Puppet Theater

I found this awesome abundance of possibility at Reuze it on the square in Canyon...$35! I could not pass it up. My 4 yr old is love with it but I made it clear that it is intended for my classroom. I can't wait to see my students retelling stories! I think it will be an awesome assessment tool, great for building oral language, & sequencing skills. :) Plus I think they will have tons of fun with it! I recently created a new project on Donors Choose requesting puppets, so hopefully that will receive funding & my students will have access to the beautiful Folkmanis puppets! If you have not seen these, be sure to check them out they are awesome characters! Folkmanis My favorite is the cow that has a tongue that hangs out. Can't you just hear the giggling now when I pull out this comical critter?



Here are a few more I requested on the project.



Eeek Zebra Stenciling!

Okay so this took a LONG time... I almost changed my mind three times...But I finally finished stencil TWELVE long sheets of construction paper. I went through about six permanent markers! BUT I think it was worth it. I plan to surround it with black border to tone it down a little. I didn't take an after picture but I also put my ABC line w/ the corresponding pictures here. I also plan to create something to go in the center. Excuse the mess! I was in the process of moving things & still unpacking things.

Here is a close up.

Here is some AWESOME border I found at Mardel's

Free Hanging Numbers!

Recently I  found two packages of those foam floor mats with numbers....unfortunately they both had missing pieces. But for 25 cents per package, who could complain? So I had to come up with another idea to use them...I love ceiling hangers! Here is the result! :) Love it!

My "Create" Board

I found this idea on Clutter-Free Classroom's blog here http://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-create-board-to-showcase-student.html.

Mine is a little different. I only used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, & violet. I used six boxes of crayons. 50 cents at Target & Walmart! :) The canvas was about $10 at Michaels. Walmart has two packs for $11...so if you want to make two or had a need for another canvas that would be your better buy.

First line up your crayons to get them where you want them. MAKE SURE YOU ARE LOOKING AT THEM FROM THE TOP OR THEY WON'T BE STRAIGHT! I LEARNED THIS THE HARD WAY. Fortunately they peeled off fairly easy so I could reposition them. Then using hot glue- glue them on one at a time. Then use a hair dryer on low heat. High heat blows toohard & makes the melting crayon splatter. It melts VERY QUICKLY so pay attention lol. :)

This top picture was right after melting- looks neat!

I used wooden letters painted white & then zebra striped (of course) to spell Create. I want this to inspire my kiddos. I am debating leaving it as is or trimming with ribbon...What do you think? This was a fun project that didn't take much time. I love the colors!

My Teacher's Chair Was Sad & Blue....So I gave it a ZEBRA DO! :)

I AM ECSTATIC!!! ONE OF MY DONORS CHOOSE PROJECTS WAS FULLY FUNDED!!!!!

THANK YOU STARBUCKS TEXAS!!!!!!!! YOU HAVE MADE A DREAM COME TRUE! I am so very excited to explore all the things my class can do with a document camera! The best part is it will be something I can use year after year! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I say thank you???????????

http://www.donorschoose.org/project/we-need-a-document-camera/793575/

Michaels You're Making Me Broke

Remember I mentioned I was building my collection of puppets??? Well, all of these except the blue shark were $2. The blue shark was actually only like 20 cents! He's a bath toy! No these are not exceptional quality or anything but the green one in the middle w/ red hair is pretty cute! So I'm counting on those Christmas puppets hahah just kidding...kinda....:) I know it is hard to see what they are so I will tell you. The green on the top right is a monster/dinosaur. Blue shark, green striped crazy critter- can be whatever I say he is lol, white lamb, pink pig, & brown monkey. :)

$1 picnic plates! I will be putting a center called Syllable Picnic into word work centers after we have covered this concept. I got this idea from Kelly Thompson @ Region 16. :) Thanks Kelly! So here are my "picnic" plates. Cute huh? I also have some ants printed out to go with this. Print syllable ants & glue them to plates to go with your syllable picnic center. I have a lunch sack (cooler type) with various objects in it that have syllables- 1, 2, or 3. Then the students place the object on the correct plate with that number of syllables.

I also found these awesome magnets!!! The pictures are so neat! I had to have them. I can't wait to use them somewhere!!! They were $2 each which is expensive to me, but they were too good to pass up!

Mardel's Will You Marry Me?

I am pretty sure Mardel's is my new favorite store! They have fantastic stuff  & a Thomas train table in the back that my daughter LOVED!!! And if anyone is looking for something to get me for Christmas (BLATANT HINT LOL!) They have fantastic puppets!!!! I am working on building up my puppet supply. It really helps the kids focus when they have something concrete to look at or touch when I am reading a story. I went to Mardel's two days in a row & still found things I overlooked!!!

I found a stack of geoboards tucked into a cabinet at the end of this year. I had been badgering my husband to help me build some. But I found some hiding in a storage cabinet in the math room! I'm excited to bring them out for the kids this year for word work & work on writing. This transparent geoboard is just what I need to model how to use it! I can put this baby on the overhead & waaa laaaa. (Since I don't have a document camera yet waaaah waaahhh) Well until then! :)

Here are a few birthday goodies I picked up. Last year I gave the kids a drink, a candy bar, a pencil, a balloon, & a certificate. This year I think I will do the same but add in these cute animal print bracelets.

I fell in love with this 99 cent inflatable safari microphone! I think it will be a cool addition to author's chair sharing time. :)

These whistles are for recess! I kept meaning to get one last year & forgot so now I don't have to yell. :)

Ceiling Hangers are one of the coolest things ever invented! I have lots of things I plan to hang from the ceiling this year. I hung numbers & color words last year.

Here is my last Mardel's find. last but certainly not least! I bought the blue one on Friday & got a coupon for 20% off my next purchase. So I went back Saturday & got the red one. I love these! Once I have modeled leading us through our letters & sounds deck & our sight word wall. Our job chart has a person to lead us through each & they use various pointers. The kids love it. I have a foam sword, a star pointer, a regular small finger pointer, a glow in the dark skeleton pointer, a plain old dowel rod, a yard stick, & now these gigantic finger pointers! :) I got a great deal on some tiny wood stars, hearts, etc... that I may use to make some new pointers. I'm excited!

A & D Bookstore

This is an awesome store. The store is spotless & so organized!

Who can ever get enough magnetic tape? I can't wait to wheel another filing cabinet into my room (if I can make room) to put back to back with my current cabinet & turn it into a magnetic center. : ) This is where I got the idea:

 

Of course mine will be animal print. :)

Check out this awesome Nursery Rhyme FELT book I found! After we do our poetry/rhyme studies this will work nicely in a center! Plus it will help the kids remember details to include in their illustrations & writing. :) I can't wait to play with this one!!!!

Here is thermometer to go with our daily calendar activities. It also has various weather icons & days of the week cards. The place value & counting pocket chart below will also go along with this. It has blue sticks to bundle. I'm really excited to revamp my  calendar time this year!



Target

$1 Pocket Charts??? YES PLEASE!!! I have sooo many ideas for these. I was thrilled to see them in four colors! Yeah! I am revamping my hands on calendar this year. I learned about many manipulatives I could add to go along with my smartboard calendar at workshop our school hosted this summer. I think the kids will love it & will be so much more engaged. :)

I love flash cards! $1 Wipe Clean cards will be awesome for beginning of the year Work on Writing. :)

Crayons were 50 cents! Yes I know Walmart & other stores have them cheaper but this was where I was when I remembered I needed a lot of them for an upcoming project. Keep an eye out!

How cute are these $1 chair covers? I am considering using these on their chairs maybe for birthdays??? Idk.

More $1 wipe clean writing practice- letters & the one on the bottom is letters & numbers.

I LOVE these little $1 boxes! I think these will go great with attribute sorting. Check it out here: Attribute Sorting

$1.45 for two pairs of scissors! Yes!! It is amazing how little hands can break these! :)

$1 stickers! You can NEVER have too many stickers in kindergarten!

DOES ANYONE ELSE LOVE THE TARGET $ SPOT AS MUCH AS ME??? :)