A Star is Born!

      "Every great dream begins with a dreamer.  Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." ~Harriet Tubman

Another day of working in my classroom.  Today I decided to work on a project near and dear to my heart...my star students.  I am a believer in the importance of making each kiddo feel special and for that reason I have the Star Student for Two Weeks.  This year my STAR is going to sit in the star desk; a desk designed just for the star.  I found this fabulous friend on the side of the road...matching chair and all.  I didn't need to repaint but just added the stencil stars to it.  I put my star chart on the front of the desk and created new names and labels to go inside.  Each student who sits at this desk will fill in the chart by answering the questions about favorites.  Answers are put on individual stars that I will pick up soon at my favorite teacher store (these large stars are made out of cardboard and can be used for bulletin boards).  The star chart will be filled with pictures of that student.  Each star student gets a special bookmark and pencil, gets to write in our new journal, gets his/her favorite snack, can sit in the desk when free time permits, and during the Daily 5 is able to sit at this desk to read.  I took a few pics so you could see the finished product.  I think it looks pretty spectacular!  What about you?

The New School Year Makes me Giddy...

"...happiness is found in the little things...take a look around you...what is it that you see?  There's someone who makes those little things possible...BELIEVE!" ~ anonymous

Amen...thank you my Lord for watching out for me and truly knowing what is right for me.  I am blessed.

I am an extremely blessed teacher.  Sometimes when things get challenging both in and out of the classroom it's hard to realize those blessings but ultimately I know that I am loved and cared for.  Nothing makes me happier than the start of a new school year.  The signs of school are in the air all around me and I'm a nut about new crayons, new notebooks, and all those crazy fun baskets I just think I need to have.  My head goes crazy with the promise of a new year, all those new, fun ideas and of course creating a room that will invite my thirdsters in!  I took a few pics of some things I'm working on in my room...what do you think??!!

 My new wind chimes from Menards for my Daily Five!  I love the stand and of course the sunflower.

 My new listening and writing area along with my new writing board made from that write-on contact paper.

 This is my writing center and my Word Work area...the cheap shelves compliments of Walmart!

My little park and read area.  Got the "fake tree" from the local St. Vincent store.  The fun orange watering will be a Word Work game...A Sprinkling of Words. 
Like I said...I'm loving the prep work for the new year.  Thanks for all your inspiration my teacher/blogger friends.

I Recommend Friday and Where Has the Week Gone?

"...But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them..."~Jim Croce
My fabulous staff and I have been in class all week learning about the Daily Five.  We've learned so  much and it's truly made my mind spin...My apologies for not having done any blogs this week.  That won't happen again (at least that's my plan!!)
Here are my recommendations for the end of the week:
Recommendation Number One - Play store!  This is my seventh year of teaching and even in year one when things were all scrambled in my brain I knew I wanted to play store in my classroom to practice addition and subtraction skills as well as do some fabulous creating and writing.  It continues to be a highlight of my year as my students get their own checkbook and create a store that others shop at.  Here's how it works:  I introduce the idea of creating their own store and we brain storm about possible store ideas.  The sky is the limit on this.  If they want to have a store that contains only guinea pig things that's fabulous.  It doesn't matter.  Once the ground rules are set I send home the document below as homework.  They return it the next day.  During math time I give everyone a store, another students store paper, and scratch paper.  They "shop" at the store by deciding what they want to buy, adding up the purchase on the paper provided and ....the best part ever...checking their math skills on our very old vintage REAL cash register that gives them their own receipt.  They check to see if their answer matches the receipt.  If their answer is wrong they need to correct it.  If they have the correct answer they have the option of making another purchase with this store or changing with another student to do more shopping in another store.  They don't realize how much fun practicing math facts can be!  Weeks later, when we are very proficient at the store system I introduce writing checks with their own checkbook.  When they make a purchase they write out their own check and subtract their purchase from their balance.  Again, such great fun and what better way to practice these skills than to shop!!  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KHLJ5RD7ZiPJudOU8yfpl91zefRNuNKTmUUfwtz8_Ng/edit
Recommendation Number Two - Fortune Tellers/Cootie Catchers - Have your student used Fortune Tellers (also known as Cootie Catchers) to practice math facts, vocabulary words, parts of speech...the list goes on and on.  If you haven't here's a great book at a low price to help you construct them:
  http://www.amazon.com/Science-Gr-3-Cootie-Catchers/dp/B004K4L0OC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_2 
Take a look!
Recommendation Number Three I don't know about you but I can always use shelving.  That can get expensive and it can also be hard to find just the right shelf that has the right dimensions for your space.  I recommend making a quick and easy shelf using cement blocks and prefinished shelving.  I got mine at Menards. I spray painted my cement blocks to give them a bit of prettiness.  The nice thing about these shelves is that they can be moved quickly and put anywhere in your room.  http://menards.com/main/building-materials/shelving/pre-finished/3-4-x-11-3-4-x-48-pre-finished-shelving/p-1409144-c-5702.htm

http://menards.com/main/building-materials/concrete-cement-masonry/blocks/6w-x-8h-x-16l-plain-strecherblock/p-1722737-c-5647.htm

Here is a picture from Pinterest that shows  the block and shelves. 

 Thanks for reading!  Next week is a new week filled with lots of new opportunities and a time to make what's wrong right, to learn and grow and love.  Happy Friday, everyone!

It's the Little Things....

"...Life is too short to be anything but happy!"'

I'm SO happy today!  First, it's a lot cooler.  Second, I found a few things for my classroom at Dollar Tree and Target.  Third, I just downloaded Casey Abram's new album (Get Out is currently on the radio) and it makes me so happy, Fourth, my Daily Five class starts tomorrow and I spent some time in school getting ready for it.  I realized how the simple things really make me so happy.

I found these cute little plastic bins at Dollar Tree. I'll be putting math prompts in them each day. My students will glue them into their new math journals and solve the prompt. I will have a note on the board to indicate how these prompts will be solved: individually, twosomes or perhaps small group depending on the prompt. Love the little bin and the design on the journals. Take a peek...
(I got the fabo font at www.letteringdelights.com )

Find the Casey Abrams CD at www.caseyabrams.com and itunes.  Join him on Facebook too!  So cool...okay, okay, I'm done talking about the CD ...did I mention it's go great especially if you like upbeat Jazzy music:)...okay, okay, I'm finally done!

Don't forget about my 'lil old sale at Teachers Pay Teachers; 15% off through tomorrow:  www.teacherspayteachers.com/TootsieAndTeed/Store.   Have a great night everyone.

I RECOMMEND FRIDAY!

"If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours!  Live simply.  Love seriously.  Care deeply.  Speak kindly.  Leave the rest to God."

It's still hot today but I'm thinking that in another 24 hours we will all be able to breathe a little easier in Wisconsin anyway.  Now, if only we could get just a few raindrops...Oh well...one step at a time!

I have a couple of recommendations on this fabulous Friday the 6th.  Here goes:
1)  Recommendation #1 - I'm getting obsessed with Fry's Phrases and found a great website that not only has Fry's Phrases but his word list made into flashcards that can be printed out for EACH grade level...woot, woot!!   Here's the link in case you'd like to go check it out:  www.uniqueteachingresources.com.
2)  Recommendation #2 - Last school year I decided to introduce my students to a vocabulary word of the day.  These words were not necessarily third grade words but words I wanted them to remember and hopefully use in their writing.  Each day at Smart board opener I "revealed" the new vocabulary word.  We all have student dictionaries, exactly alike, and we looked the word up together.  We found the page it was found on and answered questions about this new vocabulary word including the guide word on the left and right, column, part of speech, meaning, syllables, opened or closed syllables, and ordinal number position it held in the column.  We put each new vocabulary word into a sentence.  I  wrote the new vocabulary word on my new wipe off board that I made.

I typed out all new vocabulary words and had them displayed around my room to refer to.  It was fun watching our list grow and we used these words throughout our school year.  We started with the word love and ended with the word goodbye.  Such a great vocabulary word journey for sure.

3) Recommendation #3 - I think my brand new lesson - a round flipbook about our world entitled:  Strike up the Band - Celebrating our Earthly Location is truly one of my best yet.  And...to celebrate it and the upcoming marching band season I am having a sale this weekend...15% off all my products through Sunday.  Go and take a peek.  Hopefully you will like it as much as I do.  Here's the link:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Strike-up-the-BandCelebrating-our-Earthly-Location

Thank you for making my first few weeks in blogland a true delight!!  You're the best!

Life of a Refrigerator Repair Guys Wife...

"Hot town, summer in the city; back of my neck getting dirty and gritty. Been down, isn't it a pity;
doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city. All around, people looking half dead walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head..." ~Lovin' Spoonful

Hope everyone had a fabulous July 4th.  My husband and I had an eventful one...he worked and I created on my computer.  Ahhh...the life of a refrigerator guys wife.  When the weather gets this hot and everyones air conditioners, refrigerators, walk-in coolers, fans, etc, etc, go out so does my hubby.  So...I won't complain but rather create.  I discovered lots about Fry's Phrases and got so pumped up about them that I decided to create the whole phrase packet for third grade.  I created them on labels so that I didn't have to fiddle around with text boxes and spacing.  I will give you a sample of my 'lil old creation below via my TpT store.  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Frys-Phrases-for-Third-GradeJust-a-Nibble
Those experiencing the excessive heat...please be safe.  Remember that this is a temporary, minor set back and like everything in this world, is a great time to step up, help out, and above all be extra thankful for the blessing we have in our lives.

There's Always Something to be Thankful For...

"...baby it's cold outside..." ~Dean Martin (I'm hoping by typing it that it will come true!)

The entire Midwest is under a heat wave and it makes us all a little testy for sure!  Today was a day to ask...is there really anything good about today because it's Soooo hot!  The answer is always yes...it's time to help others, take in the cool air in your house, grab a good book or clean that area that you've been neglecting, talk to people on the phone, create some fun things for your classroom, text some of your best buds, and wait for the cool air (AND RAIN) to come in.  We appreciate things only when we don't have them.  Great lessons learned.  I had the opportunity to do a little shopping at my favorite store Dollar Tree today and take in their cool, cool air.  I picked up some wire baskets that I'll be putting in the middle of my new fabo hexagon tables.  I decided that each table will have a basket of extras...pencils, erasers, crayons.  Each table is going to be called some catchy name based on the colors...any suggestions??!!  I thought I'd show you what I purchased!

I also finished my milk crate seats in the super cool of my house...thanks Pinterest!  They were fun and easy to make and yes, yes, yes, Home Depot really does cut your plywood for you (and if you're a goon like me even does some measuring and suggesting!!)  Check this out:

Today was a hot day:  a day to create, shop, read, talk, and thank God for all my blessings!