Reading Corner and More!

My students favorite part of the classroom is our classroom library!! It is so comfortable and cozy! It is in the corner of the room and the students love to lay or sit there when they write, read, go on the iPads, and more!  I know I can get my best work done when I am laying on the couch, so I let my students get comfortable when they are working!

I wanted my reading corner to match my classroom colors of yellow, pink, green, and blue.  I found these AMAZING pillows on Oriental Trading this summer and I love them.  They are very well made and I can tell they will last me years!  Oriental Trading makes the pillows in a smaller size too...I didn't realize that until after I placed my order...I may need to order more!

 This next purchase from Oriental Trading is definitely one of my new favorite classroom must haves!! They are dry erase sleeves and you can use them for EVERYTHING!!

When my students are called over for reading groups, they always begin by tracing their letters.  Before I start conducting a reading group, I walk around the room quickly to make sure all of the other students are on task.  While the reading group waits for me this is the perfect activity for them.  I printed out both upper and lower case letters and inserted the paper into the dry erase sleeves.  They erase SO well!!

I also use the dry erase sleeves to hold my examples.  I don't always leave examples out, but this was the second week of school and their first time labeling at the writing center!

I also found these amazing clipboards on Oriental Trading.  My kids use clipboards for write the room all the time!! I use write the room in both reading groups and math centers.  These clipboards are very kindergarten friendly and they match my classroom colors...that's always important! ;)

I love the items I received from Oriental Trading, they are getting more and more teacher items!

“This review is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product listed above. I was provided the sample free of charge by the company or PR agency and I provided my honest opinion. No other type of compensation was received for this review.”

Class Supplies: Bright Ideas Blog Hop

At the beginning of the year I always start with table/group supplies. I have four tables in my classroom where students sit (usually 5 to a table) and each table has a caddy and a crayon bucket.

Inside the caddy we keep scissors, pencils, and glue. Then, in the purple container, that you can see in the image above, we keep crayons.  I love using table supplies at the beginning of the year. My kids all learn to share, they learn self help skills, etc.

However, in January when students return to school after winter break, all of the students receive their own pencil box! The pencil boxes were on their supply lists from the beginning of the year and I just decorated them with paint pens :)

All of my students were so excited to get their own supplies! For me it is great because they learned to share at the beginning of the year and now, as they get ready for first grade, they are going to start learning how to take care of their own supplies

Giving them something new like this half way through the year, not only brings excitement, but produces much nicer work! I know that may seem crazy, but it really does!! My students take such pride in 'their' crayons and they carry their pencil boxes with them to each center. They seem to take their time on all of their work, they color SO much nicer, and I am LOVING it!!

I am not sure if giving them their own pencil boxes at the beginning of the year would have the same effect? My thinking is that it wouldn't because it may get 'old' half way through the year! But, I am not sure, haha! How do you handle supplies in your room? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Head on over to Tiffani's blog at Time 4 Kindergarten, to read another 'Bright Idea' in the classroom!

Jo-Ann Teacher Creativity Blog Hop

I love, love, love Jo-Ann Fabrics and Craft Store! I actually hadn't been in the store since August when I was setting up my room so when I went in last week, I was like a kid in a candy store! There was SO many things that I just had to have!

The first thing I did was grab a pack of washi tape! I have heard SO much about washi tape, but I've never used it! My pack came with three rolls and I loved all of the colors!

I was sitting at my desk on Monday and it came to me...cover my filing cabinet with the washi tape!! Washi tape is so great to work with and it peals off so easily.  

I covered this 2-drawer filing cabinet in a little over an hour! My kids loved it so much that one of the girls said to me, "It's like we just started school!" I said to her, "What do you mean?" and she said, "It's like we just got a new classroom with this beautiful cabinet!" <3

My second project was to organize my pens, sharpies, and other supplies. At Jo-Ann fabric I bought sticker labels, a six pack of blue mason jars, and ribbon. 

I hot glued the ribbon onto the jars and added the sticker labels to the front. The sticker labels are actually chalk labels, but my handwriting just didn't look good with the chalk so I ended up using a white paint pen. The jars came out beautifully!! I LOVE them! Another teacher from my school is already headed out to buy the same ones! :)

My third project was to decorate an awkward wall that I have in my room. It is a short wall and I just never knew what to put there! While I was walking around Jo-Ann fabric I saw AMAZING magnetic cork boards! I ended up buying 4 of them and hung them next to each other on the wall. I also bought some scrapbook paper, letter stickers, and tiny glitter clothes pins to make a title for our new board!

First, I cut the striped scrapbook paper into triangles. Then, I cut the blue scrapbook paper into slightly smaller triangles and glued them on top of the striped ones.

Using the tiny clothes pins, I hung the triangles onto a piece of string and spelled out 'Love Notes' with the letter stickers.

Look how cute!!! And I didn't even hang these cork boards with nails/screws....so no worries, there are no holes in the wall! I hung them with double sided foam sticky tape!

My kids had a blast this week with out new board. Every morning I was receiving new pictures and 'love notes' to hang! 

This weekend you can receive 25% off your total purchase at Jo-Ann fabric and let me tell you....the store employees are so awesome with using coupons! While I was standing in line, I went on Jo-Ann website and found a 50% off one item coupon. So when I checked out I ended up using the 50% off one item coupon AND my teacher discount!! They will let you use as many coupons as you want! Click on the image below for your coupon :) 

Then, sign up for your teacher discount HERE or by clicking on the image below.

Make sure to visit some of my other bloggy friends to see what they made using materials from Jo-Ann fabric in the #teachcreativity blog hop! 

Hadar at Miss Kindergarten

The ladies at Busy Bees

Lidia at Kinder Alphabet

The following review is part of a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores® campaign. I received compensation for this review; however, this is my personal, honest option based on my experience.

Classroom Tour :)

Sooo....I totally forgot to take pictures of my classroom BEFORE the kids came!! So, you may have to excuse some of the mess! I took these pictures Friday after school and I just didn't have the energy to clean! But here we go anyways :)

This is the look from the door:

 here is the look from my desk:

When you open the door to my classroom and look to the left, I have the students kitchen area that they use during indoor recess (if it is raining) or free choice play, which we are lucky enough to have for 30 minutes at the end of the day:

Straight ahead from the classroom door I have two laptops on top of a sand table, that I desperately want out of my classroom haha we never use it!

Here is the students writing center. I have all of their writing options in the red organizational chart (from Lakeshore Learning) on the wall. They can choose what they want to work on and then they sit at the table seen in the second picture. At this table I also have writing prompts, thematic words, different kinds of paper, markers, glitter pens, colored pens, etc. I want to make writing fun! Next to the writing center I also have the pocket chart center. Students will sit on the little cushions in the pocket chart center (from Lakeshore Learning). If there is an activity sheet to go along with their work, then I have clipboards available to them.

                                   
This is the sink area, you can see my color and shape posters :)

Here is the other computer area. I have 2 desktops and another laptop for the students to use. I also have our word wall in the center of the back wall. This way all of the students can see it :) The title was made using my A to Z letters here

I have our classroom library tucked into the back corner. I wanted this to be a quiet place for the children and have a cozy feel. The chairs are actually from The Container Store (but, sadly, I haven't seen them there again since I got them!)

 My 'Great Work' bulletin board. Also made using the letters found HERE

Next to the library I have a wonderful storage shelf. This really helped me organize all the back to school supplies quickly!

 I also have a long back counter where I have my reading group bins, reading series, and my organizational bins with the plans/activities for the week. This is also my reading group table. The bins on the table right now are for my centers on Monday.

I have these pencil bins on my desk. Right now, I am the only one sharpening pencils, but the kids bring me the ones that need to be sharpened :)

 Here is my listening center. I keep all the books on c.d. inside the crate seats. The headphones I have are wireless which is amazing! 

Lastly, here is our carpet area. You can see our thematic books on the whiteboard shelves and our calendar sentences. I also have the ABC posters and number posters from Tammy at Live, Love, Laugh in Kindergarten. Love her :)

You can kind of see my rocking chair where I sit and the big book stand. In the background you can see where I put my students' birthdays and the Common Core posters from Deanna Jump.

 Here is our calendar. The calendar is from Lakeshore, but I, of course, had to change all their cards out for polka dotted ones :)

 Then, I have the jobs right by the carpet so I can easily change them out on Mondays...the letters are, again, from HERE

If you are still with me ;) Then, on your way out of my the classroom you would see my dismissal chart, behavior chart, and my 'star students' where the children try to earn 10 stickers for treasure box!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my classroom!

An Update on My Room and a Little Freebie :)

I was able to get a couple more things done in my classroom this morning :) We actually go back on Monday of next week and then students will return to school on August 20th

I hung up my 'How We Get Home' clip chart. I love it! It matches the rest of my polka dots perfectly and it is going to be so helpful with dismissal. I get so many notes with a change of dismissal for the day and this will be the perfect way for me to keep track of it all. As soon as I get the note in the morning, I will move that students clip to their new dismissal. It will also be great for subs! They will be able to stand right at the doorway and double check all of the students dismissal :)

My school is huge! So we have 2 different carpools and 2 different places that students can be dismissed for walkers/bikers as you can see above. I created additional dismissal tags and have them all here:

If you buy the pack and there is a dismissal tag missing, just shoot me an email and I will make it for you :)

I also hung up my word wall! I love how it came out! :) It did take me a little while to measure it, but the time was well worth it! I got the letters for the word wall words from Tammy over at Live, Love, Laugh and then I added on my letters to the top for my 'Word Wall' title.

I also added those letters to my 'Star Students' board and my writing, poetry, and reading centers too! They look great and match my room perfectly!! You can use these letters to create anything you want! The possibilities are endless :)

I am in the process of making a 'Miss Clabby' banner using them! It is looking fabulous ;)

You can find the letters here:

and you can find Tammy's word wall letters/pictures here:

Now it is time for your freebie :) I bought 3 bins from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (only $5 each) and created little tubs around the room to keep me organized. I made one for our reading buddies:

another for the clipboards:

and lastly, I made one for the students' to add their library books when they are finished with them:

I printed the letters out on 8 1/2x11 label paper that I bought from Office Depot. Then I cut the letters out, peeled the backing off, and stuck them right on! I love the way they look! Last year I used a paint marker to write on the bins, but I like this look better!

The paper is a little pricey (I think I paid $11 for 25 sheets) so I squished all of the letters onto 2 pages so I wouldn't waste any paper!! If you want to grab your letters just click on any of the pictures above :) I hope you are able to use them!!