I don't know about you, but I try not to think about how much I spend each year getting my classroom ready! Teachers everywhere spend tons of money out of their own pockets to get ready for the school year (and throughout the year too!) That's because teaching isn't just a job to us, teaching is not just something we do... it's who we are, and we do what we need to do for the kiddos who walk through our door.

Mid-way through the summer, I start to shop around and think about what I need. And you know what!? I  LOVE Oriental Trading! They have the cutest classroom decorations and prizes that the kids just adore, all for reasonable prices!

Luckily for us teachers, Oriental Trading has a fantastic program where you can create a wish list to share with parents! I know that every year, parents always ask what I need for my classroom and it's hard for me to think on my feet and give them an answer! With the wish list, you can simply share the link and parents can go online and purchase items off of your list! It's amazing, and so simple!

I included a variety of different items and different prices (from cheap, to a little pricier) in my wish list! Here are some of the things that I put on my list!

1- Inflatable green flocked chair: I have a flexible seating plan with my kindergartners. That means that they get to pick their own seat in the classroom! There are yoga balls, clip boards, bean bags, pillows, scoop chairs, etc! I am always in need of new and fun seating options and when I saw this, my heart was so happy! It's only $20.00, which is a super reasonable price for a chair this size and I know my kids will LOVE IT! I put a pink one on my list as well! Get it here!

2. Jumbo Playing Dice- a dozen for $7.50
I don't know about you guys, but I use dice in my classroom ALL OF THE TIME for math centers, games, etc! When I was thinking about what I needed for my room this year, this is something that came to mind! I have smaller dice, but these jumbo dice are perfect for little hands. Get them here!

3. Read to Self Phones- a dozen for $15.99
I LOVE WHISPER PHONES! They are great for fluency and the little ones love hearing themselves read. In my classroom, I have a set of 6 that I use for my guided reading and RTI groups. However, I wanted to have a set to leave in my library for my Read to Self center. I adore the different colors and love how many come in a set! These are a must for any K-5 classroom! Get them here!


5. Fun Shape Word & Number Swatters- One set for 11.99
There are so many different things that I plan to use these for! Searching for sight words, numbers, math center games, etc. The possibilities are totally endless! Get them here!
6. Neon Top-Loading Dry Erase Sleeves- $11.18 per dozen
If you use centers in your classroom then these are a must have item. I love that they are reusable and it's a lot easier than laminating worksheets and they work significantly better than putting pages in a sheet protector (I have found that those don't erase well!) I have a set already, and it would be great to have another! Get them here!



7. Owl Cutouts: Oriental Trading has TONS and TONS of adorable cutouts, letters, borders, etc. to make those adorable Pinterest-worthy bulletin boards! All of the Kinder classes in my school are a different "animal" and we are... you guessed it! The owls! I use little owl cutouts like these for bulletin boards, my job chart, to mark cubbies and mailboxes, and name tag necklaces for the first week of school. I can never have enough of them! Get them here!

I definitely suggest getting on to the Oriental Trading website and creating a wish list of your own! It is perfect to share with parents on Meet the Teacher Night or Back to School Night! You can also post a link to your Wish List on your classroom or school website. This way, you can keep it updated! 

It is easy to go on Oriental Trading and find a million things that you could put to good use in your classroom! Treasure chests with prizes, pencils, book boxes, classroom supplies, decorations, playtime toys, and even cute stuff to make a cozy reading corner. If you are in need of a little extra inspiration, you can check out my wish list by clicking HERE. 

Disclaimer: This post may contain sponsored content, affiliate links or review products. Regardless of this these are 100% my own opinion. 

Spring Into Reading

Can you even BELIEVE how fast this school year is going? WOW! It has been such a great experience teaching kinder this year, I love that I get to watch the light bulb turn on-- they have grown so much since I met all of my little owls in September! My little ones have worked hard, and have made leaps and bounds in reading! I do guided reading in conjunction with the Daily Five with my kiddo's. In honor of spring, I decided to blog about how my kiddo's SPRUNG into reading!

Fluency and Decoding Strips
Once I introduce new sight words, vowel sounds, blends, and digraphs, I have my guided read new fluency and decoding strips.

• During guided reading, I pass out one strip per student. I give them time to whisper read their sentence with their whisper phones. Once they are read, they read it out loud. When each child has read each strip, they pass it to the next person.
• Once students have read all of the "new" strips, I put them on a binder ring and hang them up at the read to self and read to someone center. They LOVE using the reading strips for read to self and read to someone.
• Fluency strips are split into "sets" and I have running records for each sentence. I have them read each set to me while I do the running record. Once they master the set, they get a star! So much fun and a great way to assess!

Growing Sentences
Growing sentences are another great way to teach decoding skills and get your kids reading fluently! The idea behind them is that a new word in the sentences is introduced each time them move down the growing sentence pyramid. After they read each growing sentence, I have them complete a comprehension question, sight word hunt, and then they illustrate the sentence. The kiddo's are used to the routine, and I have been able to send these home for extra practice as well!

I created growing sentences for all of the short vowel sounds so that they can work on a specific short vowel sound when I introduce it! I also have a set of mixed vowel sounds for after I have introduced them all!



Fluency and Sequencing
Sequencing is such an important skill for my little one's to master. I wanted to find a fun way for them to practice their sequencing, and I found out early on that they ADORE puzzles! So, I created differentiated fluency and sequencing puzzles to use during guided reading.

• We read the passage together 1X, then they read it to themselves and a partner. Afterwards, they put the pieces of the puzzle together.
• I use the b&w version so that they can glue the puzzle and passage into their guided reading notebooks and revisit it throughout the year. 
• The colored version is left at the read to self and read to someone center for them to work on as a choice! 

Building Writers
I learned quickly that as my kiddo's became better readers, their writing drastically (and I mean DRASTICALLY) improved! It is so fun to watch them grow as writers and I am always AMAZED! Although it isn't a part of our D5 routine, my kiddo's complete "building writers" writing strips for morning work. I made four levels for them to meet the need of each little owl!

• Level One: this is for the kids who are having a bit of trouble with letter formation and spacing. Students copy the sentence into the letter boxes then draw a picture of the sentence on the back to show they comprehended what they read.
• Level Two: this is for kids who are emerging writers. They read the simple sentence, copy it, and draw a picture to show their comprehension.
• Level Two: this is for developing writers. They read the simple sentence and rewrite it using detail! Then, they draw a picture of the new sentence they created on the back!
• Level Three: I leave these out for my advanced kids. Each strip has three words on it and they use the words to make a sentence, then draw a picture

In honor of spring, I have put together a freebie just for Y-O-U! It contains the activities that I wrote about above AND more! Click on the picture below to take you to the freebie!

An InLinkz Link-up

100th Day Fun!

My little ones had a SO much fun our our 100th day of school! We started the day with our regular morning meeting, but I made a BIG deal out of putting our 100th sticker on our "number of days in school" ten frame. Then, we watched the zero the hero dance to 100 video by Jack Hartmann (we LOVE HIM!!) 

After that, I introduced the 100th day centers!

Center 1 (blocks): I recently bought new blocks for our classroom. At this center, students had to work together to build something with the 100 blocks. It was amazing to see what they came up with! One group build a dinosaur with the blocks! I tried to snap a picture, but my camera was full!

Center 2 (cups): This was a HUGE HIT! The kids worked together to build a structure using 100 cups. It warmed my heart to see how well they worked together! Even better than that, the kids loved this activity so much that they keep asking to use them during indoor recess and play time! It's the simple things that they love!

Center 3 (crown making): This was a super simple center! The kids cut out and decorated their 100th day crowns here. They loved making them and wore them around the school all day! We are a K-8 school, so it was adorable when the big kids wished the little ones a happy 100th day! ClCK HERE to get the freebie from Julie Lee. Just a tip... print them on cardstock for durability! 

Center 4 (gumball machine): Another easy-peasy center. I put out white plates and printed out the bottom of the gumball machine. The kids used paint pens and bingo markers to make 100 gumballs. I stapled the paper plates to the bottom of the machines and they were all ready to go! I wish I got a picture of the final product, but again, my camera was all full. :( 

Center 5 (100th day Q-Tips): All that was needed for this center was the print out of the 100th day Q-Tip worksheet (get the link the the freebie from MrsPayton by clicking the picture below.) I put out Q-tips and different colored paints. The kids put 10 Q-tip dots in each box, then practiced counting to 100 by 10s!

Kindergarten Math Centers: Numbers 11-19

WOW this year is flying by, and it is amazing to see how much my little kiddies have grown since September! We have mastered numbers 1-10, added within 10, and subtracted within 10! Holy cow!
The next few weeks, I will be introducing the numbers 11-19! Here is the break down of our math time:

I had been searching (aka spending hours on Pinterest) to find centers for numbers 11-19, but I couldn't find much! Luckily, mother nature snowed us in and I had lots of time to create centers for my kiddo's! Here is a look into my math center-time for the numbers 11-19!

Numbers 1-20 Giant Board Game

I really wanted to continue review numbers 1-10, addition, subtraction, and throw in the number 20. I created this giant "frog hop" board game for my kids and they just LOVE it! They use stuffed animals as their game pieces (so cute!). The game is simple! The dice has +1, -1, +2, -2 on it. The kiddo's roll the dice, and jump forward or backward that number of spaces. The first one to finish wins. So simple, but so much fun!

Numbers 1-20 Giant Board Game!

Here are my little owls playing the giant board game and wearing their
number 11 crowns!

Numbers 11-19 Bump

Bump

Bump is a classic kinder game, and some form of this game no matter what we are working on during math! For this version of bump, the kids roll the dice and cover the number they rolled! The rules are simple-- if a student has two blocks stacked on a number, they cannot be bumped off. If they have one block and another child rolls that number, they can "bump" their opponent's block off. The kiddo with the most number of blocks on the board at the end of the game wins!

Race & Trace

The purpose of this center is for my little's to work on their number recognition AND number formation. Instead of doing just a regular number writing formation center, I figured I would make a game of it! The kid's roll the dice and trace the number above what they rolled. The first child to fill up their board wins!

Race & Trace

Play-Doh Gumball Machine Mat's

I LOVE PLAY-DOH. Really, I have an obsession. I have basically all of the colors you can possibly imagine stocked up in my room! The kiddo's use the play doh mats to form their numbers, represent the number in ten frames, and put that number of "gumballs" in the machine!

Play Doh Mats

Construction Zone

I have two versions of this-- the first is a paper-sized mat that students build connecting-block structures on. The second version are individual mats that are used with larger blocks. Students can sit on the floor to do this. The center is super easy. Students roll the dice, and build a structure out of blocks or connecting cubes using that number.

Construction Zone

Number Sense Task Cards

Task cards... an oldie but a goodie! The kiddo's go to this center with their recording sheet. They use the "solve and switch" method for this. (they each take a card, solve, switch cards, then share their answers. If they have a different answer, they both check the card and talk about it!) Checking their recording sheets allows me to see if they understand their numbers!

Number Sense Task Cards

Number Puzzles

These are cut out and laminated. Students work together at this center to put the puzzles together. It helps build number sense and encourages them to recognize numbers in different ways!

I also created a few other centers, which I haven't introduced to my kiddie's just yet (we just started this unit). The other centers focus on "building" and decomposing numbers. 

The centers pictured above plus many other decomposing and number-building centers can be find by clicking the picture below!

Flipping the Upper Elementary Classroom

Math in most upper elementary classrooms like this:

•  The teacher stands up in front of the class and teaches a lesson.
•  Students follow along in their notebooks or workbooks and volunteer to answer questions up on the board. 
• Then, students complete an activity independently or with a partner/ small group. The teacher walks around the room helping. 
• After, the class pulls back together to close out the lesson. 

So, what is the downside to this traditional method? Well, a lot of the time when teachers teach a lesson to the whole class, they are teaching to the "middle". Students who are lower get lost and left behind, and students who are more advanced get board. 

Now picture this classroom: 

Students rotate to centers where they work on higher-order thinking projects while the teacher pulls a small group of students  to review a concept, or perhaps push them with more difficult work. Twenty-four students in a classroom may, at any given time, be doing totally different things. This is the perfect picture of a differentiated classroom!

It sounds like a teacher dream-world, doesn't it? The idea of centers in an upper elementary classroom is wonderful, and most teachers WANT to incorporate it! But the reality is that sometimes there just isn't time! Because when you think about it, how can your teacher a lesson, AND have students work at centers, AND work with a small group, ALL IN ONE PERIOD!? (The madness!) 

There is a way, my friends! It is..... the Flipped Classroom! So, what is the flipped classroom? 

Instead of the traditional method, students come into class already having learned the lesson. 

• For homework students watch a 5-7 minute video of the lesson. This could be a video that you created yourself, using a iPad app like Doceri, or a pre-made video from Khan Academy or Learn Zillow. 
• When students come into class (or when your math period starts), you immediately start centers! (YAY!) 
• During centers, you pull small groups of students. I usually start pulling groups of kids who had trouble with the lesson, first.

One of the biggest questions that teachers ask when it comes to the flipped classroom is "how do I keep kids accountable?" Because, although it sounds really great, how do you know that your students actually WATCHED the video? We would hope that they would be honest, but this isn't always the case. Luckily, there is an awesome solution to that as well! 

At the beginning of the year one of the first things that I do is sign up my students for Edmodo. Edmodo is amazing because it is a social-media platform for students. I love that they're able to ask and answer each others homework questions, have book discussions, etc. But I also LOVE the apps that Edmodo has. And, conveniently, one of those apps called Educanon, keeps kids accountable for watching flipped videos. 

Simply post the YouTube link in Educanon, and BAM! You can see who watched the FULL video and who did not. Educanon also allows you to insert questions (YESSSS!!) into the video. This allows to "check for understanding"-- you can see who got the questions right and who got them wrong! I insert vocabulary questions, word problems, algorithms, etc. The students can even right in comments if they have a question, or want to share something with you! This way, when the kids come in, I know who needs the lesson re-taught. 

Commonly Asked Questions:

• Doesn't it take a lot of time to make the videos? If you are planning on making all of your own videos, it doesn't take some time (especially if you redo them a bunch of times like me!) However, you are set for the years to come once it's done! You can also team up with your co-workers and split up the work, or use some videos from Khan Academy and Learn Zillow.
• What it a student does not have a computer or the internet? OK so I had this problem. I had a student whose internet was down for a while, and they went to the library and a friends house. I also had a student without a computer, and they just watched the videos at the end of the day (before it was due). I always found time in the day for them to watch it in class!
• What do you do if students don't watch the videos? Let me tell you, there is nothing worse for the students than not getting to do centers right away! That means they have to play catch-up with their work, and they love the projects! If they don't watch the video for HW, they have to watch it in class before they start centers. 
• What types of projects  and do you pull in? The possibilities are ENDLESS! We did a year-round stock market project (I will write about that in another post), I also use Khan Academy and students complete printed-out projects (I love the projects from Teaching With a Mountain View!!) 

Trifolds to Organize Center Work: Part Two

I've spent the past few days soaking up the sun in Florida-- but I am also here to help my mom set up her fifth grade classroom! My parents just moved down here and my mom is switching from teaching third grade to teaching fifth-- my specialty! She decided that she is going to have a nautical theme this year, so I have been making her job charts, name tags, and working on center project boards for her! I bought adorable nautical themed clipart from Etsy that I LOVE, and I am having so much fun designing things for her! This is making me want to use a Nautical theme for my own classroom this year, but considering that I bought circus tents from Ikea for my library, I think I am going to stick with my owl-circus hybrid theme. ;) 

Designing the labels for Trifolds!

My mom is going to use two trifold boards for her math centers-- one is for task cards/ worksheets, and the other is going to house projects! The game area, small group center, and computer center won't need project boards. I made three different levels for each-- the task cards/worksheets will have: Anchors Away (review), Out to Sea (on level), and Shore Excursion (enrichment). The project trifold will have: Boarding the Ship (review), On Deck (on level), and Crows Nest (enrichment.) 

Putting It Together:

Tried & True: A Kingdom With No Rules

We all know that one of the most important things to do on the first day of school is set the classroom rules. For the upper elementary grades, I am a big believer in allowing students to create the classroom rules. This helps them "buy in"-- think about it! If someone handed you a giant list of rules to follow, and you had no say in any of them, would you be as willing to follow? This is the activity I use on the first day of school for rule setting:

• We read the story A Kingdom with No Rules, No Laws, and No King by Norman Styles. You can grab a copy by clicking HERE or by googling the title! It's free!
• We discuss the moral of the story. The kids should understand that for the classroom to run smoothly, there MUST be rules!
• I get a giant piece of chart paper out, and ask the kid's to think-pair-share some rules they think our class should have. I list all of their suggestions-- some might be a little repetitive.
• I tell the students that this is a LONGGGGGG list of rules, and that we should try and combine them so we just have five. You can ask for students help to combine the rules.
• By the end, you should have a list of about five classroom rules. I copy these rules onto poster paper and have all of the kids sign the bottom. Laminate your rules list, and hang it up for the year!