Thursday, August 30, 2012

MIA lately.... PLUS Communities, Apples, Voting {new TpT items!!}

Hi blog friends. I have been MIA lately. In fact, I have not been to school this week, due to some personal things going on in my life. I am going back to school tomorrow, but will be taking it easy {hopefully I can get a big chunk of our kiddos Dibel-ed}.  All I have to say is thank goodness for my wonderful friend Amy and the fact that we are team teaching this year. She has been a life saver this week.
 
They have been working on communities this week. Since I was not there, I do not have photos, but you can see some of the stuff they did in my post last year. Just picture two streets in the suburban community and twice as many skyscrapers! Amy said the kids had so much fun :) I can't wait to see their communities tomorrow!
 
It's about that time for Apple Thematic Units! I cannot wait until we start our Apple theme in the next couple of weeks! I have some apple themed math journal prompts in my little store. Be sure to pick up a copy by clicking HERE or clicking the picture below.
And I know its a couple months away, but I made a fun mini packet for the upcoming election! Pick up your copy HERE or clicking the picture below.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Daily 5, Mini-Tour & Bucket Fillers!!!

YOU GUYS. I loooove our class!! All 44 of them! They are doing AWESOME! I am loving this team teaching thing! We had our parent meeting last night, and we had a great turn out, and the parents all seemed excited :) Made us feel really good! We have great kids and great families for sure!

This week we have started the Daily 5. We are using Daily 5 for Dummies to help us plan our lessons. HOWEVER, we are taking it a bit slower. So what D5 for Dummies says to do in one day, we are doing in two. Yesterday and today we learned 3 ways to read a book. We also learned the CAFE strategy of Check for Understanding. Then we worked and worked on building our stamina for Read to Self. Amy and I were honestly a tad worried about how Read to Self would go with 44 kiddos, but OMG they were AMAZING!!! I am so excited for Daily 5 to really get up and running in the next several weeks :)

Okay, last week I was very busy with Open House and other last minute things, so I did not get to post photos of my classroom. These are from Open House night {so excuse all the baskets and whatnot all over the place!}


These are the packets we had for Open House... A checklist for what to do that night, Magic Confetti {I cannot remember who I got that from-if it's yours PLEASE leave a comment so I can give you credit!}, Cara's Student Info Sheet and Getting to Know Your Child sheet, my Helping Hands sheet {from my Beginning of the Year Forms}, and a Welcome letter explaining our class!



My teacher table {with the lanterns I bought and pom poms I made}


Our Classroom Jobs {from my store} and our library pockets. Each pocket has a popsicle stick in it. We write each child's reading level to help them find books in the library. It also serves as a hall pass!


My giant leaf from Ikea! This is a favorite reading area :)


Our Writer's Eye board {pick up your FREE copy here}


My teacher computer & Word Chunk Wall..... AND where my Smart Board is supposed to go.... still hasn't been installed :( I am getting impatient and antsy!!!


Our morning routine board. We say our pledges, then do the school creed, school song, class creed, character trait of the month, word of the week {not posted yet} and quote of the week {not posted yet}.


Our Tree-riffic Words! We will add each word of the week to this tree, so it will be FULL by the end of the year! This is also our turn-in station. Kiddos highlight their names on their papers before turning them in. No forgotten names!!!


Our Bucket Fillers!

To kick off Bucket Filling, Amy demonstrated using a tube of toothpaste. She squeeeeezed it all out.



Then we tried having a few friends put the toothpaste back in using toothpicks {because Mrs. Lynes has no toothpaste at home! Haha} Of course, we couldn't get it all back in! So we talked about how we can't take back our words, and if we say something hurtful, those words stick-even if we say sorry.

Then we read


and discussed what it meant to be a "Bucket Filler" and "Bucket Dipper." We made a Bucket Filler anchor chart and a Bucket Dipper anchor chart.


We threw away our Bucket Dipper chart because we will only fill buckets this year! :)

It's been a great year so far, and I am SO EXCITED!!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

First day of team teaching!!

You guys, I LOVE my new class! All 45 of them :) Yep, read correctly. Forty-five sweeties. My friend Amy and I are team teaching this year, so we are sharing two classes of kiddos. We did a lot of stuff together with our classes last year and it was always so great! So after a lot of research and planning, we got the go-ahead from our principal to team teach! And believe it or not, lots of our parents are really excited about it, too! Not gonna lie, this morning I was a liiiittle nervous about having 45 bodies together ALL DAY, but it was AWESOME!!! They did so well! I think it'll be a great year, and we are going to be able to differentiate and meet the needs of so many more of our babies! So excited for a great year :)

Monday, August 13, 2012

Last day of Back to School Sale!!

Don't forget to stop by my little store for 20% off until the end of the day :) Plus get an additional 10% with Promo Code BTS12! Thanks to everyone who has already visited!! It's been quite successful already-YOU ALL ROCK!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Back to School Sale!!

It's the time we've all been waiting for! Teachers Pay Teachers' Back to School SALE! All items in my store will be 20% off August 12 & 13.{Click on the image below to shop my little store!} BUT WAIT! Use the promo code, BTS12, to get an additional 10% off from TpT! Stock up on your wishlist NOW! :)


{Thank you, Amy Lemons, for the adorable graphic!}

Are you having a sale too?? Link up your store on Blog Hoppin'!

Be sure to pick up some back to school items from my store to get your year off to a great start!


Back to School Math Journal Prompts

Classroom Jobs {NEW!!}



HAPPY SHOPPING :)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Checking in!

Hi friends! I just wanted to let you know that I am still alive!! I haven't been blogging much because I am BEAT. Working in my classroom{for the five whole days I have gone} has WORN. ME. OUT.  I will be posting lots of classroom photos here in the next week or so once everythings is ready, so be on the lookout! I am going to lay on the couch now :) Later!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Back from vacay! Common Core BUNDLES!

Hey all! I had a great time in Rhode Island and Boston!! It was soooo nice just relaxing at the beach and spending time with my {loud} Italian family! LOTS of good food!


Then off to Boston! Here are a few photos!





This vacay was definitely a good mix of relaxation and being on the go, go, go :)

I have posted all of my common core packs into BUNDLE PACKS to make it easier for everyone to download. Click on your grade level to get your copy!