Monday Made It in the Classroom

Hey everyone! Sorry I'm posting so late to the party.  I've been busy in the classroom, trying to set everything up!  Linking up with Tara for another Monday Made It!

I decided to update my bulletin boards using my polkadot card stock and some frames.  Love how they turned out!  Extra love that I didn't waste my color ink when I had these at hand.  

I found these neon color pencils, so decided to make little first day treats for the kids.  

I made up these little table baskets, and added a jumbo size paperclip inside with 2 little signs.  Have you ever been to Bubba Gumps restaurant?  They have these signs at the table that say, "Run Forest Run!" and "Stop Forest Stop!" It helps the waitress know who needs help, etc.  I'm going to try this in the classroom too.  The signs are 2 different colors, so it's easy to notice from across the room.  

So what have you bought at the sale?  I'm still narrowing down my wish list... 

Remember to use the code!  

Back to School in a Flash: Curriculum Must Haves

Sunday yet again?  Time is flying... and now it's the week I HAVE to go back.  Setting up the classroom tomorrow, last minute boys' dentist appointments on Tuesday, and then district meetings the rest of the week.  Already thinking about curriculum?  Me too!

Today's assignment: Talk about what I absolutely LOVE using in my classroom...

One product that I use on a daily basis are my Whole Class Writing Journals.   I know I've shared about it so many other times, but it bears repeating.  I absolutely love using these journals!  These journals are stored in a basket at the back of my room.  Students choose a topic and write in them during Work on Writing, or when they finish their work early.  During silent reading they have the option of reading them and learning more about their classmates.  

One product I LOVE is this... 

I started using Mentor Sentences in my classroom years ago after Jivey shared about them.  This Better Than Basal pack has helped with ideas for each of the Mentor Texts that I use.  Full of activities, writing prompts, etc. I love all the ideas that she has given! 

One product on my Wish List is...

This resource from Joanne Miller looks AWESOME!  I'm so excited to use it with my kids as extra activities to make learning come alive. :)  Tons of activities to use with every single book we read!  

What are your curriculum must haves?  Share!  

An InLinkz Link-up

I LOVE Back to School! {Giveaway}

It's official!  Summer is over. I was at a training this last week, but today I get to start setting up my classroom for this coming school year.  District meetings start later on this coming week.  The fun is about to begin!  

Several of us bloggers have come together to give you some awesome ideas for Back to School Books! These books can be used to set up your classroom community, begin a good lesson, or just as a fun read-aloud.

The book I'd like to share with you is...

I read this book every year with my 4th graders during the first 2 weeks of the school year.  It is set up as a picture book, with one story for each habit.  Each day I take about a half an hour to read the story full class, and go through the discussion questions afterward.  We complete an activity together as we read - sometimes we create our own skits to show comprehension, sometimes we draw a picture, write up a goal, etc... something to turn the habit into something personal to easily remember.   In my classroom, I then display these posters (one per day) as a way to remind students of the Healthy Habits we have learned, as well as our Character Pillars and Classroom Rules.

Have you heard? Teachers Pay Teachers is having a site-wide Back to School Sale August 3rd and 4th, so you will be able to get the Eagles Classroom Poster Pack 28% off using the promo code BTS15!

We know what else really "lights a fire" in you, and that is fabulous technology! We are giving away a brand new Kindle Fire HD6 to one lucky winner! 

Enter the rafflecopter below by hopping through each of our blogs and entering the secret word that can be found on the tablet in each of our posts. Also make sure to follow our TPT stores because the winner will be announced through a message in your TPT inbox! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We are also giving away a $25 gift certificate to Creative Teaching Press!

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Good luck! We hope you have a successful start to your school year!