Daily Five/Workstations

Hi everyone! I hope you have all had a great start to your school year. I've been missing in action from my blog for awhile but you all know how that first week back to school is...super busy. I was absolutely exhausted by Friday! I was finally able to upload my updated classroom tour to my class website. Click here if you want to check out my cabin or past years photos.

Last year I posted my Daily Five bookmarks and I have received a ton of emails asking for an editable version. I'm sorry to say that I don't have the original anymore. I cleaned up my desktop and files over the summer and since I wasn't using them anymore I got rid of them. If you want to view my original post about them, click here. You can also view or download the pdf bookmark. So many fantastic teachers have shared their great ideas with me free of charge so I wish to keep these bookmarks free of charge for you. I would be very disappointed if they turned up on tPt or teachers notebook for sale by someone else. Spread the love people!

I'm so glad those bookmarks were a hit! I posted towards the end of last year that I was more of a Debbie Diller Work Stations fan and so I was going to be using them in place of Daily Five this year. I really loved my book marks though so I reworked them a bit for my third graders this year. Here are my workstation bookmarks. I plan on using paper copies when I introduce workstations so that my kids can physically check off or highlight what they have done to help them get in the habit of rotating through the various activities within each station. As the year progresses and my students are able to demonstrate that they are using their workstation time wisely and being productive, I will switch from the paper version to my laminated version where students can use them only as a reference to ensure a variety of skills practiced each week.

Link to Google Docs Workstation Bookmark

It's all in the details

I've had my precious family in town for awhile but now everyone has left and I'm starting to get back into school mode. My classroom is nearly finished and I've posted some of the pics on my last post here. I have worked from home on some of the tinier details that make my classroom a special place to be. Here are a few of the projects (inspired by pinterst and some of my favorite teacher bloggers) that I've completed.


Smarty Pants:
I just had to share these Smarty Pants first! Abby at the Inspired Apple shared her cute smart pants on her teacher blog and this is my version of them. I used my son's old 2T size cargo pants. I used heat bond to seal up the bottom legs so that when I do get around to filling the pants with smarties, they won't fall out! How funny are these? Love them!


Name Tag Banner:
My name tag banner was also inspired by Ms. Babbling Abby, although my version is much smaller. She posted a tutorial on how to make a fabric banner but due to space constraints in my classroom, I chose to make a scrapbook paper name banner for the side of my teacher desk. I just printed out cute font letters and used my exacto knife to cut the flags. Then I ran them through my Scotch Laminator. Next I hot glued each banner/letter to yellow ribbon. I love how it turned out! It is much easier to read in person, trust me.


Special Birthday Surprise:
Here are my Birthday Ballon Silly Straws. I saw a teacher do the same thing using giant pixie stix candy Birthday Balloons on pinterest but I wanted to make a healthier alternative (plus giant pixie stix are so not easy to come by.) I came across these silly straws at Target in the Birthday Aisle. The balloon labels came from Teaching in Flip Flops. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us!


Planter Sticks:
These were so super easy and really make a difference! I just found super cute scrapbook paper with these cut outs, laminated them and hot glued them to some bamboo skewers I had laying around. How cute!


Clipboard Update:
A little scrapbook paper and a lot of mod podge goes a long way! I love this cute clipboard.



Imagine:
This pencil was inspired by Pottery Barn Kids, one of my favorite stores! I have this beautiful green wooden pencil stenciled with the word "Imagine" hanging in our playroom. Until my boys are too old for a playroom, this cheap version will have to do for my classroom. I found the felt pencil at the Dollar Tree, then I printed out cute letters, laminated them and hot glued them to the pencil.



Table Group Placemats:
Lastly, this are easy placemats that I created for each table group. I got some fabric and heat bond (I'm not a sewer!) from Walmart and then just cut them to the size I wanted and ironed the seams with the heat bond. They make the tables look homey and they don't get in the way of name tags (not adhered to desks yet, but I tested them out just to check).


I'm getting so excited to head back to school on Monday! If you haven't checked out pinterest yet, please do! You can follow my classroom boards by clicking on the red pinterest button on my sidebar.

A few classroom pics

I went into my classroom on Monday (sans kiddos) to get some work done before my family comes into town. These last few weeks before I need to report back to school are jam packed so the time is just going to fly. You know how busy teachers are when they head back to school so I wanted to get my room set up so I'm ready for Back to School Night on the 16th. I was super productive and I feel OK with where I left off. Here are some photos of the progress...and pardon the iPhone photos, I forgot my camera:

This is my "READ" sign. I got the idea for this sign from the ladies over at Lesson Plan S.O.S. I bought some cardboard letters from Hobby Lobby and used Mod Podge to adhere cute scrapbook paper to each letter. I love it! I hung it over the door that leads to my team mates mobile.


This is my back wall complete with library, reading table and my reading strategies and CAFE wall. I always start the year off with blank bulletin boards. I often use interactive writing for my reading strategy posters to help my kids anchor the strategies to their own reading. I have found that kids use posters we make together more than store bought posters that are already hanging on the wall when they come back to school. I don't love this set up by any means. There is no "nook" for the kids to snuggle in and read, no fun chairs, etc. due to lack of space in my mobile. I got a few floor pillows from Costco though to provide a few kids with someplace special to read. I'll have two kids per day use them. You can see the pillows laying up against the side of the tall bookcase. No doubt about it though, plenty of wall space for my reading board.


Here is my math calendar bulletin board. It is also a decent size. Each month the calendar elements change so the extra space with definitely get filled as the year continues. I placed my math chart paper off to the left of the bulletin board and left the space up above the board open for adding measurement elements later in the year. The fourth grade teacher who was in this mobile the year before was kind enough to leave her number line up so that was one less thing that I had to put up. I don't love the student computer placement in this picture but seriously there is no other place to put it given where the internet drops are located.





Here is my space...I had to purchase this chrome shelf to store my unit tubs. It is a very tight squeeze behind my desk because of it but whats a gal to do? Check out my neat desk...get a good look at it because that won't last come September! On the side of the tall brown shelf you can see how I store my paper mountains throughout the year (missing drawer is actually at home with me). Rather than using a Monday-Friday system, I made content labels. On the back of the brown shelf is my book recommendation board. The white board is screwed into the wall and will act as one of my word work stations. I seriously used every square inch of this place!







The last photo that I am posting today is of on of the big storage units that came with the mobile. There are actually three, two that are this size and one tall one. This unit is storing more math manipulatives. I also tried to save a little space for school supplies that my kids will bring on Back to School Night (think kleenex boxes and clorox wipes). The top has my treasure box that an awesome parent made for me a few years ago, my wireless tablets and my turn in station for student folders. I think this bulletin board may be used for content anchor charts. I used leftover material for this bulletin board. I used to use only material for all of my bulletin boards when I taught first grade but I am a perfectionist and I hated the way the material wrinkled. Because this one is so small, I was able to get the material the way I wanted it though. What do ya think?



Well that is it for now. I have some things in the works to try to give my classroom a "homey" feel. I can't wait to share some of the details that I am finishing up! How are your classroom coming along? Enjoy your last few weeks of summer!