Favorite New Find & Math Focus Wall

   Oh, my gosh! This past week has been crazy, hence the absence from the blogging world. When we brought home our dog from the groomer a week ago, we noticed a huge growth under his tail. At first the vet thought it was an abscess, then it turned into a tumor with possible cancer, and fast forward to Monday when we learned it is just a benign growth. YEAH! But, because of its location it has to be removed. My poor dog was thinking he could finally take off his diapers and "cone of shame" today, but we are going back into the vet this afternoon to schedule the removal.
   Anyways, I have been working on all of my Daily 5 Math rotation materials this past week and I am so excited to put "it all together" in my classroom. My teammates and I are using the Georgia Units (click here for more information) to aid us in our 60 minute whole group instruction. And then we will spend 30 minutes with Daily 5 Math. On my Math Focus wall I am planning on putting these vocabulary cards and anchor charts up to help with Unit One, Expanding Base Ten Understanding...

   Also on my Math Focus wall will be this simple clipart...

 

 

   Each day I will write a number and my kiddos will use it to complete the recording sheet below for Math with Self.

   In comes my new favorite find! I was a little worried about my kiddos completing the date for yesterday and tomorrow on the above recording sheet, as our calendar is interactive on the Promethean board and will be displaying something else for Daily 5 Math. I was debating putting up another calendar on my focus wall, but wanted the space for teaching aids. So I found this on the Oriental Trading Company website.

Click here to go to Oriental Trading Company's Website

 

   I was a little skeptical of purchasing it as there was not very much information listed about it and only this picture under the description. But, for $10.50 I was willing to give it a chance. I was so excited when I got it in the mail yesterday!!!



   I wish my camera gave this pocket chart the justice it deserves! The pocket chart is not too big, not too small. Also, there are two versions for the names of the days of the week; the full name or the abbreviated name. The number cards (1-31) and weather cards ( 7 each of windy, snowy, cloudy, sunny, rainy, foggy, cold, and hot) are large enough for my kiddos to see from their tables across the room. What I really love is that the hot and cold cards include 7 pictures each of children of different ethnicities. For $10.50 this weather/calendar chart is a steal and I can just see how excited my calendar helpers will be to change the weather each day too! More pictures to come as I get in my classroom to finish up my Math Focus wall and math cart.

Those Darn Garden Critters & a FREEBIE

   So I thought I had finally solved the problem of the mischievous bunny in my garden that ate all eight feet by 5 feet of my strawberries, but then I found this yesterday...

   My boys giant cabbage plant it being invaded by an intruder! Poor plant is being eaten by (I am assuming) a very hungry caterpillar. I need to rack my brain as to how to protect the rest of the fruits and veggies. My poor boys have only been able to pick jalapenos, which they do not eat. I need to think fast because our raspberries are starting to grow.

   These little critters are making me think of all the fresh fruit and veggies that "could have been". So in return I made the perfect apple math centers for my kiddos Daily 5 rotations.

 Graphing Apples

 Place Value Match {Expanded Notation}

 Analog & Digital Time Match

 Addition & Subtraction

Odd & Even Sorting

 

   All these juicy apples made me want even more so I made long e sorting trees. My kiddos will read the words on the apples and sort onto the tree that makes the same long e sound.

You can get both these products in my store by clicking on the images below. My sorting trees are a FREEBIE!!!

 

 



Literacy and Math Bags {Pack Two} & SALE

   After a crazy week with professional development, visiting family, and prepping for summer school, it was time to take the afternoon and relax in front of my computer today. Yes, working on finishing my second pack of Literacy & Math bags was very therapeutic. Now that I have 24 of these little jewels completed (well I still need to add pencils and crayons to each) I cannot wait for my new kiddos to take them home and build their background knowledge with their families. You can learn more about my Literacy and Math bags here. Here are my 12 new Literacy & Math Bags...

 Fairy Tales

 Pirates

 Learning with Food

 Dr. Seuss

 Nocturnal Animals

 Our Earth

 Butterflies

 The Ocean

 Spiders

Plants

 The Arctic

Magnets

   You can get these themed bags that accommodate ANY fiction and non-fiction books by clicking on the picture below. Both my Literacy & Math Packs are on sale until Wednesday in my store. Please leave me feedback of what you think as I would love to hear from you.

 Now its off to relax and make some math centers for Daily 5 Math!

 



Creating Little Leaders

   Today was the last day of our school wide Leader in Me training. As in previous posts, my school received a grant in May to help fund licensing our school to become an official Leader in Me school. The past three days we were exposed, in-depth, to the 7 Habits, establishing mission statements, and creating leaders. It was very enlightening for myself and the rest of the staff. My team and I are already busy thinking of ways we can incorporate the 7 Habits from day one in August. The word leader has been engraved in my brain and heart, after the last three days, and I want to make sure my little kiddos coming in my room in August are walking out leaders next May. I decided to change the name of my data notebooks to Leadership Data Notebooks. I want my kiddos to become leaders in the classroom with their knowledge and implement their skills at home and in the community. Please download my data notebook to get the updated version with a personal and class mission statement, personal and academic goal, and homework goal tracker.

  

   My kiddos Leadership Data Notebooks will be apart of our daily routine. Here is where I plan on storing them all...

   Each green bin (my newest IKEA find) will house notebooks from each of my four color tables. I have them by my classroom door so they are the first thing my kiddos see in the morning as they arrive and the last as they leave to go home. The wall above the shelf holds my "Classroom Leaders" board. This is where we will pick eight kiddos a week to have specific leadership roles in the classroom. And on the side of the black shelves I have four Command hooks that hold my Leadership Lanyards. I plan on placing the lanyards on my kiddos tables for them to wear when they display the behavior, goal, etc. My kiddos then communicate with everyone who asks them throughout the day what they accomplished. You can download my Leadership Lanyards below.

 

On the other side of my classroom door is my 7 Habits wall.







 My teammate found these posters and shared them will me. I love the bright colors and how they match with the borders I have around my room. I have a few more projects to finish before my new future leaders walk through that door. First, its time to prep for my second session of summer school on Monday. I can't wait to see my former students faces again!

Mid-Week DIY

   I have been so engrossed in my second take home literacy & math pack bags the last few days, I decided that today was the day to take a break and work on something new. I have seen so many classroom décor ideas the last couple of days on Pinterest that are too cute! With a little inspiration, I finished three projects on my checklist today to match my classroom décor of chevron, polka-dots, and trees for the 7 Habits.
   First, I wanted to vamp up my "I can" statements wall. I found the cutest polka-dot wrapping paper at Dollar Tree last weekend. I also bought five $1 picture frames to house the wrapping paper and a quick label I made. Here's how they turned out...

   I am excited to be able to write on the glass with dry erase markers!

 

   Project two was creating my classroom helpers/job board. I wanted to have the background of a tree to match our school wide adoption of Leader in Me and 7 Habits. So I started with a canvas board, I had in my basement, and painted a basic brown tree trunk. I then took various size circles of green scrapbook paper and placed around my tree trunk to make an abstract tree. Here is my background...

   I then took the following items I found at Michaels today for less than $5

(jewelry twine, small blue bags, & scrapbook paper)

and added it to my tree to make...

   I hot glued the twine to the back of the canvas and attached the envelopes with small clothespins I already had. My plan is to place a decorated popsicle stick with each kiddos name inside of each bag to identify who has which job.

 

   My final DIY project for today was something that I plan on using while teaching the importance of the 7 Habits and goal creation. My teammates and I are planning on using data notebooks this year (click here to read about my data notebook) in the hopes that our kiddos are excited about working towards goals they create for themselves. I want to acknowledge my kiddos this year for their accomplishments without trips to the treasure box (even though I love my IKEA treasure box) by getting an opportunity to share their accomplishments with others. So here is what I came up with...

I made some labels to go inside of these plastic badge holders and then hooked on lanyards (both from Walmart at $1.88 each) to make...



   I am so excited how these turned out! I also made ones that say, "Ask me about my MATH/READING/WRITING accomplishment!" My plan is to have my kiddos wear these all day when I see them displaying the behavior or action. I want them to feel pride in sharing their accomplishments with others in the school. So excited to introduce these!!! You can download these for FREE from my TPT store. Click on the picture below.