January Monday Made It

It's that time again!  Monday Made It with Tara.  I enjoyed it so much this past summer - those Mondays that I could just blog hop from one website to another pinning all those fabulous ideas.  Then school started and I can't just relax in my pj's anymore - yes, I'm still sad about that - Christmas break was wonderful!

Well this past month I have been filling up my little store on Teachers Pay Teachers.  That's mainly what I've made.  I've created quite a few things for my kiddos - and they seem to be appreciative.  The other day we were playing Scoot with our Mid Year Math Review and they asked me where I got the game from.  I told them that I made it myself (since for the majority of the fall my answer was from other fabulous teachers).  They actually thanked me!  After I picked up my jaw off the floor, I decided that I WAS a creative type of person who really does enjoy making things.  Yes, I finally convinced myself. 

Okay, so here is some of the stuff I've been making:

  

Banners for Whole Class Incentives - They spell the words on those special weeks to earn a class prize.  

 

Math Review - Double Digit Multiplication, Long Division, Math Facts, Mid Year (Factors, Rounding, Place Value, Division, Multiplication)

There are other things that I've uploaded too over at the store.  

Thank you for your support and encouragement!  

The other big thing that I did for school was changing around a wall and creating a brand new word wall.  In the past 2 1/2 years that I have been in this classroom I have despised this section of the wall.  They moved my TV over to this area 2 years ago and it has always been a weird set up as some of it is tucked behind it.  Not to fear though - what a difference it has made with bright paper.  The ABC cards on it are actually Tonya's Portable Word Wall from TPT.  I had bought it planning on making it portable, but then they were the perfect size. 

I hope you have a wonderful day!   

Planning for Dr. King's Birthday

For Dr. King's Birthday, I like to have my students think of their own wish for the world.  We discuss what Dr. King's dream was, and then we brainstorm together what our own wishes are.  Coming off of Christmas when the students are so focused on themselves and what they feel they need, I try to guide them into thinking of things that will help the entire world.
For example: *Clean water for all *Peace *No wars *Medicine for anyone who needs it
We discuss and then they write a multi-paragraph essay about it.  We are working on details, so they will need to not only state their dream, but also a solution that could make that a reality.  Of course the solution may not be a real life possibility, but in their eyes it could.  
When they are ready to tackle the final draft I will give them a paper from this packet.  There is a full sheet with clip art, as well as a 1/2 sheet with clip art.  It's free, just click the link!  

The new year means I'm also starting out a new incentive thing in my classroom.  My kids are spelling out words to earn whole class rewards.  We tried doing something like this the week before Christmas break using Tara's "Be Merry" banner, and they really were motivated to earn the letters.  We still do warm fuzzies, but these are mainly used those weeks that there is something special going on and we need a little extra motivation to make good choices (staying on green, walking in line, etc).  

I made up a DREAM banner (and also a SNOWMAN , and then a Love Bug one), and this weekend am planning on getting the rest of Winter complete.  I'm making up 2 sizes for each banner since I want to use the full sheet for the Writing wall and the smaller 1/2 sheet for the board.  They are in the same set for convenience.  
Do you do something for Dr. King's birthday too?  Any other activities you could share with me?  Sometimes it seems that I get so trapped in the regular routine that I forget about all the thematic stuff that helps to supplement their learning.