More Classroom Pics

Artwork created by former students

Artwork created by former students

Writing Station

Schedule -- I had to replace the frames I created earlier. They would not stay on the magnetic board.

Cafe Board

Guided Reading Area...I love my crates!

Word Wall

Frogs to label the tables

Our class pet --- Hoppy

I use this photo slideshow to take pictures of the students modeling appropriate Daily 5 behavior. That way they can see the pictures as a reminder.

My Classroom is Finally Finished!

It took longer than expected, but I am pretty much finished setting up my classroom. Being team leader has caused more meetiings and little time to devote to working on things in the classroom. School began last week so I was still working on things during my little free time. Plus I lost my assistant due to the high numbers in kindergarten.

A plastic mailbox for our school mail! Only $10 from Lowe's!

Divider to sort students' papers

Lunch Table -- Students choose their lunch and place their lunch stick in the appropriate cup,

Reading bins for Cafe and Daily 5.

Daily 5 Math -- BUILD

Math Bins

Birthday Board! This is a cool idea I found on Pinterest! Students decoarted an idex card with the day of their birthday. Then I took group pictures of each month with the students holding their cards. The students loved doing this!

                                                                             

Six Traits Writing Board

Owls (School-wide Respect and Responsibility System)

                   

                Birthday Bags -- I create a bag for each student. When it is their birthday, then they get to choose one bag. I fill the bag with a pencil, birthday book, birthday bracelet, bookmark, and some candy. It saves time for me by doing these over the summer and then just taking down a bag when it is time.                                                               

Guided Reading Crates

I saw this idea on Pinterest and wanted this for my classroom. I made six crates for students to sit on. You need to purchase the following:

6 plastic crates (3.47 each at Wal-mart)
3.5 yards of fabric ($15-20)
Spray adhesive (5.97)
Heavy duty staple gun (7.88)
Ribbon (1.97)
Plywood (half an inch deep - around $9)
Foam (9.97)
Staples ($2.88)

I went to Lowe's and bought a 2' x4' of plywood. The gentleman cut it to fit perfectly at no charge. I only used half of the plywood that I bought. I also took a crate into the store for him to use for measuring. I cut out the foam to fit on the plywood. I sprayed the adhesive on the plywood and placed the foam on top. Allow it to dry for two hours. Cut the fabric so that a few inches are present all the way around. Staple the fabric to the plywood. I cut a piece of ribbon and looped it and stapled it underneath the plywood. Place you seat in the crate. You can also use the crates for extra storage. Simply use the ribbon to pull the seat up. I have also seen images where people have shaped the ribbon across the seat. It can be an expensive project but I really like them and look forward to using them!

Frames

I saw this idea on Pinterest but I modified to make it more my own. I went to Michael's and bought frames, scrap paper, ribbon, and stickers. I used my Cricket and cut out letters for each of the subject areas I teach. I glue the letters on the paper and applied the stickers. After closing the frame, I hot glued ribbon on the back of the frames. My goal is to write my objective and essential question next to each frame. That way when a vistor walks into our room, they can see what we are learning about in first grade!

Zero the Hero

Zero the Hero has become a widespread epidemic in first grade! One of our first grade teachers use to teach Pre-K. When she came to our school a couple of years ago, she told us about Zero the Hero. Every tenth day of school, Zero the Hero visits the classroom and brings a treat for the class. The snacks are in the shape of a zero (Lifesaver Gummies, Cheerios, cheese balls, Fruit Loops, etc). The students absolutely love this and they always knew before we did the morning calendar that it was Zero the Hero day. Last year we came up with a list of ideal snacks at the beginning of the year and divided up who would buy for the first grade. We decided to stop at the 100th day of school. The students were so disappointed when Zero the Hero stopped bringing snacks! Anyway, I was looking this summer for a Zero the Hero doll for my classroom. I thought that the students would enjoy having Zero the Hero in our class all year. They could read to him and the snacks could be sitting beside him on those special days! I found only one online but I didn't really like it, so I decided to make one. My boys and I went to Michael's and bought felt and stuffing. I used a glue gun instead of felt glue because it bonded better than the glue. I also found some glitter foam to cut out a zero for the front of his shirt and the back of his cape. I think he looks pretty good! I decided to make four more for my team. So now we all have a Zero the Hero doll!