School has begun!!

Can you believe that school has begun? Well...it has in Palm Beach County, Florida so naturally I assume that it has everywhere else! My first week has been truly amazing! I have a great group of students and we have already started working on WBT. We worked on some great ideas and I will be sure to post about WBT in two days! Today..I want to show you my classroom. I mentioned in a few posts, that my classroom will be Dr. Seuss. I did not take that lightly. So here are pictures of "Seuss"ian classroom!!!!! (Can you tell I am excited?)

Here is 2 of the 3 backboards. You are also looking at the back of my library (which I forgot to take a picture of). The back board will be used for Math Vocab words. Above these boards, is the alphabet with Dr. Seuss characters. (Oops..I forgot that too!!)

Here is 1 of the backboards. I also put the classroom jobs in this picture, These jobs are for my classroom and not the afternoon class. The students will also  use this door to get to the restroom.

Here is where I have the math vocab words. I made this document, and  you can find it here! It's only $1.00 here!!

This is the Writing Center. I downloaded the pencil from Pinterest. Thank you to the The Teacher Wife for supplying such an amazing document!! I printed it at Office Depot and had them laminate because I couldn't print such beautiful colors on my printer.

This is is my favorite corner of the classroom. I made these amazing mailboxes for my students because it drives me nuts seeing paper on the students desk when they aren't in class. They check their mailbox every morning. I bought this awesome box from a thrift store in Davie, FL. I then bought a ton of scrapbook paper from Joanns and then I used ModPodge to attach it to the mailbox. I don't know if you can see, but I have my WBT signs above my board. Every morning, I review it with my students. The students look at it and say "OH!!! Ms. Margolin! I want to teach this one!!!!" Of course, they all pitch in and want to teach it.

Our "Seuss"tastic schedule.

Here are all of the WBT rules. I follow all of the signals but I wanted to have a "Seuss"ian sign. On the  left, you will see the color chart that the students have to follow. This is a school clip chart by RIck Morris. There are many things you can do. Google (or search on Pinterest) for Clip Chart. It is awesome. My kids understand the difference from good to bad and will even get upset if they are on a lower color.

Another fantastic idea from Pinterest. I have seen so many variations and this is the one that I have chosen. It has some awesome balloons that are like Dr. Seuss.

All of my students have a number but instead of calling them #1, #2...I call them Things! My principal came in and saw this and was shocked and thought it was a great idea! So they each know their thing number and will keep track of their number. The picture above shows where the students need to stand during line. They have done a great job using this to line up.

Outside my classroom, I have a bulletin board. It is to be updated at least once a month. On the top, I write You are o"fish"ally a 4th grader. This was taken before i put their names on the fish. When they came for Meet The Teacher, they were ecstatic to see their names.

For Future Work.

This is the newest addition to our house. Her name is Penelope. We got her in June and we moved 20 days later. Here is the new apartment with her watching the weather channel. We were watching the Tropical Storm Isaac pass us on The Weather Channel. I have never had a dog that watched TV, but she does. 

 I hope you get some awesome ideas from my classroom. Have a great year, and Happy Pinning!

Calendar Math

Last year when I created the morning “work”, I always did a worksheet. It was to basically make them sit and get ready for the morning. I tried to make it so it was geared for what they were to learn through the day but most of them just shoved it in their desk. It was a very upsetting time because they just didn’t care. This year...will be different! Mark my words! This year, for morning work my students will be doing Calendar Math! Hooray! I have always been skeptical about it because I thought it was for the younger grades. I found a couple of ideas from pinterest (amazing website!) and wanted to rearrange things so it would suit the students that are in my class. Lo and behold the newest {frankenstein} creation...MY CALENDAR MATH!

I did not put it as an entire page because we have a limited amount of copies that we can make throughout the year. Therefore, it is only half a page for each day. I only collect the Calendar Math on Friday's but it is a grade. I put these in a folder and then I have them keep it there all year long. This will help them see themselves grow. As we get further into the chapters of the books, I will change it so that the students can gain more experience on that particular subject.

This document is a freebie on my TN's store and use it as much as you would like. Happy shopping and happy pinning!

folder covers

Hooray! It’s almost time for school! We go back to “decorate” our classroom on the 14th of August and school starts the following Monday! I am way too excited about this and I know that I should be saying “SUMMER WENT BY TOO FAST!!!” I’m not though! I am so eager to get to know my new class and smell all the brand new supplies and help them ALL pass the FCAT test! This post is to show you what I decided to give to my students for the reading log folder. As you already know...I LOVE making projects but today contained none of my fancy schmancy machines that I own. Today I used shipping (packaging) tape, 25 one color folder (I chose blue), glue stick, and a color printer ( I chose Office Depot to print-I don’t have a color printer. 

I will give you step by step directions on how to create this masterpiece!

Step 1. Buy the folders, print the document, and have a glue stuck ready. 

Step 2. Glue the paper corners (or the middle) just so its enough and paste it to the front of the folder.

Step 3. Cut the shipping (packaging) tape to the size of the folder. Then paste it to the folder. The tape will act as a laminator instead of running the folder through a laminator. This will ensure that the folder will stay firm throughout the year that the students will be able to transport the folder every day to and from work.

I place the reading logs that was posted here and put it inside of the folder. 

stickies&tabs

stickies&tabs

Have I mentioned that I am Do It Yourself teacher? I love buying new machines and creating magnificent things for my classroom. I currently have one cricut, one laminator, and two xyron sticker creator, and one amazing paper cutter. My newest creation is tabs for notebooks. This year, we are doing “Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop,” and I went to her conference in June and it was truly amazing. I cannot wait to incorporate this into my classroom. One thing that they had us do was create tabs using post-its in composition notebooks. YES! That is great! Then after using it for one week straight and eight hours a day...they start to wear/fall off. Uh Oh...How in the world can I create better tabs in a notebook instead of post its? Also, is there a way that I can create a tab to use for my reading progress monitoring, writing progress monitoring, and math progress monitoring binders? I really don’t want to buy 3 packs of 8 tabs for $3.00 a pack! I felt my piggy bank break! :( Then I was playing on Pinterest and saw someone create their own sticky notes. Unfortunately, I cannot find out who pinned it so thank you for giving me the inspiration and allowing me to modify it for my needs! :) I will walk you through the stages of what I did, and hopefully you can make it for your needs/wants!

Step 1. Create the document on your computer, If you are using a hole punch then I suggest you make it just as big as the hole punch. I created 3 circles on one row, and then three on the next. I was not sure if I could fit three rows so I left it at two. I printed out the pages and then placed the post-it notes on top of where the circles are. 

Step 2. Once you have put the post it notes nicely on the paper as seen above...re print it. Use the paper that you have just put the post its on to run through the printer. It will print exactly the same thing that was underneath it. 

Step 3. Remove the post-it from the printed paper. Then take the post-it and do one of two things. One-Use scissors and cut it (which takes eons,,,well it seems like eons). Two- Get an amazing hole punch (like me) and make sure you can see what you’re cutting and punch away. I bought the ek 2.25 large circle. I then flipped it over and was able to see what I was punching and then I had it punched and ready for the next step!

Step 4. Now...you could totally just put the post-it note on the paper and then you are done! You could also take a glue stick and glue one half of the circle and then hold it down on the paper. This will make sure that you definitely have it down! Unfortunately, I am not like that. I like to have it secure to the paper and use my really fun machines that I have! I ended up putting it through the Xyron Create-A-Sticker machine. 

Step 5. I then took the sticker and cut the back in half. This allowed me to paste it firmly on the paper. I separated them out so that I could see each one. I like being able to see it all. This binder is what I will be using for my monitoring. I made one for each subject. The time frame was about an hour each binder. I think that by the time I got to my 3rd (and final) binder...It was like 45 minutes but I probably got it done! 

 Side note!!

Today, I created more but instead of using post it notes...I used a very light scrapbook paper (not cardstock!). I then was able to (dare I say it...?) glue it down! I know I am against the gluing of anything but my students will be inserting this into their writing notebook and I needed something that they will be able to access (without destroying anything)  for the first day of school! 

Enjoy!

Log it up

I know that I am being a complete bum this summer by enjoying the pool and watching TV on those rainy days. Today...is an indoor day! As I sit here, I watch Men In Black (the first) and I watch my puppy run around and cause havoc all around the apartment. I try to type this to you... and she sits on the keyboard. My little one discovered toilet paper today. Below is a picture of her enjoying it very very much.

As I was laying in bed last night, trying to sleep (even though I knew it wouldn’t happen for about 30 minutes) i thought of the new books that I bought earlier in the day. Then I started to think about how will I be able to ensure that my students are enjoying the new books that I bought? Well...why not have them log it? Every night they have to read 20 minutes. Now, I can have a folder where they can jot down the answer to the question of the week. It will help them master the skill and the following week will contain a different question. Next year, our state will have a test regarding response to reading, Why not start early with this class? I posted earlier this summer titled Stars.

This document will allow the students to respond to what they have read during the Daily 5. This will allow them to have higher order thinking. (LOVE) With the reading logs for home, I can see them grow but they will also be able to see themselves grow. I placed a spot at the bottom called "My GRL this week is:___". I created this so that the students can see themselves grow. It will not just say that I have seen them grow but they can see themselves grow. Their parents have to sign saying they agree that they have read and the student also has to sign saying that it is correct.

I hope that this will be able to help you trace your students writing and reading. This document contains 40 weeks (pages)of Reading Journal Logs. Each week has a different question for Reading Response. In my classroom, I make a copy of each page (front & back) to save paper and then punch holes in it. Then I take it and place it in a 3 ring folder and the students can use this all year. Every Friday, I collect it and then I use it as part of the reading and writing development. 

The pictures above show the cover the reading journal and Week 8 of the reading log. You can find this document at TN store. I hope you enjoy this throughout the year!

Happy shopping & happy pinning!