An Awesome School Fundraiser!

Looking for a great fundraiser for your school?  My husband just came in today and told me about this great opportunity offered by his company, World Pay.  Just so you know who that is, World Pay is the nation's 2nd largest Credit Card Processing company with familiar customers such as Google and Apple.  Anyway, here is the awesome fundraising opportunity...

World Pay will donate 10% of their profit of all business from members in your organization that use World Pay as their credit card processor.  This can easily amount to BIG money for your school or other organization.  Just announce this as your fundraiser at your next PTO or school council meeting, then send out flyers and contact parents in your organization that are small business owners who accept credit cards for payments in their company.  Provide them the attached contact information, and if they sign up with World Pay, your school will be the beneficiary of 10 % of the profits World Pay makes from them.  The more small business that sign up, the more money your school makes.  No more selling candy, magazines or wrapping paper!  Yea!!!

I've made up this flyer for your convenience or make one of your own. Here it is in color and in black and white. 

Here is the black and white version.  Click on either picture and get both.

 

My New Document Camera!!!

I am sooooo excited!   One day last week, I went back to my classroom to unload some books I had purchased over the summer, and to my surprise, sitting on my desk...

was a brand new document camera!!! 

To get excited of a piece of machinery, must make me the biggest nerd on the block, but oh well - I love it, and can't wait to use it! 

I starting making a list of what I can use it for, and got to thinking that others might be in the same "wonderful" situation and need some ideas for using this awesome machine. 

This little piece of equipment can show small items, text, and demonstrations in a much bigger way, not to mention it can reduce the need for copies.  Instead of copying 25 quizzes, you can just place the quiz under the document camera and have students record their answers on a piece of paper or use clickers if your school has them.

Here is a bulleted list of ideas, but I'm sure you'll think of other useful ways to put it to work for you.

• show science experiments or observations
• zoom in on a small object (i.e. rocks)
• make any text viewable to the whole class
• turn any book into a "Big Book" for shared reading
• model handwriting (cursive)
• work with a hundreds board
• show a manipulative demonstration during math class
• show your geoboard, as students follow along with theirs
• reuse materials used on that old overhead projector we used years ago
• use letter tiles or magnets for work
• scan items and save images into the computer to be used at a later time
• saved images or work done in class can be uploaded to the class website for parents to see
• show maps
• how to count money
• Daily Oral Language, paragraph structure and editing
• point out "teacher pics" from your book order for students to consider
• create graphs
• students can place their sticky notes underneath so all can see their reading responses and thoughts

Now, a new task...to organize an efficient work area to use it.  I know I'll need to keep commonly used math manipulatives nearby, lined paper and graph paper, my thinking maps and other small anchor charts, money, as well as enough space to lay an book open underneath.

I can't wait to use it!

For those of you who already have one, I'd love to know how you use yours.

DIY: Making Chevron Subject Frames to display my Standards and EQs

 

 

Chevron seems to be the BIG RAGE this year!!!  Although I saw it last year a bit, it has really taken off and now, I see it everywhere.  Here are just a few photos I took at Wal-Mart this weekend in the School Supply section, of all the things Chevron.

Great throw-pillows for a comfy reading area

 

Composition  notebooks already cut in half for those of us wanting a smaller version. 

 

Adorable tin buckets that indicate they can be written on with a dry erase marker.  There are so many uses for these.  I use them to put in names of students "caught doing good"  each day, for a drawing at the end of the week.  I also use these tins to hold popsicle sticks with student numbers written on them, for me to use to call on students. They are just the right size to hold crayons, markers, sticky notes, highlighters, glue sticks, center manipulatives, and more.

 

I love this index card holder.  Great for student vocabulary or flash cards.  A good choice for holding note cards for anecdotal records, especially for a teacher who travels from class to class.  I can see using one of these per class.

 

 

These are soft, fuzzy pencil pouches with a zipper pull.  Aren't they adorable?!  My daughter would love having one!!!  However, she likes to do her "own" school supply shopping, so when I take her, I'm betting she'll ask for this.  :-)

  

I found bulletin board boarders from Creative Teaching Press that sell for only $3.99 on page 40 of their magazine that just came out this month.  I plan to pick up a couple of these packs.  One package contains 35 feet of boarder.  Not only do I use them on my bulletin boards, but I like to use them around my dry erase board too.  It really brightens up and frames that large, white space.

 

To continue this theme in my classroom, I have made Chevron Subject Frames for use in posting my standards and essential questions for each subject. 

 

 

 

 

I found this original idea on Pinterest, where colored paper was put inside a frame and hung for standards to be written on the glass.  I felt there needed to be a white section directly behind the standard, and that the colored pattern would not distract from the text and make the standard difficult to read. 

 

 

 

 

 I just finished making these Chevron Subject Frames for this purpose.

I left one left blank in case you have a specific subject that I haven't included.

 

Click on the image to get your copy.

 

 

 

I will continue to blog as I prepare for an exciting new school year

 

 

 

Tackling my Back to School "To Do" list

As I mentioned in my last post, a friend of mine is preparing to move to 3rd grade, so I've shared my Beginning of Year To Do list. This is an ever-changing document, as I add to and delete from it as I change ideas from year to year, but the majority of it stays the same.  One major task on my list, and one that takes up a lot of space in my house, has to do with the folders and binders I use in my classroom.  (Once I take care of this task, I can carry all the folders and binders back to school and free up my dining room table again.) 

Twice each year (December and May), we are given an allotment from school that we can spend ordering supplies.  On the December order I order the folders and binders I will need the following year, so I don't have to wait on the summer order to arrive at school.  This allows me to prepare these when I have some downtime, instead of when my time is more limited once preplanning starts. 

Yesterday, I picked up the labels I use, Avery Address Labels #48860 (size: 1in. x 2 5/8in.) to print headings for each folder and I use a Sharpie to write the student number on the corner. I usually prepare 24 folders, but only number 20 of them.  If I have more, of course I assign them the numbers higher than 20, but my class size usually falls between 18 and 21.   The additional folders are for new students that may arrive or I'll save them for next year.   I will also load the folders with notebook paper, also collected last year.

Here is a list of the folders I use:
Writing Folder (we also use a composition notebook)
My Reading Life Folder
Math Journal (in a composition notebook also)
Classwork Folder (for all other subjects)
Signed Paper Folder (for weekly school-home communication with finished/graded work)
AR Folder

As you can see from this picture, there are 30 labels per page. 

I just save the remainder from year to year. 

 

In addition to the labels I print for our folders, I print several labels for our STAR books.  These are 1 1/2 binders that have a clear pocket on the front.  STAR stands for Stuff To Always Remember.  Our classroom theme centers around the students being stars, so I thought this fit perfectly.  I print it off on white paper, but I make photocopies using yellow paper.  I write the student's name on the line and insert it into the front outside pocket.   Here is a picture in black and white, before I copy it onto yellow paper.

(I've changed the dates at the bottom, but this picture still has last year's dates.)

Click on the image above to grab one for yourself. In your free image, I've removed my class name and year.   Just add a text box if you want to add your own class and year at the bottom.

Inside there are two pockets.  On the first I put the label, "Notes & Money".  I like this one in the front, so I will see notes or money easily.  On the back pocket, I put the label, "Homework Handouts". Whenever I handout a worksheet for homework, it is put here.  

About this time of year, Wal-Mart starts putting out their school supplies.  I am currently on the lookout for clear zipper pouches that sell for about $0.79 each.  I put one inside each binder and I add the label, "Study Cards". (I should have bought extra last year.)  This is a great place to keep vocabulary flashcards or multiplication flashcards, and since the pouch is clear and in the front, the student is visually reminded to study them.  If you are looking for a more economical idea, before I found these clear pouches, I used small report-card size envelopes from our supply order.  After attaching the label, I snip off the metal brad and laminate them.  After laminating, you'll need to slice open the envelope where it normally opens and you can add a Velcro dot for a closure.

Next, I add a single clear pocket protector sleeve and add the label, "Newsletters".  Inside I put our monthly school newsletter and our classroom newsletter. Since it is clear, both newsletters are viewable on either side.  Whenever a new newsletter is ready to go home, I have my students remove the old one and we slide in the new ones.  I have found that my parents appreciate having them in the same place on a regular basis; not having to sort through the weekly papers to look for the monthly newsletter, and possibly misplacing it. 

Now I add our student agendas, which our school provides, and lastly I add a good amount of notebook paper.  This notebook paper is for students to use for homework.  They leave it in their STAR book and don't tear it out until they arrive in the classroom.  The agenda is a calendar notebook that provides a week at a glance where students write their daily homework for each subject. 

I love using this binder because it houses everything needed in one concise location, aiding in the development of the students' organizational skills.  I only started using binders about four years ago, and looking back, I wished I'd been using them all along. 

If you are interested in using a similar binder system and you just can't think of a catchy acronym, here is a very helpful website that lists tons of acronyms you can choose from. 

Click on the image below and check them out for yourself.

Here is what the page looks like where I found the STAR acronym that I use.

 I hope these ideas help get your organizational juices flowing so you can start preparing for next year at a relaxed summer pace.


 

Books for the Beginning of School

I love this time of the summer.  I have had a few weeks to wind down and regenerate.  I've been to the beach and we just finished Vacation Bible School. I've gotten a lot of "summer chores" done at home, so now I have time to leisurely plan for next year - to tweek my classroom design or start a new project.  A friend of mine was just hired to teach 3rd grade next year at a neighboring school, so we have been "teacher-talking" for a week.  One of the things we discussed were the books I use at the beginning of school.  Here are a few...

You Are Special by Max Lucado is one of my favorites. 

 

In this book...

Every day the small wooden people called Wemmicks do the same thing: stick either gold stars or gray dots on one another. The pretty ones--those with smooth wood and fine paint--always get stars. The talented ones do, too. Others, though, who can do little or who have chipped paint, get ugly gray dots. Like Punchinello.

In this heartwarming children's tale from the best-selling pen of author Max Lucado, Eli the woodcarver helps Punchinello understand how special he is--no matter what other Wemmicks may think. It's a vital message for children everywhere: that regardless of how the world evaluates them, God cherishes each of them, just as they are.  A more secular message might be that now matter how the world evaluates them, they are special just as they are. 

Here is the link to it read aloud on You Tube...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15QuHygLwFU

Another favorite is the book, The First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg

 

In the book...

Sarah Jane is worried about going to a new school. She refuses to get out of bed because she keeps imagining all the bad things that can happen. Readers will understand and sympathize with Sarah's feelings and laugh when they discover the surprise ending to this delightful story.

After we read this book, I hand out templates of kids and my students trace them and cut them out.  We decorate ourselves and attach a speech bubble describing each of our "first day jitters."  My students love reading these as they hang on the wall in the hall. 

Here is the link to it read aloud on You Tube...




Here are some other favorites...

Jessica by Kevin Henkes

 

In this book...

"There is no Jessica," said Ruthie's parents. But of course there was. She ate with Ruthie, played with Ruthie, and was sorry when Ruthie was bad. Nobody could see Jessica — except Ruthie. When it came time for Ruthie to go to school, Jessica went with her. Her parents hoped Ruthie would find a friend at school who would replace Jessica. They were in for a (happy) surprise!

Ruthie does everything with her imaginary friend Jessica; and then on her first day at kindergarten, she meets a real new friend with the same name.

Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry G. Allard Jr.

 

 

The kids in Room 207 take advantage of their teacher's good nature until she disappears and they are faced with a substitute.

 

This is a great lead into a group discussion about classroom/school rules and good behavior.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes 

 

She was a perfect baby, and she had a perfect name. Chrysanthemum. When she was old enough to appreciate it, Chrysanthemum loved her name. And then she started school. "I'm named after my grandmother," said Victoria. "You're named after a flower." Chrysanthemum wilted. Life at school didn't improve. In fact, it got worse. Then the students were introduced to their music teacher, Mrs. Twinkle. Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle. And suddenly, Chrysanthemum blossomed....

Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts going to school and the other children make fun of it.

Just like the book, You Are Special, this makes a good start to discussing how to accept the differences of others, our classmates.

In the near future, I plan to share some of the great finds we picked up on our shopping trip to the local Teacher Supply store, as well as cool DIY projects for my classroom and other "beginning-of-the-year" ideas and projects.

 Continue to enjoy your summer!!!

Huge Teacher Appreciation Sale!

Come visit me Tuesday and Wednesday, May 7th and 8th, and let me show you my appreciation.  Have you been thinking about what you want to do differently next year?  Maybe you plan to "tweek" a certain subject.  This sale will give you the best price and a head start on those ideas for next year! 

 

Visit my store and when you check out, add the following code (TAD13) for an additional 10% off.  The total sale will then be 28% off anything in my store, these two days only.

 

Again, thank you for your business.  Enjoy the shopping and the bargins!!!

Tips for Reteaching Prior to Testing and a FREEBIE

We are out for spring break this week. Hooray! I'm enjoying sleeping in a bit, at least until 8:30, and hanging out in my PJ's. Sweet! However our state testing is just around the corner and I wanted to share a few tips I use to help my little ones get ready.

First, I solicit volunteers. I have narrowed my focus on my lowest performing group of sweeties. During math, I want to small-group them without interruption and reteach skills they still struggle with. Problem - how to manage the rest? Solution – plan to use review games on skills they need refreshing and use a volunteer, when you can, to help you manage it. I have been so fortunate to have my own son, who is a senior this year, come in and help for about 2 hours every Thursday and Friday.  (Volunteering in the workplace is part of his Honor’s curriculum.) This is exactly what he's been doing in my classroom. He takes care of re-explaining the game directions, solving partner squabbles, managing the noise level, etc. He even plays with them if someone needs a partner.  He loves it, they love him, and I love seeing my small group of strugglers "get it" as I reteach a much needed skill they missed, while my other sweeties are getting a much needed refresher at the same time!

Second, I narrow my focus. Above I mentioned that I had "narrowed my focus" on my lowest performing group of students. For Math, I use our county's benchmark tests to help me do this. I choose the neediest six students based on the data. I write their names down, and then I check their scantron or answer sheet and write the number of the problems down next to their name. After I have done that for all six students, I circle the question numbers that most of them missed. This keeps me from wasting time teaching something they already know. I look at the skills that these questions addressed and why my students missed them. For example, with elapsed time, I found that they just didn't know how to calculate when they had to go backwards into the previous hour to find a “start time”.  They answered several other elapsed time questions correctly. In this small group, I was able to keep their attention and give them more of my individualized attention.  I love my small groups because as I observe them working out their problems, I can more easily see when their skill knowledge starts to break down. 

I will continue to share test pre tips as we get near to these assessments.  Don’t miss my next post as I will be including a printable chart with key words for students to look for to help them with different types of reading questions.

For now, since I shared how I was working with my students to calculate elapsed time, I want to share these elapsed time story problems you can use with your kiddos in your small group time, or whenever you want.  Click here to grab your copy.  Have a great week!