tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28332722507823775302024-02-19T23:38:07.082-08:00Mrs. James' JungleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-17900851689419324502014-05-07T18:55:00.000-07:002014-05-07T18:55:09.878-07:00Field DayI have so much to post, but there never seems to be any time! Today was field day and needless to say, I'm exhausted! Luckily for us, it was overcast the whole day and stayed very cool. There's nothing worse than a scorching hot field day and overheated kids. Yuck!<br />
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Right now I'm working on a manipulative math center to teach >, < and =. We're going to be trying it out next week and I'll let you know how it works. For me, this has always been one of the hardest topics to teach. Either they get it, or they don't and for the ones who don't it is so hard to help them! I can get them to the place where they answer correctly but I'm never sure that they understand the concept. I was playing around with different ways to teach it when it occurred to me that Popsicle sticks would be perfect! I showed the students that >, < and = are really just two lines that we move to show which side is bigger.<br />
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Wow! What a difference! After just a few tries with it I saw some real understanding from a group of kids who were lost before. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier! I'll definitely take some pictures next week and write a longer post about it. Right now, I'm going to bed!!!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-6061513724460916682014-04-06T09:28:00.000-07:002014-04-06T09:33:37.941-07:00Play Dough!I spent some time this morning making play dough for my class. It turned out great! I've had varying degrees of success with this but I really think this time was the best!<br />
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It's very soft and pliable but not at all sticky! (The play dough is for first graders but the snail is compliments of my resident fifth grader who did a lot of the work!)<br />
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I think the big difference this time was I didn't freak out when it looked too runny and just kept cooking it. In the space of just a few minutes it went from a runny pancake batter to a slightly sticky play dough. I kept cooking and it really firmed up. Then I cooked about two minutes more--after I thought it was done.<br />
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The other difference was that didn't use my usual liquid food coloring. I had recently bought some gel coloring from Michael's and it worked great! It didn't add any water to the play dough so the consistency stayed nice and firm!<br />
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So, here's the recipe I used</div>
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I mixed together in a pot:</div>
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2 cups of flour</div>
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2 cups of warm water</div>
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1 cup of salt</div>
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2 tablespoons of olive oil</div>
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1 tablespoon of cream of tartar</div>
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Turn the heat on and stir! Stir continuously until it comes away from the pot and has a play dough consistency. Stir for two more minutes! Remove the dough from the pot and let it cool for about ten minutes before adding the food coloring.</div>
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I wanted a lot of colors so I divided mine first. </div>
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We use play dough almost every day in my classroom. Usually it's for word work. The students roll it out and write sentences or words in it. They poke the letters in using dots made with the tip of a pencil. We do have a bunch of play dough tools but those are for Friday! Dough extruders are such great tools for strengthening fine motor skills. </div>
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Throughout the week my kids have the chance to earn tickets and on Fridays we trade them in for coupons. One of the coupons is play dough! They get to keep a tray with play dough and tools near their desk and whenever they are finished with their work they can play. I suspect that with all these new colors, there will be a run on the play dough coupons!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-27446862641878586832014-04-06T05:37:00.003-07:002014-04-06T05:37:58.758-07:00Word Walls!Wow, this isn't my post but over at Dragonflies in First there is a fantastic piece on using interactive word walls. I have a word wall and I use it but it's not nearly as effective as I think it could be. I'm so excited to try these ideas. Check it out!<br />
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<a href="http://www.dragonfliesinfirst.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" title="Dragonflies in First"><img alt="Dragonflies in First" src="http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k610/tlclausen/DIFcirlce-logo_zps44da75f5.png~original" height="200" style="border: none;" width="200" /></a></div>
You can find it here:<br />
http://www.dragonfliesinfirst.com/2014/03/interactive-word-wallbright-idea.html<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-34731030695977343962014-03-11T18:59:00.004-07:002014-03-11T18:59:44.576-07:00March and St. Patrick's Day Linkup!Spring seems to be finally here and I'm celebrating by participating in a March and St. Patrick's Day product linkup over at 1st Grade Salt Life. I've added my March Morning Work for First Grade. There are lots of great spring products to take a look at and a ton of St. Patrick's Day resources! Head over and take a look!!<br />
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Enjoy and happy (almost!) spring!
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-48642525992043928202014-03-10T15:54:00.000-07:002014-03-10T15:54:10.601-07:00It's All About the Money!This year we started a new program. When the students go above and beyond or finish an extra project they get tickets. I've given out tickets before but we always turned them in for treasure box items and after a while I just got so tired of buying and sorting out what really were junky toys that sometimes just stayed in their book bags! This year, we changed it up. Instead of buying toys, they bought coupons for things like chewing gum, wearing a hat, bringing in a stuffed animal to sit on your desk, using a pen or better yet, smelly markers! It was an amazing hit!!! The kids were unbelievably motivated and the tickets were the talk of the class! I can't take credit for the program--I was blog hopping and I found MelD's amazing blog. Tons--TONS--of great ideas.<br />
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<a href="http://seusstastic.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations"><img alt="Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations" src="http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy8/JumpingJaxDesigns/Blog%20Designs/SeusstasticButton_zps78e91649.png" style="border: none;" /></a></div>
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Pretty soon I noticed that just giving out one ticket at a time wasn't enough and I started giving out tickets that were worth five and ten, too.<br />
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So, what does all this have to do with money? This week we started counting money. I usually dread this unit. It seems like no matter how many times we count by fives and tens this just really trips them up, especially when we count mixed coins...ugh!<br />
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Today we counted with dimes, nickels and pennies. <span style="color: blue;">EVERY CHILD</span> sat down, counted the money and was <span style="color: blue;">RIGHT!!</span> No problems at all! What made the difference? It was the tickets!!<br />
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Every Friday before we go to the coupon store, everyone counts their tickets. They were counting mixed tickets, 10s, 5s and 1s. Sound familiar? I really think that what made it work was that it was meaningful to them. They weren't just counting coins on a paper to see if there are enough for a picture of a toy. They were saving and counting their tickets for things they really wanted. Right now extra recess is a hot coupon!<br />
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It didn't happen overnight and up until about a month ago I was still helping a few of my students with counting their tickets but they all got it eventually because they <span style="color: red;">NEEDED</span> to know how many tickets they had! Before long I was hearing "30, 40, 45, 50, 51, 51...I have 52 tickets!"<br />
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We have savers and spenders. It was so funny in the beginning of the year to hear "I have 26 tickets but nothing costs 26 tickets!" It was a good lesson in greater than and less than--as long as it costs less than 26 tickets you're good to go!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you count them out you'll see they're in groups of 100!</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-35925501323379709882014-03-09T15:09:00.000-07:002014-03-09T15:09:21.779-07:00Sight Word Sampler!So, I decided to create a sampler of the activities in my Super Sight Word Packet and offer the sampler as a freebie. This way teachers can get a feel for the packet and see if it works for them before buying the whole packet. You can get your copy of the sampler here:<br />
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I have to admit, I LOVE sight words! At the beginning of the year we have a literacy night with the parents of the kindergartners and first graders. I know I always go overboard when we talk about sight words but I feel like if I can get across to the parents the importance of learning these words the rest of the year is soooo much easier! As a parent (and, yes, sometimes as a teacher!) the first thing we tend to say when a new reader is struggling is "sound it out". There's nothing wrong with sounding a word out but I tell the parents that it's such a labor intensive strategy that we try to save it for when it's really needed.<br />
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One of the ways I show them is I put up on the board a page of a book we read in November. It has about 25 words on the page and it looks pretty overwhelming. We go over how hard it would be to sound out every word on that page and how little you would remember by the end of each sentence, never mind the whole page!<br />
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The next slide I show is the same page but this time all the sight words we've already learned have been whited out. There are now only two words on the page and one is easily figured out with a picture cue. Every year the parents say "Ohhhhh"! It really brings to the forefront the importance of learning high frequency words!<br />
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We use Houghton Mifflin reading and I really do like it. It introduces 6-9 new sight words every week. Each week builds on the week before and the learning is very incremental. We use the Sight Word Packet activities as centers or homework throughout the week and it really helps reinforce these words. In the packet I've labeled each page with what theme/week it corresponds to in Houghton Mifflin so T8W1 is theme 8, week 1. Having said that, you don't need to use Houghton Mifflin to use the sheets! These sight words are all on the Dolch and Fry lists and are words every reader needs to know!<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-26096850576223637442014-03-08T12:11:00.000-08:002014-03-08T12:11:46.240-08:00If You Give a First Grader a Pancake......they'll be hyper for the rest of the day! Every year around this time we read<i> If You Give a Pig a Pancake</i>. It's one of the first books in our reading series that they recognize as something they've seen before and a book you can really get at the bookstore or library. Of course, after we read the book, we <span style="color: magenta;">HAVE</span> to make pancakes! I've always just had pancakes and syrup but this year first grade has an amazing TA and she was having none of it! Soooo... we ended up with blueberries, chocolate chips, vanilla chips, peanut butter chips, sprinkles and whipped cream. Well, did you know that sprinkles make pancakes <span style="color: magenta;">AMAZING</span>?!? I had no idea! They really were fantastic. As for making the kids hyper, well, I already knew about that so we did the pancakes at the end of the day on Friday. Teacher payback for giving them doughnuts for breakfast!<br />
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Oh, our forever boxes were a great success. Here's a finished one:</div>
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Have a great weekend! It's in the 60s here today after a rainy, freezing week and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-81885062348193713962014-02-17T09:06:00.001-08:002014-02-17T09:06:14.427-08:00I'm Ready for Spring!What a week! We been out of school for five days! We only had about four inches of snow but the nighttime freezing and a holiday today kept us home. I can't believe I'm saying this but wow! I'm so ready to teach for a week straight.<br />
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So, we weren't in school for St. Valentine's day but I always have the kids bring in their valentines way early. Filling them out was the homework for last Monday night and they brought them in on Tuesday so they're all sitting at school just waiting for us! Tomorrow seems like a good St. Valentine's day for us!<br />
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My fantastic TA had the BEST idea for valentine holders. She got in touch with a cigar shop and had them hold cigar boxes for us. They gave us over 30 boxes for FREE!! They are beautiful! Some are so pretty we decided not to paint or decorate them and use them for storage around the classroom (dry erase markers, pencils, etc.).<br />
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We let each child pick a box. We pulled sticks with their numbers on them to be fair! They sanded them down and we spray painted them gold and silver. They are in the process of decorating them with buttons, beads and colored pasta. It's amazing to see their personalities come out in the way they decorate! Of course, because of the snow it's still a work in progress. We are planning to use bags tomorrow for the valentines and we have re-branded the boxes as "forever boxes" for them to keep all kinds of special items in.<br />
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I heard one cutie say about the Fruit Loop necklace he was currently sucking on "I'm not eating this...I'm just sucking on it because I want to keep it in my forever box!" Of course, we let him know that he might as well eat it because it wasn't going to make it in the box!<br />
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Here's a picture of the cigar boxes before we did anything to them. They really are beautiful. Once we get the forever boxes finished I'll post some pictures of them, too!<br />
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Wow, when I look at the table I see no fewer than two coffee cups and a Diet Coke tumbler. I might have a problem! :)</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-22693266146658930972013-12-01T18:57:00.000-08:002013-12-01T19:01:01.621-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!This weekend has been a whirlwind! We were fortunate enough to be able to visit family for the holidays and had a fantastic time. My son surprised us all by deciding to run in a 5k the day after Thanksgiving! He had done it once before but had trained for a long time before trying it. This time he just decided to do it the morning of the race! We are all so proud of him...he did a fantastic job!<br />
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I had every intention to do a little Black Friday shopping but it never happened. I promised the kids that we would all watch the Punkin' Chunkin' special on the Science Channel. We went to the actual Punkin' Chunkin' a few weeks before and there was a possibility that we could be on TV. Little did I know that the special was 2 hours long! I did get to see a split second of my kids as they panned the audience! We'll have to watch it again with the pause button ready! Anyway, by the time the special was over, I was done for the night...no shopping for me! I'll have to make up for it on Cyber Monday! (I can shop and watch TV at the same time!)<br />
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Speaking of Cyber Monday, TpT is having their big Cyber Monday sale! Everything is discounted site wide. All of the items in my store are 28% off! If you have been using the focus walls or the morning work and don't yet have all of them, now is the time to buy! The sale is actually from Dec 2-3 so you have a little time to shop. I know my wish list is growing!<br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jennifer-James-7803" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfLFmyhC357Mvwz5WwoUBW6BgIylTcsKgATopYKRNkcbBXS8P5M4cgy8k7wyW9b0UlQ1smYAOWAH1lnSbkp-MC7rHEkFn8hIxbj-28jqmY1Zt-aykyalg6UZXaP555BFDdKR33bNaQM8Q/s320/Slide1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you haven't been lately, there are a couple of new things in my store. I finally finished December Morning Work...about time! The Catholic version has pages for each week in Advent.</div>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/December-Morning-Work-for-First-Grade-980527" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxePYiOkm5XCXC-6AXFNSV8RCQIS6-eIaQU7gVUGc9pP0ygzT8hOIWZ1raSgGgMi3U4tafA2NUw5K0qMV1RkAUE-vQH9JgkZxZxFbIVuuz24fyNiGR8qm4_DLYsAPxSrDjyo_IuIOrVI/s320/Slide04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">There's also a great Christmas Cookies real/nonsense word activity:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Cookie-Sort-Real-and-Nonsense-Words-with-Short-Vowels-1004571" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvAAGEJYD4tu4byq5KybixGvbu1eCHp4h9qGVvQYCPzxmnkZUJKlyCafOXkqncMtt-iHOsAK7Kz2agW0_ueWzcozg-xdcdvEi9YM005YQKvofzbst6OKex14F5dWz2jknC9XAZWnxcqo/s320/Slide1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I love doing these activities with my kids. They really help with students who need practice with decoding. It's amazing how much more quickly they can decode from the beginning of the activity to the end! </div>
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So, be sure to stop by and check it all out! </div>
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Happy Shopping!!!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-30004624695098600582013-11-10T17:04:00.000-08:002013-11-10T17:04:18.904-08:00Fifty Followers Flash Freebie!Yea! My TpT store has 50 followers. To celebrate, for the next 50 minutes my Short Vowel Spinner Games are Free!!!<br />
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Click the picture below to get your copy:<br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Short-Vowel-Spinner-Game-945751" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9QS9ugQtgyOxw1FsjV6vEVTN6-t46sWwrfdC7C2h_Qcck60YMPkay1hxVwNbNCbfGiZbC2VwvBAOseBTuVh7on2OMm_RLbIS1OaQmV-C9hftInM9pnyBArCSe4LPLmyjg27XRKVwC4A/s320/Slide01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Enjoy!!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-74707521744052160642013-11-06T20:09:00.000-08:002013-11-06T20:09:12.468-08:00I'm Back! Oh, that's right, I have a blog!!! Life has been so busy with home and school that I haven't been posting like I should. Of course, I haven't been cleaning, cooking, exercising or sleeping like I should either!<br />
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We spend the weekend in Delaware at the World Championship Punkin' Chunkin'. I should have my pictures downloaded tomorrow. Everyone had a fantastic time! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Unfortunately we were right by the outlets and I forgot that there is no sales tax in Delaware...talk about a missed opportunity!<br />
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First grade is clicking along. The kids are just fantastic this year. We're finishing up our short vowel study and getting ready for long vowels and blends. Our enrichment teacher was in the other day with a great Halloween spinner game to teach map coordinates. It got me thinking about all the ways I could be using spinners in the classroom. We had just done a spinner page in math so I decided to make a game for language arts, too. I came up with a Short Vowel Spinner Game. The kids use a paperclip and a pencil and spin to find beginning letters for cvc words. We started using it as a center this week and they love it! They have to decide if the words are real or nonsense so it's great for decoding. It gives me a good idea of who's really decoding and who is relying on other skills. It also let me focus on kids who are having trouble with short vowels.<br />
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I'm definitely going to have to get a game together for cvce and vowel blends. (Of course, I still have to get December morning work made so it may take a while!)<br />
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If anyone is interested, here's a link to the game:<br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Short-Vowel-Spinner-Game-945751" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59xNncQyYYApK01EJrdLsiAACdk8D91w6eOVWVKfkyGWkxT92X47Ze_rtZkflfo0KNiczJ20fETc9TUrZjpoKQOyL3jQQUg8TZp05pqX4XWp_gFCx9n5C7s05bnpNEKVt-Ix2DywjJrk/s320/Slide01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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More to come but first I need to sleep!!!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-82619576543347125842013-09-23T15:51:00.000-07:002013-09-23T15:51:08.928-07:00Busy, Busy, BusyWow, when the school year started I had no idea how busy I'd be this year. I had great plans for posting on the blog at least once a week. You see how that went! Overall, though, school is going great. I have a fantastic class and an amazing TA so I can't complain! We've just started to really get into Houghton Mifflin Reading and this is my favorite time of year with it. We started our reading groups and have begun to focus on high frequency words. I bought this resource pack from Made for 1st Grade and it has been a lifesaver! I've had it for three years now and by far the thing I use most are the Lightning Words. It's a weekly sight word homework sheet and the results are amazing! I love it! You can see it here:
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http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Houghton-Mifflin-Resource-Pack-1st-Grade-2004-edition-145234<br />
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If you teach Houghton Mifflin this is definitely worth it!
New for me this year is Reading A-Z. I put it on my order last year and the resource fairy delivered it! I haven't spent too much time with it yet but now that things are slowing down a little bit I plan to. I had a free trial last year for a couple of weeks and I really liked it. I like the decodable readers but...WOW...I love the reader's theater. I started doing RT a couple of times a week and the difference in fluency was amazing! I only had a limited number of downloads so I made a few of my own scripts using our decodable readers that come with the reading series. By the time we were done "rehearsing" and performing they had read the book at least 6 times and they loved doing it. Definitely not boring!!<br />
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Well, beef stir-fry and hungry children are waiting!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-33086311235054127862013-09-02T16:35:00.000-07:002013-09-02T16:36:35.900-07:00Literacy Linky Party!I just joined up with iHeartLiteracy for a K-2 Literacy Roundup linky party! I linked my Houghton Mifflin Focus Wall for Theme 1. It's getting to be that time and if you've just started school and you're using HM Reading Theme 1 is right around the corner. For me, next week is the last week of the Back to School theme. I know how important Kindergarten review is but I have to admit that I love getting into the routine of the themes, starting reading groups, etc. When I put up my focus walls I feel like we're really back to school! Come join the party!<br />
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Speaking of back to school, last week we made our first class book. Every year I start with this one since we're working on letter/sound review. It's an ABC Book made with the children's names. Tomorrow I'll bind it and put it in the class library. I can guarantee that for a few weeks we'll have to pick sticks (popsicle sticks with the student's names on them) to decide who gets to hold/read the book. Even after that, though, it's always a popular book. I have a special book box for all the books we make together along with yearbooks from past years. Always a hit!<br />
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Well, we've certainly enjoyed the long weekend! I don't think we really did anything at all but it was nice to not really have any pressure. Now it's off to make lunches and iron shirts (and find out what last minute homework someone accidentally forgot!).</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-73682892794417785342013-08-27T20:00:00.000-07:002013-08-27T20:00:53.743-07:00September!September is right around the corner! Now is a great time to pick up my packet of September Morning Work. It's packed with great math and literacy activities for September. I use Houghton Mifflin at my school so the literacy activities are loosely aligned with that but it can be used with any program. Stop by and take a look!
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-64324717587403345422013-08-25T15:00:00.001-07:002013-08-25T15:00:26.620-07:00Flash Freebie!!!As promised, here is today's flash freebie! From 6-7 pm today I'll be giving away the newest item in my store. It's <i>Picture Me in First Grade:</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Picture-Me-In-First-Grade-843981" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZV5DvaVV1HFhhgKmfR2XIFKRtzjtX1zfaZOgcZzhDbXO2mCXN95mUIr-Y3BotsXx88bsHtW7n3WE06EFuJDpTJvy90NZ-5zU-vZiH445EsurTgq52v1aVMxS0mRk0dNGZCP9RJCUnUI/s320/All+About+Me.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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This great back to school activity includes a picture frame for students to draw or paint a self portrait and an All About Me sheet for them to write about themselves and their favorite things. I'm doing this one next week and I hope to have it ready for a back to school display for our parent night on Wednesday.<br />
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I'm also super excited to do this again at the end of the year. I love seeing how much the children have changed--in their likes and their abilities. The handwriting alone is always so different. I'll send the beginning and end of the year papers and drawings home at the end of the year but I'll keep copies for their portfolios. I'm thinking I'll bind them somehow but I'll cross that bridge in May!<br />
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Enjoy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-47722814298276318722013-08-24T17:20:00.001-07:002013-08-24T17:20:45.929-07:00Quick Post!Just a quick post...it's been a busy back to school week! It's great to be back with the kids. I have a fantastic class this year! Check back tomorrow for Flash Freebie News!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-61137476775954512632013-08-17T17:30:00.000-07:002013-08-17T17:30:06.683-07:00Ready for Back to School! (maybe)Monday is the big day! The kids and I all go back to school. The room is ready, there is a mountain of supplies waiting by the door and all of the summer homework is done! I'm all planned for the first week but, of course, you never can tell until you really get in there and get to know the kids. I have a lot of activities planned thanks to some back to school shopping at Teachers pay Teachers! I may or may not use them all but I feel better knowing that I have them, just in case!<br />
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We just got back from an impromptu trip to Virginia where we surprised my mom for her 75th birthday! She had no idea we were coming. I told her that she would be getting something for her birthday but not to have dinner. When we pulled up to her street I called her and told asked if anything had been delivered. We put her presents on her porch, knocked and ran around the side of the house. It was great! She was completely surprised! It was a whirlwind trip...just one night...but so much fun!<br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Happy Birthday, Mom!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-80301186263575610382013-08-15T20:16:00.003-07:002013-08-15T20:16:50.951-07:00Back to School Sale!Wow! What a crazy week. It's work week for me and I'm exhausted! On top of that, TpT just announced it's Back to School Sale! If you happen to have anything wish listed, now is the time to buy it! Everything in my store will be 28% off!<br />
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Don't forget the promo code: BTS13. Enjoy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-73665522944570217672013-08-11T18:08:00.001-07:002013-08-11T18:08:08.900-07:00Zebra Curtains!Well not much of a post but I did get into my room for about an hour today and I got a little (very little) work done. I was at Walmart and I found these fantastic <span style="color: blue;">Zebra Curtains!! </span>Perfect for my jungle room and less than $5.00 each! I took them in today with curtain rods intending to hang them. I opened the curtain rods and they attached with HUGE screws! I'll admit that push pin things pretty freely to my walls but this was a bit much even for me! I was about to give up when inspiration hit! 3M Command tape! I LOVE Command hooks and I always have tons of the adhesive left over so I used that on the back of the curtain rod mount and voila! the curtains are up!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCu-wk-eVYqJPvAg6o0sCCVdn1igLUQxtAOP5KNkm1pqgQg7ncAIyh8KXITMFjdsG8_mHmae05dAgleAGIXAenNFECfqfajA42PnsQII_OqUjoRdsfvUqk86c7FHpXWVbxgFDpP1CGpw/s1600/zebra+curtains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirCu-wk-eVYqJPvAg6o0sCCVdn1igLUQxtAOP5KNkm1pqgQg7ncAIyh8KXITMFjdsG8_mHmae05dAgleAGIXAenNFECfqfajA42PnsQII_OqUjoRdsfvUqk86c7FHpXWVbxgFDpP1CGpw/s320/zebra+curtains.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm short one curtain rod so it's back to Walmart tomorrow but I love the way the curtains look. For now, though, it's time to get ready for tomorrow--work week! My days of staying up until 2am are sadly over...for now!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-64560037718902655862013-08-10T19:04:00.000-07:002013-08-10T19:04:57.993-07:00Flash Freebie!!It's been a fantastic summer and it's hard to believe it has come to an end! I start workweek on Monday so to celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of another great school year I'm having a flash freebie! From now until midnight I'm offering my Pick-A-Problem subtraction game for FREE! This is a great game for the beginning of second grade. I used it at the very end of first, once we had learned how to subtract two-digit numbers. There's no borrowing so it's a pretty independent center or it can be used as a morning work game or for early finishers. Click the picture to head to my store and download it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pick-a-Problem-Subtraction-Two-Digit-Subtraction-Without-Borrowing-781203" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEk-T6MVIbwxuj3fQcieoBeod4IKeSLfef_IAcpw5mON-TiwT_ZVRwKnoNUnNZbDD5Az81L1JDi9yeclY3aaP6saCpJQX5AB0B6c4hYZdcKVp_S3KMrUVwO_znNOp-Kbs5-XStuilxyA/s320/Pick+a+Problem+Subtraction+Cover.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Enjoy and be sure to follow me for upcoming sales and flash freebies!<br />
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Happy New School Year!!<br />
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JenniferAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-15913860280939020152013-08-08T19:33:00.001-07:002013-08-09T09:31:39.599-07:00Final Fling!Our final summer fling was a trip to Baltimore. I grew up around DC and spent summers at camp around the Chesapeake so Inner Harbor was always a favorite spot for us. My kids, however, are native North Carolinians so they hadn't been. We will definitely have to go back in the near future. There was just way too much to do for one day--but we did as much as we could!<br />
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I've always loved the Inner Harbor boat tour but we were too late for that so we did the next best thing. Water Taxi!<br />
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We taxied our way to the National Aquarium. I had to pick myself off of the floor when I saw the admission but in the end it was definitely worth it. The aquarium spirals up through the building and then down the middle. It's hard to explain but it was fascinating.</div>
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Next stop: Science Museum! Normally we wouldn't have splurged for this but we have a membership at a planetarium at home and we were able to use it to get into the science museum for free! There was a neat exhibit on Newton and everything was very hands on--my favorite kind of museum!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXf13jfKsy6pHoMGDHutqzP1fX9n7lcDFGO7E88HjE8VW129ABRoSVUTOVxagQP0EUnLuudY1banrC6khpVhhDRVktQe7xgYZnIjL-R427gp61slZoZzfZ3MhsxzTQmKP7x3jvKw4UWUM/s1600/IMAG1993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXf13jfKsy6pHoMGDHutqzP1fX9n7lcDFGO7E88HjE8VW129ABRoSVUTOVxagQP0EUnLuudY1banrC6khpVhhDRVktQe7xgYZnIjL-R427gp61slZoZzfZ3MhsxzTQmKP7x3jvKw4UWUM/s320/IMAG1993.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Our final stop was Ripley's Mirror Maze. It was amazing! Probably the most fun we had all day. We laughed and laughed and laughed! I tried to take pictures in there but it really didn't work!</div>
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It was a jam packed day but we had a blast! We'll definitely be back soon!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-85357542004837463102013-08-05T19:36:00.001-07:002013-08-05T19:36:48.421-07:00Classroom Set Up--Day 2!<br />
I spent about 7 hours today getting ready and putting the room together. I feel like I really got a lot done. Of course it helps that I'm in a modular and there was no one else there with me. (So no chatting!)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYjG31LIJNjDVvew6UU-lpJsfDJ2szAV54x8x4JaHkCVKEHcRJihb6sOj2Hty1E2tXRRg9V9Z8PR_rf30FPwX2M3dEalm7PRHpPgSyrpaA0KlIB5OHzq40TkAzmvc6KRHg8WillQgHOKM/s1600/IMAG2080.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYjG31LIJNjDVvew6UU-lpJsfDJ2szAV54x8x4JaHkCVKEHcRJihb6sOj2Hty1E2tXRRg9V9Z8PR_rf30FPwX2M3dEalm7PRHpPgSyrpaA0KlIB5OHzq40TkAzmvc6KRHg8WillQgHOKM/s320/IMAG2080.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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My starting point. In the back corner you can see my fantastic helper for the day!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglM2GxKplyNGO0c72yb701S1fgGWP4vDEQwxJIwYW7l9woBLqxAdO6zS14pKiJn5Xt269JdWHwqKi-lHewus7uWrIA6SO3m7A4XLj9uhKkUYU33-uSgn5SlEqCHx42maRB8nCYBtbqCyk/s1600/IMAG2085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglM2GxKplyNGO0c72yb701S1fgGWP4vDEQwxJIwYW7l9woBLqxAdO6zS14pKiJn5Xt269JdWHwqKi-lHewus7uWrIA6SO3m7A4XLj9uhKkUYU33-uSgn5SlEqCHx42maRB8nCYBtbqCyk/s320/IMAG2085.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I always put the rug out first. It's kind of the anchor for the room and everything else fits around it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW85KY6a9fXYmDIq6F-h6XuGox46STif7V_RStSjBvEjBupIsF-XFuKqUBqLPXPcphhAjrRkDI05VNjNY2AZ9lV904mYTTfgV7VX2BPA-AA8suV_3wMWrEeAg6QuOISFLUKc5pTlYwurw/s1600/IMAG2086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW85KY6a9fXYmDIq6F-h6XuGox46STif7V_RStSjBvEjBupIsF-XFuKqUBqLPXPcphhAjrRkDI05VNjNY2AZ9lV904mYTTfgV7VX2BPA-AA8suV_3wMWrEeAg6QuOISFLUKc5pTlYwurw/s320/IMAG2086.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have 17 desks for next year. It looks kind of plain right now but I'm planning on putting border on the cabinets and sprucing things up a bit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHepvfS-719a9TkrRgo9L0g3wDDn_sVansvI9jElzn5wfKfP_wDR1zh5zahphdXwvAdHxxA5BmGAwVbQy-YOyJ8Z4BpKYIiMdXo2kqjb1_CnYfsM-MNcjaox-MGm0ns0Ox7HSbZRWvEc/s1600/IMAG2087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqHepvfS-719a9TkrRgo9L0g3wDDn_sVansvI9jElzn5wfKfP_wDR1zh5zahphdXwvAdHxxA5BmGAwVbQy-YOyJ8Z4BpKYIiMdXo2kqjb1_CnYfsM-MNcjaox-MGm0ns0Ox7HSbZRWvEc/s320/IMAG2087.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is the pile of stuff that I need to figure out something to do with. The sad part is that I don't have the order I placed at the end of last year yet! The closet (the closed door in this picture) and the cabinets are all the storage I have so I have to make the most of it. I'm not sure how to do that yet but I'll figure it out. Of course, the most important thing in this picture is the Diet Lemonade from Chick-Fil-A. Absolutely necessary for all room set up!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCX9rPySegW9IadQ3F6vUvC5yyqFW9tlSQNh0iugpRgHgP0EXM9Ywo5xoX21m5P2BeiqFGfmB4MaDLFVNZ7YO1ya5_GGZYAqOGSNaw8GHJQ9LtRhn-6WXJLZJPCRKtRLpGaogh0RE32f0/s1600/IMAG2090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCX9rPySegW9IadQ3F6vUvC5yyqFW9tlSQNh0iugpRgHgP0EXM9Ywo5xoX21m5P2BeiqFGfmB4MaDLFVNZ7YO1ya5_GGZYAqOGSNaw8GHJQ9LtRhn-6WXJLZJPCRKtRLpGaogh0RE32f0/s320/IMAG2090.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This pocket chart is going to be my "I'm Through" chart. It has a list of activities for early finishers. The blue things on the desks are from Really Good Stuff. They are pencil/eraser/name tag holders. I had them last year but I had tables and they didn't fit so I'm excited to try them out this year. </div>
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So what's waiting for me next is to put away all my new supplies and start decorating the room. I'm going with a jungle theme this year (surprise!) and I'm making jungle labels and a job chart, etc. I'll be sure to post pictures!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-66562468403280866362013-08-04T17:29:00.001-07:002013-08-05T06:07:53.138-07:00The 3am Teacher<br />
Wow, I just spent a ton of time over at The 3am Teacher. I can't believe how much I learned ! (and how much I still have to learn!) It's a fantastic resource. I really love the Tickle Me Tech tutorial for making beautiful cover pages. Now I have some work to do on my covers!<br />
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<a href="http://the3amteacher.blogspot.com" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiie9AYEXofeGxbi2SAm_-96mz-BYhTv36RwMnE0H9bZwk6zFp-8v1ulIAgJ434XUK5Ff0bBuN2Ei2o5GIVbuyRkIWtnBO1syvyqprfUuPLQWRDgigbo9kWx6uWcy83X5G-I0iVbDesQ0k/s1600/the3amteacher.png" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-82875874982784572972013-08-03T19:14:00.000-07:002013-08-03T19:14:23.235-07:00Welcome Darryl!!Yesterday we were happy to welcome a new addition to our family. It's Darryl!<br />
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We finally took the long promised trip to the SPCA to pick out a cat. We visited five cat rooms and found Darryl in the "free range kitten room." These were kittens too big to be in the crates and ready to explore. Darryl is four months old. He was sleeping when we found him. That would explain how we were tricked into thinking he was calm! He's sleeping about three hours at a stretch and purring loudly and constantly. Of course, after the three hours he wants to PLAY! He's lucky he's so cute! He's currently living in our bedroom until we formally introduce him to Larry, our dog, tomorrow.<br />
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Poor Larry. He's feeling a little lonely right now. Here's hoping tomorrow goes well!<br />
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We took Darryl (by the way, Larry and Darryl are the names they had at the shelter!) to the vet and everything checked out. The kids love him! Ok, we all do!<br />
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Welcome Home, Darryl!!!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833272250782377530.post-3481154966921572532013-07-31T07:05:00.001-07:002013-07-31T07:05:52.557-07:00Classroom Set Up - Here We Go!So, it's not officially work week yet but I was able to get in and see how things were going in my room. Happily, I'm not changing rooms this year so I was able to keep things on the wall. Yea! I requested some work to be done over the summer and it's finished! I had three cabinets on the floor by the wall and I had them moved to the wall. Much more space and I can always put kids work on the fronts of the cabinets. I'm in a modular so every little bit of space counts!<br />
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I was going to get rid of my desk but I'm just not ready to bite that bullet yet! Last year I started moving all of my things out of the desk and into the file cabinet thinking to wean myself off of using it. I think I'll keep it for one more year.<br />
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Finally, here's a picture of the mess waiting for me:<br />
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You can see all the things I was able to leave up. Last year the entire campus moved and it was a huge job figuring out where everything was going to go and getting everything put up. I'm heading in today to see what I can get done. I always feel like when I get my carpet rolled out I'm half way there!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01839553780118694807noreply@blogger.com0