Teacher Creativity Blog Hop

I didn't realize just how much I love craft stores until I became a teacher. I could seriously spend hours looking at everything and getting inspired. When I found out there was a Jo-Ann fabrics store close to me, I was thrilled! There's so much you can find there that works wonderfully in your classroom. Several of my blog friends are sharing their creations, which you can find links to below. Here's mine!

One of my number one goals in my classroom is to get my students excited about reading! If you've been following me for awhile, you know that I was a first grade teacher for 4 years and I moved to 5th grade Reading/Language Arts this year...quite a change! I LOVE teaching 5th grade, but boy is it hard to get them excited about reading! All they want to read are short picture books to take an AR test on and get "points". I hate that! I want all of my kids to have a love for reading and I want them to get exciting about reading. Thus, recommendation boards were born.

I have one particular student who just doesn't like to read. I had some extra time last week to sit down at our bookshelf with him and search for a book that I thought he'd like. I decided to pull out The Westing Game, one of my personal favorites. This is sort of a lengthy book, so I had my doubts but I decided to give it a go. He excitedly came into class the next day and said, "Ms. Leslie Ann, I'm obsessed with this book!" How great is that?! 

In order to share some of my favorites with all of my students AND let them share their favorites with their classmates, I created recommendation boards. I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and bought 3 square boards, which were on sale for $8 each! I also bought 3 different patterns of fabric and some scrapbook paper. 

I used hot glue to cover each board with fabric

Then I typed up my headings for each board, glued them onto the board and done! Super Simple and easy. One board will display my recommendation, while the other two are featured recommendations. For these, I'll pick a boy and a girl each week to choose a book that they would recommend to their classmates. They will type up a short summary of the book and search online for the cover. I think this will really help create a little excitement about reading in our classroom :)

Are you ready to get crafty?! Here's a 25% off coupon to help get you started on your next project! 

(Just click, save, and print!)

Also, be sure to sign up for their teacher rewards program, which is pretty great!

Want to check out more projects and get inspired? Visit these fabulous girls to see what they created in this #teachercreativity Blog Hop! 

This review is part of a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores® campaign. I received compensation for this review; however, this is my personal, honest opinion based on my experience