Classroom decorating: Day Two

I took a day off from working in the classroom today, so day two actually took place yesterday. This is what I've got accomplished so far, which after looking at the pics I admit it doesn't look like much, but it really is. This is what I keep telling myself at least. School starts in about 3 weeks and I start to really stress out if I think about how much there is to do. But, it's all good! It'll all get done eventually.  :)

Accomplished thus far: The future focus board's background and border: 

Again, you can't tell the fabric because of the camera, but it's purple polka dots. I didn't really plan on a polka dot theme, but so far I have two boards with this background. Clearly it's growing on me :)

My favorite part of the board is the border. The fabric looks really blue in the pic, but it's purple and looks cute with the bird border. The board is so big that it looks better with a wider border, so I put two together and came up with this. I love it!

Accomplished: Background and border (almost) for future student work display board.

I ran out of black polka dotted border right at the end! I hate that! I'm thinking about using frames to display work. I've never used frames, but a kindergarten teacher that I work with has them in her room and they are beyond cute, so I thought about trying it. I don't have a clear pic in my mind, so who knows what it will turn out like!

Accomplished: Front meeting area board 

I used the same little bird border and ran out at the bottom. I'm kinda liking it without the piece at the bottom though. Not really sure what's going on here. Last year it was my concept question map for Reading Street and it may be that again. Not fully set on it yet. Can y'all tell I put way too much thought into my board designs??? LOL!!! 

Classroom decorating: Day One

I confess: one of my favorite things about teaching is decorating my classroom. Love, love, love it! I love thinking about new colors for bulletin boards and new things to create. I love changing up the layout of the classroom so that it has a different feel than the previous year. Today I went out to work in my classroom. This is what I open the door to:

Needless to say, there's a lot of work to be done, especially after I tore down the only two boards I left up, the focus board and the word wall. I have some cute ideas in my head, so hopefully they will turn out the way they appear in my mind. :) 

The one thing I got done today was the fabric and border for the math board. I have NEVER made a math/calendar board that I have liked, or left the same all year. Soooo, I decided to theme this one around Dr. Seuss. I absolutely adore Dr. Seuss, so I'm hoping he will help me create a cute math area. I'm loving it so far, even if I haven't put anything on it yet :)

*** Disregard the number line. I'm redoing it and using my Dr. Seuss number line when I find where I've put it....

You really can't tell in the picture, but the fabric is red polka dot. It looks maroon in the pic, but it's more of a red red. Of course I forgot my camera so I had to use my iphone, which accounts for the bad pic quality. 

More pics to come!

Don't You Just Love Children's Books?...and Pinterest!

One of my most favorite places on Earth is Barnes and Noble. Honestly. I could spend hours upon hours in that store. Visits become even longer when I wander over to the children's section, like I did today. I went with the intention of only purchasing ONE book of poetry for children. but ended up with just a couple more goodies. 

Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator by the one and only Mo Willems

I consider it an accomplishment that I didn't go out and buy this book the day it came out. Mo Willems has to be my favorite children's author. The story is so precious. It reminds me of my little dog, Reese and how she hates when I leave like the alligator does with Amanda. Super sweet story!

Twenty-six Princesses by Dave Horowitz

This book is perfect for teaching the alphabet and rhyming. There's a princess for each letter like "Princess Alice, who is first to the palace" and "Princess Betty, still getting ready" Cute story and the illustrations are really colorful and funny.

Kids Pick the Funniest Poems 

This was my original reason for the BN trip. This book looks like it has a ton of funny poems for kids.

A Children's Treasury of Poems

This one has the cutest illustrations and some really good poems about animals.

While we're on the subject of children's poetry, anybody have any suggestions on where to find any?? I want short poems that rhyme and are fun to read and interesting to the kids. Where can I find such???

And onto a completely different topic...Pinterest! How many of you absolutely love this site? Isn't it fabulous!! The wonderful and creative Cara at First Grade Parade was kind enough to send me an invite and I've been pinning ever since! Click here to see my boards and follow me. If anyone needs an invite, let me know! I have no idea how to invite people, but I'm sure I can figure it out! lol :)

Hope everyone's enjoying their summer! I know Reese is! She loves having me home :)

Join Goodreads!

Have you ever heard of Goodreads? I love, love, love this website! I mostly use it to record the books I have read and find reviews for my juicy chick lit books favorite classics, but I've recently been using it for picture books for the classroom. You can look up books by your favorite author, read reviews by others, and find lists that include similar books. Check it out and become my friend on the site to see books I use in the classroom by clicking here!

Giveaway You Need to Enter!

I just learned about a new blog called Little Literacy Learners. Super cute blog with fantastic ideas! And best of all, the creator (Ms. Mc) is having a great giveaway! Go enter it!!! :) :)

Short i Packet Freebie!!

At the beginning of the year, after the ABC review, we cover short vowel sounds so I've been creating packets to go along with these sounds. So far, I've gotten short /i/ done. :) And after spending a good bit of time on it, I realized that the file size is too big and will not upload to Teachers Pay Teachers. There may be a way to downsize the file, but I'm just too tired to mess with it and try and figure it out. So....I'm uploading here as a freebie. :) :) Or at least I think I am as this is only the second time I've tried to embed a document that's uploaded onto Scribd (I think that's the name of the website?). Let me know if there are any download problems if anyone tries to download it and I'll try to do it through Google Docs. :)
***As, thank you so much to everyone who comment or emailed me about Readers Workshop. I downloaded Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller onto my Nook and I am loving it! I've also started Math Work Stations by Debbie Diller, which is extremely eye opening in the way I've been teaching math. I highly recommend these two books (especially the first!) if you haven't already added them to your teacher book collection.

Short I Packet

Help! Reader's Workshop!

In the summer, I like to research things to use in my classroom and look up pictures of other great classrooms to get some ideas. Lately, I've been seeing a lot about reader's workshop. After spending over an hour just now trying to find out exactly what this is and how to begin teaching it, I'm still confused about it. I found Mrs. Jones's Hello Literacy website (which by the way, if you haven't been to this site, go now! Wonderful, great, fantastic, resources!), but I'm still unsure what reader's workshop is. Is this a stand alone program or can you incorporate it into your reading series? If anyone has any info or websites that explain more about reader's workshop or books about it, please comment or email me :) I know I can always count on my blog teachers out there to answer my questions :) :)