Father's Day Gifts

Father's Day 2012 has come and gone.  The Room 39 kids made their gifts in the last week of school.  Our mother's day gift was a beautiful necklace, made from a washer, a ribbon, and a decorative bead.  So, keeping in the same trend of diy gifts, we created a key chain for the fathers.  

Each student wrote their name with a Sharpie marker on one side of the washer. Is there any sweeter gift that one with your 6 year old's handwriting on it?

 For our Mother's Day gifts, the kids stamped their names.  Stamping just took too long for a last week of school activity.

Then, the students stamped "DAD" on the opposite side of the washer.  These stamps came from the Target Dollar Spot.  When I saw them, I got 5 sets, not having a specific task in mind.  After researching options for ink, we used STAZ ON ink (purchased at JoAnn's).

Key rings were purchased from a craft store as well.

To top off the gift, students created their own original cards.  We hole punched the corner of each card and attached the key chain with some curling ribbon.  Our father's received their gifts after the last day of school, so I'm not sure what the response was, but I'm guessing they were pleased to receive a practical, yet sentimental gift.

The Summer Bucket List

The last day of school has come and gone... and I'm now trying to catch up on the things I enjoy to do in my leisure time.  I plan on reading, blogging, and most importantly, spending time with my little girl and husband.

I said goodbye to my students last week and as my parting gift, I created a "Summer Bucket List" for the Room 39 kids.  

I have always given my students 2 gifts throughout the year- a Christmas gift and an end of year gift.  I purposefully give gifts at these times because the kids are getting ready to spend a large amount of time away from the routines of school.  I want to encourage them to keep their minds in some sort of "school" like mentality.

When I first began teaching, I was in a low-income school and my gifts were usually school supplies that students could take home and use.  I've kept in that trend, even when my students aren't as needy because I want the students to be able to "play" school, just like real school.

The bucket contains the following:

• summer reading program information and story time information from our local public library
• sharpened pencil
• 2 sets of addressed, stamped envelopes and cards (addressed with the mailing address for myself and our class paraprofessional)
• a piece of sidewalk chalk
• wedding bubbles
• 2 bookmarks

This bucket list is available on Teachers Pay Teachers as a freebie.  (I'm so new to TpT as an uploader, so anything I upload is free.)  Enjoy!

And I'm back!

 The chaos of the school year took over.  I am making a resolution (in April) that I will post at least weekly.  My great group of kiddos and I have been very busy over the past few months.  Here are some snapshots of the fun.

During the month of November, my kids brought in non-perishable food items for the holiday season to share with families in need.  I was so touched by the generosity and compassion my students demonstrated.

The PTO sponsors a holiday plate raffle in December.  Each class gets to decorate a plate and it is raffled off at the December PTO event.  Here's our cool plate- each student dipped their finger in white paint to make a snowflake.

One of my Christmas gifts was this sweet Christmas tree that lights up!  The parent had made an ornament for each child in the class.  This will be a part of my room for years to come.

My kids are really great at thinking and writing- We use a lot of thinking maps.  Here is a example of 2 thinking maps that we've completed through magazine collaging.  This was during a study of needs and wants.  The blue paper is the "Needs" thinking map and the yellow paper is the "Wants" thinking map.  (Please note, the photo on the top right is peas.)  

I love the way the kids apply their knowledge of letter sounds to their writing- the bottom picture on the left is of an I Pod Touch.  

I was lucky enough to attend a Debbie Diller conference (WOOHOO)! The conference was held at the beautiful Hotel Jefferson in Richmond, VA.  While at the conference, I picked up a lot about math workstations and building vocabulary enrichment during instruction.  I bought the Math Work Stations book and she signed it!

March came with Read Across America month.  For those not in the know, Read Across America is held in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday.  My class celebrated with a weekend meet up to see Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.  One of our awesome mothers made delicious treats for us to enjoy at school.  See Thing 1 and Thing 2!

In preparation for Spring Break and our math egg hunt, we read the book Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco.  Afterwards, we created our own papier mache eggs.

We also studied Community Helpers during the month of March.  The biggest hit by far were the firemen from our local fire station.  

 That's enough catching up for now.  I will uphold my resolution!  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

ABC Stamps

So when Target was having their awesome sale in the Dollar Spot, I was only able to find 1 set of alphabet stamps on sale (sad face).  But, the others were only $1, and to me, that's worth it. 

I created an activity for my students to "stamp" their name the very next day for morning work.  With the amount of stamp sets I had purchased, I was able to have at least 2 sets at every table.  The morning of, I quickly found out that this was very time consuming for my kinder-friends. 

I really was pleased to find the stamps at such a great price, but will be holding off on using the stamps until literacy workstations.

30 Cents Target Dollar Spot Deals

I suppose Target was trying to make room for new merchandise in the dollar spot.  Whatever... I made out quite well- check out my stash that I purchased, all for 70% off (of a dollar). 

I got some pointers, pom poms, pipe cleaners, happy birthday certificates, letter stickers, cheapo dry erase boards and markers, tin buckets, letter flash cards, animal flash cards, foam blocks, rubber stamps, stamp pads, name plates, labels, chap stick, and MORE!

I already have plans for what I've purchased.  Most of it has been put in the hands of my kids already.  Next week we'll be practicing our "Read/Write Around the Room" workstation and those pointers will be put to good use.  My kiddos already use them around the room for calendar, Reader's Workshop, and at our Word Wall.

We are celebrating our first classroom birthday this week, so the birthday certificates couldn't have come at a better time.  I also got sets of bookmarks and these have already found a home with each of my students in their daily book bag. 

Smellies!

When Target was having their killer deal in the dollar spot, I picked up some of these neat chapsticks.  Tootsie Roll Pops, Trix, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Chocolate Chip Cookie, and Fruit Roll Up.  I am continuing my efforts this year to move towards an incentive program that is low cost, easy, and does not involve food or candy. 

Every once in awhile, some friends need an extra incentive.  These will be wonderful "Magic Smellies!"

Windows + Paint = make the gloomies disappear

Not a great photo, but what I like most about my classroom is the light.  This is definitely not a picture that emulates that... but between the blue walls and the big window, the classroom is bathed in light.  (Now that I think back, I took this picture on a rainy day...) 

In my previous classroom, I had curtains hanging up that my mother made for me.  When I moved into a non-classroom/office type role, I passed on those curtains to my sister, a first grade teacher.  They were Clifford curtains and were super cute. 

As this school year was gearing up, and I found myself back in the classroom, I had to do some back to school shopping.  With all of the great finds that I picked up for the classroom, I was running low on funds.  I have been a long time fan of Sara's Art House and decided to take inspiration from her windows. 

I called in the help of my tall hubby (help was needed b/c I have Tyrannosaurus Rex arms).  I pulled out the paints that I had in my craft stash and a paintbrush, showed Tim some window-painting-inspiration from Sara Mincy's website and put him to work.  They really look better in person.  Everyone has really liked them so far. 


When the custodian came by, I mentioned to him that I would be responsible for cleaning the windows.  He was not at all worried.  When my principal came by, I again mentioned that I would take responsibility for the windows.... and she wasn't worried.  The painted window valance was a hit!