Clipart Chaos No More!

Raise your hand if you love clipart...
Raise your hand if you buy clipart at an alarming pace even if you don't need it...
Raise your hand if your clipart is an unorganized mess...

Okay- the first two I can deal with but the third has been bugging the heck out of me!

This is what I had: 

One folder on my computer that says Clipart.  So far, so good, right?
Then I had zillions and zillions of subfolders inside that one with individual sets.
For some holidays and themes, I've even managed to create more subfolders like Christmas and then moved all my Christmas clipart sets into it.  That's when it got out of hand!  Too much to look through to figure out WHAT was inside and making sure I actually put the stuff IN the correct folder.  It took me forever to find my Cat in the Hat clipart that was tucked inside "School."

So, I have spent the last *cough cough* hours organizing a lot of my clipart.  How?  By printing a major amount of hard copies. 

It started with a new binder and cover using art from Melonheadz.  Neat and tidy!  Yea!

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE NOW!!

What did I do??

I started by going to the sites where I bought the most clipart: TpT, Etsy, and TheDollarGraphicDepot.  I looked at all of my past orders under My Account and copied the group images.  I now have pages and pages (and pages and pages!) of this:

And when I got free images off of blogs, like this:
(I just grabbed these this week after discovering Nikki's site.)

I DID not organize them into subcategories like Christmas, Birthdays, etc.  That would have added on a lot more time.  I did, however, divide them into images, borders and frames, and papers. 

I'm now left with a book to flip through and WOW...I've learned tons from just glancing at the "finished for now" book. What did I learn you ask?

1. I haven't  used at least 3/4 of the art I've purchased or downloaded for free. Say what?  Sad, but true. 

2. I have a crazy amount of penguin clipart and I'm not even particularly fond of penguins.  Besides that, I don't think I've ever used ANY of it.  Oh, my!

3. I need to continue to be mindful for the need to buy clipart that represents diverse ethnic groups.

4. Two of my sets have arithmetic spelled wrong.  I've known this since purchasing but never contacted the company.  Must do that today.  (It isn't done on purpose, either.) 

5. I'm surprised to see that while I didn't think I had any FALL stuff yet (since I started purchasing in winter),  I do have some.  Even in sets that aren't really fallish, I found a pie that could be pumpkin, some pumpkins, trees, leaves, apple trees and apples, corn from a Native American set, etc. 

6. I have a total of nine sets with a sun in it and all of the suns are very different. Yet, I've continuously used the same sun whenever I needed one.  Same for schools.  That's just stupid of me.  Lazy?  Maybe. Really, who knew I had NINE of them?

7. I have several sets that I HATE for different reasons and know I'll NEVER use.  What was I thinking and why are they still taking up space on my computer???

8. Since I teach first grade, I have lots of cutesy stuff but it's o-v-e-r-l-o-a-d!!   Whenever I saw a "more mature" set, I welcomed it! A breath of fresh air!

9. I don't know if I've always thanked everyone who has given away free art on their blogs.  I THINK I have but I really need to be CERTAIN that I do. 

10. I know I'll add to this book AS I download art.  Upkeep will be easy breezy, right?

11. Renamed all clip art files to include seller's name.  So much easier!

12. Artists rock!  I am in awe of their ability!  (But I've always known that!!)



Mastering Sight Words...

If it's true that close to 75% of all words that we read in books, magazines, etc., involve just 220 sight words, it would make sense to have kids master those sight words in the appropriate grades, wouldn't it?

Quick mastery is a must for early reading success.  

When I first started teaching, I have no recollection of teaching sight words. 

I'm sure I did.  

I HOPE I did.  

Word walls didn't appear that long ago! Really!

I have  a strong committment to not only have the kids learn their sight words and apply them not only to reading but into their writing as well.

I've just posted this in my store.  I hope it bowls you over!  Very helpful, fun, and easy to implement! It's a fun way to build fluency and foster classroom community.  We sometimes use it during Morning Meeting too.

We often bowl during Morning Meeting to practice our words.  Try it!

Monday Made It on Tuesday...again!

I love, love, love all of the milk crate and bucket chairs I've been seeing all over Pinterest, don't you?  I've been dying to make some myself.  Here's my inspiration.

As seen on thevirtualvine.com

As seen on wizardofboz.blogspot

As seen on polkadotteacher.blogspot

I decided to go with a round shape because I thought they'd fit under my reading table- which also serves as my desk- a bit better.   I like to have six chairs at my table but there's no way I can fit six because the legs of the chairs are so wide.  Crazy wide. Every time I researched making the seats, I became overwhelmed even though everyone gushed how easy breezy they were to make.  Soooooooooooo, I thought and thought and thought some more and came up with a new version that isn't particularly creative but, I must tell you that hands down, this version is so so so so easy that a two-year old could do it.  No kidding.

Ready to see it?  Okay, then!  Let's get started!!! 

1. Buy ottomans at Walmart for $18 each.  Yes, a little pricey BUT...these do have nice storage.  I could fit each reading groups' guided reading books and materials inside with room left over. Lots of room leftover!

2. Fabric?  Nope!  I went an even easier route: DUCT TAPE  or Duck Tape as the brand I used is known.  A quick 5 seconds to put it on and then another minute to add the ribbon with Velcro and voila!  DONE!

As a nice bonus, the tops can be turned over to provide a hard tabletop surface.  Good for oh, so many things in my space challenged room!

I grabbed a bunch of junk from my table and put it inside.  Even though there are books and several notebooks and workbooks, and you can see how roomy it is. 

What do you think?  Is it cute enough for first grade?  Will the tape last? 

Should I have waited for the red to come back in stock?  I'm usually a bright and cheery kind of girl and these look a bit more serious than I'm used to.

If the combo looks familiar, maybe you saw the table I "made" a few weeks ago:

Thanks for looking!!

100 Followers Giveaway!

Well, lookie, lookie here.  While I was away, I got my 100th follower!  To celebrate and thank everyone who has taken the time to read my blog (which I haven't been able to dedicate nearly as much time as I had wanted to!) I want to offer this freebie aimed at K-2 kiddos. I so love my poetry binders! Click on cover to get it.

 

I use them for my Poetry Binders, Shared and Buddy Reading, Word Work, etc.  Enjoy!

Problem Solved...At Last!

My classroom is itty bitty. 

Teeny tiny.

Seriously.

Hanging up my word wall has been a struggle for me.  Honestly, since I'm so tight on space, I hated giving up so much real estate for Word Wall Words.  I ended up putting them on four of my closet doors which frustrated me beyond belief.

FOUR doors. 

Do you know what I could have done with that space?  (and they aren't even big doors!)

My colleagues put them across their white boards.  Didn''t work for me since I used them for Boggle and such.

I saw a great pic showing them UNDER the white board.  I really love this! 

But again, after much thought, that really wouldn't be ideal either since I have book bins, carts, etc. that have to be against the wall.  (If I had the space, I would so do that!)   I saw portable ones and all sorts of clever "walls."  But my search is over and it's not rocket science. I just had a Responsive Classroom workshop a few days ago in a room with the words posted ABOVE the boards in that empty space. 

One of my pet peeves has always been when I see things hung up high with such tiny writing that it's useless and certainly not going to help/benefit the kids.  But the words above uses a  HUGE font.  This room is way, way, way bigger than mine and I was standing at the back and, even with my oh, so terrible eyes, I could easily see/read every word. They may not look big or words that can be easily read in the pic but they are.

So, this is my new plan and I am happy.
And relieved.
And did I mention happy?

One Drawback:  Since I add only 5 words weekly, this will require a ladder each week.  Since I am under 5 foot, I guess I'm used to that!

I always think meetings should be rotated to different classrooms so we get to peek inside.  Yes, we go to each other's rooms but when you are sitting in a long meeting, you really get to "see" the room, you know?

Other news:

1. My husband and I just handed in our first historical fiction novel today for ABDO.  A fun project and it was great working with John.  He's a fellow teacher having taught Middle School English for 15 years before becoming a media specialist in same district last year.  He's a HUGE history buff so he made it all run smoothly!

2. Heading to Maine for vacation tomorrow and so looking forward to it. 

3. I just ate a gallon, quart, pint teaspoon of Turkey Hill Yankee Brownie Sundae ice cream and wish I could have shared it with you!

Have a great day!

Dollar Store Finds

What to do when you have about 30 minutes before you have to pick son up from soccer? 

1. Stay in sweltering sun and watch him play?

No way.

2. Go through drive-thru at Dunkin Donuts to get their Fabo Iced Tea?

Yes, please.

And then head next door to The Dollar Tree!  I had to move fast but I did get some things I needed...and a few things I didn't need but will find a use for.  Some highlights...

Yea for Butterfly Nets! I'm using them to "catch" some good stories floating around and

then putting the ideas into my pocket for later use.  Think of the fun you can have doing this!  Kids will love it!  I only got 3 because I'm afraid they'll be loving it a little too much and I'd have 20 sweeties waving these nets all day long!

Smart beads...10 for $1.00.  These tend to break pretty easily so I knew I needed some extras.  In the past, I've had these hanging up but I'm thinking I'm going to make a fancy bin/jar/can to store them in.  I'm thinking of letting kids wear them home this year and then returning the next day.  What do you do?  Would love to hear your system.

The hot item right now!  Will tackle birthday balloons soon.  Just not sure what lovely template I'll be using or if I'll design my own. I almost bought these at Target last week but they were 3 for $1.  Here: 6 for a buck!  What luck!

These are HUGE!  They had Birthday Girl and Birthday Boy which I put in my basket first.  But then I got to thinking...what if I had more than one kid celebrate on the same day and both were girls or both boys?  It's happened.  So I went with these. I'm going to allow kids to wear home and bring them back.  Maybe I should have picked up an extra just in case...

Aren't these oh, so cute!  I'm not sure what I'll do with them.  They're about 8 inches tall. Maybe BottleCap Letter and Number Storage?  Thinking, thinking...  They had black pinstripe and some other bright and funky color sombos as well.  They had hundreds and hundreds just waiting to be plucked off the shelf!

A good 30 minutes, yes? 

Words Of Wisdom Linky Party

I'm joining Deb from Fabulously First for a linky party that asks teachers to share words of wisdom with those just starting out in our profession.  I've been teaching since 1988 (minus a few years!) and love teaching just as much today- if not more- than I did when I started.  So, here are my thoughts: 

(It took me a while to figure out to print in the boxes! I had to remove the existing words or else font size was too small. Sorry!)

Student Letters and Make-a-Word

Even though I haven't been out of school a week yet, I've already received a few emails from two of my sweeties.

One wrote:

I did it! I got my library card! You were right! I do feel smarter! Then she listed the books she checked out. Most were sequels of books we read in class.

How adorable is that!?  She had been using her Dad's card but I explained to the class that they were old enough to get one and "feel the power" themselves.

The second email came today:

"I lost my tooth but the tooth fairy didn't come.  I am mad.  I have nothing to do. I can't find my Tooth Fairy Make-A Word.  I made 1,000 words in school. My mouth hurts so I might get ice cream tonight.  I miss you.

Poor kid!  No cash from the Tooth Fairy and bored with nothing to do!  (At least imagination is working...1000 words? Oh, my!)

I sent three make-a-words to him and then decided to send them to all my other cuties for a little summer fun! (My class LOVED these and got so good at them! Check out my Free September/October pack!

Why do I love these?

Word Wizard “Make-a-Words” are effective spelling activities to reinforce sound/letter combinations. With September and October themes, these printable worksheets will help your students practice and improve their phonetic skills. These worksheets can be used for literacy center time or independent practice.

Introducing Make-a-Word activities to my class has been a gamechanger for my students. In the beginning, we make words together. I use Magnetic Letters on the board and we manipulate them into words AFTER noticing the letters in the word: the digraphs, vowels, the “s” for plurals, etc. I always remind them that each word MUST have a vowel.

After some independent practice, I often allow them to work together and always have a two-minute break where kids share out a word they made. I’ll write them on board (as we discuss the combinations we see) and students are allowed to “grab” them and add a word to his or her own paper if desired.

Vert guided the first few months but honestly, by the end of the year, kids are able to get dozens- sometimes even a hundred words!  

The following themes are included in this packet...FOR FREE!

September
★Welcome Back
★Labor Day
★Making Friends
★September
★Grandparents
★John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed)

October
★Fire Safety
★Columbus Day
★Harvest
★Spooky Night
★October
★Leaves
★Rainy Days

Looky Looky! Monday Made It on Tuesday!

Thanks to 4th Grade Frolics, I've joined her linky party

(excuse the tardiness but I just read about Monday Made It today!)

Inspired by this on Pinterest:

I ran to Michael's today and then turned my old, small table

into this with Duct Tape.  (Duck Brand Zebra Stripe.)

I love the popular zebra and pink ribbon that seems to be everywhere but I think I'm going to go with red. Not sure.  I picked up some ribbon and am debating if I should add a little and if so, which one?  (I was thinking of running a strip on the front side about 1/2 way down. Apples? Stripes?  Maybe run it around the top lip to give it a finished look?)

It took two rolls and 45 minutes.  If I had to do it over again,

I think I would have painted inside legs/sides black.

EDITED TO ADD:  I think I answered my own answer. The ribbon really finished the look of this

side-table-soon-to-be-classroom... something!

Thanks for looking!

School's Out and Schools In...

School ended yesterday and the timing coudln't be better.

I.
Am.
Sick.

"Just" a cold but one that has packed such a punch, I ache all over.

So, I've been lazing about thinking about NEXT year already. I am switching buildings and my new classroom has no area rug. UGH!

You see, that is the one item (next to small whiteboards and document camera!) that I cannot live without.
So I won't.

I just ordered this baby from Schoolsin.com:

They had the best price (by hundreds of dollars!) that I could find.  For $325 (with delivery!) it could be yours, too.

Now that is some serious cash, isn't it?  The good news and the bad news:  my sweeties gave me a Visa giftcard at Christmas and another one at the end of the year that will not only cover it, but will leave me with some money left over.  So that is very, very good.

The bad news is that I won't be getting a few items from Brighton that I had planned on splurging on with the money.  Sigh.

My love affair with this carpet came about around ten years ago when I was a K-5 media specialist and was allowed to order it. When I returned to the classroom, I used giftcards to buy the small one since I couldn't take the one in teh library with me. (LOVE those gift cards!)  But when I left the classroom, I gave it to my sister-in-law who opened up a gym since I knew it would be great for her kiddie room.

I could get it back but 1. I know she needs it, and 2. I want the 30 dot one like I had in the library.

What's so great about this carpet?  Since my firsties spend so much time on the carpet, it so helps with classroom management.  Makes carpet time a breeze.  Everyone has their own space AND there's no traffic jams getting up/sitting down to go to easel, bathroom, etc.  My green and red dots step to outside "free" aisle and can easily walk and my orange and yellow dots have the purple dot aisle which I leave open for that very purpose.

I HEART it!

So ordering it today not only brought me peace of mind for next year, It made me feel better.

Much.
Much.
Better.

Now that school is over, I am planning on blogging AND reading more blogs on a regular basis.  The last few months were sort of me getting my feet wet!

Hope the sun is shining where you are and you're feeling peachy keen!

Winding Down...

Nine days left with my little monkeys! 

Nine.
More.
Days.

This year flew by!  I say that every year but, me, oh, my!  It's true! I am moving to a new building just two miles away but will still be teaching first grade.  Since we have four kindergarten classes, I knew the fifth first grade wouldn't be needed so it's no surprise I'm moving.

This is the last Make-a-Word activity that we'll be doing this year.  This has always been a favorite of my classes.  Always!  Click on pic if you would like to use it or save for next year.

For those still in school, hang in there...summer is just around the corner!

A Blizzard of Series Books...

Once May hits, I know I only have about 7 weeks left with my little monkeys.  While we've read so many wonderful books this year (favorites of kids so far: Charlotte's Web and Gooney Bird Greene) I know that it's the perfect time to kick it up a notch and read through a blizzard of series books.  I want to get them hooked on the first book in a series- maybe even the second - and have them barrel their way through the rest of the series over the summer.  (Either independently or with family help.) Even my lower readers can get into the action since they'll be familiar with characters, settings, etc.  I also try to have audio books on tape for the kids as well.  Right now, even though we've finished STINK, the audiobook is so FABO, that it's on when they get back from recess each day.

Here are some of the books I've read over last month:

Although I've read two Magic Tree House books to them, so many of the kids are now on their fifth, sixth, or seventh books.  I love them, too! (How can you NOT like a book about a librarian/books? :)

                                                              (Still reading this one! Long!)

Read regular Cam during year so I didn't mind going out of order on this one. Beach weather...ahhh!

 They've been begging me to read another A-Z Mystery so I will this week.  And how did I not know that Ron Roy has The Calendar Mysteries out?  I saw it in book order. Is it new?  Been out for years?  I have no idea.  If I can find a copy, that might be one that kids devour.

I'm so proud of my voracious readers!  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.  Always looking for new ideas.

Happy reading!

Just Sayin'...

Moms everywhere should ban together and JUST SAY NO to team sports on Mother's Day.  (And every other holiday!)  I love my son and of course wanted to see him play soccer but really, coaches...why on Mother's Day EVERY year? 

And why oh why didn't I look at the price of the oh-so-ordinary Mother's Day card I bought for my own mother yesterday?  It was 5.99!  Really, Hallmark?  I know, I know...I should have looked before I bought it.  It really looked like an average $2.49 card.  I'm not cheap but...

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there celebrating and to those who aren't mothers but are loved just as much and often viewed as the second mothers of your students, you rock just as much!

Lovely weather day here in NJ.  I hope the weather is just as nice on Memorial Day since we're having a party.  Speaking of Memorial Day, here's a freebie for you.

My Buckets...

I know many of you implement a Bucket Filler program in your classroom.  When I started looking for "buckets" to display last summer, I came up empty until I saw these in Michaels. 

Aren't they bright and cheery?  They are part of Duff's (Ace of Cakes) collection. At the time, I bought them for $2.49...I think.  (Sidenote:  Did you know that Michaels gives a 15% Teacher Discount?  They reinstated the discount late spring last year after a LONG hiatus.)

Ahhh, I digress!

Anyway, I was at Michaels today and saw them on SALE for $1 so I grabbed a few more!   They actually had large ones (think ice bucket size) but they were full of dents. 

Sigh. 

I'm sure I could have found a good use for them!

Little Things Make Me Happy...

For years, my "paper shelf" in my classroom closet has been a disaster. DISASTER.  Sure, it starts off the year neat and tidy but quickly becomes an embarrassing mess.  Now looky at my 9x12 paper!  Why didn't I do this sooner?

I have two crates filled up and they're so, so, so easy to slide out so I can reach in and grab what I need.  No mess!  No flyaway papers.  Yea!  I no longer will have to cringe when a colleague opens my door to get paper. You can see the longer 11x18 paper next to this crate.  That's next! 

Estimating Anyone?

I always have an estimation station going on in my classroom.  I've learned how helpful it is to show kids what five or ten of the object looks like so they can make a better educated guess.  For Read Across America, I decided to move the station outside near the front office and make it a school-wide affair.  What fun!  (We are only a K-1 school!)

The baggie in front showed what "100" looked like.  I usually don't have such large quantities but I figured this was a special occasion! 

To make it easy (and to save time for our kiddos and teachers,) I actually had the teachers names on the recoding sheet so kids could easily circle them..  It looked like this.  (But precut, of, course!)

The winning guess was, I believe 405 or 605...I forget.  But I do remember who won:  a cutie from my class!  She got to take home a huge bag of goldfish covered in Dr. Seuss ribbon and stickers.

It was so much fun that we're thinking of having a school-wide weekly estimation station next year.  Since it's a small school, it should be easy to implement.  Do you have an estimation station?  Do you give out prizes to the winner? I've gone back and forth as to what I should do but have finally decided on letting the kids sign the Bravo Board.  They LOVE it!  I should take a pic and post it here.  I'd love to hear how you implement yours.

Here is a fun song you can sing with your class.  Enjoy!