Fun Finds Friday: Find Your Center

So, I'm super pumped about a literacy center pin I found last week.  I'll be honest, I've become a bit of a Pinterest snob.  I've caught myself thinking, "Oh, that pin is SO 6 months ago," or "Been there, done that."  So when I find a good pin, especially when it's linked to something FREE, I geek out just a little. 

THIS link will take you to the blog I stumbled upon.  Not only does this teacher have literacy centers that are "outside the box," but she includes free printable recording sheets to go with them.  I love a teacher who shares!! I'm looking forward to making a few of those centers in the near (hopefully!!) future!

I also found a few pins for sight word popsicle stick puzzles.  I found some colored popsicle sticks at the dollar store a while back, so I decided that would be an easy project to work on while I veg out in front of the TV this summer!  Here they are:

Easy, right!?  A fun find, indeed.  I hope are all enjoying your last few days/weeks of freedom!  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Thrifty Thursday: The CASE of the Missing Creativity

Another short post on this Thrifty Thursday...

This week at Staples they have sliding pencil cases like the picture below for only a penny (limit of 4) with a $5 minimum purchase!  

I've been looking for creative ways to use mine, and I seem to have a creative block at the moment...my brain's probably still fried from the last three days of professional development.  I have 12 pencil cases (thanks to some I got on this sale last year plus my mom hooking me up with her 4!).  So far, I've seen some neat centers for sight words and phonics like THIS one and THIS one. I may go with those ideas, but I haven't committed to them, just in case one of YOU have a brilliant idea on how to use them, so share away!  (Seriously, please!?)


And my last thrifty find is genius, and I'm honestly quite disappointed in myself for not having thought of this before.  I found this picture on Pinterest.   Use bulletin board border (that we have SOO much of and don't know what to do with) as crowns!  Duh! The possibilities are endless...birthday, 100th day, behavior reward, etc. etc. ETC.!  I love it, and I can't wait to put my poor neglected border to good use!  

Isn't this a great idea!?

I hope you all are having a wonderful Thursday! And for those of you who are sitting through meetings, trainings, and conferences right now, this one's for you! 

You're welcome.

Thrifty Thursday: I Need a Life

Because it's summer and I have no life, I have TOO many things to share in one "Thrifty Thursday" post!  I've been a regular at the local Dollar Stores.  Yesterday I even got the, "You're back again!?" from the Dollar Tree cashier.  Embarrassing?  To most people.  Not me.  I think I should get an award.  But that's neither here nor there.  Today I'm going to post my most recent purchases from dollar stores and how I intend to use them.  But please read to the end today because I need your help coming up with creative ideas on some precious finds that I just don't know what to do with. So, here we go...

These plates and bowls not only go with my Seuss theme, but they're currently at the Target Dollar Spot!  Woo hoo!  I decided to make a little phonics center activity.  This is one I am calling "Horton Here's an 'oo'"  Get it!?  I'm pretty proud of that one ;)  It's really simple.  Basically, I printed a bunch of pictures.  They go in the bowl.  The ones that have "oo" in them go on the plate.  The ones that don't, get discarded.  Then they can record the oo words on the recording sheet I made.  (Really simple, I made a table in Microsoft Word and added a Horton clipart from Google Images).  Done.  I also got a Yertle the Turtle set, One Fish Two Fish set, and Cat in the Hat set.  I think I'll make the exact same game only using bossy r (Yertle the Turtle), sh/th/ch/wh (One Fish, Two Fish), and CVC words (Cat in the Hat).  So simple.  But these cute little pieces make the center activity seem that much more fun!

I'm in LOVE with this one.  I also found these cardboard coasters in the Dollar Spot at Target, leftover from the summer BBQ themed stuff.  I created a math game for the sums 7, 8, 9, and 10.  I put each of those numbers on a piece of bread/bun.  Then I put a bunch of equations on the toppings.  They have to make a complete sandwich by finding all of the toppings that add up to the correct sum.  I tested it on a girl I'm tutoring this summer and she loved it.  She asked to play it twice!  That's a good sign.  I'm HOPING that some of you can find these little cuties in your Target Dollar Spot!  The possibilities are endless!  And now I want a hamburger.

As if it could even get any cuter, I remembered that LAST year, the Target Dollar Spot had these Dr. Seuss sandwich containers.  I bought them and didn't really use them for anything.  But how PERFECT is it for my sandwich math game!?  I think I was entirely TOO excited when I remembered I had it AND when everything fit just right.  It may or may not have been the best thing that happened to me that day. 

But wait, there's more!!  These cardboard squares were placed in between each sandwich topping in the package they came in.  So...I decided to turn them into little hundreds chart puzzles.  I like these puzzles because not every piece is there.  They have to use their number sense and problem solving to place the numbers in the correct position.  I was able to make two of these puzzles.  And boom a perfect "Early Bird Work" idea!  AND I found some cute teeny tiny red containers at Dollar Tree for them to be stored in! 

This is by NO MEANS my original idea.  I got the idea from Pinterest and just Seussed it up/came up with a cute title.  It's so easy.  Take some envelopes and seal them (bleh!).  Cut off the left side.  Write a bunch of CVC words on index cards with the letters slightly spaced  out.  Now they can pull the index card out slowly and blend the word to figure it out!  Easy cheesy.  I noticed I could see the letters through the thin white envelope so I decided to find some Dr. Seuss clip art.  I found the cute Thing 1 and Thing 2 graphic so I decided to call it "Blend With a Friend" and it fit together perfectly.  Now I just have to (read: want to) laminate the envelopes and re-slice them open so they look nicer and last a little longer. :)

And last...I got these puppies yesterday at Dollar Tree!  These tiny little trash cans have been around for years, but for $1 each, I decided to get one for each of my desk clusters.  When we're working on cut and paste activities, we'll put these trash cans out and they can put their trash directly in here instead of getting up to throw stuff away constantly.  I got the idea originally from Pinterest.  The teacher used "trash buckets."  But if anything is in miniature size I can't resist, so these cute little trash cans didn't have a chance!

 Now, here's where I want your help...Dollar Tree has these precious little cutouts of two things that go together.  I've already purchased ones that look like bread with peanut butter and jelly and bees with honey.  I numbered each with a number 1-12.  I'll use them to partner my kiddos.  The person with the #4 bee is going to be partners with the person with the #4 honey pot, etc.  

Then, the store got a new stash of these sets.  I realized I didn't need to use them all for partnering, but I'm trying to think of a creative use for them! I used some of the milk/cookies to match a main idea with some supporting details.  But I am just stuck with any other good ideas. Help! 

Are there any other good buys out there? Share your thoughts and great finds!

I've Got the Power(point)!

So I was lying in bed this morning and I had an idea for my literacy centers.  I decided I would make a PowerPoint presentation to help manage the rotations and hopefully provide a silent cue for the transitions.  I used the same icons as the labels I have in my classroom, for consistency's sake.  And although I have their names in a pocket chart in my classroom already, I decided to use their numbers and put them on the slides as well, just as one more reminder of where they need to be.  

I decided to have each slide display what group should  be with me at guided reading, and where everyone else should be.  I have it set to automatically switch slides after 18 minutes so that I don't have to do a thing!  Then there is a different chime that occurs after a one and a half minute delay, and the words on the slide blink.  This will indicate that they should be finished with their transitions and beginning the next center.  I like having the buffer time to ensure that they clean up correctly and have time to get where they're going...but not too much time ;)  I have the whole slide show set up so that I don't have to touch a thing once I get it started!  It will (hopefully) be a great tool to have to keep me focused on my kiddos and their reading and the kiddos focused on their jobs.  I can't wait to try this!  

Click here to see the PowerPoint!

By the way...

Here's an explanation of how my literacy centers work.  Each student goes to two centers a day.  They start out at one and it lasts about 2 of my guided reading groups.  Then they switch with the center whose icon is right next to it for the last two rotations.  Of course, during part of that time, they will be pulled back for their own guided reading time, so that averages them at each center for about 30 minutes.  During those centers, they have some sort of work that they have to complete in order to keep them accountable.  They turn this work in at a designated spot in their center folders.  I check it every day and they have a sticker chart where they will get a "happy" or "saddy" depending on the quality of work turned in.  When their chart is filled up with mostly "happies," they get to pick out of the treasure box.

Also, to keep them busy with purposeful and productive activities the whole time, I copied an idea from Renee Edwards, a great teacher who provided an inservice for us this summer.  I created a task chart like this:

Then I prioritized the activities for them to do in that corner.  Of course, the items in box 1 and 2 are the ones I want they to finish and turn in by the end of centers.  Numbers 3, 4, and 5 are less important, but still equally as purposeful.  They might be things like targeted literacy games, activities they've previously done for review, or other activities that don't require a written answer. This way, students who work quickly will have an itemized list of what to do next and keep busy.  The students who take longer to work have the time they need and they know what to work on first to make sure they have the most important work done in time.  What a great management tool!

Rollin' Right Through the School Year!

The third week of school has begun and we're diving into literacy corners!  I am changing the way I do corners/centers/rotations/whatever you want to call them.  I'm adding more corners and I'm really excited about the way these will keep my students engaged and focused on fun, quality assignments that will support my instruction!  Here's a game I made for my "word work" corner.  All you need is a dice and a copy of THIS document I made!

We have talked about two word families so far: -at and -op.  So I created this activity to help them practice changing out different onsets with the -at and -op rimes.  The student will roll the dice, and the number they land on will determine what onset they use.  They will then write it down next to the rime for #s 1-10 and see how many new words they have created!  I hope this works well!  Looking forward to it.  OH and by the way, I have extra large foam dice which I bought years ago to cut down on the noise when they roll the dice on their desks.  But I plan on incorporating THIS great idea I found on Pinterest to eliminate those boogers from tossing the dice all over the room and arguing with me that it was an "accident." Not that I'm bitter or anything ;)