Ahh! I can NOT believe that tomorrow is the first day of August! Summer is slipping away, and school will be here before you know it! I’ve been making a few things for my kiddos to do on the first day. Every child loves to get out those new crayolas, so I made a few drawing activities. I have a few more that I need to make, and I’ll hopefully get those posted soon! Feel free to download what I’ve made so far. They’re one document, so click on either picture below!
I know most of us have files and files of data sheets and other things for our centers. I needed a few more for my Library station, so I thought I’d share them with you. There’s not much to them, but feel free to download them if you think you could use them! Just click on the pics below.
Summer is seriously flying by! I can hardly believe that August is right around the corner. Ya’ll, my life is about to get seriously crazy! We just got a contract on our house, and are set to close on August 18th. So I’ll be packing, moving, trying to get my classroom all ready, AND sending my little one to daycare for the first time. Makes me EXHAUSTED just thinking about it!
In the mist of it all, I’ve been trying to complete my first Fantastic Farm Unit! It’s a little hard to get things done with a six-month old, but I’m getting close to finishing! I thought I’d give my wonderful followers a little sneak peak of what’s to come. AND I’ll also be posting some freebies very soon!
Okay, so by now you probably all know my obsession with Pinterest. Well, what could be better than a Pinterest linky party! Well, Michelle's Math in the Middle is hosting one!!
So if you’re like me, and you pin all day long, join in on the party!
With the school year starting soon, I figured I better get some things marked off of my Back to School checklist! Every week, my kiddos learn several new chunks for the week! One thing that I wish I had done last year, was create a “Chunk” journal for all of our words. So I decided to make one!
I’ll probably use a folder or binder to put it in, and we’ll use it to record our new chunk words for the week. I also made a section for “Make-Believe” words. My firsties usually get so excited when they make a word for the chunk, even if it’s not a real word. This way they can still record their make-believe words!
Click on the picture if you’d like to download this Chunk Journal for your classroom!
Lately I’ve been looking for some new ideas for discipline in my class. For the past five years, I have been using the classic stoplight system… green, yellow, and red. The kids start on green and then move to yellow and red when they misbehave.
To tell you the truth, this system was just not cutting it in my classroom. I found myself not putting kids on yellow because it wasn’t “bad” enough. And once they moved their clip to red, it just seemed so final! Once a child was on red by 8:00 (and yes, that has happened), there was no incentive to change the behavior. Not to mention, my firsties who had super behavior for the day didn’t get any type of recognition. Talk about negative reinforcement!
So I decided that something had to change. I started looking at some ideas on my fave site that I’ve told you about before, Pinterest, and found the perfect solution!!!
So I went to work last night, creating my new, portable behavior chart. After a little modge podging (that stuff is amazing!), this is what it looks like!
Here are some up close pics.
What I love about this portable chart (other than the fun colors and cute scrapbook paper!!!), is that I can positively reinforce the super behavior that I see, and everyone else gets to see it too! It also gives several different options if they have to move their clip for sad behavior.
It’s really simple to make! I got a $0.75 yard stick from Lowe’s, some half off scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby, some sticker letters, and some Modge Podge. I cut the paper the lengths that I needed and just modge podged them on with a sponge brush. SUPER easy! After it was dry, I stuck the letters on, and then applied another coat of MP. I’m going to hot glue ribbon on the back so that I can hang it in my classroom. My yard stick didn’t have a hole at the top like most of them do. Super easy, and super cute!
I also made a chart and a note to send home to parents so that they would know what each color means. You can download the chart by clicking on the picture below!
Can’t wait to see how this works with my firsties this school year!
I have to say that I am absolutely OBSESSED with this site! It’s so much fun, and its amazing how time passes when your browsing and pinning all kinds of cool ideas!
Here are a few of the awesome things that I’ve found there!
So much fun! You can see why I’m a little obsessed!
The other day I found a really great data sheet for word wall words from Jennifer Jones! If you’ve never been to Mrs. Jones’ site, you should. She’s got all kinds of incredible ideas that I use all the time. Here is the picture of the data sheet that she made here. Since it was such a great idea, I made my own to use in my classroom. Feel free to download it {here}!
