am someone who learns by doing, and making mistakes, so playing around a lot still with blogging, TPT and other networking.
7. I have a Goldendoodle.

8. I just finished up a Reading Specialist Cert and started and Assistive Technology/Universal Design Cert.

9. I love going to an early Saturday movie by myself and sneaking in a coffee.
10. I have a weird memory with song lyrics, great for all the kids’ songs I find myself singing all day to my students.
11. I have donated my hair three times to Locks of Love.
                                                             

11 Questions for the Blogs I nominated:

1. How long have you been teaching?

2. Tell about your favorite Professional Development Experience?

3. What is your favorite teaching quote?

4. What is your favorite recent teaching idea/strategy (Whole Brain Teaching, etc.)?

5. What is your favorite movie?

6. What is your favorite field trip to take with students?

7. What is your favorite thing about teaching?

8. Is your car EVER completely empty of stuff for your classroom-coming or going?

9. What type of lesson planner do you use-book, online?

10. Do you have technology in your classroom? If so, what do you have?

11. Who are your TPT favorites?

Blogs I am nominating:

Lesson Plans and Lollipops

Fantastic First Grade Froggies

Simply Sweet TEAching

Learning With Suzie Q

Taking a Walk on the Teaching Side

Pocket Full of Centers

Seriously Primary

Creative Lesson Cafe

Tails of a First Grade Teacher

O”Fish”ally a First Grader

Little Miss Organized

Than You again to Michelle for finding me and nominating me! If I nominated you I LOVED your Sites and thought they would add something to my own toolbox of skills. Leave me a post after you complete the steps above!

Warm Wishes and Happy Blogging!