Fun Night Last Night!

Last night was so cool!  Our downtown has an Art Walk the first Thursday of every month...well May through December.  Various artists set up their artwork along the streets and most of the shops remain open!  It was so much fun!  My cousin, Wendy Kromer, who creates amazing wedding cakes for the Martha Stewart Wedding magazines and books has her own bakery in downtown Sandusky where she not only bakes her cakes, she also makes awesome cookies, other treats!  Anyway... she was hosting a children's illustrator, Marsha Gray Carrington.  Now...if you don't know me well...I'm a sucker for great children's literature...whether I fall in love with the story or just the illustrations!  I'm always looking and purchasing children's books for not only my classroom but my nieces and nephew too!  She had 4 of her books displayed and one of them was one of my favorite stories about the Liberty Bell!

Saving the Liberty Bell

It's just the coolest story ever!  My kiddos love it!
So then I started looking at her other books...and because I have a horrible addiction, I just had to purchase her other two books.

Coriander the Contrary Hen 

Go Home, Mrs. Beekman!

She was kind enough to autograph them for me on the spot!  She also had several of her prints hanging around my cousin's shop so I'm feeling the itch to go back and make another purchase...but I'm going to try to hold back for now!

My sister and I are hitting the garage sale circuit today!  Not that I need to be spending anymore money as I've been spending money like a rockstar lately but I just might find some more trinkets for my math tubs and other work stations!  I'll post my goodies later! :)

I'm Not Grounded Anymore! YEAH!

Oh my gosh!  I've been so crazy busy lately...I had to ground myself from all things fun...blogging, pinning, updating my website, etc. because I had to finish an online course I've been taking for the past six weeks!  It was killing me!  I finally finished everything Tuesday night...or I should say, I did the best I could and it is what it is...thank God!  :)  So I got up super early on Wednesday and headed to my classroom!  I was cleaning off shelves...and moving piles around and found some goodies I thought I'd share!
First...I found a surprise package left for me by a teacher that retired a few years ago!

I have 24 6x6 mini albums!

My first thought was to let my kiddos design a page for each month with their favorite things we did...then I thought I would make a different template for each month for them to complete so that it had a seasonal feel.  I also thought about shrinking some of their work and including it on each page...but that would be a lot of shrinking.  (Sometimes my original thoughts aren't always practical.)  And then I remembered our amazing technology teacher and very good friend, Mrs. Kania!  We already do digital portfolios with my students!  So...I think I'm going to keep them at home and make a scrapbook for each of my students and then give them this book at the end of the year.  I know some kindergarten teachers who do this each year and get really detailed...with 24 scrapbooks, I think I'm going to keep it simple, but nice too.  I don't even know a lot of my families yet, but I think they'll appreciate it...oops!  Some of them may be peeking at this-shhh!

Another "find" I found:

Yep...those are hard cover bound book covers (if I said that right).  I know that I'll be using these to publish the kiddos writing or stories...but I'm still figuring out how to do it!  Really excited though....there's a box of probably 50 different styles and colors.

I also found all of my magnetic letters and decided to color code my vowels!  I decided to make all of my vowels red because some of our second grade teachers use a phonics program that color codes all of the vowels, consonants, digraphs, etc. called Touch Phonics.  I used a red glitter spray paint for some of my e's to distinguish them as "Super Silent e" and I'll be spray painting my "Mystical Magical Y's" with a gold glitter spray paint.  Here's a picture so far:

They are drying at my parent's house so when I get them finished I'll share details about the spray paint I used and other tips!

Since Border's is closing forever, :( I've been making a few visits to get some of their closeout prices.  Here's my newest purchases!  I really need to figure out how to embed one of those Shelfari widgets into my blog.  :)

Obviously a rhyming story...easy rhyming for the beginning of the year.  It's about a group of dust bunnies who are coming up with words that rhyme but while they are rhyming, Bob is trying to warn them about the vacuum cleaner that is headed their way.  I'm seeing a cute bulletin board with our own dust bunnies made out of those colorful pom-pons and those fun googley eyes you can find at craft stores!

Russell is a sheep that is looking for a treasure.  After several funny incidents he finally finds the treasure and inside it he finds an old camera.  He starts taking pictures of his entire family and puts the photos into an album.  The album becomes his best treasure.  Our PTO bought digital cameras for our classrooms last year so I'm going to use this book to introduce our cameras and discuss how we are going to use them.

Tilly is a goose who does some crazy things..."Tilly was a silly goose, a daffy-down-and-dilly goose, who took her baths in apple juice."  Rhyming story-great for visual images too!

This book has been shared a lot on blogs this summer!  There are tons of ideas out there to use with this book.  Since color words were "mastered" during kindergarten, I'll be using this book at the beginning of the year.  It has a great message of getting along with others and sharing too!

I'm really excited about this book!  It begins with a perfect square that is transformed into lots of different things on each day of the week!  I'll be working on some activities to go along with this book and will share them when they're created!

As you know, our school mascot is a pirate so I just had to have these!  Pirates Go To School will be great for back to school and I'll use Pirate vs. Pirate during our district's Pride Week in January...if I can wait that long!  :)

Our art teacher, Mr. Beuglass and I got together on Monday morning to work on my tree branches...they are looking so awesome!  Here's what we've done so far...

We're using this flexible tubing found in the plumbing department.

It's 12 feet, when stretched out, of wonderful tubing that we cut in half.  Each tube is giving us 2 branches.  We cut one of the ends on an angle so that we would be able to screw it into our tree.

We then made a glue and water mixture, shredded newspaper in his shredder and started applying it to the tubes.  We can only do one side at a time and it takes about 24 hours to dry enough so that we can flip it and do the other side.

Here's a close-up of the angled edge.

My sister and her girls came to help...thank goodness!  It's a lot of shredding and mixing so it helps to have one or more people working on the tubes while another takes care of the shredder.

We just kind of glooped it all over the tubes.

Here's a close-up of how we're applying the shredded newspaper.

My nieces came to help out too...well...sort of!

My soon-to-be 4 year old niece found my box of Disney books!

My 2 year old niece loved going through all of my drawers and cubbies!

Well...this is the update so far!  I'm so glad my online class is finished so that I can focus on other things...classroom, professional training presentation in Pennsylvania, collecting internship hours, attending professional development trainings...'tis the season, I guess!  :)

Spin and Spell

Michelle over at Michelle's Charm World created these amazing spellers!  I printed off her post and headed to the nuts and bolts aisle at Home Depot so that I could create my own!  I decided to start simple so I started with our short a word families:

I plan on using these for my Word Work learning activities.  The kiddos will be expected to write and then illustrate each word they find on the speller.

Here's the paper I whipped up for the kiddos to record their words:  Spin and Spell Worksheet

If you don't already follow Michelle, you just might want to take a peek!  She has some really cool stuff on her blog!  :)
Michelle's Charm World-A wonderful candy colored view inside my head!

It's Growing!

So the bark is painted!

But I still have some paper mache exposed!  :(  Plan B...spray paint??
Oh...and this is the rest of my classroom...

AAAHHHHH!!!!!!
My Open House is in less than a month!!!!
Holy Cannoli!

Daily 5 Conference!

Yesterday was Christmas in July for me!  I woke up and was on the road early to be in Ypsilanti, Michigan to see "The 2 Sisters" present their Daily 5 Workshop!  Instead of sharing my personal notes on the day, I think I'll share the resources they gave us...there were a ton and needless to say...I have a whole other list of books I want to purchase and read! :)  If you've never heard of The Daily 5, it does not hold content.  Instead, it's a structure to teach your kiddos how to be independent (so that you can manage small groups and work one-on-one with kiddos).

If you ever get the opportunity to attend one of their workshops, I totally recommend it!  You can check out their tour schedule by visiting their website (listed below).  When I checked in I received their "handouts" that are in book (a REAL book) and DVD that shows a sample of their program in action along with your name tag and a pad of post-it notes.

But here's the best part...as the day goes on, you receive the things they talk about as gifts!  I swear it was like Oprah's Christmas Special for a few of the teachers!  :)  Here's a picture of my gifts!

• Dex, The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn Buehner and illustrated by Mark Buehner is a story about a daschund who wants to be a superhero.  It's a cute story that "The Sisters" use to help teach stamina to their students.
• Falling Down the Page-A Book of List Poems edited by Georgia Heard is a book of poetry by several different poets.  It has some great ones to use all year!
• We received a four pack of Eye Lighters that will help our readers with fluency, tracking and comprehension.  They are available in 4 different colors and we received all 4 colors-yellow, blue, green, and pink.  The website lists them at just $1.25 so I'll probably order enough to use in small groups with those kiddos who will benefit from them!  (There's research on the connection between the color and the success of the student.  Check out Reading By The Colors by Helen Irlen for details!)
• We also received a small sand timer to help those kids with time management when they're reading or working.
• The blue check mark is used for "Check for Understanding" which is a component of "Read to Someone" in their Daily 5 Workshop.  I found them on Learning Loft's website for $6.95 for a pack of 6-two red, two blue, and two green.  It's called a Check-A-Roo and I think I'll be ordering a class set of these...they're very durable and I think they just might survive the school year!
• Our final gift of the day was a wind chime for us to help with transitions from one activity to the next.  I was worried that it would be too twangy and harsh, but when I got it home, I was impressed...it was actually kind of calming.  It's a J.W. Stannard Wind Chime.  I didn't have any luck finding it on the J.W. Stannard website, but I did find it on Amazon (linked above) and as of today it's out of stock.  (Probably because there were like 400 teachers at yesterday's conference and "The Sisters" bought all of them for us.)

Then "The Sisters" shared all of the research they implemented into their program.  I loved this part because we know what works best for kids, but now we have the research! :)  Here's a list of their books and the research they used!

• The Daily Five by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser
• The CAFE Book: Engaging All Students in Daily Literary Assessment and Instruction by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser
• Their Daily 5 Website: http://www.the2sisters.com/
• Their website has tons of information and handouts available.
• Explaining Reading-A Resoruce for Teaching Concepts, Skills, and Strategies by Gerald G. Duffy
• Reading Essentials by Regie Routman
• Outliers-The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
• Classrooms That Work: They Can All Read and Write by Patricia M. Cunningham and Richard L. Allington
• Readicide-How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher
• RTI in Literacy-Responsive and Comprehensive by Peter H. Johnston
• Best Practices in Literacy Instruction
• Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice
• A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades by Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough
• In Pictures and In Words: Teaching the Qualities of Good Writing Through Illustration Study by Katie Wood Ray
• Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft That Sparks Writing by Ralph Fletcher

"The Sisters" also spoke very highly of the following people who have spent their lives researching what works best for children:

• Richard L. Allington
• Nancie Atwell
• Regie Routman
• Brian Cambourne
• Ken Goodman
• Dr. Ken Wesson-brainworldmagazine.com
• Michael Grinder
• Randy Sprick

Tons of information!  Lots to think about!  A bit overwhelmed...but in a good way! :)

This School Year Will Be The Best!

Here's my first "REAL" share!  Everyone is always sharing all of their coolest ideas so I've created a few things to go along with a great book that I plan on using on our first day of school!

This School Year Will Be The Best!
Here's hoping that I linked it correctly and you can access it without drama...  :)  But...let me know if it's a little fuzzy and you'd like to have a clean copy e-mailed to you!
Enjoy!
Jenn

Tree Update!

Well I went into school this past week and applied the second coat of paper mache to my tree.  This time, I was a lot messier with it...the pictures may not be great but I crumpled and crinkled the newspaper before shlepping it all over the trunk.  It's been super hot here in Northern Ohio so I let it dry a good five days before heading back to paint.

So this morning after church and breakfast, I headed to my favorite hardware store...Home Depot!  God bless those employees!  Each time I go they are the nicest people in the world and not one of them has made me feel like a crazy person!  After talking to the nice paint lady about my creation and choosing my colors, she suggested that I use an Interior Flat Enamel paint.  I chose a color called Chocolate Curl (now seriously...how could I go wrong with that?) as my top coat.  I also chose two other shades to blend in-Earth Tone, which is another brownish color and Dark Cavern that is almost black.  I'm hoping to use the other two colors to blend in to make the trunk look more "barky"!  :)

So here's my tree as of today!

I'm a little worried about the holes I have...but I still think I can make it work with my other colors!

Free Shoes!!!

I thought that might get your attention!  :)

Mrs. Tabb from Just Another Day in First Grade created this amazing unit about shoes to use during the first few weeks of school.  Her blog tells it all but she was attending a Project Based Learning conference and got inspired!  She apparently was talking to a group of teachers and they were talking about how excited our little friends are when they come to school in their brand new back to school shoes and so she got to work creating a unit on shoes!
Go and visit her blog at Just Another Day in First Grade and she'll give you the details!
I think I'm in the mood to do a little shoe shopping myself!  :)
Thanks to Mrs. Tabb for sharing her talents!

Linky Party-What Are You In Love With?

So Jennifer over at First Grade Blue Skies is hosting a linky party where we can post all of our loves.  What a great idea!

I need to be completely honest and tell you that I've been stalking these "Linky Parties" all summer and have yet to join one.  From what I've gathered linky parties seem to be a great way to share ideas and make connections with other teachers.
Well...today's the day!  I'm going to do it!  Even though I really have no idea what I'm doing...I'm going to try!  I already figured out how to type the name of Jennifer's blog in my post and have it work as a link back to her blog.  So far I'm pretty impressed with myself!  :)

So...a few of my favorite things!

1.  Our school mascot is a pirate so to instill school pride in my little friends, I have a lot of pirate themed decor in my classroom.  Our school colors are also red, black and white so I use these colors throughout my room.  I'd love to be able to show a picture of my finished classroom, but it looks like this as of today:

Trying not to panic....breathe in, breathe out...it will be finished before the kiddos arrive!  :)

2.  Daily  5!  If you haven't stumbled across these books by "The Sisters" you really need to give them a shot...they have totally changed the way I structure the way I teach reading and writing.  AND...I am going to their workshop next Tuesday, July 26 (Merry Christmas in July to me!) in Ann Arbor, Michigan!  I am so excited!

3.  Debbie Diller!  She is such a Rock Star!  These books are so awesome and her ideas mesh will with "The Sister's" ideas and tips!  Spaces and Places is a dream come true for those of us who love to be organized!

4.  Pinterest!  It's a social media tool where you can "pin" images from websites and also repin other people's pins.  There are some very helpful tutorials on You Tube if you're interested.  I have pinned tons of classroom ideas-posters, activities, classroom design, etc. as well as personal stuff!  I am officially a Pinterest addict.  I joined via the website and it took about a week to receive my official invitation to join.  Once I was a member, I invited others and they received their invitations immediately.  If you'd like an invite just leave me a comment or send me an email!

5.  Those Target dollar bins are pretty amazing too!  Check my blog to see some of the goodies I've found.

Oh...one more...I'm pretty excited about a tree that I'm building for a corner of my classroom...here's the first pictures:

I used 2 1/2 cement tubes from Home Depot.  We screwed them together and then reinforced them with Duct Tape.

We paper mache'd it twice.  The first time we kept it smooth, and the second coat was lumpy because I wanted some texture on it.  I'm hoping to start painting it this weekend.

Okay...so there's my favorite loves so far....now to make sure I finish this little party the right way!  :)

Thanks to Jennifer for hosting such a great bash!  Cheers!

Cut Me Off!

Okay...so I was again in Target and would you believe that they had even more stuff in their dollar bins?  I just can't help myself...check out my new goodies!

Our school mascot is a pirate...in case you haven't guessed so I had to pick up these cute bags!  Now that
I have them at home, I'm thinking of all of the possibilities and want to find about 20 more!  Time to put my family on the hunt for them @ all area Target stores as I already tried to find them online and didn't have any luck!

And then I found these fun sandwich holders but I'm going to use them at my learning stations to store pieces and parts.

Heart beads for sorting and patterning in February!

These foam blocks got me pretty excited!  One of the bloggers I follow used these to write sight words on them and put them in a large (empty) water jug with those styrofoam noodles you can find in craft stores.  The teacher used them in one of her centers and the kiddos had to find the words and then use them to write a sentence.  I'm not sure how I want to use them yet but I'm sure I'll find an idea I'll fall in love with!

Target also had card sorts in their dollar bins!  So many uses for these!  :)

And look who I found on a clearance shelf!  He was $4.98 and I just couldn't leave him sitting there all alone!  I've used the Corduroy books in the past for teaching friendship so he'll be perfect sitting on a shelf in my classroom!

Pinterest

Seriously...this site is amazing!  I'm totally addicted and am pinning things all of the time....I think I need to start using it as a little reward for myself...like...first, finish video critique for class, then pinterest; first finish journal abstract for class, then pinterest; first go for a walk, then pinterest!  I'm a visual learner so this site is right up my alley and I've found the most amazing things for my classroom, my home and my life!
It took about a week for me to receive my invitation but when I invited my friends, it was super quick for them to get their invitations and they seem to be hooked too!  If you'd like an invitation, just leave me a comment or send an email with your email address and I'll invite you!

My Newest Creation

So...here I go again...bringing something new to my classroom!  Here's the beginning stages of it:

Can you guess?  I'm making a tree!  Yep!  A TREE in my classroom!  I can't take full credit for the idea because it came from one of my first jobs at a children's bookshop called "Full of the Dickens".  In the reading area of the shop was the most amazing tree!  The shop moved locations and I was given the tree to use in my very first classroom and the kids loved it!  So I thought that it was time to bring it back!  The art teacher in my building, Mr. Beuglass has graciously offered his expertise to help my dream come true so check back often for updated pictures!