I Can Board... Pinterest inspired Post 2

Hey guys! This is the second post of my pinterest inspired classroom posts! I hope you enjoy!  Last year I created an I Can Board that I really liked. However over the summer we found out that we would no longer be departmentalizing and so I needed to reconfigure some of my boards. Here is the link to last years board. Click Here!

This is the new board I went with. I didn't change much except now I have 4 picture frames instead of 2, I changed the paper in the picture frame, and I gave the picture the illusion that they were being hung by the string. (The string is really just decoration, it was hung using command strips.)

The red background is fabric from Hobby Lobby. The teal and brown board I got from a local teacher supply store. The picture frames are from the Dollar Tree. The I Can Banner was adapted from a School Girl Style Banner that I edited.

I was really pleased with my results! Do you have an I Can board in your room? I'd love for you to leave pictures in the comments!

Class Jobs Board - Pinterest Inspired Post 1

Hey guys! Over the next couple posts I want to share with you my pinterest inspired classroom ideas! Today, I want to show you my new class jobs board. This year I am changing from departmentalized 5th grade math to self contained. I had to change my classroom from being solely math centered to something more generalized. Our county really encourages us to use class jobs to help our students to become better leaders so I needed a class jobs board. I also have very limited/small bulletin board space!

I was inspired by this post: Clutter Free Classroom 

So here is my version of a Class Jobs Board...

I used burlap for my back ground, library pockets, popsicle sticks for the student names, and the jobs banner is edited from schoolgirlstyle.com.

I don't have many classroom jobs, but the ones I have make my classroom run more efficiently!
These are my jobs
- Car Hop: Goes to my car when I forget something.. or need something heavy carried in :-)
- Paper Filer: Files papers of student work
-Copy Cat: Helps make my copies
- Water Wizard: Re-fills my water cup
-Point Police: Carries the behavior binder to specials & cafeteria
-Lunch Lady: Takes the lunch count
-Computers: Turns on and off the computers
-Merry Maids: helps make sure room is clean at the end of the day
-Pencil Pro: sharpens class pencils
-Librarian: Keeps class library neat and choose class books from the library

I'd love to see what your class jobs board looks like! Leave a picture in the comments!

5 Things I Want to Try in My Classroom This Year!

Hey guys! Today I want to share with you the 5 things I want to try in my classroom this year.  Last year we went full common core in math and reading. After a year of getting my feet wet, I'm now ready to dive in and see how it goes. Here are the 5 things I'm wanting to try during my "diving in" process! 

Number 1: Number Talks 

During a recent math conference this book was brought to my attention as a great way to work on fluency and math strategies with students. This book has common core connections and is for grades K-5.  I have talked my school into purchasing the book and am waiting very impatiently to get my hands on it! 

Number 2: A Carpet 

This one may seem strange but hear me out! In my school only K-3 grades have a carpet in their classrooms. It was always thought to be "too young" for 4-5 grade. To better implement number talks from above I need a "meeting place". Thus I would really like to get a carpet this year. I have read many blogs about intermediate grades using carpets successfully. Of course when I go searching for them again, I can't find them. ::sigh:: Once I have implemented the carpet and number talks I promise to come back and report how it is working! 

Number 3: Desk Organization 

I found a blog that had a really neat idea on how to keep desks organized when students switch classrooms. I am really hoping to try this this year to help keep the desks from becoming black holes. This idea can be found here: http://www.ashleigh-educationjourney.com

Number 4: Fractions 

During a recent math conference, this book was recommended to me for teaching fractions. In 4th grade CCSS fractions are a major focus. I really want to make sure I am teaching it in a way that my students will understand and comprehend, not just know how to find an answer. 

Number 5: I Can... Bulletin Board 

I am really wanting to turn my small bulletin board into an I Can.. CCSS Bulletin Board. I have been posting my standards on my white board, but now that summer is here, I am ready to tackle the bulletin boards. There are MANY cute ideas on how to decorate or organize an I Can bulletin Board. I'm juggling ideas around in my mind and have decided that I will decided on July 1 (when I am allowed to go to the teacher store and purchase items for the new school year) what route I want to go. 

What are some ideas that you are hoping to try this school year?

I hope you enjoyed!

Camping Themed Classroom

Hey guys! Today I want to share with you a few pictures of a camping themed classroom. This is a kindergarten classroom at Oak Grove by Ms. Mason.

Bulletin Board 

A reading corner that looks like a camp site.

Behavior chart 

Calendar and standards board. 

Classroom jobs/ class leaders board. 

word wall 

Closer picture of the word wall. 

Bathroom... I loved the sign that said outhouse! 

Back counter with an ant statue. 

I hope you enjoyed! 

Bulletin Board Ideas

Hey guys! Today I want to share with you a couple of bulletin boards that I thought were super cute! This year our theme for A.R. is "On the Road to Reading". Here are two bulletin boards that were created for this theme.

This board was created by our Title 1 Teacher. 

This board was created by the 4th grade teachers in the pod building. 

Hot Air Balloon Bulletin Board for Accelerated Reader

Hey Guys! Today I want to share my new A.R. bulletin board with you. Every year I change out this board according to our A.R. theme. This year's theme is "On the Road to Reading". Each teacher had to choose a state to represent on this "road." I choose Kansas! I mainly chose Kansas because I wanted to do something with the Wizard of Oz. To go with my Kansas/Wizard of Oz theme I chose to do my A.R. board with a hot air balloons! I think it turned out pretty cute!

I bought the hot air balloon bulletin board set here. This is what the set looks like...

In the clouds it has the point clubs. When the student reaches a point club they get to choose one of the smaller air balloons, I'll write their name on it, and then place it by the correct point club cloud. I drew one cloud by hand and then traced it so that the clouds would have a similar look. 

Check out my past A.R. boards... 

Fish and Fish Bowls

Baseball

Sports Themed Accelerated Reader Bulletin Board

Hey guys! In my classroom I have one bulletin board that changes with the Accelerated Reader (A.R.) theme each year. It's the only board that is not matchy matchy with everything else in the room. Last year our theme was oceans/underwater and I did a bulletin board with fish. (Check it out here!) This year our theme is sports. As I set out looking for bulletin board sets I struggled to find something that would work for what I need. Until I came across this bulletin board set....Scholastic Teacher's Friend Our Home Run Hitters! Mini Bulletin Board (TF8055)

It was perfect! I bought two of this set because it was pretty cheap and I needed more gloves than only one set offered. Honestly I really just wanted the gloves and baseballs, but I decided to use the other things in the set as a boarder so I wouldn't have to spend any more money for this board. I think it turned out super cute! Each student gets a baseball with their name on it. When they earn the appropriate amount of points they get to move their baseball to the glove with that number on it. 

Sports Theme: Make Your Own Baseball Card

Hey Guys! This year at The Grove our school theme is sports/teamwork. I have decided to go with a baseball theme! I usually incorporate my theme into my Accelerated Reader Bulletin Board and then into the first couple of weeks with get to know you activities and such! I just found this super cute baseball card generator that I am planning on using! I'm not 100% sure how exactly I'm going to use it yet. I've come up with a couple ideas.

1) Make it into a writing activity where they tell all about themselves and hang them out in the hallway.
2) Use the cards to show who has what class job.
3) Pull a card: During a lesson sometimes I pull sticks with their names on them when we are doing review, maybe this year I will pull a card instead.
4) I could put the cards on the door with a cute banner that says "Mrs. McDonald's Team"
5) Could be used for a bulletin board.

I feel like the possibilities on endless! I can't wait to do this! Okay here is how you do it! Go to this site... http://www.mlbbaseballonline.com/cards. Upload a picture and feel in the information. The card can be made into football, basketball, or tennis cards with several color combos if you aren't doing baseball. You can then save it and print it out on paper or send it to be printed as a picture! Here is the picture I made as an example.

Bulletin Board Idea- Fish & Fish Bowls

This year our school theme was oceans. We could choose anything to do with the ocean including the beach or under the sea. I decided to go with a NEMO theme from disney, because I really thought my 4th graders could get into it. We use our theme specifically for Accelerated Reader and I have a bulletin board in the front of my room that I use as an AR motivator. The board changes yearly with the different themes. So this year with the NEMO theme I found these cute fish and fish bowls, which goes with the story line of NEMO being put into a fish tank. On the fish bowls are the point clubs and on the fish are the names of my students. The student's fish moves fish bowls depending on what point club they are in. My students LOVE getting to move their fish and they sure do let me know the second that they have enough points to do so! I think it's a great visual reminder and it helps motivate the students because they want to beat their friends.