Monday Made Its

Monday already? I only have two more days of summer. I'm really sad that this is my last Monday Made It for a while. The next time I'll be linking up will be in the fall. That's one thing I am excited about... FALL. It's my favorite season. This week I got a lot of planning finished with my first grade team. We mapped out the standards for the ENTIRE year using Traci's yearly planner. All I have to say about that is.... BUY IT.

Next I finished printing and inserting my BEE Binder covers. They are free if you use BEE binders!

 Do your students ever complain when they reread a story? These fun fluency voice cards make practicing fluency FUN.

 My biggest fear on the first day of school is not getting all of the students in the right places during dismissal. If you have the same fear then you might need some transportation tags like me.

 I made these transportation tags but this time I made them easy to cut.

My printer was working overtime this week. Next, I printed these great discussion cards for all of my table groups. My students loved using them last year. I will add them to a ring for classroom discussions. We use them for all subjects but they are fabulous for MATH TALK.

Lastly. I added some clip art and changed the font for our WBT rules. You can find this freebie here. 

Thank you Tara for keeping me busy!

Picture THIS! Monday Made It

Monday already? It's been another busy week of getting my classroom somewhat set up. I can't wait to see all of the Monday Made Its.

I've been crafting using photographs from family sessions. The possibilities are endless.I think it would be neat to document family vacations using different states you have visited. This idea might be great for geography lessons too. In first grade, we use the book ME on the MAP to create a great unit. I think this year I may assign students to fill in a state with magazine pictures or even real pictures. 

My sister in law helped me create the popular letter collages that I've seen floating around on Pinterest. You can click here to see step by step directions.  Now I want to find a source for wooden state cut outs to help me document my past vacations. Who doesn't love anything that involves mod podge and photographs. Smaller letters will make great Christmas gift ideas for students.

I finally got around to adding these labels to my bins. You can find these editable labels from KNJ creations. I am in love with them. Can you believe the difference? It also hides my clutter! I need all the help I can get in that department.

AFTER

BEFORE

Do you use Kagan Management Mats? I did until I decided to create my own using vinyl. You can use a cricut or silhouette to make these durable numbers. I love to group my students this way. Kagan is all about engagement.  When tables are labeled it allows for shoulder partners and face to face partners. It's also great to call all the ones to pick up papers or the threes to sharpen pencils. You should check out Kagan if you haven't heard of their awesome structures. 

 I went to Target on Sunday and found 18 more black cubes. I found them ON SALE. #SCORE 

Now each student will have a numbered cube to keep their belongings. This is in addition to their mailbox, cubby, and seat pocket.I have the top 18 cubes filled with various supplies. I like how they can hide clutter. Is it bad that I like to organize by stuffing? HAHA! I just throw my stuff in different bins. At least they are labeled. Hopefully this will hide my junk from Alison. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Can't wait to be inspired this week.You should  join Tara with your Monday Made It.

Monday Made It

Where did my summer go? I can not believe that I will be going back in less than 15 days. YIKES it went by way too fast. I'm usually great about Monday Made Its but not this summer unless you count photographs. My summer has consisted of family beach sessions most nights. I'm not complaining because photography allows me to be creative. My husband loves it too because I'm not taking over the dinning room table with crafts. HA! 


Today I'm joining Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It! I can't wait to see the other ideas because I actually have a few free days this week.

My first Monday Made It were these " The Buzz about Me" bags that I will be passing out at orientation. I love this first homework assignment that I assign for my first graders. It's a fun way to get to know my students. I usually have about 5 students share each day during the first week of school. The bags were only .62 cents at Target so I just had to snag them up. To download this free tag click here.

I have never really had classroom jobs because I pick one student helper for the day instead. Last year I started using bee bucks. I got to the point where I wanted to pass out bee bucks for little jobs around the classroom. This year I'm going to try classroom jobs. Do you have them? Like them or Hate them? I hope it won't be too much to manage. 

Aren't these bee bucks adorable? You can find my bee job chart and bee bucks right here. They will be free for Monday only.

This is a free product I made years ago. I just added some real life examples underneath. 

Do your students have to track their learning on a progression scale or self assessment tool? This is currently how I will be having my students rate themselves with various standards and skills. It's also a free download here. The sticks have my free insta-sticks that I use  in many different ways in my classroom. They are great for calling on students, labeling cubbies, check-in magnets, AR trackers. etc.

My last Monday Made It I designed and ordered from Paper Concierge. I love that when I get to the bottom of the notepad I usually find a 40 % off coupon. I love fun notepads. How about you?

I've missed this fun linky. Thanks again Tara for hosting such a great linky.

Monday Made It

I'm pretty sure this is my last Monday Made It before I have to start getting in school mode. It's been a fun but fast summer. We're going to Montana and Los Angeles for 10 days so I'll be missing the last Monday Made Its before the 2014-2015 school year begins.  Thanks Tara for hosting my favorite linky party of all times :)  I've had fun making new items for my class this summer.

I had so much fun making a ribbon wreath that I just couldn't stop. I also made one for Halloween which happens to be one of my favorite holidays.

Directions : Buy a Styrofoam wreath, cute ribbon, and straight pins. Use a solid color ribbon to wrap around your wreath and then cut your ribbon into about 2 to 3 inch strips. Then you create a loop and stick them to the wreath with the push pins. 

My next Monday Made It was a tpt product that I've been dying to make.  I don't know about you but the students in my class LOVE cheers. We do Kagan cheers, Dr. Jean cheers and now Becca's classroom cheers from Foxwell Forest.

 Each cheer is adorable. There are 24 cheers in all. I know the benefits of classroom praises and cheers so I just can't wait to start these!

Does this even count for a Monday Made It? I sure hope so because its simple yet effective. I love how easy it is to add border and a flower to an empty spaghetti glass jar.  

I made these free learning scales last year but used them horizontally across a white board. This year I'm going to try using either clothespins or sticky notes.  I also made some other styles for classes that don't have a bee theme. 

FREE learning scales

Last but not least I read a cute blog and found this awesome reflection idea Mrs. Harris at a Classy Collaboration .  These reflection baskets will serve as great visual reminders for students to become more self-reflective and accountable for their individual learning.  Read her blog post to see how she will incorporate the self reflection into her classroom. I know I will be spending a lot of time at the beginning of the year discussing learning goals and progression scales. I actually have a two day inservice next week on this HOT topic. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.