The Devil's In The Details

O where o where is my vacation going? With only a couple more weeks left of summer vacation left I’m nothing short of anxious. I am anxious to keep working on my classroom, get my new students, and I’m anxious about all the things I have to finish before my students arrive. Well, I’m starting to feel the crunch. So, today I have started hacking away at getting those devilish details knocked out.

I don’t know how you may celebrate birthdays in your classroom but this year I will be doing crazy straws so I had to get them prepped. I visited www.steppingintofirstgrade.blogspot.comand picked up these lovely Owl pencil tags. Instead of using her tags for pencils I’ve switched them up to fit my crazy straws and boy o boy they do look cute!

Materials:

Owl Pencil Holders Printed on Cardstock
Crazy Straw Pack (6)

Tape (to tape them to the back)

I'm so thankful that www.steppingintofirstgrade.blogspot.com has some beautiful graphics to share...so hop on over to her TPT store and pick some up for youself! And see what else she has to offer.

Next with the help from http://www.dillydabblesdoodles.com/ I was able to jazz up my math tub labels this year! :) They were originally blank so I just hand wrote numbers and added the dice dots to help students visualize numbers. I visited Office Max and had them print out the labels on cardstock in color. On Dilly-dabbles TPT they have several templates with dots these just happened to be the color I chose.

On a side note: yesterday my Fairy Grandmom donated a plastic shelving unit (which will house school supplies)...I'm nothing short of happy because those puppies are about $75 at WM. But to add the cherry on top she also donated a tall shelving unit too! Which makes me happy because I was just complaining to the Mr. about how all of my units are short...not any more! :) Yea for free! :)

Just a Pop! :)

So I have been doing the Daily 5 in my classroom for two years now and am going into my third. Each year I have used the IKEA book boxes and needless to say, by the end of the year most of my students have TORN up those suckers! :-/

Well after searching in stores and all over the internet at first I was slightly skeptical of using ice cube trays because my first thoughts were they will tip over and thoser suckers are white...like the walls in my classroom...can we say BORING!?

Well after going back and forth looking at other options I finally came to the conclusion that I would use ice buckets at Wal-Mart for several reasons:

1) They are only a little over a dollar a piece $1.88 without tax to be exact.
2) After discovery they did not tip over with books in them.
3) I would not have to continually replace them on as large a scale as I do the IKEA boxes.
4) They are small enough to store on my book shelves, yet large enough to house some good books for students at read to self.

But, I was still left with a bit of a problem...THEY ARE WHITE. I found other colored boxes, but they were bigger width and height wise....but I took the plunge and got the boring white ice buckets. After some thought, I figured out a way to give my boring white ice buckets a pop of color and the solution was rather simple. No mod podge, no masking tape, no scrap book paper....no sir reeeeeee! How about some colorful contact paper to match my classroom theme???

This year I am focusing on the colors sky blue & limey green with polka dots and accents of Owls. Well, I found a roll of contact paper (limey green!) and added a strip of contact paper on the front and back of the ice buckets...since that'll be most of what you'll see when they're sitting on the shelf.

Contact paper was a good choice for a pop of color simply because it can be added and taken away with little to no effort; if I choose to change color themes OR if one of my tykes decides to rip it off. However I will have to teach my students to not pick or peel (YES it can be done)! :) Anyway, here's the final product! :)

The book boxes at the top are upside down...I just wanted to add some height to the picture!

Later on I will be adding my student's classroom numbers to the boxes, but I wanted to get an idea of what these book boxes will look like on a bookshelf. While they still have white showing, I think it makes the color on them that much stronger...and I might even use the remaining paper to line the shelves where they will sit!

OWL Folders :)

     I'm now part of the way through my summer and I feel like I have A TON of planning to do before the new year begins. Needless to say I'm very ready to crack open the door of my classroom and start decorating. Alas, school floor waxing won't be done until late July or early August. So, here I sit at home browsing blogs and looking for inspiration for my classroom. As I've been dabbling on blogs I started to see all these neat notebooks for students. I stared working on mine and am calling it an OWL Folder. This year I'm doing a theme of Owls and decided that this will be a quick note I send home for parents to explain my expecations for student folders. Below is the document...feel free to grab it...especially if you're doing an Owl theme! :)

O.W.L. is an acronym for

     Organized Wonderful Learners 

An OWL folder is a folder that houses EVERYTHING. It will come home every night. Forget about wrinkled papers in our backpacks! No more lost notes, newsletters, or calendars. No more searching the house for their Bookbags. Be sure to clean out all papers daily.

Notes & Money Pouch	This will be the place to put any important notes about transportation changes or absences. This pouch is also an ideal place to put money for book orders, lunch, ice cream, and field trips.
Between home and school	This will also be the same pouch for your notes and money. Your child’s behavior slip will be located here each day and should remain in the pouch until Friday. This will also be the place where I may write a note to you about something concerning your child or an upcoming event. Please feel free to write me if you have any questions or concerns throughout the year.
Newsletter & Homework Sleeve	In the front of your folder you will find a plastic sleeve that houses our weekly newsletter and homework. This newsletter must be signed in conjunction with practicing reading each night. Behind the newsletter you will find homework mentioned in the newsletter. Your student will have from Friday evening to the following Thursday evening to complete their homework. Please keep both the newsletter and homework in the plastic sleeve until I check it on Friday. Each week I will refresh both the newsletter and homework.
Bookbags	Each night your child will bring home a Bookbag. Reading books and STAR words can be found in the Bookbag and should be returned the very next school day. I will keep the Bookbags on Friday so that I have the opportunity to refresh the books and add new STAR words. Please practice reading the books and return them in the condition they were given as we will be sharing them with friends in our class. Once you’ve practiced reading for the evening sign the reading log found on the newsletter in the plastic sleeve.
Important Papers	Important papers from school will go into the first pocket insert. Please read the papers and sign and return if necessary.
Work to Keep	In the back pocket you fill find papers that your child has completed in class. Please remove them each night, review the work with your child, and keep at home.

Miss Nelson's Give Away

Make sure to hope on over to Mrs. Nelson's blog to enter for her give away! :)

http://missnelsonsgotthecamera.blogspot.com/2012/07/mega-giveaway.html