Dollar Tree Finds!!

I absolutely love the Dollar Tree.  I was excited to make a trip there this week even though I don't like to shop.  I have always dreaded shopping....no malls etc. for me.  But the Dollar Tree is one place that I enjoy going to because you can get so many neat things.  Well, my trip to the Dollar Tree this time did not leave me empty handed by any means.  

  

These are the items I purchased to use in the classroom:

 

1.  baskets-I believe that I will be putting the students in groups/teams at the beginning.  I saw where you can place plastic cups in the baskets and put some supplies in it.  I thought I would do this and keep the group's pencils and erasers in it.  I'm sure I could use it for something else as well, but haven't thought of it yet.  :-)

 

 

 

 

2.  Krazy Straws- last year we did krazy straws for birthdays.  So, I picked up some of these for the kiddos' birthdays.

 

 

 

3.  Mechanical pencils-I bought some mechanical pencils for the kids last year that they could use in their writer's notebooks.  They were so excited about them.  So, I picked some up for this year as well.  This year, I am going to try this idea found by Melanie Pinola on pinterest:

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/244320348507870192/

 

You just tape a straw to the side of their journals and put the pencil in it.  That way they always have their pencil when it is time for them to write. 

 

 

4.  Small magnetic wire baskets-these things are so neat!  I thought I'd put my extra daily 5 choice cards in them.  I should have got more of them because I realized that I could have used them to put my expo markers in as well.....oh well, guess I'll have to go back and get some more and maybe find some more neat things!  :-)

 

 

 

I am in the process of working on a Monday Made-It project.  I am not crafty by any means.  But sometimes I think I am because I will try out a lot of stuff.  I always find things and think....oh I want to do that.  It wouldn't be that hard......then I find out that not only can I not do it, it is hard and it doesn't turn out for me.  So, I am working on something that I have always wanted in the classroom and have seen others do.  I have adapted it a bit and I am crossing my fingers in hopes that it turns out.  Tune in on Monday to see if it worked or flopped.  :-)

 

Oh, and...you might want to check out two new items in our stores. They are on sale for this weekend only!

 

Our short vowel "I Have, Who Has?" games are some of the most wishlisted items in our store. We've combined them into one convenient pack at a great price - $5 this weekend only - that is 50% off if purchasing them separately!!!! Available in our TPT or TN stores.

The possibilities truly are endless with this pack! Check it out in our TPT and TN stores.

 

 

 

P.S. Don't forget about the Fan Freebie Blog Hop!!! Check back tomorrow for the details!

 

 

Cottonball Snowman Craft!

Well, we went back to school for in service day on Wednesday and then kids on Thursday and Friday.  All I can say is that I can really tell that during Christmas break I was extremely LAZY!!  I knew on Wednesday that it was going to be hard for me because I was so tired after the day.  Therefore, by Friday I was really dragging. 

I definitely needed to get back into a routine and was glad that I had just 3 days of the normal routine.  Hopefully, next week I won't be as tired since I have been broken back in.  :-)  I will have to remember this during Spring Break and try to stay more active so I am not so tired when I go back LOL!

Crystal and I decided that we needed to change our bulletin board outside our rooms as soon as we could since we had reindeer on them.  So, we found this cute cotton ball snowman craft and decided to combine our classes and do it as a fun activity Friday afternoon. We found this craft idea at the following and tweaked it a little bit:

http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/2011/01/s-is-for-cottonball-snowman.html

We ended up running out of time and not everyone finished it.  As soon as we have them all up, I will post a picture of it.  We did have a few finish and realized that we definitely have a variety of snowman and not one of them looks the same.  LOL! 

I know that many of you don't go back to school until the 7th, so I hope you have a great first day back!  Kristi

Our Talking Turkeys

 

Boy did that election wear me out!  LOL!  We did have a fun time with it.  It is funny how those little things can make you so tired.  Then to top it off, Crystal decided that we needed to get our bulletin board changed and paint turkeys....what???  I was already tired... granted the craft of the talking turkeys she found was very cute, but the thought of another project and a painting project at that made me even more tired.   

 

She found it at:  

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/244320348506340013/

I was actually able to talk her out of painting the entire thing (I think she was tired too after the election, so agreed with me about not using paint on all of it LOL!) and using crayons on some of the parts.  They turned out cute and the kids had fun doing them.  Sorry that the pics aren't too clear, I will try to get better ones to post this week.  Like I said, I was tired and took them and didn't really take a glance at them until I got home.  That's when I noticed that they are a little hard to see :-(.

 

 

 

Hope all of you have a great weekend!  I plan to get some much needed rest!  :-)  Kristi

Christopher Columbus Day!

We studied about Christopher Columbus this week.  This cute little craft idea was found on pinterest (I believe I spend way too much time on pinterest, I may need to start setting a timer when I get on it LOL!) and it took me to the following site:

http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/fall/columbus-day-craft.asp

The kiddos loved going around and saying the names of the three ships (Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria).  They thought they were really cool names and each one of them wanted to tell the names to me almost everyday this week!  :-)  I was glad that they were excited about it and could remember all of the names of the ships.  Check out some of the results of their work:

 

I just love it when the kids get so excited about learning stuff.  Christopher Columbus was a big hit with our kiddos.  I even had some that wrote 2 pages about him during the Daily 5 work on writing.  How Exciting!! 

 

 

Hope your week was good!  Kristi