Reading Plans This Summer

Link up for a contest giveaway!

http://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/05/summer-reading-contest-linky-party-1500.html

This year an awesome book I read was Katie Wood Ray's About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers. I took an online workshop through Region 16. It was fantastic! I got so many ideas!!! AND THEY WORKED! I was able to immediately implement them with my kindergarteners & see results!


Another book I would like to read is Katie Wood Ray's In Pictures and in Words. I am looking for a copy on Amazon in just a minute! 


Check back on Clutter Free Classroom's blog for details www.clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com

Graduation

Yesterday was our last day. Looking forward to family time & getting my house in order!
We had a kindergarten class of 22 graduating. (Two kindergarten classes together). It was a lot of fun! My first year of teaching went great. I couldn't have asked for a better co-teacher. I am looking forward to next year & already have so many ideas for decorating my class! I hit a garage sale today that was selling those plastic dressers (can't think of what they are called). Anyway, they are great for storage. They had them marked $8, $10, & $7. I offered $5 for three of them & she said yes. Woo hoo! I also got quite a deal on a bunk bed frame that has openings to climb through & a built in ladder thing. It has a rainbow painted on it with clouds. It is adorable! It was priced $40 & she let me pay $20.  I am going to take it apart partially & build a reading nook in my classroom. I'm so excited! The kids will love it! I will take pictures as soon as I make it back up to my classroom. Makes me want to bring back my class from this year just to show them. I live about 40 miles from where I teach. AND of course I didn't have my camera with me & my phone was dead.

Document Camera

I am researching document cameras for my classroom. Anyone have any suggestions? Here are a few I've been looking into. Thanks for any suggestions or info!

Epson DC 06 Document Camera http://www.officemax.com/technology/projectors-accessories/document-cameras/product-prod3970048

Optoma DC300 Document Camera

http://www.officemax.com/technology/projectors-accessories/document-cameras/product-prod3930350?history=nhoqng79|prodPage~15^freeText~document+camera^paramValue~true^refine~1^region~1^param~return_skus^return_skus~Y

Donorschoose.org

http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/1239588

Please visit my classroom page on Donors Choose. My kids & I would really appreciate any donations!

Hanging of the Caps

My co-teacher & I used these cute die-cut graduation caps and hung them with string in the hall. Hopefully it will be a new tradition. It sure looks neat to see all of them hanging in the hallway. The kids were excited. We used a gold glitter crayon to write their names on them. It shows up pretty well.

Kindergarten Roundup

Our school has Kindergarten Roundup (western themed) one day during the last few weeks of school. It is to bring in next year's kindergarteners from pre-k (which is across the hall from us) and children that will be kindergarten age that did not attend pre-k. We have parents fill out information sheets with contact information & basic information about the child. This year my co-teacher & I handed out LARGE envelopes filled with printable books, letter-sound decks, number flashcards from 1-100, number lines, ABC tracing books (printed offline), and a calendar filled with suggested summer activities to prepare for kindergarten. Hopefully they will use them! This is our decorated table before the punch, fruit, & veggie trays arrived & we rearranged everything & of course I forgot to take a picture then! It was fun & nice to meet the parents.

Word Work

Not sure why this loaded sideways but I have seen this issue on other blogs as well. This is another Word work choice. The index cards have words to spell using alphabet beads. Students may use the tweezers if they wish. The stand is basically a giant paperclip. I have found these twice at $ Tree and I bought every one on the shelf. They are awesome for identifying centers. I also keep one on my guided reading table specifying voice levels for activities while I am pulling small groups.