Monday Made-Its!

Just wanted to share my first couple of Monday Made-Its of the summer (aside from totally redoing our mudroom--this made-it was a bit more time consuming)! :0) 

I've seen these dry erase collage frames all over the Internet, but I don't usually 'jump on the bandwagon', as they say, unless it is something I am positive I will use.  Well, I decided we do need a visual that is up all week for the kids to refer to--me too! 

It was a pretty simple made-it--1. I purchased the 5 x 7, six frame collage at Hobby Lobby with my 40% of coupon. 2. I decided to use scrapbook paper in the colors of the rainbow because we have a Muppet classroom theme (We're Moving Right Along Together!) with rainbow colors. Used my paper cutter to cut the paper to size. I got the scrapbook pad at Hobby Lobby, too---50% off all paper packs!  I use a lot of this kind of paper throughout the year.... 3. I formatted the days of the week lettering and cut them with my KNK Zing.  I used black, sticky vinyl that is adhered to the front of the glass.  I did this to minimize the glare, although printing the lettering on the paper would also work.  4.  I put it all together, and voila!!

Another one of my made-its was a collection of arrow clipart---Every-Which-Way!  I have been wanting to make these arrows since the beginning of last school year, but I never got them done.  Check them out in my Graphics by Sarah Beth TpT store!  I am also giving away another copy of this collection, so enter to win below...

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Just a reminder, we are hosting a book study on our new Adventures in Guided Math blog.  We are reading Guided Math in Action by Dr. Nicki Newton.  Fly on over to learn more--we would love for you to participate! 

And don't forget to stop over at Fourth Grade Frolics to read about some fabulous made-its!

Enjoy your week! Smiles!

Day Four of Summer Bloggin' Linky--Tried and True Thursday & Throwback Thursday!

Linking up with The Teaching Tribune and 2nd Grade Shenanigans today!

Wanted to share this throwback post from last summer---it was a Made-It Monday post.  In the post I shared three things that I made last summer and they worked fabulously.  I will be reusing the word wall header, refurbishing the caddies with fresh ribbon, and heading out soon to get some pizza boxes from 'The Hut'.  Tried & True they are...

******Originally Posted Monday, August 5, 2013 ******

Mondays have just been flying by, it seems--time for another Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics...

Word Wall Header

Well, back in the classroom work time has come for Courtney and I! We both will be using a paper plate word wall header this year.  Mine is rainbow colored, and hers is yellow to match her classroom color scheme.  Feel free to download--rainbow or yellow!

Supply Caddies Finished!

   
I finished my supply caddies yesterday--finally!  I adore how they turned out--rainbow colored, of course.  Kept it simple with a knot at the top instead of a bow. Then I attached a circle number to each side (group numbers).  We have mentioned these caddies before when sharing a favorite pin, so check out the original post by Anna at Life...As I Know It.  

Adventure Awaits!: Suitcase Writing Portfolio

I mentioned this made-it last Friday, but wanted to include it today because it truly is a made-it. I loved designing and making this suitcase writing portfolio, and I hope that my students have as much fun making theirs as I did! Here's a little background that I shared earlier...

When I was student teaching first grade many moons ago (20 years ago now), we used a simple pizza box to store student writing portfolios. For the many years since then, I have used various other systems with older students—-binders, folders, files in crates, etc.  When I switched grade levels a couple of years ago (2nd grade), I began to think back to my earliest days of using a pizza box.  The boxes worked well because students were able to collect entries of all sizes, the boxes were easy to access in the classroom, and writings were taken home in a secure container at the end of the year. I decided to start using pizza boxes again—so I have created this fun way of decorating a pizza box into a suitcase.  Writing is truly an adventure for the kids throughout the year! You can learn more in my TpT store...

Back to school is just around the corner for us, so we hope to be sharing some pics of our classrooms sometime soon...

***************End of Throwback Post****************

Throwback made-it UPDATE...

Word Wall Header:  The plates actually stayed stuck to the wall ALL school year (in fact, they are still up there).  Yellow words are related to math, green are contractions, and red starred words are homophones.  The kids used the word wall all the time. One day, early in the year, a student took a word off the wall and took it to her desk to make sure she had used it correctly (magnetic words).  After that, others began to follow suite--this was helpful for a few kids who had trouble transferring the word from the wall to the paper.  Movable, magnetic words were also great when working on alphabetical order as a class. We could simply grab a small group of words off the wall, put them in order to the side of the word wall, and return them when finished.

Desk Caddies:  I cannot say enough how well these little caddies worked!  They held up well throughout the year to house community pencils, crayons, glue sticks, big erasers, and each student's scissors.  Even though I will be refurbishing the ribbon and reusing the caddies, I found a few of the caddies on clearance at Walmart last winter and snatched them up.  Hope they bring back some black ones this fall because I will buy MORE (Hobby Lobby carries some colored ones all year round)!  I cannot imagine a school year without them (and I plan on teaching for quite a few more years...). :0)

Suitcase Portfolios:  What a keepsake these became!  The kids were thrilled to take their suitcases home at the end of the year filled with writing goodies.  They were also perfect for display at open house.  Many parents commented on how nice it would be to have all of their child's writing together at the end of the year. Large items? No Problem!

Now, fly on over to check out more Tried & Trues and Throwback Thursdays!

BUT DON"T FORGET! Our bran-new blog is up and running---Adventures in Guided Math!  We hope you will take the time to check it out, become an adventurer (follower), and enter to win one of our fabulous prize packages! You may enter to win through Friday, July 4th!

Enjoy your Thursday!

Convention Focus Sticks & Day Three of A Week of Chillin' Giveaways!

Thinking back to a post some time ago that I never followed up on--Traits Tuesday: Anything Goes! I shared an idea I found on Make, Take, Teach--focus sticks for writing. I decided to make focus sticks for editing conventions.  Each example/icon on the stick represents something students are responsible for editing in their writing. 

The first is spelling--represented on the stick by a sentence with a misspelled word circled. My students circle words at any time during the writing process that they know, or are not sure, are spelled correctly.  These words are then revisited when editing their writing.

The second is punctuation--represented on the stick by a yellow box with . ? ! , ' .  This is a reminder for students to check end punctuation, the use of commas in lists, and the correct use of an apostrophe in contractions and possessives. 

The third is capitalization--represented on the stick by a sentence with letters crossed out and capitalized. This reminds students to check their writing for capitalization at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns.

The fourth is grammar/readability--represented by an ear icon. I always remind students to reread their writing and listen to how it sounds and ask themselves if their writing make good sense. 

The above areas of conventions are those students are used to editing in their writing.  The focus sticks will be a great visual to guide students as they edit/assess their writing in the area of conventions. 

Please feel free to download the strip and label I designed.  I simply glued a large googley eye at the end of colored craft sticks (fat ones). I printed, laminated, and glued the strips on sticks with a hot glue gun for extended use. I hope you find these useful or are inspired to create focus sticks tailored to your students' needs.  

Thanks for stopping back for Day Three of A Week of Chillin' Giveaways!

Today's Giveaway:

Winter Fest Place Value Game

 To learn more, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Enter to win one of two copies of Winter Fest Place Value Game.

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Monday Made It -- Inspirational Framed Art and Sub Tub & Binder

Linking up for Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics...

" When you enter this classroom..." Framed Art

 

My first made it was directly inspired by a free download from Ashley McKenzie on TpT. Check it out! I decide to create my own framed art/saying with a couple of items added to the list and a rainbow background and bunting to match our classroom decor.  Feel free to download this version by clicking here.  The 8.5" x 11" frame was $3 at Walmart!

Sub Tub & Binder

Well, it has only taken me 20 YEARS to get my act together! Yep, this is my first year using a sub binder and tub.  I purchased this wonderful template from One Extra Degree on TpT this morning, customized it, organized it, and viola!  Ready for my sub tomorrow and ALL YEAR!

Fly on over to 4th Grade Frolics to check out more Monday Made Its!

Don't forget to stop by to join in for our two new linkies Traits Tuesday & Fabulous Finds Friday!  Click the links on our sidebar to find out more! We hope to see you back here to link up...

Have a wonderful week!